The Christian

Prologue

“ Excuse me, miss!”

I turned around and saw a tall dark haired guy in his 20’s staring after me. His camouflage outfit appearing a bit dim despite the piercing white lights of the crowded airport. I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me but I flashed a smile anyway. “ Yes?”

The army man looked a bit stunned and stuttered through his crooked, white teeth. “ W-w-who are you w-w-waiting for?”

“ My dad,” I said, glancing into the terminal. “ He’s supposed to be coming home today.”

“ Where’s he been?” he said, moving in closer so he could hear me better.

“ Iraq,” I replied with a sigh. I hated how he was always away, fighting. I just couldn’t picture it. Ever since I was born, I learned that he wasn’t always going to be there. I got used to him always leaving and not being able to see me grow up. But before he left this time, he had a talk with me. I remember it so vividly in my mind…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Detarra, I have to tell you something,” he said, cautiously, his light brown eyes studying me.

“ Okay…” I squinted at him. Why was he being so anxious? What was wrong with him?

He took a deep breath.“ I’m going away for a while,” he said wincing at his own words.

I nodded. That was expected. He usually leaves again after he’s been here about 3 or 4 months. Then I kind of laughed. He was all worked up about that? “ Dad, it’s fine.”

He bit his lip and closed his eyes. It was as if that wasn’t the right reaction. “ This is different,” he almost whispered the words.

The smile I had, faded from my face. Why was he acting so strange? What did he mean? I stared at the ground. This must be pretty serious for him to be talking like this. “ How long are you going to be gone?”

After a few beats of silence, he answered softly, “ A while.”

Now, he was really scaring me. I snuck a peek up at him. His eyes were closed really tight and his hand was slung across his face, but I still saw a few tears slip down. That was the first time I saw my dad cry. His shoulders began shaking. Hard.

I moved in front of him. “ Dad?”

He didn’t move or answer me.

“ Daddy?”

Nothing.

I felt my eyes welling up and a lump growing in my throat. I desperately tried to swallow it back down. “ Daddy?” My voice was shaking. “ Daddy, what’s wrong?”

“ I’m scared,” he whispered, in such a mournful way.

I gulped the lump down harder. One of us needed to stay calm, or it’d be like we were in our own mini soap opera. “ Why?”

“ I’m scared for you and your mother. I don’t want to leave you. Don‘t tell your mother this, but I just have a really bad feeling about this,” he whispered in between tears, before collapsing onto the dining chair.

My eyes betrayed me, as a few tears sunk low down my face. I kneeled down in front of him, taking his hands in mine, forcing him to look at me through tear-stained eyes. “ Daddy, don’t worry about us. We will be perfectly fine, just like always. For you, daddy, I pray for you every night. I worry about you. I cry for you. I am much more scared for you. Daddy…” I struggle with my voice, as a few hiccopy cries attempt to escape. “ You taught me about God and if we ever needed anything, he’d be there. You taught me to trust in him. Now, you need to follow your

own words and trust in him too-” the stupid hiccups escaped. I take a deep breath and begin again. “ God will be there on the battlefield with you daddy, just like he is for me and mom.”

I give up trying to talk anymore and just cry. My dad falls to his knees and wraps his arms around me, pulling me close, while he cries too. “ You’ve always been my hero daddy, even Superman couldn’t measure up to the things you do.” That just makes him cry even harder, pulling me even closer, almost crushing me, with his intensely muscled arms.

“ Thank you, Detarra,” he says, slowly pulling away, releasing me from his hard grip. “ Now, you may not see me for a while, but I promise, we will see each other again.”

I smile, a lone tear slipping away. “ I know.”

“ I love you so much Detarra.”

“ I love you too, Daddy.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“ You must be happy that he’s finally coming home then, huh?” The soldier smiles a goofy, lopsided smile.

I nod. I got my driver’s license when he was away. Man, was he going to be surprised when I tell him I drove here on my own and was his ride home. Mom would have been here but she had some out of town business to attend to. I glance around, impatiently. Where was he?

“ Max!” a voice cries out.

The soldier turns and runs to a young woman, who hugs him while they both cry. My lips turn up a bit. I like watching army homecomings, but my favorite, are my daddy’s.

Suddenly, a group a men dressed in camouflage walk in, followed by another, and another. Voices begin shrieking and calling out names. A lot of hugging, kissing, and crying begin happening all around me, while I just stand there, glancing around, anxiously.

A couple sunk to their knees in front of me, crying and kissing passionately.

“ Detarra Gray?” a voice asks from behind me.

I turn to see a tall, dark man with gray hair, staring at me, seriously. Something had to be wrong.

“ Yes? Would you happen to know where Master Chief Gray is?” I asked.

He stared at my face grimly. His eyes studying mine. “ I’m sorry. But he did not make it.”

My smile disappeared from my face. “ What?”

He sighed and closed his eyes. “ He has passed on.”

I expected my dad to be right behind me, pinching my side and saying “ Fooled ya!” while he laughs with this guy. I glanced around. Nope, not there. And this guy wasn’t laughing.

“ What do you mean?” My heart beating faster, my throat dry, and my voice growing hysterical.

“ He’s dead.”

Then I couldn’t hear anything. The man kept speaking to me but all I heard, was silence.

Then, there was running. I ran and ran and ran until I was numb. I got into the car and drove. I drove and drove and drove until I ran out of gas. Then, I just cried and cried and cried…

Daddy, you promised…

You promised me…

You lied to me…