Written in Life

(Chapter 2)

I heard the low purr of a car engine and dropped the chicken feed in the middle of feeding them. I ran out to the driveway and saw nobody behind the wheel of the dark green truck parked there. I walked up and placed my foot on the step bar, hoisting myself up and looking in the truck window, not seeing anybody. The only thing close to person was the hula dancer on the dashboard holding a ukulele and a Babe Ruth bobble head standing next to her. The seats and steering wheel were a faded grey with stains on every surface. The floor was littered with McDonald's bags, Fanta cans, and spilled chewing tobacco. All of the sudden, a face appeared in mid air and I jumped. I fell on the ground and my uncle Darryl laughed heartily and got out of his truck. He was wearing a John Deere hat with a t-shirt that had a bear with antlers and said ' BEER ' at the bottom and worn down baggy jeans. His usual attire when I saw him. My uncle is 28 years old and as you can tell, his story takes place it the forest with nothing but an orange jacket, a 270 Winchester, and whatever game he could find. I smiled and stood up, brushing the dirt off my back.

"How's my favorite niece?" he asked, his arms outstretched and a huge, excited smile on his face.

"Uncle, I'm your only niece," I said laughing. I ran into his arms and he gave me a huge bear( or should I say ' beer ') hug and picked me up off the ground. He squeezed me until I squeaked and I squeezed him back. I forced the breath out of him and then let go when his face got red, laughing. He breathed heavily and sputtered a laugh and looked at me." Guess your not a little gal anymore," he said, standing all the way up." You warmin' up to the general any?" he asked.

"Oh, hell no! He's a complete pain in the ass!" I said. We both walked inside and my uncle sat down while I got him a cold beer. I handed him the bottle and he popped it open with the Budweiser bottle opener he always kept on his belt. He took a large gulp and sighed with pleasure." Even though your not a little gal anymore, you still know how'da treat a man right," he said. I laughed and grabbed the Pepsi I had opened earlier off the coffee table. It was warm now, but I didn't mind it.

"Sooooo," my uncle said, swirling his beer around the bottle," the fence?" I laughed and remembered the awful color instantly." I painted it for mom. I'm guessing she picked out the color," I said, the soda fizzling in my nose making me wince." I knew your mother was crazy from the start," he joked. I laughed and the phone rang. I looked at the number and noticed instantly who it was.

"Uhh, I gotta take this," I said. My uncle nodded in understanding and I walked into the other room. I pressed the ' SEND ' button and put the phone up to my ear." Hello?"

"Bernie, you need to leave right now!" Renae screamed, panicked from the other side of the line.

"Wait, Ren, calm down. What's wrong?" I asked, trying to sound as calm as possible myself.

"He's coming! I saw his car drive by my house! You need to..."

Suddenly she was cut off by the sound of a car honking. I set the phone down and walked to the door, looking through the screen. There was a army green 2007 Hummer h2 in the driveway. I looked back to the living room where my uncle was and he was frozen in place. My story was continuing. I stepped outside and looked behind me, an army base replacing the old farmhouse I just exited. I looked down at myself and I no longer wore my paint stained overalls, but my army uniform. My hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail and the area around me was bare and covered in swept dirt roads. A man stepped out of the hummer and I noticed the uniform immediately. I walked towards the truck and met the general halfway. We stood there looking at each other until I decided to break the ice. I nodded my head in respect, making sure to keep my back straight.

"General," I said.

"Wilson," he said back.

"You have our mail? I'm sure the recruits will be happy to hear from their families," I said, looking straight ahead." Actually," he said," just yours." He dug into one of his many pockets and held out a folded piece of paper. I positioned my hands one on the bottom, palm up and one on the top, palm down." At ease soldier," he said, rather annoyed. I looked him in the eyes, shocked, and took the note from his outstretched hand. I unfolded it slowly and tried to smooth out the creases as I went.

"Have you looked at it yet, sir?" I asked, keeping my eyes on the paper.

"Why of course," he said, smiling knowingly. I looked at him suspiciously and unfolded the last crease in the paper. I looked at the typed letters on the parchment and skimmed through the letter. Instantly, one sentence stood out. Your hand will be and has been assigned to General Scott's son. I looked at the general unbelievably and he chuckled, as though my surprise was too hilarious to hold in a snicker.

"What is the meaning of this?" I asked seriously, and the smile disappeared from his face.

"You were born on this base and have lived on this base your whole life. Ever since your father died you have been assigned my responsibility and my property," he explained.

"Property?!" I said, my anger boiling up inside of me." Where are we General, the sixteen hundreds?!"

"Since you are my property," he said, throwing the word back in my face," I am allowed to assign marriages of you without your approval."

"So I'm considered a daughter to you and you assign me to your bastard son?!" I yelled.

"He was allowed to have one person in the corps and he chose you," he said, holding out a velvet bag and turning it over, spilling the object held there onto the hard, dirt ground. It sparkled and I looked up from the object and into the cruel man's eyes, releasing my bangs from their place in my ponytail." If you think I'll marry your son of a bitch, you're wrong," I spat.

"Oh, you will," he said, holding the barrel of his gun to my stomach.

"Two can play at that game," I said, grabbing the pistol from my belt and resting the barrel on his temple." You might wanna leave now General," I said, throwing the now crumpled paper off to the side. He gave me a dirty look and turned leaving for his truck. He walked fairly slow for having someone pointing a gun straight at his head. He got into the hummer and fumbled with his keys. That's it. This bastard was getting on my nerves. I shot the hood of the hummer and he ducked and drove away quickly. I looked back and the farmhouse had reappeared. I ran towards it, hot tears blurring my vision. I slammed into the door and opened it, running into the living room where my uncle was still paralyzed in the same position I had left him. I ran into the kitchen and picked up the phone, trying to breathe as the sobs kept cutting off every breath I tried to take.

"Bernie? Is that you?" Renae asked from the other side. Thank God she was still on! I eventually slowed my breathing and Renae waited until it was back to normal." What happened," she said seriously. I hesitated." My dog just died," I lied. She believed me and tried to comfort me.

"It'll be alright. It's a part of life," she said. I nodded and took a deep breath.

"Yeah you're right," I said, she giggled from the other side and I smiled. Then I heard a splash in the backround.

"I have to go," she said.

"Okay, bye," I said. I took the phone away from my ear and went to press the ' END ' button when I remembered something." Wait!" I said.

"Yeah?" Renae asked.

"If I ever got married, would you be my main bride's maid?" I asked.

"Of course," she said, reminding me of the general." Why of course.". I sighed with releif and hung up. I guess after that I hadn't used up all of my tears and started to break down again. I thought about how the General's son had rumors of being abusive and demanding. Suddenly, my uncle woke up from his frozen slumber and noticed me sobbing in the kitchen. He got up quickly and set his drink on the counter, kneeling down next to me and wrapping his arm around me." What's the matter? What happened?" he asked, panicked.

"I, I, I," I tried but just kept sobbing again. My uncle grabbed a notepad and pen and handed it to me. I wrote down what I was trying to say and handed it back. He read it quickly and his face turned into a face he would only give to someone he wished was never born. He quickly grabbed his beer bottle and smashed the end on the table, holding it at ready.

"Who's the bastard I'm gonna kill?"