A War on Two Fronts (Peterick)

Chapter 5

-Patrick-

The evening before I was supposed to leave, my mom prepared a special dinner and invited Elisa to eat with us. We all sat at the table and ate in silence not knowing what to say to ease what we all felt.

"So, Elisa. How is nursing school going?" My dad asked.

"It's going good. I'm learning a lot." She said as she poked at her food.

I grabbed her hand and looked at her, giving her a small smile. She didn't smile back. I let go of her hand and gave up.

"Patrick." Mom said. "I was just thinking, do you remember that time when you were little, and you cried for 20 minutes because I mixed up your spaghetti?" She said giggling.

"Yes." I said smiling. "I also remember crying for an hour when you bought me new shoes." I laughed and so did my mom and dad.

"Or that time when I got a garbage bag and told you that if you don't clean your room, I would throw all your toys away, and you got mad and threw all your toys in the trash bag? That was the easiest mess I've ever cleaned." My dad said.

I looked over at Elisa who still wasn't smiling. Just looking down.

"Hey Elisa... Remember when you tried to teach me how to roller skate, but I couldn't stop so I ran into the wall and put a dent in the entire wall?" She smiled a little. At the time, she laughed so hard she almost stopped breathing.

"I also remember when we were on our first date, and you were so nervous you tripped on the chair at the restaurant and stuttered the rest of the night." She said laughing.

"Yeah, but I remember when I was telling you a scary story, then your mom barged in the room to spray air freshener and you screamed bloody murder and started crying." I said cracking up.

"Shut up! We don't talk about that!" She said.

"At least you're smiling now." I told her. We finished our dinner exchanging old stories and memories that made us laugh at the time. Under normal circumstances, none of these stories would be funny anymore, but when you're about to meet your death, you look for anything to laugh at.

After dinner, Elisa and I were laying in my bed staring at the ceiling, with only the lights of and only the street lights outside shining through my window.

"Patrick... What if you die?" She dropped the bomb.

"Babe, you can't think like that. I promise I'll come back."

"I know you're lying. If you're going to lie to me, you should at least believe yourself first." She said.

"I don't believe myself, but I was hoping you would belive enough for the both of us. You've always been the optimistic one."

"It's hard to be optimistic when your life is being torn down around you." She whispered. I had to come back. For her.

"Hey. I'll make it home. For you. For us. I won't leave you alone."

"But you are. That's the problem. They are taking you."

"Elisa... We can go over this over and over again, and say the same shit and over, but it won't change anything. My mom always told me that you can only blame your problems on the world for so long before it all becomes the same old song. She mostly said it when I would complain over stupid stuff, but I guess it applies here too."

Silence

"You're right... it's happening I guess. Might as well enjoy you while I can." She said before she climbed on top of me kissing me and unbuttoning my shirt.

"Are we about to..." I asked.

"Yes you idiot." She said while giggling. The rest of the night can be left to your imagination.

The next morning, I was in the car with my parents and Elisa, sitting in silence, looking out the window as my life was left behind. Elisa was holding my hand, but looking out her own window. There was nothing left to say anymore between us. Everything worth saying was already said, so now we're just silently holding on to each other for as long as possible.

When we reached the address from the envelope, we all got out of the car.

"Goodbye sweetie. I know you'll be back to us soon." My mom said holding back tears.

"Yes. We love you son." My dad said as they both took me into a hug. Elisa was standing behind me, tears slowly rolling down her face. I turned to her and kissed her one last time. It was a long kiss. It felt like forever, but somehow wasn't long enough. I hugged her

"I love you, Patrick." She whispered.

"I love you too, Elisa. I gotta go now I'll wrote to you... I'll be back soon." And with that I said goodbye one last time to my family and watched them get in the car and leave. I entered the building expecting death upon entrance, but what I saw was a line of young men. They all had mixed emotions from crying, so excitement and pride. I refused to show I felt though.

I stepped into line behind a boy with tattoos up and down his arms, with short blonde hair at the top, that faded to black on the sides as it went down. I didn't see his face, and I honestly didn't want to. He seemed kind of intimidating. The line moved slowly, but eventually it got up to the boy with the tattoos in front of me.

"Full name?" The lady asked.

"Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz the Third." He said.

That's a mouthful of a name.

She handed him a bag and several papers. "Have a nice day. Next!" The lady command. Stepped forward. "Full name."

"Patrick Stump."

She checked her files, typed something into a computer, handed me a bag and papers and did her routine "Have a nice day. Next!" act.

We were to attend boot camp for 8 weeks, then be sent of the Vietnam. I won't even survive boot camp, much less actual battle. I followed the directions on my paper and it led me to a room with other guys standing and waiting. I was a short guy. And I mean really short. I'm only 5'4, so they all towered above me and I honestly got a little scared for my life. Soon a man walked in.

"I am Sergeant Blank and I will be your commanding officer for the next 8 weeks. You young men have the opportunity to fight for our wonderful nation. For democracy. Some of you will bleed, cry, and break. But that is what boot camp of for. To end that before we send you to Vietnam. Now, take a good look around you. For the next 8 weeks, these men are your squad mates. Squad means family, and family means nobody gets left behind. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir." Everyone said nonchalantly.

"What?! Repeat that. I didn't hear you."

"Yes sir!" Everyone said in unison.

"Good. Now. Out that door is a helicopter which will take you to the boot camp. Get moving kids!" I've never seen a group of people move faster in their life.