Top Gun: Mustang

Mustang

I don't know if he recognized me or not. Shit, I don't even know if I want him to. It's been almost 20 years since he left. I've gone 20 goddamn years without so much as a letter or phone call from this man, and now here he is, standing right in front of me.

"Nice to meet you," he said. He turned back to the others and bid them farewell before returning to his spot at the bar. He didn't even shake my hand.

"Mustang," The big guy next to me said. "Has a nice ring to it. Where'd you get?"

Before I could even answer, Rooster piped up next to me. "Oh, you haven't heard? It's 'cause he's hung like a horse."

I wasn't aware of that, but I'll take it.

Hangman just looked down at me, bewilderment across his face.

I look back up at him. "You can touch it if you want."

He straightened up, looking very uncomfortable, while the rest of the group laughed.

"What's the real reason?" Phoenix asked me.

"I fly so fast I made my past WSOs sick. They said it was like tryin' to ride a wild mustang."

"Pray for me, guys," Rooster jokes. "Anyone want drinks? First round's on me."

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

After a couple drinks we were all getting a lot more comfortable.

"Hey Mustang," Hangman slurred. He's had just a few too many. "How old are you, anyway?"

"Today's my 24th birthday!"

"It's your birthday?" Rooster looks at me. "You didn't tell me that."

"You didn't ask," I answered. I don't really like celebrating my birthday, I don't have a whole lot of great memories to associate with it.

"Aww come on man, we need to celebrate!" Rooster continues. "But that's gotta wait a second, I need to piss."

We all bid him our farewells and returned to our previous activities. Hangman and I were in a very heated round of nine ball when all of a sudden Rooster returned, and he wasn't alone.

Suddenly a chorus of voices were singing happy birthday to me, and in the middle of them was Rooster, holding a sheet cake with the words "Happy Birthday Mustang" hastily scribbled onto it with frosting, and a single pink candle in the middle.

"Blow out the candle!" Rooster tells me.

I just stood there in shock. "Where the hell did you get all that from?"

"Don't worry about it man, just blow out the candle!"

I just laughed and blew out the candle, which was followed by cheers and congratulations from the other pilots. It was fun, until I looked up and saw him watching us from the bar. I wonder if he would've joined in if he knew who I was, but then I remembered my seventh birthday, just a few weeks after he left, and my mom and I had moved. He didn't even send me a card. 

A sudden clap on my shoulder yanked me from my thoughts. I look up and see Hangman standing next to me.

"We gonna cut into this thing or what?"

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

The next morning was brutal. I woke up with a hangover so bad I almost considered converting to Catholicism, and my loud ass alarm clock wasn't helping.

I turned it off and sat up on my bed, running my hands down my face in an attempt to wake myself up. 

I stumble into the bathroom and wash my face before digging around in the medicine cabinet for my bottle of ibuprofen. I take a couple pills and then finish getting ready, praying to God that I won't have to fly today.

Walking into the classroom made it evident that I wasn't the only one who had a little too much fun last night. Hangman looked like he was regretting his choices even more than I was, with his sunglasses and undone hair, and Rooster, Pheonix, and Coyote all looked pretty bad too. The only one who seemed to still have all his faculties was BOB, which tracks pretty well.

I take a seat at the front, next to Rooster. 

"Hey there Mustang, you have a good birthday?" He asked me.

"The best," I responded while I got settled in my seat.

"Hell yeah brother," Rooster said before slapping me on the back. These guys spend a lot of time hitting each other, it's kind of weird.

Right as I got settled the admiral walked in. I've never seen a room of hung over people try and act normal so hard before, it was honestly kind of impressive. We all watched as he made his way to the podium that stood at the front. He scanned the room, and we all held our breath when his eyes landed on Hangman.

"Can I ask why you're wearing sunglasses, lieutenant?"

Hangman tried his best to maintain his usual cocky composure. "It's just so bright in here, admiral."

"We're inside, take them off." the admiral commanded.

Hangman did what he was told, and he looked rough. His eyes were red, and he looked like, to put it nicely, absolute shit.

The admiral did his scary admiral glare. "You have a good night?" 

Hangman swallowed nervously. "Yes sir."

"I can tell."

Everyone averted their eyes from the admiral. The last thing we needed was him finding out that we were all in various stages of hungover. I don't know if we were very convincing or if he just decided to ignore it, but he didn't ask anyone else.

"There has been a secret nuclear weapon development plant constructed outside of the parameters the UN has set, " the admiral began. "Your mission is to destroy it." The screen behind him lights up, displaying a map of the region.

"As you can see, it is extremely mountainous, and there is a lot of extreme terrain surrounding it.  You are, once again, up against fifth-generation fighters, putting you at a disadvantage. However, after your success with the uranium enrichment plant, I have faith that you can do it." 

He then turned off the display and faced us. "Before we go any further, your instructor wants to see everyone fly. So, I would suggest everyone sober up and get ready. You have fifteen minutes to be on the airstrip."