You Found Me (Warrior)

1. Danielle

Albany, New York

It was 10:30 PM on a Wednesday night. I was laying down on my living room couch after watching a bunch of television and was ready to turn in for the night.

Exhausted, but still not ready to get to bed yet, I flipped through some more channels. I finally settled on CNN. I wanted to get in a bit of news before I went to bed.

I flicked to the channel and waited.

"A surprising turn in the story of Iraq War hero Tommy Riordan."

A chill went down my spine when I heard his name. Tommy? I thought.

"CNN has learned that Riordan's true identity is that of Marine Staff Sergeant Thomas Conlon, who went AWOL from his unit earlier this year following the friendly fire death of his brother-in-arms, Sergeant Manny Fernandez. Fernandez' wife, Pilar Fernandez, spoke with me in an exclusive interview moments ago." My mouth fell open.

The last time I saw him, he was an angry, skinny eighteen year old. Angry, passionate, caring and smug.

He actually did it, I thought, completely dismissing the fact that he was Absent Without Leave.

He always talked about joining the Marines, but I never thought he would actually go through with it. He was always so unpredictable. Come to think of it, I don't think I could have imagined him doing anything else. Not working in an office and definitely not in a school. Maybe in an autoshop.

The last time I saw him was in 1998. I was sixteen years old and he had just graduated from Henry Foss High School in Tacoma. I can barely remember that day, but I remember a time when it was all I thought about.

I tried to tone down my excitement about seeing Tommy and focus on what the newscaster was saying, but was finding it hard to. I never thought I would see him again, nevertheless on my television.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania November 1994

I was only twelve years old the first time he left. Tommy was fourteen and Brendand was sixteen.

"I'm leaving." Tommy said, the cold wind whipping his face. "Me and my mom... We're going. She's leaving my dad."

"What! Why? I said, bewildered. I knew Paddy was an abusive drunk, but I never thought they would actually leave.

"We don't want anything to do with him... but Brendan...he's being a dumb bitch . He wants to stay with his fucking girlfriend."

He looked anxious. He was starting to look around. "I have to go." He said solemnly while starting to walk away.

"But, when?" I asked, but he was already heading to his house.

I just stood there in the dark. I watched him walk up his steps to the front door. ..

The Next Night

I hadn't seen Tommy all day and was too scared to knock on his door. Paddy must have been pissed about them leaving.

"Tommy! Get in the car!" I heard Carol shout and I ran downstairs as fast I could still wearing my PJs. I got to the window in time to see Tommy walking out his front door with a duffle bag in his hand. I knocked on the window . He looked up at me, his face was expressionless. Carol waved at me from the car. "Sweetheart, remember to take care of your mother". She said. I smiled weakly. Tommy didn't get in the car right away so I ran and opened the front door as quickly as I could. It seemed like he was waiting for something.

"Bye." I said, so low that I wasn't sure he heard me. He walked up to the car door and opened it.

"Go and give Danielle a hug." Carol said he and embarrassingly turned around and smiled. He threw his bag in the back seat and headed towards me...

"What about Brendan?" I asked.

"Not my problem. He shoulda been here."

After the car had started up, I went back to stand on my porch. I knew Brendan wasn't home and how upset he would be that they left before he said goodbye...but they had no choice. It was now or never.

Paddy was watching from the steps.

"Don't worry. She'll be back," Paddy slurred at me as he turned around and headed for the door.

I waved and then, they drove off..

. After Tommy left, and I would see Brendan around, he would tell me to get lost. I think he hated me. I got to say goodbye and he didn't.

PRESENT

"Conlon, who is fighting in the Mixed Martial Arts mega tournament Sparta, is expected to be taken into custody by military police following tonight's winner take all finale in Atlantic City."

Into custody? What?

I opened the guide, typed in "Sparta" and clicked the first channel that came up.

"We've just got some incredible news that I'm having trouble putting into context, but here it is: the two men fighting for the championship tonight, for the five million dollar prize, for the middle weight championship of the world, are brothers."

"What!?" I finally said out loud. "Brendan's fighting? No way."

I couldn't believe my ears. And to think I was just about to turn on some cheesy law show and stuff my face with chicken parmigiana. I would have missed the whereabouts of my best friend.

Tommy...that asshole. He didn't even try to find me. I grinned.

Of course he was a man now and looked nothing like the way I remembered. He had the same face, but he looked older. More like a man. It gave me an uneasy feeling. In my head he was still the same eighteen year old. I nervously watched as Brendan made his way into the arena. He looked the same, but obviously aged. I smiled to myself. I thought of the times when he would see Tommy and I hanging out and would give me a hard time about being his girlfriend. Tommy and I were always quick to curse him out. I was a real outspoken and sassy kid back then. A few moments later, Tommy walked out. He had a hard, grim look on his face. Finally, he entered the cage...