Army Way of Life

Chapter Nine

Over the next few weeks, I avoided being in the same room with my dad. When he was home, I pretty much kept to myself in my room or I found an excuse to be gone.

Friday night, though, I was in my room and a knock sounded at my door. "Come in," I said.

Luke popped his head in and said, "Mom and Dad want us all down in the living room for a minute." Ryker ran over to Uncle Luke when he heard his voice and he picked him up. "Come on, Buddy," he said, heading out with Ryker.

"I'm right behind you," I hollered at Luke, since he had walked out without waiting for a response.

I shut my computer and headed out into the hallway. I almost ran into Melanie because I wasn't paying attention. "Sorry," I said, looking sheepishly at her.

"What has you so distracted? Or should I say who?" She smirked.

"Oh, buzz off," I said, not going to admit to her that I had been texting Jeremy pretty much 24/7 since I went over and told him that he had been right about my dad. We were constantly communicating, like we hadn't not spoken for 2 years. He had also been coming over every day and spending time with Ryker and me when my dad was working. When Ryker was at school, we'd hang out and just talk, getting to know each other again.

"Do you have any idea what this is about?"

I shook my head. "Not a clue. But I don't want to go down there."

"I don't either. I still can't stand the sight of Dad after what he did to you and Jeremy. Did he ever give you the letters?"

"I haven't even asked. I don't want to talk to him. Besides, I don't even know if he kept them."

"Well, you should definitely ask."

"I will eventually," I said as we reached the bottom of the steps.

We walked into the living room side by side. "Come join us," Mom said. We looked at each other, then sat down on the floor in front of John and Luke, who were on the loveseat, because my parents decided to hog the whole couch to themselves.

"We wanted to get you all down here to tell you that your father has gotten a fantastic opportunity to take on the position as Post Commander at Fort Shafter in Hawaii," Mom started. My heart dropped. This couldn't be happening. I couldn't even think about leaving here. I wouldn't. And I knew I was going to have to fight to the death on this one.

"So what does that mean for us?" John asked.

A wide grin spread across Mom's face. "Your father has talked to command there and has worked it out that you'd be able to take on responsibilities there, just like you were here. Nothing will change."

"Except for thousands of miles," I mumble under my breath.

"What if we wanted to stay here?" Luke asked.

"I'm sure we could try to work something out," our father spoke up. Luke just rolled his eyes, knowing that that was Dad's way of blowing it off and saying he was going to go whether he wanted to or not.

"When is this happening?" Melanie asked, not sure what to think. I knew on the inside she was dying. She was going to be a senior, and leaving the summer before senior year would be terrible.

"As soon as they get a replacement here. It could be tomorrow, it could be in 2 months. We won't know until it happens," Dad said.

"So what are we supposed to do in the meantime?"

"You are to carry on as normal," Dad ordered.

I finally gained the courage to speak up. "I'm not leaving. My school is here. My son's father is here. My son's life is here. There's nothing for me in Hawaii," I said stubbornly.