Escaping Boredom

Thirteen

Bennett carried on with his speech to intimidate the new soldiers for a great period of time. He spit at their feet if they didn’t respond ‘Sir, yes, Sir’ or ‘Sir, no, Sir’ and watched with a malevolent grin as the unlucky recruit struggled to finish the mandatory number of push-ups. The newcomers trembled in their black boots under his deathly glare.  The more they feared him, the happier he would be.

With a deep sigh, and looking at his pocket watch he stopped pacing. “Report to your barracks!” The Captain demanded, once he was finished with his frightening speech.

The boys huddled inside the two hundred-person barrack, searching for the number on the bunk that matched their dog tag.

On one side of the barrack, one hundred beds were piled on top of the next to create a neat row of fifty compiled spots. The other side was a mirror. Each bed had white sheets; a grey blanket toped with a white pillow. The walls were the shade of dirt.

Franky was the last bottom bunk in the far corner. Unhappily for him, his bunk was closer to Sid’s than he would have liked.

“Look like we gonna be roomies,” Sid called from his bunk, which was diagonal from Franky’s.

Franky, still angry with Sid, continued to ignore him and went about inspecting his area with furious eyes.  He swiped his hand across the grey cover and white pillow, feeling the starchy texture under his fingers. He shot furtive glances at Sid but mostly, he tried talking to other boys.

“Hey, Siddy,” Tommy whispered, leaning close to Sid as their beds happened to be one on top of the other.

Still distracted by knowing he messed up with Franky, Sid didn’t respond quickly, until the second time his name was called. “What?” he hissed.

Tommy pointed to Franky and asked, “What’s that guys deal?”

Sid shrugged and muttered, “he just don’t wanna be here.” He sat on his bed, still insisting to stare at Franky, willing Franky to look in his direction with friendship in his eyes. 

“Oh geez,” Tommy whistled, leaning against his bedpost. “You know him from home?”

Nodding, Sid responded, “Yeah, we was like brothers.”

Tommy stuck one hand in his pocket while the other ran across his fair hair. “Whatta happened?”

“No idea; he’s a bastard.”

***

“Where are you from?” a tall boy asked, standing over Franky who was sitting on his bench, trying to hold back his emotions.

Looking up he asked, “Sorry, what?”

“Where are you from?” the boy repeated.

Franky rose from the bed and stood square with the boy. The boy looked to be a year or two older than Franky by the faint line of a red beard outlining his jaw. “Oh. New York. You?”

“Albany. I’m Joseph.” Joseph stuck his hand out with a smile of perfect teeth and a spotless face. 

Franky, for a moment, eyed it not knowing what to do. Then, by inspiration, grabbed the hand, which seemed to please Joseph. “Franky.”

The boys looked at each other awkwardly, not knowing what to say or do next. They glanced to the other soldiers, who were making friends as well. The more introverted boys, sat in their beds, fiddling their fingers and looking everywhere but at other people. The social ones chatting about why they joined, how many men they planned on killing and their background. 

Franky, unable to stand the silence any longer, asked,“ why you be here?”

A smile appeared on Joseph’s face when he heard the question. Eagerly he responded, “My father was a soldier in the Civil War and just following the family line.”