Letters From the Grave

I do miss it. But hey, I’m a grown man, and you’re almost thirty, so we can take care of ourselves, right?”

  “Oh yeah. But, I do miss you and want to see you home real soon.”

  “I know, sweetheart. Me, too. So, I’m gonna let you go now, and I’ll call again tomorrow night.”

  “Okay, but don’t call too early.”

  He was cautious asking, “Oh, why?”

  “I’ve got a date with Will.”

  “You mean a real ‘he’s-gonna-pay’ type date? He’s only a minimum wager, you know.”

  “Now you sound like my father. Telling me he’s not good enough for me.” There was strange inflection in her voice.

  “I feel like your father, so just be careful.”

  “All right – ‘Dad’.”

  “Okay. Enough said. You have fun, and I’ll call tomorrow – late.”

  “See ya.”

  After the receiver clicked dead, he wasn’t quite sure what made him uneasy about Will. Callie was more mature than anyone her age because of the way she grew up. He told himself not to worry about her.

  That night, his dreams kept him awake, but it wasn’t about Bobby this time. It was about Bobby’s daughter, his daughter now.

  The week went by quickly with constant around-the-clock air operations along the Texas Coast. The mid-Fall weather was stormier than usual, so helicopters were constantly on call to get repair teams to the derricks and getting sick workers home. Jake spent the night at Port Arthur after his last flight, resting before the long drive home. It was still dark in the morning when he set out for Lafayette.

  He drove with the windows open. The early morning air was thick with moisture, but cool and refreshing. He loved fresh air and would not live in the stifling Louisiana summer heat forever. He planned to retire in a few more years and live off his investments. He hadn’t figured on cashing in on his coins, but had enough in a 401K to live modestly along with his Army pension.

  The sky was ablaze with light an hour later as he drove into the rising sun. Half an hour after that, he was shielding his eyes from the glare as the air temperature began to rise. It was just becoming uncomfortable when he turned into his driveway around nine o’clock.

  The squeaky hinge on the screen door broke the silence as he tried to enter quietly through the kitchen. Once inside, he stood motionless for several moments, listening for any sign of life. He had tried to call Callie the night before, but she was not home before he went to bed for his early departure. He quietly removed his shoes to keep from waking her, but he heard her footsteps, as she entered the kitchen, looking like she just rolled out of bed. She was wearing cotton pajama bottoms and a tee shirt. Without a word, she shuffled over to Jake and put an arm around his neck and her head against his chest saying, “Hi (yawn), I must have slept in. Welcome home.”

  He smiled as she slipped away and sat by the kitchen table. “Hi. I hope I didn’t wake you?”

  “Not really. I was just bein’ lazy. I figured you’d be home later, so just didn’t feel like rushing it, but I’m glad you’re back! How ‘bout I make us some coffee and cook you breakfast?

  “Coffee’s great. You don’t need to rush breakfast.”

  She responded, “I’m hungry.”

  “Didn’t Will feed you?”

  “Oh, you said it. He don’t have much money. I think it all goes to rent and keepin’ his old junk truck runnin’. We went bowling and stayed in the snack bar. It ain’t much for food if you’re human.”

  He smiled to himself. The local bowling alley was decrepit. He’d never been inside but imagined what it was like from the cars and trucks parked outside. “Well, we’ll do better today.”

  For several days, they took short driving trips and visited local landmarks. Jake wasn’t particularly attached to Lafayette, or the South, in general, but it gave them something to do, still getting to know each other. They had fun. They ate out frequently. Occasionally, they would talk about Will, but he wasn’t a major topic, and Callie didn’t seem terribly interested in him. On the last night before Jake returned to work again, they sat together watching television when Callie asked, “Tell me about Bobby.”

  The wine they were sharing made Jake mellow. “You know, Callie. It was so long ago, I don’t remember very much.”

  “It’s okay. Just tell me what you remember. I’d like to know anything. Momma told me from her side, but you saw him different. I’d just like to know how he was as a soldier.”

  He looked at her, then down at the coffee table where he set his wine glass. “He was full of life. He talked about your momma all the time. He only knew her for a part of a year, but he was in love. I’m sure of that. Only when you’re young can you experience that kind of passion from a short time together. Since he knew he would be leaving the States once his training was done, I think he accelerated all of his emotions and probably knew your mother better than most men could have in such a short time.

  “He said she might be pregnant with you. But he never knew for sure. He would have told me. That’s the way it is when two pilots fly together in some hot situations. You become like brothers.” He paused, trying to hide his guilt for Bobby’s death.

  “So you and him talked about everything?”

  “Yeah. Pretty much.”

  “How ... how did he die?”

  “Callie, I really don’t want to talk about that in much detail. It’s too hard.” He paused for a moment then continued. “He was a hero. We got into a scrap trying to rescue a squad trapped in a jungle ambush. Bobby was firing the Minigun, hosing down the jungle all around us, but one of the greasers, our term for enemy, ran up and threw a grenade through Bobby’s shattered window. Bobby’s side of the helicopter had taken most of the gunfire, but he was okay.” He took a deep breath and slumped a little further, continuing, “Anyway, he unbuckled and went after the grenade. He got it in his hand while the fuse was burning and threw it back out the window, but it was too late. The thing exploded right by him. He was hit and killed immediately. His body protected me. He saved my life. If the fuse lasted another second, I think he would have been all right. I lost my best friend that day, and I think about it all the time.”

  She snuggled next to him when his eyes watered. “Jake, it wasn’t anything you did. It was just what happens in battle. I’m glad you was okay, and I’m glad Bobby was a hero.”

  Helo Down

  He went to bed shortly after that without talking further. In the morning, he left quietly before dawn, careful not to wake her. He’d had one of the best night’s sleep in three decades. Bobby’s daughter said it wasn’t his fault. No one had ever been able to lift that burden. He still felt responsible for Bobby, but the pain was lessened by talking to her openly. He rolled the window down, letting in the temperate morning predawn air. The drive to Will’s house was refreshing.

  As usual, the inside lights went out as he pulled to stop in front of Will’s rental house. He’d barely stopped rolling when the passenger door opened, and Will jumped into the seat beside Jake. “Mornin’, Jake.”

  “Mornin’ to you too, Will. How’s it been going?”

  “Well, sir. I finally got m’ truck running. It needed a wata pump, and the transmission needed flushin’, but it’s now okay to run in the heat, and the transmission shifts better.”

  “Sounds like something a helicopter mechanic could do in his sleep.”

  “Yeah, well. It’s mo’ the money than work to get it goin’.”

  “Yeah, I suppose. Anyway, you can still ride with me if it saves you some cash.”

  “Ah, thanks, Jake. I kinda like the ride in together anyway. Ain’t so borin’ this way, and it makes me get up on time.”

  Jake smiled. He had heard the shop boss say that Will was basically lazy, and they had to watch his work. He didn’t seem interested in learning anything and would probably never get promoted or paid as a full mechanic. “Ho
w’s the job going, Will? We haven’t talked about it much.”

  “Oh, you know. Same old, same old. I keep pluggin’ away and figure I’m doing okay. We’ll see what the boss man says come raise time.”

  Jake felt like giving him some advice but didn’t want to encourage him if he was a slacker. It was better to let the professional mechanics make the call. He didn’t want an incompetent mechanic working on his aircraft.

  Will stared out into the darkness. ”You know Callie and me, we went out while’s you was gone?”

  “Yeah, she told me.” Jake didn’t know what, if anything, else to say. He’d rather that Will stayed away, but he had to work around the guy. He didn’t want to agitate someone who might work on his helicopter, but he didn’t want to embolden him either regarding Callie.

  They pulled into the airfield and turned down the service road to the CHI helicopter hangars. The field itself was uncontrolled (no tower) and had very few commercial operations. It was primarily for recreational flying. CHI didn’t even use the runways, so the only flight rules they needed to observe related to the field’s landing patterns and altitudes. In general, the helicopters all flew in and out of the pattern area below the windward legs of the fixed-wing landing pattern. The pilots still needed to look for aircraft approaching that might be unfamiliar with the pattern rules, but there were few planes coming and going anyway unless it was a busy weekend, or the airport was sponsoring a fly-in