“Really, Jack, you didn’t waste any time coming to see her after Cannon told you to stay away from her,” Em said as they jogged along.
“I had to come see her, Em. I couldn’t just ignore her. I already told her I would come see her every chance I got,” Jack said this in short bursts because they were both becoming breathless.
“What are we running for?” Jack asked. “The president’s speech is over already.”
“We have to get back before the flight is out of the chow hall.” Em panted a few times and resumed his one, two, three, four breathing pattern.
“What? Cannon doesn’t know that I wasn’t there?” Jack had already begun to smile. “How’d ya pull that off?”
“I never did anything. Cannon never really looked at us. He just stared at the radio. The speech was about the Allies. We’re not stopping until we get to Berlin. Cannon looked like he wanted to puke—”
“Oh yeah,” Jack interrupted. “Check this out. Cannon and Roth have been friends for more than twenty years. Colonel Roth was Lieutenant Roth, and Sergeant Cannon was just a kid, but he was already in the army. Cannon introduced Roth to his future wife, who just happened to be Cannon’s sister. Yeah!”
Em was starting to believe that Cannon had been right when he said things were now going to be moving fast. He knew, in his mind, that there was no possibility of turning down the assignment. He also could not wait to go. Nothing else had entered his mind since he had left the barracks. With each minute that passed, the desire for adventure overwhelmed him. He had a chance to perhaps really make a difference somehow. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to go. The feeling was exhilarating and at the same time petrifying. He would be virtually alone, depending solely upon himself. He knew he would have Jack and Colonel Roth, but he had never been entirely apart from his family and friends. He felt something inside himself as he jogged along. It was power. He also felt desire like nothing he had ever felt before. He longed for this journey to begin.
“Hey.” Jack poked Em in his side. “Are you listening to me?”
“What? I heard you. So what? We knew that they knew each other,” Em said.
“You didn’t hear what I said after that,” Jack replied.
“What?” Em stopped jogging and began to walk at a leisurely pace.
Jack was not even breathing hard when he began to stroll. “Cannon saved the colonel’s life.” Jack began again. “But don’t ask me how. That’s when you interrupted us.” Jack told this lie with as much ease as his others, but Em really had interrupted something extremely important.
They approached the chow hall as the flight was starting to trickle out. Things sure had loosened up around here in the past thirty-six hours. Jack and Em walked into their area unnoticed by all, except for two. Larry was glaring at Jack out of his one good eye. Jack paid no attention. He was looking for Cannon. Corby came over to where they were standing. He was smiling as usual.
“That was beautiful, Jack. Really. That little Nazi deserved it. I don’t know what he was thinking. What he said to her and what he told me he was going to say to her surely weren’t the same thing. He didn’t mean any of it though. He was just trying to get back at you.” Corby said all this with one breath and then held his breath waiting on Jack’s reply.
Jack just grinned and said, “I really never intended to mess him up, but he’s like a cockroach. He just kept coming back.”
“I know,” Corby said. “But that can be a good thing too, right? I really think that he would prefer to be your friend, but he just doesn’t know how. I don’t know. Don’t hold it against him, Jack. He really is a good kid. You know, I’ll make sure he apologizes to you and that girl. And who is she by the way?” Corby still had a way of putting people at ease. It was a trait Em was envious of.
“I don’t care about an apology, and I really don’t want him near Meredith,” Jack said.
“You’re not sure you want who talking to Meredith, son?” Cannon appeared from behind them and stopped directly in front of Jack. “What are you yelping about? I’m quite sure that Ms. Roth is none of your concern. I thought I made that perfectly clear. Need I reiterate?” Cannon remained calm.
“No, sir,” Jack replied.
“But just to satisfy my curiosity, who is it that you don’t want talking to my niece?” Cannon was staring at Jack with penetrating eyes.
“I didn’t want you to talk to her, sir. You see, I saw her again today.” At that point, Cannon twitched just a bit, but it was enough to make Jack flinch. “Accidentally, I mean. I went to round up the flight, and I ran into her. I told her that I couldn’t see her again. She said she would talk to you and make you understand, and I told her that I did not want her to. I really want to do the right thing. I know our new jobs are important, and I want to support our troops on the front in any way I can.”
Jack once again mystified Em. He could almost smell flowers whenever Jack dug the pits into which he entrapped himself. When he told his lies, the truth was all the recipient heard. Before his tales were spun, he would ascend from the pit smelling of flowers. Em looked at Cannon and saw that he believed every word of it. As long as Larry kept his mouth shut, which he undoubtedly would, Jack would emerge unscathed, once again.
Cannon did not seem completely happy with the events that had taken place, but he understood teenagers and ultimately decided to table the entire conversation. Instead, he formed them up in ranks and put them at attention. The flight had never seemed as motionless. They stood at attention while Cannon walked in circles, twenty feet away. After two minutes, he turned to them and said, “At ease, guys, and listen up.”
Cannon began by telling them how important the previous days’ events had been. He said that, indeed, June 6, 1944, would be a day that would never be forgotten. He told them to forget all the little problems that seemed insurmountable. He said to pay attention to those around you because they would definitely be your best friends at some point during this war. He also said the guy beside you would be your family. The flight had never listened so closely. Cannon told them to be prepared because this was going to be the quickest growing up in the history of mankind. Before he got too emotional, he stopped. Then, to their astonishment, he brought them to attention and proceeded to march them around the base for over an hour. At least ten men, who had spent the afternoon eating, fell out of ranks to vomit but quickly rejoined and continued to march. By the end of the march, each of them had learned a great deal. Em believed that Cannon had seen bad times and knew the face of war too well. Now, he had to watch thousands of eighteen-year-old boys go to war.
The evening ended quietly, with members of their flight remaining eerily quiet. Reality was beginning to set in. Barely anyone spoke. Even Corby had held his tongue uncharacteristically. Each of them either lay quietly on their bunk or wandered around speaking to friends in rather-low tones. Corby just lay motionless on his bunk, eyes open, looking at nothing in particular.
Jack sat, looking at Em. Em was writing. “Honestly, Em, what in the world do you say to her? You never stop with the writing.”
“Nothing really,” he said. “I just tell her about the things going on around here. I mean, I can’t tell her some things, and I hate that. I told her I would never lie to her, but I’ve already broken that promise. So I just tell her about all of you guys. She already has you pegged. She has told me, more than once, that you sound like trouble
