Lonnie had been attempting the spitball his older brother Keith taught him all afternoon with no luck. Vandale was up to bat\u2013or broom, which is what they were using for a bat\u2013and Shug was playing outfield.<\/p>\n
Lonnie squared his shoulders, put on his business face, and let it go. Vandale swung and connected with a crack. The ball soared followed by half the broomstick. Shug went deep for it, ran it down with pounding lungs, and threw it back to Lonnie who ran to tag Vandale, but he was just standing, staring at a Plymouth, easing up the road.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s Judge Foreman doing coming up here?\u201d Shug said. Lonnie watched Vandale and Shug run to the driveway, scattering chickens, as Judge Foreman pulled up and parked. They stood in the swirling dust as the door creaked open and the old man stood and looked at them. He took his hat off and held it in his hands as he stood, as if he were afraid to step away from the open door of the car.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Judge took their momma in a room by himself, while Lonnie and the others waited outside. The girls looked worried, which made Lonnie worried.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you think?\u201d he asked Vandale, who was staring down the front door like he thought he could make it cry.<\/p>\n
Lonnie nudged his brother who shoved him aside. Inside the house, Momma keened. It cut through the air, up Lonnie\u2019s back. Vandale turned and was gone. Lonnie saw Shug watching their elder brother walking away.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d Lonnie asked Shug.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeith,\u201d Shug said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The elderly lined the porch in rocking chairs, kitchen chairs, whatever they could sit on, canes leaned to the side of several, spit cans in their hands as they stared out over the flat farmland surrounding the house. Inside, the aunts and cousins who\u2019d descended on the house wandered from child to child, worrying each in turn. Ever since Judge Foreman handed the telegram to Momma, Lonnie had stayed by her side. Now, he pushed himself from the wall behind her chair and worked his way through the crowd, looking for Vandale and Shug, the oldest two remaining brothers, but with no luck. He went out to the porch to get clear of it all.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou going to enlist, son?\u201d The voice belonged to Great Uncle Elijah, a rheumy man who liked to repeat stories from the War of Northern Aggression as though he\u2019d been alive for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, sir. I\u2019m too young.\u201d Lonnie felt flushed when he said it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, you\u2019ll be old enough soon.\u201d He showed brown, stained teeth.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you,\u201d Lonnie said because it seemed like the thing to say. He stepped down into the vibrant green of the lawn. Off to the side of the house was the flower garden. He headed to it because nobody else seemed to be there.<\/p>\n
It was the one extravagance Momma allowed herself. There were wildflowers she\u2019d cultivated and cuttings from others\u2019 gardens. Lonnie still had the baseball in his pocket. He took it out and gripped it a few times, mimicking spitballs. Keith had been the best pitcher around. And he could run faster than anybody. It didn\u2019t make any sense.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Lonnie heard some noise on the other side of the garden, something soft and animal-like. When he got closer, he heard a girl\u2019s voice, begging.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t go. Not yet,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to.\u201d It was Vandale\u2019s voice. \u201cI have to get those Jap bastards. Besides, it\u2019s too late.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was commotion at the house, and when Lonnie turned back to where Vandale had been, he found his older brother standing, angry, hands on hips.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing out here, Whistlebritches?\u201d Vandale asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking for you,\u201d Lonnie said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking, huh?\u201d He advanced on Lonnie, who fell back. \u201cLooking at what?\u201d The girl was behind Vandale, fixing her dress. Lonnie couldn\u2019t remember her name, but he\u2019d seen her around, before. There were always girls around Vandale and Shug. And Keith, at least there used to be.<\/p>\n
Vandale grabbed Lonnie by the shoulders.<\/p>\n
\u201cLay off!\u201d Lonnie said.<\/p>\n
\u201cVan.\u201d The girl\u2019s voice was quiet and pretty.<\/p>\n
Vandale\u2019s face went hard and then softened. He released Lonnie and ruffled his hair.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s going on at the house?\u201d the girl asked.<\/p>\n
Both boys focused their attention. The judge\u2019s Plymouth was back. When they got a little closer, they could make out the judge with Shug.<\/p>\n
\u201cAw hell,\u201d Vandale said as the two brothers ran for the house.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When Shug found out Vandale had already enlisted, he\u2019d walked into town to sign up, himself. He\u2019d almost made it, even though he was lying about his age, but Judge Foreman caught him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy in hell do you care?\u201d Shug said to him. Momma walked over and slapped Shug on the mouth.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t talk to him that way,\u201d she said, tears sliding down her cheeks. Shug sulled up and kept quiet. \u201cI just wish I could\u2019ve stopped Vandale,\u201d Momma said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s done is done,\u201d Vandale said. Momma glared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeith is a hero, Effie,\u201d the judge said. \u201cVandale\u2019s a good boy. I\u2019m sure he\u2019ll do you proud.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vandale nodded thanks to the judge. Shug pushed past them all and threw the screen door open. Lonnie ran after him, keeping pace as his brother stalked up the driveway and beyond, headed who knew where.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
They followed the road along the levee until it turned toward Wittsburg. Shug left the road and veered west to pace the railroad tracks.<\/p>\n
\u201cReckon Van\u2019ll be a pilot?\u201d Lonnie said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBug off,\u201d Shug said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want to be a pilot or infantry?\u201d Lonnie continued, undaunted. \u201cI bet Van could be an officer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOfficer School?\u201d Shug finally said. \u201cYou take Van for some kind of fruit?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I just mean he could make good, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shug turned on Lonnie. \u201cSay, what are you following me for, huh? I ain\u2019t heading to the Five & Dime.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know. You\u2019re going to hop a train into Memphis so you can enlist, there, where nobody knows you.\u201d<\/p>\n
That shut him up for a second.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou figuring to stop me?\u201d Shug said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGuess so,\u201d Lonnie said. \u201cMaybe we could go see a picture show or something. I got a nickel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shug laughed. \u201cGo home and play stickball, kid.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was my brother too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shug narrowed his eyes, but when Lonnie made no move to leave, Shug finally gave up and started walking again.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The land they passed was all cotton fields and dirt roads. The boys passed black field hands, mostly, with the occasional white one mixed in. There were more white farmers as they neared town. The sun sat highabove them as Shug led his brother to the freight yards.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just two months,\u201d Lonnie pointed out. When Shug didn\u2019t respond, Lonnie added. \u201cUnless you\u2019re scared Van\u2019ll have them all licked by then.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lonnie was on the ground before he realized it with Shug on top of him, swinging again and again. He could hear the thuds as his brother connected, but he couldn\u2019t feel them. He\u2019d entered some other place, and it was only when some railroad workers saw the boys and pulled Shug off, that Lonnie started to register what was happening. Even then, what he noticed first were his brother\u2019s tears. He\u2019d never seen any of his brothers cry, least of all Shug. It scared him. He tried to sit up, but felt an aching pain and realized one of his eyes was swollen shut.<\/p>\n
The men had a hold of Shug, but Lonnie managed to get to his feet and wheeze at them.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet him go,\u201d he said on the third try. \u201cI was asking for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHell, he\u2019s twice as big as you!\u201d One said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s my brother,\u201d Lonnie said. He went to Shug, doubled over. Shug put an arm around him and helped him back up the road, towards home.<\/p>\n
\u201cGuess I did stop you,\u201d Lonnie said as they entered their yard.<\/p>\n
Shug laughed. Lonnie tried to, but it made him spit blood.<\/p>\n
Shug bent and picked up the pieces of the broom. He examined the broken stick and tossed the pieces far into the yard. The two boys looked after it. \u201cI can still go tomorrow,\u201d Shug said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah,\u201d Lonnie said. He drew a deep breath that made his chest rattle. \u201cReckon so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shug climbed onto the porch. A moment later, his brother followed him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When Shug found out Vandale had already enlisted, he\u2019d walked into town to sign up, himself. He\u2019d almost made it, even though he was lying about his age, but Judge Foreman caught him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[972,1358,2763],"class_list":["post-17751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fiction","tag-family","tag-southern-fiction","tag-world-war-2","writer-cl-bledsoe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17751"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17903,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17751\/revisions\/17903"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}