Johnny Gets His Wings

Chapter 9

Bradley entered the house with a scowl on his face, and at first he didn't even look at me. It's almost like I wasn't there. He greeted Officer Ken with a firm handshake and told his wife to fix him a strong Martini with just a smidge of vermouth. And that was the exact word he used. A smidge. Then he sat in the biggest chair in the living room and lifted his one good leg onto a leather footstool.

Darlene immediately scampered into the kitchen in order to make his cocktail like a dutiful wife. She had a great ass for an old lady. But once again, I tried my best not to stare. The last thing I wanted to do was piss off the colonel with my impolite behavior. He was holding my future in the palm of his hand.

He remained silent until Darlene brought him the joy juice. Then he sucked down half the glass with a single swallow before releasing a huge sigh.

"Let me tell you something, Johnny Seleck. I've always respected you since the day I met you."

"Thank you, sir."

"I know that you're one of those at-risk kids who hasn't been pampered like the other little douchebags at Saint Mary's."

"I never thought of myself as being at-risk. There are lots of people worse off than me."

He lit a cigarette and blew the smoke in my direction. This prompted Officer Ken to light up, too. He also blew the smoke in my direction.

The colonel pointed at me. "Trust me. You're firmly behind the eight-ball, so you have to be very careful in the future. Your father has a myriad of problems. He drinks too much. He doesn't have a dime to his name. And, worst of all, he can't seem to keep his dick in his pants." He rolled his eyes and took another sip from his glass. "Maybe the alcohol is rotting his brain. Drunks aren't good at making wise decisions."

I'm not going to lie. His words sort of pissed me off. But he wasn't telling any stories. Dad certainly was fighting his demons. Yet he was all I had in this world, and I loved the son of a bitch for all his faults.

The colonel continued. "And let's not forget your mother. That woman is crazier than a goddamn bedbug. Spending sixteen years in that lunatic asylum you call a house couldn't have been easy. Yet you've always carried yourself with an appropriate amount of dignity and good humor. Maybe being such a handsome motherfucker helps you to keep your head on straight."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I've never really thought about it. And it's not like the females are lining up to date me. If the truth be known, I've never had a girlfriend in my entire life."

Officer Ken chuckled loudly. "Never had a girlfriend and a high school dropout to boot. Maybe we'd be doing him a favor by sticking his sorry ass in jail."

Darlene held up her hands in protest. "Remember that you're speaking to a child. So there's no excuse for the insults and the rough language, gentlemen."

The colonel polished off his drink. "You're right, Darlene. There's no excuse. But I'm just trying to teach the boy a lesson."

"Well, I think you can get your point across without resorting to the f-word."

Officer Ken came to his friend's rescue. "The colonel is doing this kid a huge favor by not pressing charges. Maybe this punk needs to hear a few f-words to keep him out of the soup in the future."

Bradley frowned and gazed at me intently. "No, she's right. I need to clean up my language." He took a huge pull from his cigarette before continuing his educational lesson. "Common sense, little boy, is a big freaking deal. And you don't possess a lick of it. But that's OK because I'm not good in that department, either. That's how I lost my leg. Do you follow me?"

"Not really."

"I got sick as a dog when I was in Baghdad. I was suffering from projectile vomiting and running a fever of 104. I thought I was dying, but the medical team pulled off a minor miracle. Yet I was far from a hundred percent when I checked myself out of the sickbay. The doctors kept telling me that I needed another couple of days to get back on my feet, but I refused to listen to a word they said. I had to be Billy Bad-Ass."

Officer Ken said, "Don't be too rough on yourself, Colonel. The men were relying on you."

"That might be true, yet I wasn't fit for duty. Anyway, I went out on a routine patrol, but I was sloppy and reeling like a drunkard. And that when I stepped on that fucking IED. If I had listened, I'd be walking on two legs today as a full-bird colonel rather than hobbling about as a teacher at a Podunk school in Louisiana. Common sense! If you don't have enough of it, you can end up getting maimed like me or even killed."