Laura would never.
God, but I wished she had. It’d been six months since I had last seen her. The last time I’d been home, I’dfound out she had pierced her navel, and, fuck, I loved it more than I should’ve. That little pink jewel on her belly had driven me crazy, and now I wondered,What else has she done to change herself? Has she cut her hair? Dyed it?
Two weeks, I told myself.Two weeks, and I’ll see her again.
“Hey, so I was thinking,” Sid started to say, and I groaned, pinching my eyes shut.
“Whyare you still standing there, Corporal?”
“Yeah, I know, sorry, but I wanted to ask you something—"
“Does this have to happennow?” I huffed, dropping the letter to my chest and rolling my head against my pillow to face him.
Why I couldn’t have been stationed with Justin or Greg or Matt, I didn’t know. But I guessed it was fitting. Sid and I were the only ones without any prospect for a future outside of this. Justin and Matt had gotten themselves serious girlfriends in the years I’d known them, and Greg had gotten married to Christy a couple of years ago—as expected—and was anticipating the birth of his first kid. The guy was the same age as me and already had a family while I had my title and a never-ending fling at home.
Sid didn’t have it much better. Arguably, he had it worse, not having anyone but his mom and kid brother waiting for his return.
“So, my mom told me she was heading up to Mass to stay with my uncle for a while,” he said. “You know, the one in Beverly.”
I furrowed my brow. “Okay?” I replied.
“He apparently had a heart attack or some shit and needs triple bypass surgery—"
“Holy shit, Sid. I’m sorry.”
Sid’s uncle was the only relative he’d ever spoken about, outside of his mom and brother. I knew how close they were.
He shrugged like it didn’t matter, but the hurt was evident in his eyes. “Yeah, well, you wouldn’t be surprised if you saw the guy. Dude goeshamon dirty water dogs every time he comes down to the city. But, anyway, since we’re being discharged at the same time and we’ll be in the same area—"
“No,” I said, immediately picturing Sid Sprague all over one or both of my sisters. “No way.”
He threw his arms up. “What?! Dude, come on! I’m not asking to, like,stay togetheror something. I just thought we could chill. Maybe you could meet my mom and little bro, and I could—"
“You’re not meeting my sisters.”
He frowned, stepping back as if I’d just slapped him. “I wasn’t even talking about your sisters, man. I was thinking—"
“No fucking way are you meeting Laura,” I interrupted with a warning glare.
Sid huffed and waved a dismissive hand. “Fine, whatever. I thought we could hang out or something, but never mind. Forget I said anything.”
“Don’t take it person—"
“No, no, no, Maximillian. Don’t you worry about little ol’ me. I’ll just wander the streets of Massachusettsalone. I don’t need you, even if you are my best buddy in the entire world.”
He climbed onto his bunk as I lifted the letter again, rolling my eyes and muttering, “Shut up, asshole. Best buddy in the entire world … what the hell …”
“You don’t think you’re my best friend? Really? Well, fuck you too, Serg. Gonna look up your address and drop a deuce on your front lawn—how ‘bout that?”
“Doesn’t matter. I won’t be there anyway.”
I unfolded the sheet of paper, the scent of her sweet, fruity perfume wafting from between the lines.
“Oh, no? Where you going? On a hot little sexcapade with Laura?” he teased, bumping the bottom of my mattress with his fist.
“No,” I muttered absentmindedly, scanning the first few lines. “I stay with Ricky …”
Max,
