“Alexander.” Mom starts sobbing, hiding her face in her hands. Dad steps next to her and wraps his arm around her as her knees buckle. I grimace at my brother because she used his full name. It's never good when Mom uses his full name.
“Do you boys actually think you’re ready for this?” Dad’s voice is exhausted, his face drawn. He still looks mad, almost menacing. Mom’s breath hitches in her throat.
“We do, sir,” Jesse answers, his voice full of conviction. I peer up at their faces and see nothing but determination. Their bodies are radiating with suppressed energy and a fierceness I can’t understand. I know what happened today is not okay. I understand that people were hurt and that everyone is mad or sad.
My gaze shifts to my brother, my protector and my whole world. I want to be just like him. He’s the coolest person I know. I don’t want him to leave, but I can see how excited he is. Eventhough I’m going to miss him, his excitement is contagious. I smile with them, not against them. My brother’s going to be a soldier. A hero. A warrior.
Chapter 1
Colt, age 10
Racing my bike down the driveway, I pump my legs until my calf muscles burn, determined to hit that jump higher than Zane. The minute my tire hits the board, I feel a second of panic and know there is no way out of this now. I force my eyes to stay open and focus on what is ahead of me. I feel my body go airborne, and my heart swoops down into my stomach.
“Show off!” I hear Zane yell from behind me and a smile tugs at my lips. I land perfectly on the ramp as my handlebars jar under my palms. Laughing, I turn back around to face him.
“Want to go again?” My brow rises. My adrenaline is pumping overtime and I can’t help that my words sound a bit winded.
Zane shakes his shaggy blond hair from his eyes. “Nah, man, I got to head home. My mom and dad are going out tonight. I have to be home for the babysitter.”
“Eww.” I scrunch my nose just thinking about it.
“Hey, who’s that?” He nods his head to someone behind me. I turn around just as a huge orange moving truck pulls up to thecurb, with a van full of people behind it. They must be excited because their voices can be heard from outside the vehicle.
“No idea,” I answer my friend, shrugging. A flash of heat sears the back of my neck, and my hand instantly rises to soothe it. My head turns back toward the van where a man, woman, and three kids, two girls and a boy, are now standing and looking at the house. I eye each of them and determine they must be the new family my mom said would be moving in this weekend. One of the girls and the boy look younger than I am. The boy has a blanket clutched in his fist even. The other girl, though, looks like she could be my age. I watch her for longer than I mean to. She’s dressed in a pair of jean overalls and a red tank top. Her long brown hair falls to the middle of her back and is in one of those fancy braids my mom is always trying to do with her hair. A French braid, I think she calls it.
“Must be new,” I hear Zane mutter next to me, bringing my attention back to him and off the new family.
“Guess so,” I reply and nod for him to help me bring the plywood into our shed, so I don’t get in trouble for leaving it in the driveway again. Last time Dad threatened to whoop my butt, and at ten years old, I do not want to be getting a spanking anymore.
“Are you guys still heading to Motley tomorrow?” Zane asks. I nod in response, while leaning my bike against the outside of the shed.
“Yeah, Mom is really excited to see the baby again.” I lift my shoulders, not really understanding her adoration for Alex’s son. He’s two weeks old now and all he did the last time I saw him was cry, poop and sleep. He’s cute with a full head of dark curly hair like his mom’s, but that’s about it.
When Alex left for boot camp, his girlfriend, Caitlyn, cried every day and became a permanent fixture at our home for the first thirteen weeks he was gone. When he got back, he found outhe would be stationed at Camp Pendleton in California. Caitlyn cried again and they left the house to talk. For almost three hours, my parents were in and out of the house, acting nervous and giving each other weird looks. Alex and Caitlyn came back and announced they were engaged and were going to wait to have the wedding until after Alex was home on leave. Caitlyn was in college and wanted to finish school as well. My parents seemed relieved the rest of the night and I was told that Caitlyn was going to be my sister.
One year later, Alex finally came home for the first time between his deployments. He’d been to Afghanistan and was going to be heading to Iraq. He and Caitlyn had a huge fight while he was home. Everyone kept saying Alex was different, but I didn’t see it. He wouldn’t listen to his music very loud anymore, said his ears were sensitive, but that was it. He spent more time with me than anyone else, so I wasn’t complaining. We played catch most nights and he taught me how to build the jumps for my bike so that I could get the most air. It was harder when he left after that time. I miss Alex. I miss hanging out with him and listening to him and the guys talk. Even though I never know what they’re talking about. Since they all enlisted, I haven’t seen them around either. Jesse stopped by one year at Christmas to drop off gifts but that was it.
Even though Alex and Caitlyn had been fighting, they still were together and going forward with planning their wedding. Almost a year ago, Caitlyn came to our home with a gift for my parents. She and Alex surprised them with T-shirts that announced they were going to be grandparents. My mom was happy and cried nonstop while hugging Caitlyn. My dad just patted her shoulder. Now I have a nephew, Alexander Junior, named after my brother. I call him AJ for short, so it’s easier not to get mixed up. Caitlyn and AJ live in a small town calledMotley, not too far from where we are. She moved in with her parents, so they could help care for AJ while she finishes school.
“Is it weird being an uncle when you’re ten?” Zane asks, smirking. “My uncles are all old. I think my mom said Uncle Dan was thirty.”
My shoulders lift again. “I don’t know. As long as I can teach him to play football someday, it’s fine.”
“Yeah, I guess,” Zane agrees with me. We walk back out to my driveway before he hops on his bike and pedals off down the road.
I take a few deep breaths. It’s fall and the leaves are scattering all over the ground. I love this time of year, though. Football season is always my favorite. Dad and I watch Sunday Night Football every weekend. Since Alex left, it’s become our tradition.
I peek at our new neighbors again. This time, the girl is riding her bike in circles in her driveway, a huge smile plastered on her face. The younger girl is trailing behind her and shrieking with laughter. I fight a smile that is threatening to tug at my lips, watching them. I notice her bike is turquoise and glittery with band stickers covering the frame.
My feet start to move toward their house and I have the crazy idea to say hi and introduce myself. We live in a small town and I’m eventually going to see her at school anyway. My body stops abruptly when a black town car pulls up in front of our house. The windows are tinted black and I can’t see who’s inside. My feet shuffle back instinctively. The collar on my faded baseball T-shirt suddenly feels too tight.
Two guys dressed in their Marine blues step out and walk around the front of the car. I instantly recognize Jesse, Alex’s best friend. The minute our gazes meet, I see the tears swimming in his eyes. He looks to the other guy, nodding, before getting down on one knee in front of me, so we’re eye level.
“Hey, Colt,” he says, his voice scratchy.
“What’s going on?” I ask, peering around his shoulder looking back to the car. “Is Alex with you?”
“I’m so sorry, buddy,” he answers, his head lowering, while his whole body visibly shakes. I want to run into the house, but instead, I reach out my hand and rest it on his shoulder, right as a sob escapes his mouth.
