Chapter 60

I got up and went on my morning run. My outlook was pretty good, it was the 2nd of March only about two weeks or so left. Even with pushing myself, it was still easy to clear my mind and contemplate things. Finishing my run, my times had been improving steadily and I had brought it down to about 7 minutes. I got ready for a meeting with Ms. Daniels about graduating early.

Later that morning, my meeting with Ms. Daniels went well and she gave me a packet of papers that I would need to fill out.

“So Barnim, it would be preferable that you get the paperwork back to me later today. My friend says that it could be processed by the 19th and at that point it would just need to be signed by you and the administrator of the school district. You could have your diploma in a day or two, although you’d need to pay for expedited shipping.”

“That won’t be a problem.”

“Right. So, get the paperwork back to me today. It’s not like you have a tough schedule.”

“Ha, Ha. Very funny.”

“Now go to class.”

I got everything filled out and returned it to Ms. Daniels before the end of the day. That reminded me that I needed to make a few phone calls when I got home.

1st Sgt Gibbs slacked off a bit on the comments during class. He did give me two dates I needed to remember. 10th would be our last lunch together, and then the 15th was going to be when I tested out of the second semester of NJROTC. I reassured him that I’d be ready, and that there would be no issue of me passing the test and uniform inspection.

As soon as I got home it was time to burn the phone lines up. Bob was my first call, and there was a little bit of a surprise when I was put through to his office.

“Hello, Barnim.”

“How are you doing Bob?”

“Good.”

“Hello Barnim.”

“Is that you Mr. Roth?”

“It is.”

“Well, hello to you as well. I wasn’t expecting a conference call.”

“Since meeting you the first time, I’ve invested a good bit of time in you, and it’ll be interesting to watch you turn into the man I believe you’ll become.”

“I appreciate that. The two of you should be happy, as I’m about to give you two some billable hours.”

“I figured you’d be calling soon. Everything will be ready by the 19th.”

“Thanks Bob. Is Mr. Roth up to speed on everything?”

“Not sure. We’ll sit down and discuss our biggest pain in the ass to make sure he is.”

“I appreciate all you two have done for me. Oh ... and please don’t kill me with the billable hours too bad if you can.”

“Oh, you’re not getting off that easy. We’ll get everything ready.”

“Thanks, you two have a great day.”

I then made a call to Heidi and Miriam making appointments on the 20th to see both of them and get everything set up. I’d see Bob and Mr. Roth first thing, then go to the bank to get that squared away. After lunch it would be seeing Miriam and Heidi. I’d need to see Buddy about the storage unit. The last thing of the day would be to see the recruiters.

We had dinner that evening, and Mom dropped a bit of surprising news on me. It seemed the grandparents were going to be down for my birthday. Stosh also called her; he was taking leave and going to be down for that weekend. It would appear that I was going to have some back up when I had my conversation with Mom.

The next week or so went by quickly.

Ms. Daniels let me know the paperwork was good and everything would be ready to go on the 19th. Mom was starting to get relentless about when the college acceptance letters would arrive. Telling her they probably show up soon was starting to wear thin. She didn’t think it was funny when I said that they’d be denial letters instead.

I woke up the morning of the 10th knowing it would be my last lunch with 1st Sgt Gibbs and after today, I’d only have one day left working at the Feed and Seed.

I decided I that there were four more people that needed a bottle of alcohol for helping me. Mr. Pope would be able to tell me what 1st Sgt Gibbs drank and vice versa. Arlo was already there when I pulled into the parking lot. The kid was a hard worker and had picked things up fairly quick, although I was still a bit leery of him on the forklift.

Mr. Pope pulled me into the office about an hour after opening.

“I’m going to leave to run some errands. You’ll be in charge until my sister gets here before you leave. By the way, you’re supposed to meet the 1st Sgt at Tex’s BBQ.”

“Got it. Let the place burn down after Arlo punches a hole in the wall with the forklift. I’m on it boss.”

“Very funny. Just know that if that happens, I’ll make sure your death is as painfully and slow as possible.”

“Got it.”

With that, he left. Things were quiet until his sister Lorabelle showed up. If I was her, I’d shoot whoever gave me that name. She seemed nice enough.

It was about a 15-minute drive to the restaurant. Georgia BBQ is fairly simple. It’s based around one type of meat, pork and a bunch of side dishes.

When you got a BBQ plate in Georgia, it was pulled pork, a few slices of white bread and sauce. Then it was what sides you wanted Brunswick stew, collard greens, coleslaw, potato salad or mac and cheese. You always got the ever-present cornbread as well.

Texas BBQ is all about the meats, but generally centered around the brisket, the king of BBQ meat in my opinion. Then it was ribs, sausage, and chicken with a side or two thrown in.

Tex’s BBQ billed itself as the only real BBQ restaurant in Henry County. It was a Texas-style BBQ, that led to some interesting conversations between people in and out of the restaurant. When I walked in, I knew I was screwed. 1st Sgt Gibbs and Mr. Pope were standing there waiting for me.

“Nice to see you finally arrived.”

“Nice to see you as well 1st Sgt.”

“The store still standing?”

“Well Mr. Pope, you know how big of a NASCAR fan Arlo is. I told him when he was on the forklift to pretend he was Dale Earnhardt, and the warehouse was Atlanta Motor Speedway.”

“You didn’t?”

“Nope. Everything was fine until your sister showed up.”

“Thank God. Let’s get a table.”

Looking at the menu, there was a consensus that we didn’t need to get any appetizers due to the amount of meat that was about to be consumed.

Both of them looked at me like I was crazy when I passed up sweet tea for lemonade. Sweet tea in the south will give you diabetes, from just looking at it. There should be the phrase “Sweet Tea Mouth” for what it does to the teeth of people in the south. I looked at Mr. Pope.

“What has 10 legs and 6 teeth?”

After a moment he responded. “I have no idea.”

“Third shift at the Waffle House.”

I thought they both would fall out of their chairs from laughing so hard. It took a couple of minutes for them to regain their composure.

“That’s why I leave sweet tea alone.”

They came and got our order. We all got the “everything bigger in Texas” platter, which was 1lb of brisket, and a 1 1/2 lbs of ribs, smoked chicken and smoked sausage. Along with that came baked beans, coleslaw, and white bread. I’d be working this meal off for a few days, though it was worth it.

1st Sgt Gibbs explained why he wanted to have Mr. Pope join us for lunch. Today’s discussion was going to be about personal experiences and he figured another person’s view would be good. Mr. Pope started off the conversation.

“Barnim, we both think that you’ll make a fine Marine, and I don’t think you’ll do anything too stupid to ruin that potential. There’s a lot of things that seem kind of innocent that will end up making your life difficult. That’s what we’re going to discuss today.”

Some rolls and butter were brought out and we started grazing on those. It was a minute or two before 1st Sgt Gibbs started up.

“So, the first thing is personal relationships. I’ve already told you don’t marry strippers. Well, don’t get in relationships with them either. You can have sex with them, just be prepared to possibly get a STD. The other thing you need to watch out for are Tag Bunnies. There are two types of these women. The first just want to have sex with anyone in the military or a specific service. It’ll be a good time, but a STD is a real possibility as well.”

Mr. Pope decided to chime in.

“That means you’ll more than likely get an STD. You could possibly get it fixed with antibiotics or it could be with you for the rest of your life. Worst case scenario, your dick falls off.”

“Really? I may be 17 but I’m not dumb enough to believe that.”

“Well, it won’t fall off, but you’ll wish it would.”

The food was brought out and there was a break in the conversation while we strapped on the feed bags. 1st Sgt Gibbs began again as we were knuckle deep in smoked meats.

“So, Mr. Pope has a unique way of putting things bluntly and not very tactfully. Though he isn’t completely wrong. The second type of tag chaser is the one looking to get access to the benefits you receive. A lot of times these are either pregnant woman or single mothers looking to trap an unsuspecting young Marine. We’re not saying don’t have a good time, just be careful and protect yourself.”

“I get it. I do my best to protect myself and I’m not looking to get married anytime soon.”

We finished eating and continued the conversation. This time it was Mr. Pope’s turn.

“So, the other thing you need to worry about is ruining yourself financially. Young service members do this to themselves in a different couple of ways. It ultimately comes down to one thing, living beyond your means.”

“Well, that’s one thing that I’m pretty good about.”

“It’s good to say that, though when everyone around you is getting all this cool stuff you can get swept into the trend. The big one is guys buying a new car. There is always car lots around military bases that target young soldiers with cool sports cars, big pickup trucks. The interest rates are completely outrageous.”

“I have a truck that’s paid for, so...”

“Stop interrupting me. Depending on where you are stationed at, you can’t take it with you. I got burned on a 1974 Monte Carlo Landau coupe. They got me so much on the interest it’s not even funny.”

“Nice car.”

“It was. The other thing you need to watch out for is credit cards. You’ll start getting offers pretty much as soon as you finish SOI (School of Infantry) and get to your first duty station. Between cars and credit cards young junior enlisted have a propensity to overextend themselves to where they don’t have much money after their bills get paid. It will also put you in a big hole for the long run.”

That gave me an idea on another potential extra source of revenue although I thought it could be a potentially touchy subject.

“So, what do you guys think about loaning money to other enlisted at super low interest rates for a side hustle?”

“NO!”

“HELL NO!!”

They both answered at the same time. 1st Sgt Gibbs leaned forward across the table towards me.

“Are you really that stupid? That will only solidify and broadcast the thought that you’re some silver-spoon having asshole. You’d have to be willing to push a short-term gain for ruining the work you’ll be putting in for a career. Like I said before, just be yourself, work hard and things will be OK.”

“Got it.”

Mr. Pope then explained a lot about the infantry. The 15-minute conversation boiled down to a couple of things. Time in the infantry was going to be a blast figuratively and literally. Blowing shit up and shooting cool guns while getting paid was a dream job. You’d work with and get to know some of the best and most depraved people in the world. Finally, the longer you spent in the infantry, the more likely you were to have one or multiple parts of your body that would end up permanently fucked. It was most likely going to be your back or legs and your hearing would be shot.

We sat around bullshitting for a few more minutes before calling it a day

The next week of school went by as normal, except for Wednesday.

I took my exam to test out of the second semester of NJROTC. The exam took longer than expected as 1st Sgt Gibbs added a lot of stuff that wasn’t covered in the textbooks but was in his handouts and also included stuff that I needed to know for boot camp.

The uniform inspection wasn’t too bad as I only had a couple of minor issues. I got him to admit that Mr. Pope was a fan of Wild Turkey 101 bourbon. I didn’t think I’d be able to find out the rest, so I made a call to Grandfather. He’d find out for me. It was at that point he let it slip that there would be a going away party for me. He usually never let things slip like that, so it had to be on purpose.

The next day I got my run in before school and the run time was drastically down. It was just a bit over 7 minutes this morning.

At school, I got my score on the NJROTC final, I did slightly better than I thought with a 97.

Getting home from school I was greeted by Stosh sitting at the kitchen table.

“So, you ready for things to completely change over the weekend?”

“Things have been changing for the past two years, this is just a continuation. I can’t remember which Greek philosopher said, but the only constant in life is change.”

“True, although I think it was Benjamin Franklin who expounded on it. Change is the only constant in life, one’s ability to adapt to those changes will determine your success in life.”

“Very sage advice. So how was your trip down, I didn’t expect you until tomorrow.?”

“Grandparents sprang for a plane ticket. An additional birthday present.”

“So, you’re fresh as a daisy, seeing as no drive?”

“Yep.”

Randy decided to walk in from the garage at that moment. To say there was shock plastered on his face would be an understatement. I decided to continue fucking with him, and Stash decided to join in. Though in all reality Stosh’s retort had no teeth.

“So, as you know I’ll be 18 on Sunday. If you’d like to join me outside on Sunday morning, I’ll finally give you the ass kicking you’ve been asking for a while. I’m hoping you’ll say yes, plus it’ll be no longer be assaulting a minor, and I won’t press charges after I beat your ass.”

That’s when Stosh decided to chime in.

“I’m already over 18, so how about we go outside right now?”

All we got was a fuck you as Randy walked out of the kitchen and I turned to look at the stairs as he went down.

“You do realize if he’d taken you up on your offer, that you’d only have had a 50/50 shot of winning.”

“Fuck you.”

“Wanna go outside?”

“Again, fuck you. Plus, I not an idiot like JJ.”

“Good choice.”

I got a drink from the fridge and as I was about to shut the door, Stosh piped up again.

“Pour me a glass. You ready for your talk with Mom? “

“It’s not that conversation that I’m worried about. The conversation with Erin is the one that scares me the most.”

“So, it’s a 10 yr old that scares you more than the lady who has a propensity to beat her children?”

“Yes, it is.”

“I kind of agree with you.”

“So how long are you here for?”

“I leave Tuesday morning as I could only afford to use two days of leave. David is coming to stay with me for a week in June, so I’m saving leave so that I can take that week off.”

“That’s cool. Glad things turned out halfway decent with the whole thing.”

“Yeah, Mr. Carrigan is awesome and worth every penny. The new guy Mr. Roth seems OK.”

“They’re both awesome stand-up guys. So, when are the grandparents supposed to get in?”

“About an hour or so, their flight is scheduled to land about 6:45 PM.”

“Good. Seeing as you are here till Tuesday, you can help me move to put my stuff in storage on Monday.”

“So, I’m just here to be your menial labor?”

“Pretty much. I sure as hell don’t keep you around for your looks or brains.”

“Oh, you wound me to the core.”

It was pretty much how it went; we insulted each other until everyone showed up. It was a pretty sedate evening by our family’s standard. Grandmother and Grandfather went to their hotel soon after dinner was over. Everybody called it an early night.

Waking up on Saturday, I decided no runs this weekend. After breakfast, Stosh and I headed to the U-Haul in Stockbridge.

I needed some boxes to put my stuff in, so we picked up 15 large moving boxes. I hoped that this would be enough, as I didn’t have a lot to pack. I then decided that there was one more thing that I needed to procure before I was comfortable leaving on the next stage of this grand journey, a safety deposit box.

I didn’t feel good about leaving certain papers in the storage unit, it just seemed prudent to have them separate in a safety deposit box. I was actually able to find a place in Atlanta, Atlanta Security Vaults. It seemed like a pretty high security facility. I’d go see them Monday. I also wanted to pick up something special that required a trip to Walmart.

We met the grandparents for lunch. There was a conversation about how to deal with Mom and it was Grandmother that came up with the final plan.

There was going to be a birthday breakfast in the morning. When everyone was done eating, she would take the kids into the front room. Then the conversation would happen, though I figured that it would turn into shouting match from Mom’s end.

I dropped Stosh off at the house so he could get the rental and spend some time with his kid while I went down to the archery store in Jackson for an archery lesson. I’d gone down a couple times for lessons since the bow came in. I was pretty much a sure shot out to about 15 yards and was getting better at further distances. While I was there, I spent some money on a decent, hard travel case.

When I got home, Mom asked what I wanted for my birthday day dinner, and I went for surf and turf. Everybody showed up for 6 o’clock mass. We had another quiet dinner, with the grandparents going to their hotel early again. It was going to be a long day tomorrow.

Waking up, I realized it was the 19th and I was now 18 yrs old. Then it hit me what was going to happen in about an hour. Mom was not going to be happy, then again that was probably an understatement.

I made my way down to the kitchen where the birthday breakfast was getting underway. Grandmother and Mom were getting all the food ready to go. Grandmother was the first one to see me as I came through the doorway.

“So, what do you want for breakfast then birthday boy?”

“How about 3 dip eggs and a lot of bacon.”

“Grab some juice and have a seat.”

Grandmother had her usual Portuguese coffee ready, but there was a new twist. Seems Grandfather had read that drinking different types of juice was good for your health. So, we had pineapple, grapefruit, OJ and mango juice on the counter. This allowed me to have something that became popular in the first go around. A mix of OJ with either mango or pineapple juice. I had a small glass of each mixture and then there was a coffee waiting at my place at the table.

Stosh came in just before the bacon had finished cooking. I was actually surprised when Randy joined us for the breakfast celebration.

I got up to make my toast as the eggs were cooking. The toast had a lot of butter to where it was almost soaked in butter; everybody thought it was strange. My dip eggs had a specific way to be eaten. Using a fork, a slit was put in the yolk. Then pieces of toast were dipped into the delicious yellow liquid. I always made an extra piece of toast or two. The leftover part of the egg was added along with bacon to make an egg sandwich. It was two meals in one, dip eggs and egg sandwiches.

It was about 9:45AM when breakfast was over. Grandmother rounded up the injuns and headed out of the kitchen. I was having a hard time figuring out how to start things. Grandfather just decided to get things started.

“Lilka, you need to come over here. Barnim needs to talk to you.”

“So, what is this about?”

“Sit down and listen before you go rambling on.”

He looked at me, guess there was no backing out now. Mom looked like a deer in the headlights as she sat down. I was guessing that I did as well, best plan was to just put everything out there.

“Thanks for the setup.”

“Well, you needed a push.”

“What the hell are you two going on about?”

Grandfather decided to chime in.

“Polish, this needs to be between the people at the table. Just hold your tongue until he’s done”

“Fine, let’s get this over with.”

My sentiments exactly. I just jumped straight into it.

“Well, Mother, I’m not going to school. As of Monday...”

“You are out of your fucking mind! As long as you live in this house you’re going to school. I don’t know what kind of bullshit you think is going to go on.”

“Well Mother, first of all, my virgin ears can’t take that type of language.”

Grandfather and Stosh burst out laughing and just couldn’t stop. I was shocked that I was able to say it with a straight face. Mom was stunned into silence. So, I continued.

“As for me going to school if I live in this house, well that’s not going to be a problem much longer. Within two weeks I’ll be moving out.”

She hadn’t said anything else. Grandfather leaned forward in his chair watching her. It was way too quiet, so I continued.

“Tomorrow I’m going down to school and graduating. I have enough credits and I’ll get a diploma in a couple of days. Then I have some stuff to take care. Moving my stuff out of the house is one and then I’m going down to the Recruiting Office and enlisting in the Marine Corps.”

We were quietly waiting for her response; it was the calm before the storm. I could see the vein in her neck throbbing. It took a minute for the damn to burst.

“You’re out of your fucking mind! You’re going to college. Stop being an idiot and come to your senses. I won’t let you ruin your life. You can just forget all this bullshit you’re talking about.”

I sat up preparing to lay into her but felt a hand on my shoulder.

“Lilka, you need to calm down. Barnim is 18 and to be honest, there isn’t a thing you can do about it.”

Grandfather stepping in was out of the norm. We were usually left to defend ourselves.

“I distinctly remember you doing something that I was adamantly against when you graduated. You did it even though I opposed it.”

Well, this was a unique twist, something I’d never heard about. I now wanted to know what this was all about.

“You put off going to work to drive around the country with your best friend. I opposed you doing it, but you did it anyway. Barnim isn’t doing anything with friends, he’s advancing his life and setting himself for the future. You need to realize this and support him.”

This must have made something click in Mom’s head. She then proceeded to attack all three of us.

“So, the two of you knew about this asinine plan before today, didn’t you? You should have said something to me. I’m so disappointed with this family.”

“Well, Lilka. You have greatly disappointed me as well. I can only feel like I failed you as a father. I thought I had raised you better than this.”

Mom got up and looked at the three of us sitting there. She shook her head slightly. There was a look of disgust plastered across her face. I could only ignore it, as I had things in life I wanted to do. If she disapproved that was her problem.

“I’ve got a birthday dinner to shop for. Hopefully the three of you will come to your senses by the time I come back, though I guess that’s just wishful thinking on my part.”

She walked out of the kitchen. Now I had the more difficult task ahead of me, telling Erin. Grandfather puts things into perspective as I got up from the table.

“Barnim, she’ll either come around or she won’t. Make your decision and live your life. Always be true to yourself. Your Grandmother and I will always be behind you.”

“Thanks.”

I gave him a hug and went to face Erin. This was probably going to kill me depending on how she reacted. They were watching cartoons in the front room with Grandmother.

“Erin go get your Polish books and meet me in the den upstairs.”

I got my books, paper and pencils from my room. Setting everything up, I could hear Erin running up the stairs. She was excited and we got to work. I still didn’t know how to bring the subject up. After about an hour of reading and writing, Erin was the one that got the conversation started.

“Barnim, why was Mom yelling at you this morning?”

“Well, she didn’t agree with what I want to do, she wants me to do what she wants.”

“Why not?”

“There’s a time when you get older, you figure out what you want to do with your life. I figured that out and it’s not the same thing that Mom wants me to do. So, she got mad.”

“So, are you going to do what she wants?”

“No. So, there’s something else that I need to tell you.”

She looked up at me, it was a mixture of curiosity and worry on her face. I figured that ripping off the band aid was the best way to go.

“In about a week or so I’m going to join the Army, kinda like Stosh.”

Erin wouldn’t know the difference between the military branches, so I had kept it simple. I could see a change on her face, it made my stomach drop. She was on the verge of tears. In an instant she was wrapped around my neck, and I could feel the tears running down.

“No Barnim, you can’t go.”

“I have to start my own life. I will always be here if you really need me. When you get older, you’ll be in the same situation and realize you need to do the same thing I am doing.”

The crying had stopped but she was still sniffling.

“But who is going to talk to me in Polish?”

That was a pretty good point, Mom might if Erin browbeat her into it. Then I had the perfect idea, though somebody wouldn’t think it was a good idea.

“Well, I’m sure Grandfather would call you at least once a week. You would be able to practice your Polish with him. And though I’ll be somewhere else, we can write each other letters.”

Her death grip on my neck relaxed. It was obvious with a little time she’d be OK.

“Really, Grandpa would call me and talk Polish with me?”

“I bet if you ask him nicely that he wouldn’t be able to say no. You can write me as many letters as you want.”

That seemed to placate her, and we worked on reading and writing for a while longer. The study session over, Erin went to go back downstairs.

“Erin.”

“Yes Barnim.”

“Go ask Grandfather if he’ll call you.”

“OK.”

She ran back downstairs. Grandfather was probably going to be a bit cross with me. Oh well, he’d get over it.

Sitting down at my desk, I pulled out all the papers I’d need tomorrow and put them in a manila folder. Just as I locked the drawer back up, the intercom came to life. Seemed Mom was back from shopping and was requesting my presence in the kitchen.

Grandfather and Stosh were sitting in the living room as I came down. They started to get up and I motioned them to stay seated. They had already played their part, now it was time for me to deal with this myself. Mom was putting stuff in the frig.

“So, what can I do for you Mother?”

“You’re making a big mistake. I don’t know why you’re doing something so stupid.”

“Well, that’s your opinion. It’s what I want to do with my life.”

“This is a decision you’ll come to regret and remember you won’t have access to the settlement money until your you’re 25.”

“Well, about that, I guess you should have read the paperwork that Bob gave you to sign. I will have sole access to the money as soon as I sign the paperwork. The bank accounts will be changed tomorrow.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“The papers you signed stated that upon turning 18 with a high school diploma, custodianship of the money becomes a sole custodianship. That person would be me. So, what’s the next thing that you’re going to try and strong arm me with?”

She was stumped at this point. There was a lack of response longer than I would expect from Mom. I guess she finally came to the conclusion that there was nothing she could do.

“Well, you’re 18, so you can ruin your life if you want. When you go broke, don’t come running back here to be saved.”

“I’m glad you have come to some sort of sensible decision. Since you think this is such a colossal mistake, I’ll refrain from informing you of when my graduation from boot camp is.”