Chapter 11

Waking up Thursday morning, I got my run in and then realized that I needed to make a call letting the dojo know I wouldn’t be in this evening for class.

I was in the shower when I heard a knock on the bathroom door.

“Barnim, get your stuff together. We’ll be leaving in about an hour. I put your money on the bed.”

“OK mom.”

I got my stuff together, putting the money in my duffel bag. Heading downstairs, I called the dojo, leaving a message that I had a family event to attend and I would be back on Tuesday evening.

We eventually got on the road. It was about a four hour drive to Fort Jackson. Stosh’s graduation would be the following morning on Friday at 1000. We planned on visiting with him over the weekend and drive back Sunday afternoon. I had everything set up for the first day of school Monday so I wouldn’t be rushed when I got back.

The drive out there was nice. Just me with no younger siblings to drive me crazy. I could listen to whatever I wanted, as loud as I wanted. It was just so nice.

We stopped for lunch and gas about halfway, it was then I was told that my little sister wanted to ride with me the rest of the way. I couldn’t think of a good reason to say no, not without making mom mad, so I just sucked it up.

Once on the way, the chatter started.

“Barnim, why don’t you want to ride with me anymore? Don’t you like me?”

I mean how do you respond to that. I was being put in a corner with no way out. I didn’t hate my younger siblings, it’s just we were different, and treated different. It wasn’t their fault, Randy was the one who alienated the three of us, and the younger two just got caught in the crossfire.

“It has nothing to do with you. I like you just fine but I have my own car now and like being able to drive. See you even get to drive with me now. Plus, this lets you get away from Randall bothering you, so it’s a win for both of us.”

She took a minute to come up with her response. The little monsters didn’t speak Polish as much as I had, so it wasn’t a natural switch between it and English.

“I guess so.”

The rest of the drive was fairly benign with her talking about her time at daycare, her dolls and such things. I just kind of zoned out paying attention to the road.

We got to Columbia, South Carolina where Ft. Jackson is located about 3 pm. We were staying at a hotel adjacent to the base, though being stuck in a hotel room with my little brother over the weekend was going to be an ordeal. He was as much of an ass as Randy as he acted like his shit didn’t stink and he was better than Stosh and me. After getting settled, everyone got ready to go to dinner as Mom had found a nice seafood restaurant to eat at.

Mom had called Stosh and arranged to pick him up and bring him to the restaurant. I told mom that I’d pick him up and they could head to the restaurant and get the table. I decided to fuck with him when I was on the way to pick him up.

Because of mom working for the USARC (U.S. Army Recruiting Command) at Ft. McPherson, and the truck being registered to her. The truck had a Ft. McPherson registration sticker on it. It made getting onto Fort Jackson a lot easier.

As I pulled into the parking lot in front of his barracks, I saw Stosh waiting out front. I had arrived about 5 minutes early and I guess he was expecting mom’s minivan as he didn’t even look twice at the truck.

Pulling into a parking spot about 30ft from where he was standing, I rolled both windows down, even though it was almost 90 degrees and humid.

“Hey, you dumb Polack, are you coming or not?”

I could see he was irritated at the remark and was looking around to see where it came from.

“I’m not waiting all day for you, you dumb Polack.”

He started striding out to the parking lot. He was getting pissed and was looking for the source of the taunts.

“That’s right you dumb Polack. About time you got your ass moving.”

He finally figured out which vehicle the voice was coming from. Moving with purpose, he finally reached the back of the truck.

Stosh finally spoke. “Keep it up asshole. Once I get ahold you, your ass is mine.”

I waited until he was just about to the door to switch to Polish. I figured that would take the wind out of his sails.

“All you’re going to do is get your ass in the truck. We have dinner to get to. Mom will be pissed if we’re late.”

He came to an abrupt stop at the passenger door with a quizzical look on his face. He switched to Polish as well.

“What the hell, you asshole? Whose truck is this. And what happened to the fat little brother I used to have?”

“Get in, we have to get moving. Mom’s waiting.”

As he finally got in, I rolled up the windows, and felt a little relief as the air conditioning began to clear out the humidity. Both our heads would roll if we were real late showing up to the restaurant.

“So, who’s truck?”

“It’s mine. I told you about the settlement I got, so I bought this with some of it.”

“And mom allowed it? Just doesn’t sound like her.”

“Mom and I had a talk. She realized how she had been treating us and has been making some changes. Things are getting better, so go easy on her until you two have had a chance to talk. You’ll be surprised.”

“Alright, I’ll do it because you asked Barnim. So, what the hell happened to you? You look like a Bears linebacker now.”

“I had a growth spurt. Plus, my metabolism finally caught up to my eating habits. I’ve got a goal now and I’m working towards it.”

“Barnim, what’s this big goal of yours?”

“We’re here. We’ll talk about that later.”

It turned out, we arrived about 5 minutes behind my mom. By the time I went and used the bathroom, we had our table. The waitress came and took our drink order. The younger two were enthralled with the color page and crayons the waitress gave them.

“So Stosh, how was boot camp?”

“Well, Randy. It was pretty hard. Physically exhausting, very little sleep. Plus, I had a bunch of idiots in my platoon.”

Randy kind of snorted. Mom had a strange look on her face. A mix of curiosity, concern, and something else I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

“Stosh, you’re so thin. Haven’t you been eating? Didn’t they give you enough food to eat?”

“Yes, mom I’ve been eating. I just slimmed down a bit. They gave me double to eat most of the time.”

I looked at my mother and then my brother.

“Well mom. I’m not sure they gave him enough to eat. I mean he seems kind of malnourished. He sort of looks like the Ethiopians in the commercials.”

“What?’

“Well, Stosh. I said you look like an Ethiopian. Pretty soon you’ll have the swollen belly to go with the rest of the look.” Mom was laughing pretty hard. From the look on his face, my brother wasn’t at all amused

It was about that time the waitress brought everyone’s drinks. We ordered, with mom making sure that Stosh got enough food to feed three people. I had gotten a pretty big seafood platter.

It was funny how Randy didn’t participate in the conversation the three of us were having. He had even barely acknowledged that Stosh was even there. It was at that point my brother switched to Polish, and everyone else at the table followed suit. Randy was the only one who couldn’t keep up (he could only speak a few words in Polish) but mom made sure that Randall and Erin could speak it although they weren’t as polished as the rest of us. They spoke it only when Randy wasn’t around as he’d get pissy with them if they did.

“So Stosh, remind me what you’re going to do as a job in the Army.”

“Well mother, a week from Monday I’ll report to Fort Eustis just north of Norfolk, Virginia, to learn how to be a helicopter mechanic. I’m not sure what kind of helicopters just yet.”

“To bad you’ll be in classes all the time being so close to the beach.”

From the look my brother gave me, I knew he was annoyed at me for interrupting him.

“Well if I wasn’t so rudely interrupted, I would have continued to say I’ll be there for 17 weeks. So, I think I’ll end up being a 15R, which is an Apache helicopter mechanic.”

“That’s pretty cool bro.”

“That’s really good Stosh. You’ll have a really marketable skill if you decide not to make the Army a career. Just so you know they already came and talked to me for your security clearance, I got the feeling there weren’t any problems.”

Oh, was my brother’s response. Randy was looking pissy as my brother and my mom continued their conversation in Polish.

The waitress showed up with our food, which was really good. Mom must have sensed that Randy was pissed as the rest of dinner was in English. Randy kept ordering beers, and it was mom’s turn to be pissed. There were no fireworks though. There was a slight tension at the table as we ate, my little sister didn’t see it, as she kept chatting with everyone.

As we were walking out to the parking lot, I tapped my mom on the shoulder.

“Mom, I need to have a conversation with Stosh. I don’t know how long it’s going to take.”

“OK, don’t be out all night. You have a room key right?”

With that everyone said goodbye and went to the cars. I could hear Randy bitching to my mom as he was walking. He hated it when we spoke Polish and didn’t include him. I didn’t hear mom’s response as she had already gotten in the car. I was laughing as I got into the truck.

“So, what’s so funny Barnim?”

“Well, Randy was bitching to mom about how he doesn’t like it when we exclude him by speaking Polish.”

“Six years, and that asshole hasn’t learned to speak Polish yet. Unbelievable.”

“So, did mom talk to you and apologize?”

“Yeah. But after 6 years I don’t know whether to believe her or not.”

“She’s changed around me. I don’t know if it’s a permanent change or she’ll go back to the way it was before.”

Pulling out of the parking lot and heading towards Fort Jackson, I had to agree with him a bit. I’d wait and see how mom acted. We talked about it for the ride to his barracks. We both agreed, we’d wait and see how things shook out.

I pulled into the parking lot and parked close to the barracks entrance. Sitting there, I left the truck running for the air conditioning as even though it was almost 8 pm, it was humid as hell.

“So Barnim, what’s this secret squirrel stuff you need to talk to me about.”

“Before we get to that. Check the visor, there’s a gift in there from me to you.”

Pulling down the visor, the envelope fell into his lap. Picking it up and opening it, his eyes went wide. He looked for a second, and then turned to me.

“What the hell? Why are you giving this to me?”

“I’ll give you the cliff notes. I told you I got a settlement but not the details. When I was in the hospital, the doctor assaulted me, so. I had mom get me a lawyer. From what I could gather, the hospital wanted some sketchy stuff kept hidden. So, when all was said and done, I had a $375K settlement. This is just a way to share the wealth.”

“How much is in here?”

“$2500. All the siblings are getting the same. Don’t ask for a loan later on.”

“Dude, you don’t have to do this. What are you going to do with the rest?”

“As far as my plan, we’ll talk about that on the drive home. As long as you promise not to say anything to mom. Though I do have something else I need to talk to you about right now.”

The conversation about my plan would be easy. This is the one that I was worried about. I had no clue as to how it would be received and had no clue how Stosh would react. There was no putting it off, so I decided to just jump in feet first.

“Well, this sounds ominous.”

“I wanted to talk to you about Andrea Dimon.”

“So, you’re another one that’s going to tell me what I should do?”

“Nope. I’m going to give you my opinion. You can do what you want with it. I’ll back you up no matter what your decision is.”

Pausing, I went on. “Look, I know we were raised Catholic, and regardless of what the church says and what society says, I don’t think that unless you truly love her that you should marry her. In the end, you and the kid will suffer for it. Pay child support, be a father and in the kids’ life. If anything, take a couple of months to think about it and decide. The time you’re in advanced training will give you the time.”

He looked at me and I sensed that I’d rattled him. I knew shit would go south for them in 10 years and add another kid to the mix. I hoped I was helping him avoid that mess.

“Is that it Barnim?”

“In a nut shell, pretty much. In the end I’d say don’t marry her just because of the kid. It’ll end up hurting the kid and ruin you. I’m done preaching. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“So, when did you become the grand oracle dispensing wisdom?”

“Well, I guess having my incident made me reevaluate my life. I’ve ended up getting rather introspective.”

“I guess I’ll think about what you said.”

“Love you bro.”

“Love you too.”

My brother nodded at me as he got out of the truck. I guess I did drop a lot on him.

The drive back was quick and quiet, and considering the stress, sleep came easy that night.

We got up early to have breakfast before the drive over to the parade grounds. I hated summers in the south; hot and humid, and standing in the shade did little to help. This was going to be a crappy time, sitting on bleachers in the sun for 2 hrs.

The graduation was boring, they marched a bit, there were some speeches, then some awards before they were dismissed. I wanted air conditioning.

After it was over, we went back to Stosh’s barracks to get his stuff. By the time I got back from putting it in the truck, there was a Drill Sergeant yelling at my brother for putting his hands in his pocket. By the time I was next to my mom, he had my brother doing push ups. I couldn’t help but to start laughing.

That didn’t endear me to the Drill Sergeant. He proceeded to get in my face yelling at me and telling me how disrespectful I was being. I also didn’t make him like me when I told him the Army PT test is disrespectfully weak, and that I could ace it in my sleep. He stood there with his mouth open, when I felt my mother grab me by the shirt.

“Barnim, shut your mouth before you give me a reason to take care of the issue you are causing right here in public.”

If there was one thing, I didn’t need was my mom going after me in public. I wouldn’t live that down with my brother, and he’d tell my oldest brother, and it would never stop. I stopped, and we stood around for like another half hour, my mom shooting me looks every couple of minutes.

Stosh got mom to agree to let me drive him home today so he could keep me out of trouble; that almost made her change the looks she had been giving me. Stosh said goodbye to some of the guys who graduated with him, then we said goodbye to my mom and the rug rats.

We got on the road about 1 pm. After about an hour, Stosh piped up.

“So, what’s this grand plan of yours?”

I explained the whole plan to him. Laying it out from beginning to end. He took a couple minutes before he responded. I had no clue how he would respond.

“Well, I’m glad you bought a suit. You’ll need it for your funeral, when you finally tell mom. I understand the need for the deception, but she will roast you alive.”

“That’s why I need your help convincing Grandfather to be on my side. With him talking to mom, I think I can avoid an early death. I’ll even pay for you to fly down for Christmas if mom lets me go.”

“I’ll go, once I finish AI., I’ll probably have till after the new year to report to my duty station, where ever that will be.”

“You’re my hero.”

“Yeah right asshole. You’re buying dinner.”

We had a fun drive home. Dinner was good as was the rest of the weekend.

Monday 23 Aug 1993. The first day of my junior year was here. I had gotten my run in and was in the shower when there was a knock on my bathroom door.

“I’m almost ready mom. I’ll be done in a few minutes, I won’t be late.”

“Well, I’m glad you’ll be ready, but you might want to go downstairs to let mom know.”

What the hell did Stosh want.

“I’ll be out in a minute.”

“OK. I’ll be waiting.”

Walking into my room, Stosh was sitting at my desk rifling through the drawers. I mean is there no privacy.

“Hey asshole, get your grubby paws out of my stuff. I’m guessing you want something, and this isn’t the way to start of asking.”

He looked up at me like a kid caught with his hands in the cookie jar. I didn’t know what he wanted, but I was going to make him sweat it out for a minute. I mean, why not have some fun with it.

“Sorry, I was bored waiting for you.”

“So, you couldn’t keep your hands of my stuff for more than 5 minutes. Some willpower you have. What is it that you came to ask for?”

“Well, I was wondering. Do you think it would be possible for me to ... uhm.”

“Just spit it out Stosh, I don’t have all day here. I have to get to school and I don’t need mom chewing me out. I’ll throw you to the wolf if I need to.”

“Do you think I could use your truck? I mean you won’t be using it during school hours.”

I started getting dressed. I was going to let him use the truck with some caveats, but I didn’t need to tell him that right away. I could hear him shifting in the chair as I was getting dressed. One of his weaknesses, hell one of mine was we didn’t have a lot of patience.

“So, what do you think Barnim?”

“Don’t know yet. You need to relax and not push me.”

With that I finished dressing. Grabbing my backpack, I headed downstairs. Looking at the clock it was 7:20am. I had about twenty minutes before I had to leave. Mom was getting some coffee in a travel cup. I knew she was about to leave.

“Barnim, you better be on time for school. I wouldn’t want to have to take your truck away. Plus, I’d be disappointed that you were going back to where you were last year.”

“I won’t be late mom. I’m going to have some toast and then get on my way.”

“OK, you have a good day at school. Love you.”

“Love you too mom.” And with that she was out the door. I guess she already had the younger two in the minivan.

Stosh was actually following me around like a lost puppy. I thought it was actually funny. I needed to play this for all it was worth but if I didn’t let him borrow the truck, he’d probably be stuck at the house all day till I got home. Randy and I got home about the same time, though there was no way Randy would let him borrow his truck.

“Well, can I borrow your truck Barnim?”

“So, I’m considering it. Though I’m not lending it to you. I’ll rent it to you for $25 a day. I mean that seems to be an actual deal compared to the rental agencies.”

“What? Well, I guess that’ll work. I mean I’ll just be giving back the money you gave me.”

“Oh, but that’s not all of it. It’s going to be 50 cents a mile on mileage. Finally, it must be returned with a full tank of gas.”

“I guess that’ll work.”

“Oh, and you have to drop me off and pick me up from school.”

“Alright.”

I could tell he was kind of bummed out at everything I threw at him. I guess he just figured I’d give into his demands. He was hanging his head, like a little kid pouting. I let him mull on it as I made my toast. A little butter and some strawberry jam and it was perfect. By the time I’d gotten a glass of OJ and eaten the first piece, I figured that I’d let him off the hook.

“Alright here’s the deal. You’ll drop me off before 8 am and pick me up at 4 pm at school. If I’m late to school or you’re late picking me up, deal is off. We’ll discuss you using the truck at night on a case by case basis. Tuesday and Thursday are a no go as I have classes in the evening. Take it or leave it. You use it, you fill it up.”

“OK I guess that’s fair.”

Finishing my toast, I got up and headed for the door. I threw Stosh the keys. “Let’s go.”

I got into homeroom about 5 minutes before the bell and took a seat in the back of the room. I didn’t plan on getting involved in any cliques as I just needed to worry about getting my stuff done.

Ms. Hensley, the homeroom teacher was also a social studies teacher and seemed like a nice older lady. The bell rang, and the principal came over the intercom. We stood and recited the pledge of allegiance. As I took my seat, I couldn’t help but think how in 15 years this will be a hot button issue with people trying to get the pledge removed.

The announcements were read as I kind of zoned out. Ms. Hensley then took roll call. I mean it was homeroom, a waste of 15 minutes to me. I went to my locker and got my backpack and headed to math class.

Getting bumped and jostled the whole way to class, I thought on how I hated being in a small school built in the 60’s, that was now way too small for the number of students in it.

I had Algebra II this year. I hated math, and up to this point had barely passed the previous 2 years, that much I could recall. Mr. Fox was the teacher, a middle aged guy who was also one of the girls’ basketball coaches. He took roll, and then text books were handed out. The rest of the class was spent going over what was going to be covered this year. It just reinforced my hatred of math. I knew this would be the class I’d have to spend extra time with.

When class was over, I headed towards the vocational wing of the school. Typing class would be interesting. I figured that I’d be the only male in the class. Sitting down, I was right. When I walked in, I saw Mrs. Turner was the teacher and I actually thought she might be dead until she moved. I’d have to guess she was in her late 70’s. The bell rang and she took roll call.

“Barnim Badzinski.”

I knew from her tone that there was a lecture or some type of admonishment coming.

“Here.”

“I just want to let you know that you are in for a surprise Mr. Badzinski. This is not a class for you to hit on girls. Just know I’ll be watching you.”

I figured that this lady wasn’t going to like me no matter what I did. So, I thought I’d just poke the bear a little. Not my finest moment, but hell, if you can’t have a little fun. What’s the point of life?

“So, ma’am is that to say I can’t do well in this class? So, I guess you can read my mind and know my intent for taking this class.”

“No. I just know how teenage boys are. Just remember, I’ll be watching you, and won’t tolerate any attitude in my class.”