Chapter 27

My morning workouts were getting better as it seemed to be getting easier as time went on. My stamina was increasing as it was getting less taxing as things went along.

The drive to school was a long blow by blow of Ellie’s dress shopping. I was just glad that I was saved from that hell.

The day went by as usual. Some days just kind of flow by with no rhyme or reason. I used the bathroom excuse to get to JROTC early.

I knocked on 1stSgt Gibbs door and got the usual “In”. He looked up from his desk.

“What can I do for you Badzinski?”

“It’s about the note you left for me with Mr. Pope.”

“Oh. You’re not wanting to back out on the extra training, are you? Your grandfather would be mighty disappointed if that happened.”

“No, I was just wondering if it would be possible to reschedule the date. My brother is coming down from Ft. Drum that weekend and we are going to go fishing in Tampa for our birthday.”

“Well, kind of sounds like you’re trying to get out of it.”

“Not at all sir, I just want to move it to another weekend. We’ve had this scheduled for a while. The hotel and fishing trip is already reserved. I can give you my brothers number at Ft. Drum to verify if you want.”

“The Military Ball is on the 19th, so that leaves the 26th. That’s what you’ve got.”

“That’s perfectly fine, thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. Bring the number of your brother to me tomorrow.”

“I’ll do that.” I left as my next class was about to start.

Getting home, I looked in the phone book and found the address of the surplus store in Stockbridge so I could go get a pair of boots.

The next few weeks went fairly easy. School was going good, as I was paying attention and doing my work, which was reflected in my grades.

Kickboxing was going awesome; things were starting to flow naturally for me. I was starting to throw techniques without thinking during sparring sessions.

Master Boripat continued his pitches to try and get me to take another fight. Knowing the way research on concussions would go in the future gave me a unique insight. I mean, joining the Marines would probably give me all the blows to the head I could ask for.

On the first of March, Ellie and I took our tests for Yellow belt at Judo class. It had gotten pushed back as only one of the Kemps showed up to class for two weeks. We both did well and passed. I grabbed our new belts the following night from Master Boripat.

I wanted a meeting with Ms. Daniels the school Counselor to see about taking a couple of classes during summer school. We weren’t doing anything new in typing class, so Mrs. Turner let me go to the Counselor’s office during class.

Getting to her office, Ms. Daniels wasn’t busy and had me sit down.

“So, what can I do for you today Barnim?”

“I was wondering if there was a way for me to take classes during the summer so that I can graduate early?”

“There is, though Henry County doesn’t offer it in their Summer school. Your best bet is to find a private school that offers it, or you’ll have to find another county that does it. If you let me know what classes you’re looking at, I can make a few calls.”

“That would be much appreciated. Would it be OK if I let you know by the end of the week?”

“Yes, though you’ll want to get registered quickly.”

“Thank you.”

I went back to typing class and started on the practice assignments that were on the board. While doing the assignments, I thought about what classes I needed to fill the core graduation requirement.

Upon reflection, I luckily would only need to take Senior English. After class, I let Ms. Daniels know what I needed, and she said she’d get back to me as soon as possible.

The discussion with mom went a lot better than I thought it would. She was all for me taking summer school classes as she thought it would be beneficial, giving more time for electives that would look good on a college application.

The day before our vacation trip, Mom picked up Stosh from the airport during lunch and then he dropped her back at work.

I just got home from Ellie’s house a few minutes before he came back from picking mom up from work. He looked pretty beat from all the traveling.

“You’re looking a little worse for wear.”

The look he gave me said it all. He was tired as hell, and I just hoped he didn’t leave me to do all the driving tomorrow. I was glad mom allowed me to skip school, though it had taken both Stosh and me to convince her.

We had a fast food dinner, though I couldn’t complain, I loved Popeye’s chicken. I swear they put crack in their chicken, it’s like once I started eating it, I couldn’t stop.

Conversation revolved around what we were going to do with the fish we caught. Turned out mom wanted to keep some if we could bring it home safely. Stosh said the guy would filet it and vacuum seal it if we wanted. Guess mom would be a happy camper. Both of us got to bed fairly early, knowing it would be a decent drive to the hotel.

We got up and went for my usual morning run. Turned out Stosh had come to realize what a good idea it was when he got to Ft. Drum. It seemed that 10th CAB (Combat Aviation Brigade), 2nd Battalion of the 10th Mountain Division liked to do various formation runs at least 3 times a week.

We finally got on the road about 10am, just after rush hour.

The first couple of hours were quiet as Stosh decided to get into the back seat and take a nap. I knew this was the calm before the storm. He woke up as I pulled into Arby’s for lunch when we were about halfway with another 3hrs or so to go. We ate then got back on the road. Then came the catching up.

“So, why did a retired 1stSgt call me to see if we’re going fishing this weekend?”

“It seems that involving grandfather in my plan is reaping a lot of unintended consequences.”

“And that means what?”

“Well, I now have an elderly Nepalese Gurkha teaching me all kinds of dirty hand-to-hand techniques, along with how to mentally prepare myself for being in the infantry and possibly war. On top of that, my JROTC instructor, the 1stSgt you talked to, is giving me once a month lessons on skills that’ll benefit me. All in all, it’s going pretty well.”

“So grandfather has taken over the plan?”

“One could look at it that way. I prefer to see it as an enhancement of my plan. I’m still in control and can stop anything if I choose. So how are things going with the custody stuff?”

“Good, thanks to Bob. I do appreciate your sending me his way. I’d be completely screwed otherwise. Well, being the male in this equation I’m going to get screwed regardless. With Bob’s help, which is worth every penny, I won’t get hit nearly as bad.”

“Good to hear. So where do I need to turn?”

“We’re still a ways away. I’ll let you know when we get closer.”

“Ok, though I have a better idea.” Not saying another word, I knew would drive Stosh crazy not knowing. He kept his cool for about 5 minutes until I pulled off the interstate.

“So what’s the plan?”

“Getting gas.”

“And what else?”

“You’ll find out.”

Pulling in, I filled the tank and then we went to get some drinks. As we walked back to the truck, I threw the keys to him.

“Your turn to drive, I’m taking a nap.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Neither was you sleeping the first half of the drive”

Without any further discussion, I climbed into the back and laid down. It was a good while before I actually fell asleep.

It was a hand smacking me upside the head that woke me up. We were pulling into the Holiday Inn.

After checking in, we found a sports store to get a medium sized cooler to bring home the fish for mom. There happened to be a seafood restaurant around the corner from the hotel, so we got dinner and then called it an early night so we could get up even earlier than going fishing and get another run in.

After our run and getting a shower, we got to the marina about 6:45am after stopping for some Krispy Kreme donuts and various drinks. We met Pedro Guerra the captain of the boat.

Boarding the 26ft boat, I could tell it was an older model, though it was very well taken care of. Once we got our stuff loaded, it was time to cast off.

Capt Guerra had a first mate, Jimmy Dunn who was 18 and trying to fund his own charter boat while being taught the ins and outs of being a Captain.

We were doing what was called an inshore fishing package where we’d only go out as far as a couple miles from the actual bay.

I’d been in a boat on Lake Michigan countless times before in my former life. This was way different; I was nauseous for a while before my stomach settled down.

The Capt ran out for a while, then set us up fishing for bait. We were using something called a Greeny Rig which had six little lures on the line. It was a blast.

I just flat out enjoyed catching fish; size didn’t really matter. Stosh and I made it a competition as to who could catch more. I ended up losing by 2 when it was over.

We then ran out about a mile further to a reef where we’d be fishing. It was a great day as we caught a good number of fish. Most of what we caught were snook, red snapper and some speckled trout. I was actually able to catch the biggest fish, bringing in a 19lb snook.

Watching Capt. Guerra and Jimmy filet the fish we brought in was a thing of wonder. It took them all of about 25 minutes to filet and vacuum seal all 16 fish we brought back. I put the bag of snapper and one of snook into the cooler leaving the rest for the Capt. and Jimmy. Giving extra fish on trips like this to the crew helps keeping the charter cost down.

After saying our goodbyes, we headed back to the hotel. I decided to relax and Stosh chose to go exploring.

“Get up you lazy ass, we’re going to dinner.”

I guess I’d fallen asleep watching TV. Looking at the clock it was only 5:15, a bit early to be eating dinner. Stosh seemed way too enthused about going to dinner, so I knew there had to be something behind it, and knowing him, it would be interesting.

“So, why are we going to dinner so early.”

“I found a great place and I want to beat the rush.”

“Alright, it better be good.”

Grabbing some clothes, I went in and took a shower. Even after getting ready it was only about 5:40; this had better be some good food. It was only about a 4 minute drive to a little mom and pop seafood restaurant that had a separate bar.

We got seated at a table and then I found out that Stosh had stopped inside at the bar during his exploring. Somehow a rather good-looking waitress had been receptive to his advances. Turned out that’s whose section we were in.

“I should have fucking known that you had an ulterior motive.”

“Can you blame me though? Look at her.”

I did have to admit our waitress was rather good looking. Hell, I’d have probably done the same thing in his position. The food being pretty good didn’t hurt either. Hell, Emily the waitress didn’t even bat an eye when I ordered a beer. I was smart though, only having two. I told Stosh to leave a tip as I went up front to pay the bill.