Chapter 3

Lucas called in sick. He called Ray and Jim the night before... They met later that night to drink a couple for Chuck and remember the old times.

"I can't believe he died."

They each said it, so no one was sure who said it this time.

He was only 26. 4 years. That was a long time. He was such a kid.

"If it's a routine training exercise, how come someone can die?' Jim asked sarcastically. "How routine can it be for god sakes?"

"It's the military. So you never know what the whole story is. Sure it was routine. It was their routine conquering of a third world nation." Ray answered back with a sneer.

"He's dead" It was all Luke could think to say. How short a life was it that he was dead at 26? Shot, or blown up or something equally terrible. He couldn't imagine his friend knowing that pain. Never knowing any life outside of the military.

"Yes, he's fucking dead" Ray sneered.

"Stupid mother fucker. He never knew when to just shut up and duck." Jim said with a bark of laughter.

That was enough to get Luke and Ray smiling.

"Like when he was on first and yakking it up with the first baseman, and that line drive clocked him right on the top of his head." Ray retorted.

"The asshole cost me a hit. It went straight up. My damn line drive turned into a pop up" Lucas grinned shaking his head.

They ended their night, clinking their beer mugs together.

"To Chucky, rest in peace brother."

They would make a group trip out to his grave in a couple weeks. Maybe drop by his folks.

Lucas sat in his apartment later that night. He could only shake his head. He was so young and then he was gone. 26 in some forsaken place.

"My own life matters less than his did."

Lucas wasn't sure what changed in him after learning that Chuck was gone. He felt it in the morning. He woke up with an attitude. He woke up with a chip on his shoulder. It was great. It was actually great to feel something. Every morning for the past 4 years was greeted with apathy. When Chucky was dying he was starting his job.

Luke pulled out his suit. Made sure that it wasn't wrinkled. He buffed his shoes and bee lined for the office. He grabbed his coffee from the Café and headed up to his office. Maybe it was the look on his face, or the way he walked, but Luke felt like everyone was moving out of his way.

He opened his first email of the morning and read the hubris from the Marketing department. He then read the second email and released the feral smile that was threatening all morning.

He clicked the reply button and fired back a concise response for everyone to see. He posed it as a question, but it was sharp enough to show a serious flaw in the project design.

Two other emails were shot down in a previous manner. Each with abstract reasoning. Think big, but also small. He wanted to carve those words in stone and hang them around his neck.

Create something that can be a foundation to something bigger and better. But don't do so if it sacrifices efficiency and common sense.

By 2PM he had re-designed his last project and laid the groundwork for some interesting development. His manager had called him, commenting on the insight of the emails. Luke could hear the shock in the man's voice. He could see the confusion on his face. The manager could not remember the last time that Lucas disagreed or voiced any opinion over anything. Luke never appeared to be smart enough, or motivated enough to care.

All Lucas could think was, "Wait till you get a load of me. You ain't seen nothing yet."