Broken Lives (16 page)

We get up early the next day to put the
finishing touches on the house. I shower and dress in the same red,
white, and blue dress I wore when Max was being deployed. My mind
floods with memories of that day, and I try hard to not be sad. Max
said the next time he sees me he wanted to see me wearing this same
dress. I haven’t worn it since his deployment, but I feel that
wearing it today is appropriate. 

I am in the kids’ bedroom helping the kids
get dressed when Alec walks in wearing a pair of jeans and a white
tee with the American flag on it. He smiles when he sees me, and I
get those butterflies low in my belly. “You look beautiful, Emma,”
he says, as he bends down to kiss me. 

“
Thank you, you look pretty
sharp yourself.” I finish adding the red, white, and blue ribbons
in Raelynn’s hair as Alec puts on James’ sandals. I stand up and
look at everyone. James is wearing jean shorts and a red and blue
tee with a flag on the front and Raelynn is wearing a white
sundress with red and blue stars all over it.

I lay out a few of my and Max’s photo albums
of us and the rest of the platoon on the coffee table for everyone
to look through. Alec smiles as he looks through them. These have
been in the closet, and he hasn’t seen them yet. I worry he’ll feel
bad or left out since this party is for Max. Well, maybe not for
Max, but it is because of Max.

“
Momma, can we play in the
jump house now?” James asks. He is excited. Cheryl and my mom
insisted on renting a jump house for the party.

The doorbell rings. Alec says, “You get the
door and I’ll take the kids outside to play.” 

Brooke, Brice, and the boys all walk in
carrying covered dishes of food and a basket full of bubbles and
sparklers. I look at the basket and then I look up at Brooke. “I
thought the kids would like these for later.” 

Brooke is also wearing a red, white, and blue
sundress, and her husband and two sons are also wearing patriotic
colors.

“
Good choice of colors,
Brooke,” I say, then add, “Brice, Briley, and Braden, Alec and the
kids are outside if you want to go out to visit or play. The jump
house is already set up,” I say. 

They go outside and mom and dad arrive next,
followed by Max’s and Alec’s parents. I smile when I see everyone.
The guys all go outside to hang the flag banner on the fence while
the girls stay inside sorting through the food.

We decorate the lanai with red, white, and
blue streamers and balloons. Brooke tells me the troops are
starting to arrive, so we go to the front yard to greet them. Alec
thought it was best if he stayed with the kids while I greeted
everyone. He offered to stay with me, if I wanted him to. Max’s mom
and dad also greet everyone with us. 

I stand there with James by my side. Brooke
and Brice are standing in between us and my mom and dad. Max’s
parents walk up and stand next to James. Wilson and his family are
first to arrive, then Snider, Poland, and Lanford are next. My dad,
Danny, and Brice are first to greet them. I watch the interactions
between everyone and my fear soon leaves me. I have nothing to fear
with these guys. They hug me and tell me how much they have missed
me. Lanford’s wife apologizes behind his back for not keeping in
touch. She tells me everyone had a hard time dealing with Max’s
death.

I introduce them to James and he stands
proudly as he shakes each person’s hands. I am surprised to see the
guys tear up when they see James. I look at James, and I realize
just how much he looks like his dad.

Mahoney and Wagner are next to arrive. I am
surprised to see when Mahoney gets out of the car that he is
wearing an above-the-knee prosthetic right leg. I swallow the lump
in my throat. I had no idea his injuries were that serious. I knew
he was injured, but I had no idea he lost his leg from the same
explosion that took Max’s life. I was so devastated by my own loss
that I didn’t even stay up to date with the troops’ injuries.

“
Are you all right?” Brooke
asks, walking over to me.

I look at her and try to smile. “I’m
fine.” 

“
You didn’t know about the
severity of Mahoney’s injuries, did you?” 

I shake my head and look past her to Mahoney
and Wagner. Brice, Danny, and dad are shaking their hands and
smiling.

I say, “Come on, James, let’s go and meet the
rest of your extended family.” 

“
I’m sorry, Emma. I should
have said something.” 

“
It doesn’t matter if I knew
about it then or now, it wouldn’t have changed anything. Brooke,
will you walk over with us?”

“
Sure, whatever you
want.” 

We walk up to them and when they see James
and me they stop talking. I smile and Mahoney walks over to me.
“Em, you are just as beautiful as I remember.”

My heart skips a beat when he calls me Em.
Max and the guys in the platoon are the only ones who have ever
called me that. “Look at you, you still look amazing,” I say,
honestly, because it’s the truth. 

“
Thank you, I look a little
different
now,”
he
says, lifting his prosthetic leg.

“
I’m sorry…,” I begin to say
before he interrupts me. 

“
Don’t be sorry, this is
nothing. This is a reminder of how lucky I am. Max is the one who
lost everything, and I will be forever grateful to him for keeping
me alive.” 

I nod and my nose tingles. He hugs me tightly
and tells me how good it is to see me. Once we are done, he kneels
down next to James. “And you must be James Maxwell
Greyson.” 

“
I am, sir. It’s very nice
to meet you,” James says, as he holds his hand out for Mahoney to
shake. 

“
I’m Mahoney, and it is my
pleasure to finally see you again. I remember the day you were
born.” 

“
You do,
sir?” 

“
I will never forget it,
James. Your dad said, ‘Do not call my son, Jim, or Jimmy, or Jimbo.
His name is James and you better not shorten it.’” Mahoney smiles,
and Wagner laughs.

“
My daddy said
that?” 

Wagner steps forward and says, “He sure did
say that, James. I was there, too. I’m Wagner, and it is very nice
to meet you, too.” He puts his hand out for James to shake.

We walk into the backyard where the party is
held. I introduce everyone to Alec, Raelynn, John, and Doris, and
they seem to like Alec immediately. Alec starts the grill and Danny
brings out the photo albums of Max and me and our time in the
military. Everyone laughs and shares military stories that we have
never heard before.

Snider tells a story about when he was in
boot camp: “We kept watching the clock so our drill instructor made
us stay in the wall lockers and every time he yelled out a time, we
had to open the door and yell ‘Coo-Coo, Coo-Coo, Coo-Coo.’ One day
of being a coo-coo clock was one day too many. We never did look at
another clock in front of him again.” 

We all laugh before Poland tells a story.
“Someone in our squad thought he was special because he was an
Eagle Scout in school. I’m not saying any names, Wilson. Our drill
instructor didn’t think there was anything special about being an
Eagle Scout. He took us all out in the woods, during P.T., where he
had Wilson build a bird’s nest and then made him squat over it to
keep his eggs warm.”

We all laugh, and Danny, John, and dad
confirm things like this really did happen.

Mahoney shares a story about when he was in
boot camp. “The first couple weeks of boot camp are full of medical
and dental exams, and if you need a procedure, you get it done
right there.”

He leans up and rests his elbows on his knees
and says, “Almost everyone needed to have their wisdom teeth
pulled, and we had one guy come back right before lights out with
his mouth full of gauze and loopy from the drugs.” 

He laughs before saying, “Our drill
instructor called us all to the center of the room, formed us up,
and then told us to sit Indian style on the floor because Recruit
Toothy was going to tell us a bedtime story.” 

“
Do you all know where I’m
going with this?” He smiles and looks around the yard at his former
troops. “He then pulled up a chair for Recruit Toothy, and then
told him to tell us the story of the
Battle
of the Monitor and Merrimac.
Toothy mumbled
that he didn't know the story, so the drill instructor told him to
just make it up as he goes.” 

“
What followed was like a
live episode of Drunk History, minus any factual accuracy. As best
as Toothy could recall, the
Monitor
was British, the
Merrimack
was
Old Ironsides
, and ‘In the end, they
shot the crap out of each other and everybody died. The
end.’ 

“
We were all laughing so
hard, and we knew we would have to get up and do P.T., but the
drill instructor sat there stone faced. After Toothy was done, the
drill instructor said, ‘Well done, now you all know the story of
the
Battle of the Monitor and
Merrimac
.’ He got up, turned off the
lights, and walked out.” 

Everyone asked was it Max and Mahoney said,
“No, his name was Recruit Toothy.” 

After the guys share their military stories,
James shows the guys his train set and the track that his dad made
for him when he was a baby. The guys are all impressed the train is
up and running five years later. They tell James how much Max loved
trains, and even though he was a soldier, they tell James that Max
should have been a conductor for the railroad. 

I sit at the table alone and Mahoney walks up
to me. 

“
I’m glad you had a party to
get everyone together; it’s great seeing everyone.”

“
Thank you, and it’s good
seeing you, too. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you after your
accident.”

“
Em, you have no reason to
be sorry. Look at what you were dealing with at the time. I didn’t
expect you to be there.” 

“
Mahoney, I didn’t even send
you a get-well card or write you or anything. I should have
supported you, or at the very least, let you know I was praying for
you.” 

“
I was pretty drugged up for
a few weeks. Maybe you did, and I can’t remember.” He laughs, and I
smile.

“
It was a pretty hard time
for the both of us.” 

“
Yes, it was, and look at
us. We are both stronger because of it. You know, I still miss
him,” Mahoney admits. 

“
Me, too, he visits me and
James in our dreams. It makes it easier to deal with his absence,”
I say, and a tear runs down my cheek. 

“
He also visits me in my
sleep. At first he would yell at me for feeling sorry for myself.
He was really starting to bug me. He once said he would give his
right leg to be with his wife and son.” A tear runs down Mahoney’s
cheek, too. “After that dream, I never felt sorry for myself again.
I woke up with a whole new outlook on life. I was alive and I was
given a second chance because of Max. He really did save every last
one of us here today.” He looks around the yard at the members of
his old platoon. “I was determined to walk again, and I was more
determined to live my life like today is my last.” 

I wipe away the tears and smile. “I miss him
so much.” 

“
I know, Em; we all do. Max
would be happy to see you met someone like Alec.” 

“
Thank you, he is a really
good guy and he loves James.” 

“
He would want you to be
happy.” 

Alec’s parents leave and we walk them to
their car in the front of the house. We clean up the food before we
bring out the desserts. The kids light their sparklers at dusk and
then we all watch the fireworks from our back yard. James, Raelynn,
Alec, and I sit together and watch the amazing firework display
they are having at the beach.

“
I think your party was a
success.” I look over my shoulder and see that Alec is looking at
me. 

“
I think you’re right. Are
you having a good time?” 

“
I am very much. You and Max
had some wonderful friends.”

“
Yes, we did. They were all
there when James was born. They were my only family in New York for
a little over a year. The whole time we were stationed there, they
were there with us.” 

“
They think a lot of Max, he
must have been a great guy.” He kisses me and says, “I’m glad you
had someone like that before you met me.” 

I turn around so I can see
him better, “Thank you. I
had
him, now I
have
you. I have been lucky twice in my
life.”

He smiles and leans in to kiss me.

Chapter Six: A Night to Remember

Molly

Bobby and I have been staying at the Comfort
Inn the last few weeks. We are using the money I got from the house
to get off the streets for awhile. It’s clean, and we have a place
to sleep and bathe. We can’t get an apartment with our background,
so it is lucky for us that some hotels rent rooms by the week. When
we have money we stay in a hotel; all other times, we live in the
car.

Bobby and I still use although I want to get
clean. I know that makes no sense, but it’s true. Bobby has no
reason I know of to get or stay clean, but I do; I have a daughter
whom I love and I want to see her.

It’s easier to use drugs and stay high than
it is to face reality. Being high lets me forget, and it lets me
picture a happy life that I don’t have. Distorted thinking —
remember, I talked about this earlier?