Tracie Peterson (8 page)

Shaking off his gloom, David went on to the next letter dated several weeks later than the first. Kenny told of a storm they’d ridden out while on maneuvers. He spoke of the fierce waves making everyone seasick but added that the battleship itself made out in great order.

I have a new man under my command. He’s a wiry fellow, kind of on the small side. His name is David Cohen. He’s a machinist mate and pretty quick to learn. That aside, I’ve never seen a fellow with a heavier load to carry. He’s pretty angry all the time. Be sure to add him to your prayer list, sis. I’ve tried to be friendly with the man, but he’s hurting and I can tell he doesn’t want any part of our camaraderie. He acts all tough and sometimes even ugly, but I have a feeling it’s because life’s dealt him some powerful blows. My superiors tell me that David came to us as a matter of the courts. In other words, he was given the choice of jail or military service. I don’t know what he did to get here, but I hope I can make a difference in his life. Pray that God will show me how to deal best with him
.

David felt a tug at his heart. To see the evidence that someone knew and understood his misery was almost more than he could bear. How could it be that even upon their first meeting, Kenny knew that David was using his anger and tough nature to cover up his painful past?

Letter after letter, Kenny shared with Rachel all the details of his
life aboard the USS
Arizona
. Staunchly proud to be given an assignment on board a battleship—the backbone of the navy—his purpose seemed to bring him great joy. He liked navy life, and although he worried that America couldn’t remain forever neutral from the war, he felt confident in the military powers around him. He felt even more confident in God’s power. Kenny’s words bore witness to the faith he lived from day to day.

David has displayed a new talent, another letter shared. He got into a scrap last week and low and behold began fighting his way out. He’s a natural at boxing, probably picked it up in Chicago. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was formally trained. His size doesn’t deter him from victory either. In fact, David has seemed to learn to use his size as his best weapon. Smart man. “Ingenuity born of necessity,” as Grandma would say
.

I did like you said and showed David some extra kindness yesterday. He doesn’t always seem too happy with his new life here on board, so I managed to swing some liberty for him. He seemed happy about it, but he didn’t come back on time and that put me in a fix. I covered for him, don’t know that I did him any favors, but when he did show up, I talked to him long and hard about his responsibilities. Don’t know if he took it to heart or not. I can see what Dad meant about it not always being much fun to be the man in charge
.

David remembered the incident quite well. He’d thought Chief Petty Officer Bennett to be one big sucker. He couldn’t figure the man out. He had been certain that Kenny was up to something but could never really catch a clue as to what he had planned for David. When Kenny encouraged David to pursue boxing, complimenting him on his natural talent and taking a real interest in getting David properly trained, David had balked. Kenny wanted to get him involved with the ship’s boxing team, but David had thought he was mocking him.

Dear sis
,

Don’t feel much like writing. I’ve been praying real hard about some of the men on board. The primary form of entertainment on liberty seems to come with gambling, drinking, and women. David was brought back to the ship by Shore Patrol after taking a weekend liberty. He was in bad shape. He’d been drinking and apparently
had gotten himself into a fight. My guess is that several men jumped him, robbed him, and then beat him. He’ll be all right, but it really discouraged me. I don’t know why men like David seek their solace in drink
.

Rachel, I know you’d tell me to read the psalms, and I’ve been doing that, but sometimes I just feel that I’m not making any difference in this world. I really see potential in David. He’s a good man. Even though he often goes AWOL, he never deserts. Something keeps bringing him back. I just can’t figure out what it is he needs. It would be easy to write him off, but I can’t. He’s got a great sense of humor and a good head on his shoulders. Why can’t he see what he’s doing to himself?

David’s left arm began throbbing. He tried to ignore it, but it seemed to build with each of the incriminating letters. It was all there. His entire life after coming on board the USS
Arizona
had been shared in a brief but meaningful account with Rachel and probably the others. He could only imagine what Rachel must have written back to her brother. She probably told him that time would make things better and that Kenny shouldn’t give up. Wasn’t that the kind of woman she’d proven herself to be, even over the last few days?

David looked at the remaining letters. Apprehension squeezed the air out of his lungs. He wanted to know the contents, but at the same time his own vivid memories of the days he’d been with Kenny caused him to hold back. He needed a moment to think through what he’d just read. He had known Kenny cared, but he never knew the hours Kenny must have stewed and fretted and prayed for David’s well-being.

No one had ever cared about him until Kenny. As a child, his mother had ignored him in favor of men who could give her some trinket or bit of cash. They were her meal tickets, and in making them so, they became his meal tickets as well. His aunt had certainly never cared about him. Not in any personal sense of the word. She’d only come after him to get back at his mother. His spinster aunt was jealous of her younger sister. That was all. She hadn’t provided him a home, but rather gave him a roof over his head and put food in his mouth.

The rabbi had seen him as a lost cause from day one, and the people
in the neighborhood merely complained about David picking fights with their children. Never mind that he’d been defending his mother’s honor, what little there was of it. Never mind that those other children were usually twice David’s size. David was to blame.

He drew a deep breath and went back to the letters. He had to know the truth. He wanted to know. He wanted to see if Kenny had shared everything. He didn’t have long to wonder. The letters dating from the summer before the war were filled with details about how hard Kenny was trying to share God’s love with David. David fought back the urge to throw the letters across the room, when he reached the one written just two days before Pearl Harbor had met its fate.

Dear sis
,

We’re pretty busy, but I wanted to drop you a line. I know I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again. Hawaii is so very different from California, and especially Washington. It’s very exotic and the people are of so many different backgrounds. I took some liberty and went sight-seeing. Wasn’t sure I’d get another chance very soon
.

David let the letter fall to the desk. He felt as though he’d been gut punched. He remembered Kenny’s enthusiasm after returning from that trip. David could boast a clear understanding of the many bars in Honolulu, but even his generous support of those sights could not match Kenny’s excitement about Hawaii.

He left the letter on the desk but glanced down, scanning the lines as Kenny explained the things he’d done. His eagerness to share the foreign setting with his sister burst off the paper in a vividness of color and detail.

Rachel, you’d love the flowers here. I asked if they thought you could get any of these to grow in Washington state, but nobody seems to think it would work. The colors are about the brightest you could ever imagine. I don’t know what they call them, but there are these tall, waxy-looking plants with bright red and yellow blossoms. Of course, the food is pretty unusual here as well. I tried a regular Hawaiian feast. They call it a luau, and I mean to tell you, you’ve never seen the likes. Reminds me of those Sunday potlucks we used to have, except it was all laid out to even look pretty. Mom would have loved it
.

I wanted to let you know I’ve been feeling better about David. He continues to lie to me and also to defy my position of authority, but I keep praying for him. I know you’re praying too, and that means so much. I know what you mean about him being such a likeable guy in spite of his flaws. I just know if you ever had a chance to meet him, and maybe I’ll talk him into coming home with me so you can, that you’d like him
.

I know I need to talk to him and figure I’ll do that tomorrow, or maybe I’ll let him have the weekend and talk to him Monday. He needs to understand that he has a job to do and that people are going to suffer if he doesn’t pull his own weight. I can’t seem to get this across to him. I’ve asked God to teach him the value of friendship, particularly our friendship. I’d like to say I see a big difference in David from the time he first joined us, but I can’t. Still, I know God put us together for a reason. I like David. I like him a lot. He’s a decent fellow when he’s not hiding behind all that rage. If we can ever work it out, I’ll bring him home on leave. I know you could probably do wonders to boost his self-esteem
.

Well, looks like I’d better sign off. There’s not much time to get this in the mail. I love you all and will be mailing your Christmas presents tomorrow. Think tropical and Hawaiian. Love you, sis, and thanks for the letters
.

Kenny

David stared at the letter for a long time afterward. The handwriting blurred and his eyes refused to focus. Kenny had never been one to waste words. He thought of the lecture he’d escaped by sneaking off the ship that Saturday evening in December. Kenny had probably come looking for him, or maybe as the letter suggested, Kenny had decided to wait until Monday.

Guilt consumed him. Kenny’s memory rose up to condemn David’s lackadaisical attitude.

“
Everybody wants to have a good time now and then
,” Kenny had admonished, “
but we have a job to do. You let me down, David
.” The words had been laughed off by David when Kenny had delivered them on another occasion of his insubordination. No doubt similar words would have been spoken had the Japanese not interfered with their lives.

David put the letters back into the box and, after wrestling with the string for several minutes, decided to leave it sitting on top of the box. Rachel would understand that he’d been unable to retie the package.

He stretched out on Kenny’s bed and stared up at the ceiling for a long time.
I got my punishment
, he thought.
I’m crippled now and I have to live with the memories of what I’ve done
. “Isn’t that enough?” he questioned aloud.

The last thing he expected was a knock at the door, but that’s what he got. Jumping off the bed and cradling his aching arm, David went to the door and opened it.

Ruth stood there, a look of knowing on her face. “I’m going to the cemetery and I wondered if you’d like to walk with me. I want to put some flowers on Kenny’s grave.”

David knew his look betrayed his confusion. Kenny was entombed at the bottom of Pearl. Ruth seemed to understand perfectly.

“We bought Kenny a small marker. We wanted to have something we could go and visit. Somewhere we could honor him. Would you like to come with me?”

David nodded. “Sure.”

She smiled. “Rachel told me she’d given you a project, so I didn’t call you for lunch. I’ve brought you a sandwich, but if you’d rather eat something hot before we go, I can wait.”

David met her compassionate eyes and felt the anger in his heart subside. Funny, she had a way of disarming him with nothing more than a glance. “No, the sandwich will be fine. Let’s go.”

The walk to the cemetery wasn’t all that far. David ate his sandwich while Ruth carried the potted plants. He’d tried to take hold of one, but she’d insisted he eat first. With the last crumbs brushed from the front of his coat, Ruth handed him one of the plants without saying a word. They all seemed to just take his injury into consideration and it never was made to be a big issue. They simply accepted him as he was and worked with him.

“We put up Kenny’s marker next to his grandma Bennett’s grave,” she explained. “I thought we could decorate both graves.”

Overhead, the gunmetal gray skies threatened snow or rain. Kenny had said they couldn’t ever predict whether they’d get snow
or not. It was a funny climate, he had told David. Most folks thought just because they were quite a ways up north that they’d automatically have white Christmases, but David remembered Kenny saying that snow often missed them altogether.

Ruth smiled. “We have quite a beautiful park here. A nice lake and lots of grass and trees. Makes for a pleasant enough time when we aren’t being deluged with rain.” As if on cue, a light sprinkling began to fall. Mrs. Bennett laughed pleasantly. “See what I mean?”

“Ruth!” a woman called out. David looked up to find the woman advancing on them with two young girls at her side. The girls couldn’t have been more than three or four years of age, and they clung to their mother and peered out from behind her coat as they hurried to keep up.

“Have you heard the news? The Rolands are quarantined. Measles.”

Ruth nodded. “I heard that at church. We’ll have to cook up something and take it over.”

“Poor Margaret. That woman has had so much to endure. First her oldest daughter, Mary Ann, goes off to Seattle like she did, and now this. She’s probably beside herself. I’ll bet every one of those six kids comes down with measles before it’s over. She probably won’t see herself out in public until well after the new year.”

“Could be,” Ruth replied. “I’ll have the sewing circle figure out how we can best help.”

The woman nodded, then looked David over as if to ascertain his identity. David tipped his hat awkwardly. He’d never had much in the way of manners, but he desperately wanted to be polite for Ruth’s sake.

“Is this Kenny’s friend?” the woman asked. “The hero of the
Arizona?
” Her animated voice wasn’t in the least muffled by the heaviness of the air. “Oh, I read all about him in the paper. You must be so proud.”