by J.R. Bowles
CHAPTER 32
The phone rang three times before John managed to answer it. “Hello.” He groaned; his own foul breath reflected back into his nostrils.
“Good morning, Mr. Fleuric. This is your morning wake up. “
“Thank you.” He responded flatly and hung up.
It had taken him three rings to answer because Jackie's head was lying on his numb arm; he eased it out without waking her. He had awakened on the first ring, but it had taken him a moment to realize who the girl was and to clear his confusion enough to finagle his arm free.
He thought about events of the earlier hours. He glanced over at Billy asleep on the other bed. They were all fully clothed he noted and felt a sense of relief.
It was seven a.m., and he had a morning meeting at eight. He showered, dressed and woke Billy.
“Billy,” John whispered so as to not awaken Jackie, who still slept soundly with a slight husky snore.
“Yes.” Billy came alert immediately as if from practice.
“Shh!” John indicated, using his index finger pursed against Billy's lips. “She's still asleep,” using the same hand and finger to indicate Jackie.
“I have a meeting that'll probably last all day and I have to attend a social gathering this evening. I'm afraid I won't be back until late tonight.” John's face was tense with concern and hints of worry. “I still want to know what's happening and what part you and Jackie are playing.” John spoke slightly louder than he had intended. “Do you think Jackie will still be here when I get back?”
“I don't know,” Billy answered, but he already knew the answer; she would most definitely be here. “See you later, John.”
As John left the motel and walked casually along the edge of the golf course, he heard a trumpet being played over a paging system all over the base. He glanced at his watch and noted it was 8:00. He kept walking but as he looked around, he noticed the few cars that had been moving had stopped in the middle of the road; the people who had been walking had stopped and were facing the golf course. The ones in uniform were saluting the golf course. The trumpet music finished and everyone became reanimated. He shook his head in curiosity.
John entered one end of building 400. The building was close to a block long and looked like it was built well over a century ago.
“Good morning, Mr. Fleuric.”
“Morning, Mr. Paulus, is the Commander in?”
“He's expecting you.”
“By the way what was that trumpet music about―and why was everyone stopped and facing the golf course?”
Paulus laughed. “That was morning colors. At 8:00 each day the flag is hoisted and at sunset they take it down. On a military base you come to attention for colors. They weren't facing the golf course, the flag is on the other side of it and they were facing the flag.”
“Oh,” John nodded awkwardly, “That makes sense; thanks for the explanation.”
“No problem. Sir, Commander Smith is waiting.”
John sighed, dreading the long day. He had met the Commander yesterday and had ended up in a heated argument with the man.
“Come in, John.”
“Morning, Jake.”
“Coffee?”
“No thanks.”
This morning as John looked at Jake he could sense the man's deepest desire: Not to do a good job, his desire was to look good at all cost. He was the type of person who would step on anyone's back to get where he wanted, even if it broke the back. Strange he hadn't sensed this yesterday when he had met him.
John didn't have the energy to argue and rehash the same details today that they discussed yesterday.
“Let's go back to where we were when we disagreed yesterday.” Jake leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms in front of him as if he were ready for confrontation.
“No, let's not.” John's stated emphatically. His patience had run out. “I'll explain it again and you will agree.” He didn't give Jake the opportunity to comment; he just stared at him.
Jake remained silent. In his career of over twenty years he had never been this awestruck as he was by this man sitting across from him, and he had to deal with many ranks of people, both military and political. He remained still.
