Brothers of Different Mothers

by C. L. Jones

  Roadside gave the men a new order, “Okay boys now start moving your feet back and slide your nose down until I tell you to stop.” When the prisoners were in place Roadside gave them the word to stop. Then he told Rocky, “I’ve got this covered, go check on the others.”

  It was even better when Surfer and Tracker entered their assigned building. They found only one man and he was sitting up on a couch but sound asleep, with his head laying back, his mouth wide open and his weapon lying across his lap. He was so out of it that he didn’t hear the two men making a hell of a racket as they crashed through the door. Surfer and Tracker wondered why was this idiot was supposed to be guarding this building.

  The building looked like someone’s den back home except for the safe being used as an end table with a lamp setting on it. Tracker walked over, picked up the guard’s weapon and handed it to Surfer. Surfer slung it over his left shoulder and proceeded to look around checking the rest of the building. Tracker sat down beside the guard, looked at Surfer and nodded his head towards the sleeping man and smiled. Tracker moved over closer to the guard and leaned in close to his ear and whispered, “Honey it’s time to get up.” He smiled, getting into his taunting routine with the guard. He whispered again, “Honey, you’re going to be late.”

  The guard began moving around and showed signs of waking up. Surfer walked over, pulled a chair up and sat in front of this unsuspecting weary soul. The guy’s eyes slowly opened and then closed for a second. Then his eyes popped open and he sat straight up slapping his lap for his weapon and said, “Hey, what are you doing here?”

  Tracker placed his hand under his chin and acted like an old wise man. He imitated an old fashion English butler as he mockingly spoke, “Well, my good man, what is happening?” The man kept looking back and forth between Surfer and Tracker. It was clear he was caught off guard and had no idea what these two men wanted or what they were going to do. Surfer leaned in very close to the man and whispered a threatening command into his ear. Then Surfer sat back in his chair, crossed his legs, put his hands behind his head locking his fingers and nodding towards the safe.

  The guard said, “Don’t look at me. I’m, I mean, I’m supposed to just sit here.”

  Then Surfer and Tracker looked at each other then back at the guard and pointed at the safe. The bewildered guard acted as if he was getting mad, “Hey this isn’t part of the competition, and you can’t pretend to rob the company safe.

  “Who’s pretending?”

  “You can’t take the winnings.”

  Surfer just pointed the barrel of his weapon at the safe and smiled.

  The scared man kept blubbering that he could not open the safe and finally Tracker and Surfer were convinced. Finally the guard admitted that only the colonel had the combination and could open the safe and that, “He’d be gone for awhile.”

  Tracker asked, “What’s awhile?”

  The guard shrugged his shoulders and said, “I heard him say that they would be back before dark.”

  Surfer picked up on the “they” in the guard’s statement and asked, “They?”

  The man looked back and forth at the two men and willingly replied, “Oh yeah the colonel and that other prick. I don’t know much about him.”

  Tracker asked, “What other guy?” Then before anyone could say a word Surfer and Tracker looked at each other and said at the same time, “Indy.”

  “No that’s not what they called him,” the young guard replied. Cowboy and Surfer knew from this guard's reactions that he didn’t have a clue about what he was involved in or what kind of people he was working for.

  Surfer took the strap off the guard’s weapon and then made him take off his BDU belt. He proceeded to tie the guard up and put a gag in his mouth. They told him if he just stayed there, none of the Crew would harm him.

  Surfer and Tracker were headed out of the building into the open area of the compound looking at each other and laughing. Just as they stepped out the door they heard the sound of weapon fire. There was a pause of a second and then another round of fire sounded off. The two men almost went to the ground before they realized the sound had come from the other two buildings.

  Pops and Cowboy appeared at the door of one of the buildings. Pops was walking with his weapon tilted toward the ground messing with it and at the same time checking his hidden cargo of C-4 hidden around his waist. Cowboy slung his weapon over his shoulder.

  Just then Rocky and Roadside came out of the other building and neither had any sign on their face that anything happened. The three teams of men met in the center of the compound.

  In a straightforward matter of fact manner Surfer announced, “We left a guy tied up in the building.”

  Trying to play it off like it was nothing Tracker said, “Yea we left him guarding the safe.” Pops, Cowboy, Rocky and Roadside were surprised and raised their eyebrows at his words.

  Pops reached up and removed his cap. He ran his hands over the top of his head and after only a few seconds said, “Well, we can guess what’s in the safe, right?”

  This was the pinnacle of their ordeal and success was in sight. The Crew was made up of macho men who nevertheless started acting like childish little boys when they heard about the safe. Cowboy let out a yelp. Surfer turned and did the pumping victory sign, fists clenched and elbows tucked into his side. He started gritting out the words yes, yes, yes. Rocky and Roadside congratulated themselves with a wrist on wrist handshake.

  Pops let the celebrating go on for a short time while he and Tracker were more subdued. He finally put a stop to it by bringing to their attention the fact that they had not quite finished the job yet. “Hey guys I think we better figure out what we’re going to do with the colonel and his team when they return. Plus we need to figure out what we’re going to do with the guy that Surfer and Tracker left tied up in the building with the safe.”

  Surfer and Tracker looked at Pops at the same time as Surfer started waving his hands back and forth and shaking his head no. “Hey we promised the prisoner that none of us would harm him. He is just some dumb-ass kid that got dragged into this.”

  Without hesitation Cowboy chimed in and said, “Your word is your word and we’ll stand behind you.” Without missing a beat, the rest of the Crew agreed with Cowboy. The young man would be spared as long as he stayed quiet and didn’t try to warn the colonel.

  Pops could see from Surfer and Tracker’s expressions that they were relieved. Rocky said, “Maybe we can use him.”

  Pops told the team, “Well the area looks clear so let’s go over to the building that has the safe and put a plan together.” As the team started towards the building Pops’ paranoia showed through again. He started looking around and said, “Hey guys, they could have someone out there watching us right now. Maybe we should have someone recon the perimeter.”

  Rocky piped up, “Hell you guys don’t need me to come up with a plan.” Roadside said, “Ditto, I’ll go with him.”

  Pops nodded yes then added, “Try to be back soon. If you get hung up let us know you’re ok in case we happen to be busy when you head back.”

  Rocky held up one finger saying, “Wait one minute.” He ran into the building and came back out with a small hand held mirror and then said, “One way or another we’ll signal you as long as there is light left and the sun sets in the west. So keep an eye out towards the forest for any sign.”

  Rocky reached out and lightly punched Pops on the arm and told him, “We’ll circle the compound. We’ll work our way starting from the east and do a three-sixty all the way around coming back in from the east. Got me?”

  Pops smiled and acknowledged Rocky’s plan with a simple, “Go.” Pops, Cowboy, Surfer and Tracker headed to the building with the bound guard and safe while Rocky and Roadside ducked around the back of the same building and headed into the woods.

  In the building Pops approached the guard and immediately recognized that the guy was the young corporal who had stood so nervously on the platf
orm that first time in the chapel. Sitting down in front of him, Pops took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds. Then he exhaled deeply and said, “Hmm, what are we going to do with you?” Pops looked around at his teammates and repeated himself, “Well what are we going to do with him?”

  Cowboy sat down beside the scared young man. Surfer leaned against the wall next to his right shoulder and it seemed as if he wasn’t paying any attention. Tracker stood behind Pops leaning forward with both hands firmly placed on the back of Pops’ chair and staring at the wide-eyed helpless man.

  Pops motioned to Cowboy to take the gag off. As it came off the man took a deep breath. You could see tears forming in his eyes as he asked, “Are you going to kill me?”

  Pops turned his head and had to lean down to see around Tracker and look at Surfer. He asked them, “I don’t know, are we going to kill him?”

  Surfer looked at Tracker and repeated it, “Dude are you going to kill him?

  Cowboy slid his arm around the frightened man. He amused everyone except the guard when he took the young man by the back of the neck, pulled him over and kissed him on the forehead, “How can we kill anyone as cute as him?”

  The four members of the Crew started a gut roaring laughter. The guard was thoroughly confused. However his panic still showed through his bewilderment. He’d start to smile and try to laugh but would be frightened all over again. He clearly had no idea what these professional killers would do although he did have a good idea what they were capable of.

  Cowboy got off the seat next to the trembling young guard then bent down and pulled a knife out of his boot. As he pulled out the knife he slowly stood back up. Holding the knife at his side he said, “The only thing I want to know is why should we let you live?” He slowly started to raise the cold steel blade.

  The nervous man looked around the room and said, “Because he,” pointing at Surfer, “he said I’d be safe.”

  Cowboy lowered the knife and looked around the room then back at the young man. He bent down and got right in his face and shocked him by saying, “Good answer. That’s the best thing to keep in mind. We keep our word.” Then he stepped back and asked the relieved young guard, “So are they paying you?”

  The young man looked as if he had just been struck dumb but he nervously answered, “No, nothing extra. Just my regular pay.”

  Acting as if everything was normal Cowboy asked him, “How much is that?”

  Again the man looked around the room like he was offended and didn’t want to answer, but he could see the men surrounding him wanted an answer. “I get almost a thousand dollars a week.”

  Surfer walked toward the young man. When he was as close as he had been earlier he said, “A thousand bucks a week huh. That’s good money.”

  Without missing a beat Cowboy asked, “How would you like more?” The nervous young man was getting whiplash as he jerked his head from one team member to the other, back and forth like his head was on a well-oiled swivel.

  After at least two different times looking around the room he looked at Pops and asked, “What do you mean?”

  Pops smiled at him and said, “He said it. Ask him.”

  The guy looked back at Cowboy still with some fear that made his eyes flutter more than normal. “Well?”

  “Okay here it is, you can be with us or you can be with the bad guys. If you stay with them, you get whatever they give you. If you come with us, you get a cut of whatever we get.” The completely befuddled young man looked around the room once again and asked, “A full share?”

  Tracker replied, “Hell no, a junior share.”

  The team started laughing again and Tracker said, “Sure, a full share.” The guard looked around and asked, “Are you guys for real?”

  Pops said, “If you give us your word and you realize you give it on your life. Break your word and you die. Your word is your life.”

  The guard put his hand out to Pops as if to shake hands and said, “Under one condition. I get the colonel.”

  This took everyone in the room by surprise. Cowboy said, “Tell us why we should we trust you.”

  The man started to get up then remembered where he was and asked in a very angry voice, “May I?”

  Pops stood up and backed away from the young man and replied, “Yep, go ahead.”

  With a strange and angry look in his eyes the young man said, “Here’s why.” He dropped his utility belt and then he started to unbutton his shirt. The team was looking at each other wondering what was going on. The man dropped his shirt to the floor and turned around. His back had scars all over from his lower neck to his lower back and fresh bruises from top to bottom. “The Colonel recruited me after I finished my last tour. He said he would teach me everything he knew, but so far I’ve never been able to get anything right according to him. So this is how he teaches me. This is how I am supposed to learn to be a man.”

  “Why do you take it?” Surfer said.

  “You guys could never understand,” the guard said reaching down to pick up his shirt. “I was raised in an orphanage. When I left the orphanage I went straight into the army. I thought I was doing pretty well as I made sergeant in three years. I was planning to stay in and make it a career when out of the blue I was informed that I was being cut. I guess the army was like my mother and father. It didn’t want me either. Then out of nowhere this asshole colonel showed up and recruited me.”

  “So if you all have planned what I think you have planned, the colonel is mine. I don’t want the money or anything else, just the colonel.” He looked Pops right in the eye and finished by saying, “He’s mine, I’m yours.”

  Pops asked, “Then you want in with us right?”

  “I’m in,” the young man exclaimed proudly. The team walked up to the guard one at a time and held out their hand as a sign of acceptance.

  Pops was the last to shake hands with the guard but after he’d bumped knuckle to knuckle, he asked, “What’s your code name?” While he was talking to the young man he remembered that this was the young man he’d punched on the plane.

  The young man looked embarrassed as he answered, “The colonel said that I hadn’t earned one yet.”

  The team all started laughing and Cowboy said, “You don’t earn one, you’re given one.”

  Cowboy motioned for the team to circle around him. The team huddled and mumbled for a few minutes and when they came out of the huddle, Surfer walked back over to him and said, “Okay kid, from now on you are Puncher.”

  The guard stood there for a minute like he was in deep thought then he broke into a big happy smile and said, “Puncher, yea, yea, I get it. Puncher. I like that. Puncher, I’m Puncher. I hope the colonel gets it.”

  Pops waited for it to sink in then he said, “Well happy birthday kid you’re not an orphan any more. Now can we get back to work?” Without another word the team gathered around and it was back to the job at hand. Pops quickly told the Crew, “Well I think we should go back to the original plan.”

  Cowboy replied, “What plan was that?”

  Pops replied, “The one where it looks like members of the cadre are standing guard over Cowboy, Surfer and Tracker.” Then Pops told Cowboy and Surfer, “You’re still prisoners but now we will only have a single guard.” The team knew precisely what Pops was talking about. Pops continued, “Tracker you look the most like one of the guards, so I guess you’ll be the one on guard duty tonight. Surfer and Cowboy will play the prisoners along with one of the bodies of the guards. It means you will have to hide two of the other bodies in one of the buildings.”

  Puncher spoke up, “What am I going to do?”

  Pops reached out and put his arm around the newest member’s shoulder. He smiled and said, “Well Puncher you have the most important job of all because you’ve got to act completely normal when they come back in tonight. What would you normally be doing?”

  Puncher answered without thinking, “I better be out there to greet the colonel and have a full report on e
verything that went on here today or kiss my ass good-by.”

  Cowboy looked at Puncher and replied, “We’ll see who kisses their ass goodbye won’t we?”

  Pops wanted to keep the Crew’s attention on the plan, “Okay, let’s stay with it.” The team went back to business. “Okay three prisoners, one guard and Puncher in the compound acting normal and Roadside and Rocky in the bush. I think that’s it.” Pops looked around at the team. Everyone looked at each other and nodded their heads in agreement.

  Cowboy asked, “What about you Pops?”

  “I’ll be here. I’ll watch over you guys in the compound and keep an eye on this box,” pointing to the safe. “Okay, what do you all think?” He looked around the room at the team.

  Cowboy replied, “Ready.”

  Surfer agreed, “It’s a go.”

  Tracker added, “It’s okay with me.”

  Puncher was a little reserved with his response at first since after all he was the new guy and wasn’t sure just where he stood. When he saw the Crew looking at him and waiting he realized that it must be for real and the Crew now considered him a member. So he added, “I’m in.”

  Pops walked over to the window, looked out and told the team, “No one really knows how much time we have so I guess we need to get in place now and look the part.” He turned back to the team and continued, “It’s going to be hard out there just waiting. Make sure you have plenty of water and whatever else you need.”

  Pops moved around the room looking at each team member one at a time. Then he stopped. “Okay guys I hate to be a downer but I need to say something here. For the first time in my life I want to thank someone in this business for something.” Pops paused and looked around the room again. “If shit’s going to happen it’s going to happen. There is a good chance it’s going to happen right here and if it does it’s going to get so hot that one or more of us could go down. Now that I’m a part of a real team and not some joy stick jockey sent out in the field for the first time, I don’t want anything to happen to any of us. It’s going to be us or them. In my book them is a hell of a lot better than us.”