Welcome To Vietnam
Chapter 1: The Draft
Characters belong to S.E. Hinton along with a few of my own. I hope you enjoy and please review!
Today was my seventeenth birthday. Darry and Soda had pounced on me, tickling me awake until we all rolled off the bed in a heap on the floor. We disentangled our limbs and sat back, still laughing. Darry gave me a warm smile, something that's become more natural to him since my semester theme all those years ago. He slapped me on that back and said, "Happy birthday, Ponyboy!" I smiled back, wiping the last bit of sleep from my eyes. I got up and gave him a hand. He was getting old fast from all those roofing jobs.
Mentally I cursed myself for thinking like that on my big day. I didn't really think of it as a big deal, but I knew that my brothers did so I had to be happy for them. It wasn't a hard task either, not since a year ago when I finally moved on from Johnny and Dally. It still hurt, but I wasn't the scared lost kid anymore, I could function and live my life the way Johnny would have wanted me to. The thought of how far I've come put a small smile on my face which widened when I saw the chocolate cake with the 17 candles on the kitchen table. Two-Bit and Steve were busy lighting them and they looked up when us Curtis boys walked in.
"Happy birthday, baby Curtis!" said Two-Bit, grinning like his maniac self.
"Happy birthday, kid," said Steve with his own contained grin. We had gotten over our differences after I got back from Windrixville and have become pretty close. Not as close as Soda and him, but close enough that I thought of him and Two-Bit as brothers too.
"Thanks guys. So, what was today's bet?" I asked. Steve was discreetly trying to hand Two-Bit money under the table. Those two were always betting on something.
Two-Bit laughed. "On whether or not they'd accidentally bruise you with that cruel awakening. I said no way, Stevie here said yes!" I laughed too, no bruises, but they'd woken me up that way so many times before that I knew it was a real possibility.
I let them sing their creative version of 'Happy Birthday' and blew out the candles. They complained that I didn't wait to make a wish, but I was happy where I was. There wasn't anything else I wanted. I had my brothers, both blood and non, and was almost done with high school. What more could a guy really want? That wasn't superficial, I mean. Anyone could come up with a laundry list of those wishes.
They each handed me a gift which I thanked them for. Two-Bit got me a new wallet with a small gift inside that made me turn a few shades of red before I hastily tucked the wallet in the pocket of my sweatpants. That made the guys howl with laughter for awhile. Steve handed me a Pepsi and twenty bucks, which was a lot coming from his meager paycheck. Darry and Soda went in together and got me a hardback copy of Gone With The Wind with Johnny's last letter to me bound to the spine. I didn't even know they knew about the letter, but they must have and then taken this to the people who preserve books. I knew that couldn't have been cheap, but it meant a lot to me that they had the thought to secure it to the book so it would never be lost. I thanked each of them and gave my brothers a hug which Soda convinced our other brothers to join in. The group hug didn't last long and we broke it up to eat the cake.
It was a great morning, and the last one for a long time. After I showered and put my book carefully away, my old wallet's contents and Steve's twenty bucks transferred to my new one now secure in my jeans pocket, I went to get the mail. There was Darry's pile which was mostly bills, nothing for Soda, and most surprisingly something for me. It was a thick piece of formal paper, return address the United States Army. I paled and my hands shook. I quickly sat down on the couch in case my legs decided to give up on me. I felt like I was going to be sick any minute, but I shakily opened it and pulled out the life changing paper... My draft notice.
"Hey, Pony!" Darry called from in the kitchen. I didn't answer and he popped his head in the doorway looking at me. I must have looked just as shaken as I felt because he gently came over and said, "Hey, Pony, what's wrong?" That caught the attention of the guys. They all came in looking concerned.
I weakly lifted the paper I held in my hands. Darry carefully took it from me like it would burn him and looked read it. He also paled and dropped it. "No!" He shouted. The guys picked it up and everyone was pale. Soda grabbed me up in a hug and looked like he was about to start bawling, but I felt detached like this wasn't really happening. Darry's next words brought it all crashing down, making it real. "I'm not gonna let this happen, Pony. There's no way they're taking you. We have a week to figure this out." Just a week... I got up and ran for the toilet, puking up everything. So much for a good birthday.
Darry and Soda came in, I hadn't had time to close the door. Soda crouched next to my shaking frame and rubbed circles in my back. "Don't worry little buddy, they're not gonna take you. I'm not letting them. We're not letting them." It didn't help though because we all knew that there was nothing they could do. They were desperate enough to take 16 and 17 year-olds straight out of high school, good grades be damned. I turned back and puked up whatever was left, which wasn't much at this point. After a few minutes it turned into painful dry heaving, my brothers still trying to calm me down. I wasn't ready to go to war, I wasn't ready to kill people for no reason other than it being an order, and I sure as hell wasn't ready to die. It seemed like almost everyone in that goddamned war was either killed, wounded, mentally messed up, or a combination. Back to dry heaving. I really needed to stop thinking about it.
I finally settled enough to lay back with my back against the side of the tub. It felt cool against my sweating skin. Throwing up sure burns a lot of energy, even if you're not really sick. I was exhausted and sweaty. My brothers were looking at me concerned, even Two-Bit and Steve in the doorway. Griping the edge of the tub, I pulled myself up and stumbled over to the sink to rinse out my mouth. It wasn't enough so I started brushing my teeth, pushing back the urge to vomit through the foamy toothpaste. I rinsed again and felt semi normal again. I was still scared to death, but at least I didn't feel as physically sick.
I smiled a weak smile and said hoarsely, "Well I guess this ruins the day, sorry guys."
They shook their heads, still pale and tense. Two-Bit spoke up, "Yeah, well, ain't your fault and ain't ours either. Want that Pepsi now or perhaps something stronger from my own stash?" I narrowed my eyes at him, Darry also shooting daggers at him, but we all followed him to the kitchen and took a seat at the table. The cake was in the icebox now so there wasn't anything on the table other than the beer bottles Two-Bit was passing around. Even Darry drank one which was shocking considering he drank less than I did and I drank maybe once a year. I chugged one down before my oldest brother could say anything then accepted the Pepsi I was planning on saving. Two-Bit passed me a flask under the table which I knew he kept whiskey in, just for emergencies he always explained, and he kept Darry busy with his back to me so I could put the alcohol in the Pepsi. I handed back the flask and drank my now potent soft drink. They didn't blend well, but as long as it got me a little buzzed I didn't care. I swallowed the vile concoction down without Darry noticing a thing. Soda might have, but he wasn't about to squeal when I could be gone in a week.
I knew the Pepsi did a little more than just get me buzzed when I stood up though. We were going out to play drunk football, everyone but Darry and I had at least four beers by then. Soda looked like he was on number six and Two-Bit could drink twice that in the same amount of time. I don't think he did, but one could never tell with him. Darry narrowed his eyes as I swayed on my feet and I giggled guiltily. He grabbed my empty bottle and sniffed. He sighed sadly and helped me walk without falling down as we made our way to the lot with the football. I was surprised he wasn't hollering at me for being drunk, but I guess he realized there wasn't much point when I'd be leaving in a week. We played sloppily for about an hour, everyone a little tipsy or more. No one kept score and we stumbled home, crashing in the living room. Darry got the arm chair, Steve claimed the couch, and the three of us just shrugged and stumbled to the floor laughing. I started bawling at the thought of leaving though and they hugged me until we fell asleep. A blood brother on my left and a buddy as close as a brother on my right.
Morning was cruel. Darry opened the curtains and let in a blinding light that left me groaning and buring my face. I heard Steve and Two-Bit doing the same. Soda must be the one banging the pots and pans in the kitchen. I wanted to yell at him to knock it off, but yelling would only hurt my head so I just moaned again. I cracked one eye half open to see Darry set a glass of water by my face on the floor and two aspirins. He ruffled my hair and gave me a pat on the back. "Now don't go making this a habit, little buddy. I'll let it slide this time, but no more. Got it?" I couldn't nod from my position so I mumbled something in the affirmative. Yeah, hangovers weren't fun. I wouldn't be drinking anytime soon.
He got serious and stood back up, "Okay, well Soda and I are gonna go head down and sort this mess out. Breakfast is on the table for whenever y'all are ready. Here's the aspirin and water by your head, try not to forget it and knock it over. Steve's got work at eleven so if you're up by then, try to remind him. Two-Bit's probably gonna call off, but try to remind him too. He's been fired enough over hangovers. Relax, kiddo, it'll all work out." That really made me open my eyes as I remembered Dallas saying almost the same exact thing to Johnny and I after we'd killed that Soc. My stomach turned into a lump of pure ice and I heard my heart hammering in my ears. I may have gotten used to it, but that didn't make it hurt any less.
Darry didn't know that though and must have mistaken my pallor as part of the hangover because he rushed to grab me the small wastebasket in from the corner of the room. I wasn't to that point yet so I shook my head at his offering. He didn't look convinced so he set it aside by the water and pills laying on the floor. He stroked my hair and stood back up. "C'mon, Soda, we gotta go!" He hollered and I winced, holding my head. Two-Bit woke up and moaned. "How much did I drink last night, man?" He asked me quietly from his own spot on the floor. I slowly shook my head. I didn't know, but way more than me. He stole one of my asprin and sat up. I tried to do the same, but my head hurt so much I decided to stay down with my face mashed into the carpet. He laughed at me, wincing. "Man, how much did you drink last night?" I chuckled with him and groaned again. I sure was a lightweight , but I blame my protective brothers.
"Hey, Two-Bit. Thanks for getting my brothers plastered last night. If you don't go into work, would you mind staying with him while Soda and I go work this out?"
Two-Bit shook his head, "Nah, I ain't going. I'll watch him for you. How is the Soda doing anyway?"
Just then, Soda came walking in. He was a sickly shade of green with slightly bloodshot eyes, but he had a hard and determined look on his face. I knew that he'd move heaven and hell to try and keep me here, despite being hungover himself. Both of my brothers would, hell all of my brothers would. I only wish that could reassure me, but it didn't. Secretly, we all knew there was nothing that could be done and I would be leaving for war soon. His voice was tired and gentle, "See yah later, Pony. Don't worry none." I smiled my best fake smile, but I knew he saw right through it just like I saw through their reassuring words.
Two-Bit and I took turns trying to carefully wake up Steve. He wasn't pleasant when he was hungover, not that anyone was. We threw bits of toast at him until ten. By then our own headaches had dialed down and we started being loud, turning up the TV and goofing off. We wrestled over if it was tuff or not that a twenty-something-year-old still watched Mickey Mouse, I won, after bumping into the coffee table and waking up Steve. He growled, "What the hell? Kid, don't you know what a hangover is?" I offered him the wastebasket from earlier and he threw it at me. Luckily I dodged it, that could have hurt. "Cute, kid. Real cute."
"We already dealt with our hangovers, you lazy bum. Now it's just a mild annoyance. Darry told me to tell you, you gotta get to work at eleven." I remembered the message from earlier. Although how I couldn't say considering I was half asleep at the time and super hungover. Two hours helped a lot more with that then the five aspirin I downed.
He groaned and flopped back on the couch. Two-Bit offered him a couple aspirins which he gratefully accepted. "How'd Superman take your lightweight demonstration? What'd you drink anyway? I know you can handle more than one beer."
I made a face remembering the whiskey Pepsi combo. "That beer plus a really nasty whiskey-Pepsi como so Darry wouldn't suspect anything and then whatever Two-Bit gave me when we were playing football. What was that?"
Steve laughed at the Pepsi. Two-Bit laughed too, "That was straight whiskey, kid! You drank my whole stash!" I joined in. Maybe I wasn't such a lightweight then. Whiskey was pretty hard stuff and I managed to walk home with the guys instead of being dragged.
Steve looked up at the clock. He still had thirty minutes before work and it only took him ten to get ready and be there. "Where did Soda and Superman go anyway? It's their day off, I figured they'd be here with you."
The room went quiet again. "They, uh, went to go and try to fix this, uh, y'know, my draft." I stumbled.
"Oh," was all he said. A couple minutes later, in they walked. They looked pissed. Soda looked ready to break down when he looked at me and Darry just collapsed in his armchair, a piece of paper crumpled in his hand. He was pale and shaking with either fear or rage. I couldn't wait any longer even though I knew it'd been a bust. "What's that, Darry?" Pointing to the piece of paper.
"My draft. They were about to send it when we walked in. The only thing keeping me here was you and since you're going, my number's up too." He gave a nervous laugh. "Hell, at least we'll be together."
My ears went deaf. I didn't just hear that. Darry drafted? No, no it was bad enough that I had to go, but Soda couldn't have both of us gone and I couldn't have my brothers there. "No!" I shouted. I would willingly go in place of any of the guys, despite my own fear, but you couldn't argue with a draft. They all looked shocked and shaken. Yet another of us taken. This couldn't be happening.
To make matters worse, Soda declared something that would change all of our lives. "Both of my brothers are going. I'm going to. Tomorrow, I'm signing up." He had that set glint in his eyes and there was no point in trying to change his mind. It was already made up and I wondered if he'd been considering it since I got my notice yesterday.
"WHAT?!" We all shouted at him. The room was chaos and we were all livid. Me-"Soda, what the hell are you thinking?" Steve- "Fuck, Soda! I don't wanna sign up!" Two-Bit- "Damn, why am I gonna be the only one left?" Darry- "Don't you dare throw your life away for us, Soda!" Soda- "I'm doing it and y'all can't stop me.
The night was spent with everyone arguing. Darry and I were convinced we were practically dead already so we tried to talk the others out of it. We didn't have a choice, but they did. They shouldn't throw everything away just for us. But, that morning, eveyone piled in the truck and Soda, Steve, and Two-Bit enlisted with the strict request to be placed in our unit. The recruiter smiled and promised what I knew he couldn't keep. We were all property of the United States Army now, set to leave for basic training on Friday and after that- Vietnam.