HEY!!! New story!! Yippee!! Lol..ok not really!! This is just what the JJ and Jack Pryor (his dad) thought when JJ told his dad he enlisted. The ending also has a little bit of the mom in it. Tell me whatcha think and I may continue or this may just be a one shot story!! Anywho, I don't own anyone! REVIEW!
"I enlisted." There was silence. It seemed as if the world stopped turning that one split millisecond. It stopped just to let JJ Pryor's statement sink into his father's thoughts. The waitresses, at the diner, stopped dead in their tracks and all the chatting stopped. At least that's what it seemed like to JJ. It seemed as if everyone, everything, stopped and he hated it. He wanted his father to say something. "in the Marines. I enlisted in the Marines." The young man sounded as miserable as he felt, yet for some reason he did not want to let his dad know.
If his dad knew how miserable he was, he wouldn't treat him like a man. His dad would want him to drop out of the Marines, and to just get a job at the Pryor store. He'd want him to forget about college. JJ had different ideas, however, he wanted to go to college and he wanted to be an astronaut. "You have to go to college and be able to fly to get in the space program." All his life, JJ wanted to be an astronaut and just because he lost his scholarship at Lehigh he wasn't about to give his dream up.
The United States Marine Corps? What does JJ want with that? Those thoughts ruptured Jack Pryor's mind. My son in the Marines? Jack always thought of his son as a star quarterback on the Philadelphia Football Team, or maybe even the star quarterback of the Lehigh Football Team. Never did he picture his son as a Marine. He never even thought about his son going into the military. The subject never came up. Although, now he realized, he should have talked to JJ about the military.
When the phone call from Lehigh came, and Jack answered it he figured it'd just be another congratulations call or something. Something from the school telling him how his son was the new star of the team. He never expected it to be what it was. If he would have even thought of something like that, he would have never answered the phone. "He got cut from the football team." That's the one sentence Jack remembered most about the phone call from Lehigh. His heart had just about stopped when he heard that, and his thoughts broke.
Jack had always wanted the best for his son, but when he got that phone call, all that when down the drain. There was no way he'd be able to pay for college, thus JJ wouldn't be able to play football. Jack didn't realize that playing football was his dream though, and not JJ's. JJ had a completely different idea and plan for his life.
JJ stood up and pulled his coat on, still waiting for his dad to say something. "Let's go tell mom." That was all his father said as he stood up.
"You know, I thought about this." His father only gave him a questioning look as if to say 'what have you thought about?' "About joining the marines. You know, the military." That wasn't the truth though. JJ hadn't thought about it, he had did it irrationally. It was a last minute thought and he hadn't thought it through. However, he didn't intend on telling anyone that.
Truth be told, he was embarrassed for being cut from the team. Everything before college, during high school, was so easy. It was so easy to play football, and for JJ, it was so easy to basically be guaranteed a spot on the football team. He had always been the best guy on the team. Now, at college, he wasn't very good. Not even good enough to stay on the team. Sure, he had his ankle to blame, but still that wasn't enough for him. He lay himself at fault.
JJ wondered hastily what his sisters and brother would think of him for being cut from the team. Would they be embarrassed to be related to him? He had always been their role model, or at least one of their role models and now what did he have to show? Nothing. He wanted to come back and show his family that he wasn't a failure.
That was why he had decided to join the military. At least then he had something to show, whereas if he would have just came home straight after being cut from the team he would have nothing to show.
Jack Pryor opened his car door and slammed it shut once he was inside. "So, JJ." He didn't have anything to say to his son, yet he refused to let him know that he was mad. He wouldn't let JJ know he was mad. JJ was 18, he was old enough to make his own decisions and then live with the consequences.
Not that the thought of war hadn't crossed Jack's mind, he just chose not to be bothered by it. Yes, he would be scared if his son was sent to war, but then again he figured, it'd never happen. Why be bothered by something that would never happen.
"Get ready for hell," Jack told his son as he opened the front door to the Pryor household. JJ was a little shocked by his father's cursing. His father never cursed, at least he never cursed around the house. JJ knew what his dad was talking about though. He was talking about telling his mother.
"Your son has something to tell you," Jack stated to his wife. His wife, Mrs. Pryor, stopped her cooking long enough to turn to JJ. She didn't smile, yet she didn't frown. She was happy to see him, but she wasn't happy at the fact that he got cut from the team.
"I enlisted." Mrs. Pryor dropped her cup of flour and stared at JJ. Did he just say he enlisted? She wondered to herself. "I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps."
A/N~ That's the end of this chapter!! Tell me whatcha think and maybe I'll continue. Maybe not!