For the Tricks
Note and Disclaimer: I still don't own M*A*S*H and neither should you. Enjoy!
Well, there are pests and then, there are people I feel a little sorry for. Augustus Bedford "Duke" Forrest was one of them. He was different than the rest. He always had good intentions and wanted to be recognized for it. Things always had to be done his way though and he was willing to do more to hijack any situation if need be.
I can't say that his temper was even. Duke always had a way of making a mountain out of a mule hill. Anything could have set him off. From the moment he was born, he was a demon from hell. His mother could not control him and his father cared less. It left Duke up to some tricks.
Duke thrived on tricks and made his life about them. It didn't matter if it was for the greater good or for his own gain. He had plenty of them up his sleeve, no matter what. It could be dipping pigtails in an inkwell or it was scrounging up some money so that his family could eat. It was like magic the way he worked.
Medical school seemed to be his ticket out of town though. Duke had enough of the small town he grew up in and shaped up a little. By the time he was twenty-nine, he had graduated and was married with two daughters. It calmed him down slightly, but his anger remained. He was an angel to the girls. To his wife, he was a scoundrel and well worth a divorce…if the church didn't condone it. With religion against her, Mrs. Forrest pursed her lips and kept quiet on Duke's drinking, womanizing and smoking habits.
When Duke was drafted and sent to Korea, his wife thought that the Army would put an end to his tricks. What she did not realize was that Duke was going to be using them to save lives. He was sent to the Pusan Perimeter with nothing more than a jeep and a pack of basics. There was no camp. What was supposed to be the 4077th M*A*S*H was nothing more than rocks and dirt and a few scattered craters.
Duke was hard at work within seconds. He became the leader since the others who came with him (thirty in all) had no idea what to do. Most of them were like Duke. They were draftees. They did not have the same abilities as this trickster who shouted orders and demanded that they work hard to keep the wounded alive. After all, that was what they were there for. They had to make do with the resources given to them.
It wasn't long before Duke became the celebrated hero. He became an overnight sensation and it was all in thanks to his tricks. He bartered, stole and manipulated until there was an Army base and saved lives. His position did not last long. He presented the perimeter, keys and all, to the next commanding officer.
Henry Blake continued what Duke started. After all, the foundation was strong and it worked well. However, he did not like the tricks from his predecessor. Duke was confined to a subordinate position and he resented that old Henry Blake put him in his place. In turn, he did everything in his power to overthrow Henry. It didn't help that there were Regular Army clowns that came in and destroyed everything that Duke build up.
But what was his rise was also his downfall. While Duke continued to use the war as an excuse to play his tricks, he also brought some negative attention on himself. The person who singlehandedly gave the Army a base with nothing more than his skills was now a condemned hijacker. Henry heeded the footprints on his head and threw gratitude to the wind. He lectured Duke about his tricks – the only thing that kept him from going insane – and transferred him out of the camp.
Duke spent the rest of his Army tenure at the 121st Evac Hospital. There, his reputation preceded him and he did nothing to prove them wrong. Nobody remembered of his achievements. He will always be remembered as one of the doctors who always had a wise crack on his lips and a hand in all the pranks. He still held onto his tricks to calm him and made no new friends. He hardly kept in touch with the ones at the 4077th either. It didn't matter much though. It wasn't long before he was sent stateside.
After his war, Duke went home to Georgia with a million and one regrets. The war took a huge toll on him, worse than he should have let it, and it impacted his civilian life. His Army residence meant nothing to him anymore. His dreams of being a doctor went down the drain. Tricks from the heart were no longer full of fun. They were malicious and full of spite.
Eventually, after a year, his wife and children disappeared and his family refused to speak to him. It left Duke in a hole from which he could not get out of. He lost everything and could not move on. There was no life left in him anymore.
I am Death though…and there is always a way to me. Duke Forrest had so much potential. He used it to his best advantage and lost it all in a silly gamble. He was a fool. However, his drinking days numbered less than his counterparts. Those tricks of his are not going to save him. The magic of the bottle was going to dim his lights.