July 4, 1959
He said "Son, have you seen the world? Well what would you say if I said that you could? Just carry this gun, you'll even get paid." I said "That sounds pretty good."
Ma wasn' too happy about it, but I'll tell ya Diary, I've gotta good feelin' about this, ya know? This is gonna work out. Ahh hell, ya don' even know who I am do ya? Well Ma gave ya ta me right before I shipped off. Well, I'm on tha train as I write. It's kinda hard with all tha shakin' and all that but whateva, it's gonna be awesome when I get ta trainin', I just know it!
Well anyways, tha' sentence up there [arrow pointing up] that's how I got pulled inta this ya see. I'd just graduated, I was 19, ya ya I know, old ta still be in high school but it's cuz a my older bros! I swear! They screw'd me over wit the teachers. All the teachs thought I was gonna be one of two things: smart like my oldest bro or a complete drop out like my second oldest bro. Well being me, the youngest of 5 boys and a couple of sistas, I ain't like eitha of those things. I just love baseball. Plain & simple. So that's what I did in school. Played baseball. Sure I got in fights 'n stuff, worried Ma ta death I think, but it was no big deal no one got seriously hurt and no one got killed.
Anyways, I'm gettin' sidetracked again. Well I was the best on the team. I could run the fastest, hit tha hardest, and they was hard pressed ta hit a ball that I couldn't catch. Well I got my speed from always havin' ta run from my older brothas and sistas. Ya'd better learn ta run if ya's tha youngest.
Oh, oh, I gotta finish tellin' ya about how I got this job! Well I was playin' with tha team, school was out & we was just out messin' around, I had just hit a home run and was joggin' around the bases when this guy in a suit shows up, he watches us play a bit more and when we start packin' up he walks over ta me and says "Son, have you seen the world? Well what would you say if I said that you could? Just carry this gun, you'll even get paid." Well damn, Ma did say that I needed ta get a job and get outta tha house since I was outta school. Well hell, I thought, why not? So I say "Hey, tha' sounds like a pretty good deal."
Ma wasn't exactly happy, well truthfully she was furious wit me, she ranted and raved 'bout me goin' out an' "comin' back in a body bag." I tried ta tell her that that wouldn't happen. That it'd be fine and that it'd all work out. But she just yelled some more & then locked herself in her room wit my oldest sista knockin' on the door an' throwin' death glares at me.
Ma finally came outta tha room and gave me a hug, tellin' me ta be careful and be safe. Don't talk back an' ta keep my head down. She said ta write often and keep her up ta date. She said tha my da left like me too, tha's why she reacted so badly. She said tha she was sorry… but really Diary…I was tha one tha felt sorry. I knew my da left her, I have his 'tags actually. I'm wearin' them right now. So I told her I was sorry and- don't ya dare tell anyone this or I'll burn ya ta ash and then I'll track down whoever it was tha ya told and murdar them wit' my bat…another dent wouldn't hurt it…but anyways, I… I cried. There I said it, I hadn't cried in years, not since da left, I didn't even cry when my leg got broke when I fell off of tha roof. (I tried ta jump from our roof ta our neighbors, finally did it, but I broke my leg before that.) I didn't even cry whenever I got in a fight an' lost. So's I packed up my stuff, my bat bein' one a tha most important things, and headed ta tha train station. I met up wit tha guy in tha suit at the station, he gives me a ticket and freakin' disappears. No "hi" or "good luck" he just hands me a piece of paper and then is gone.
So I'm standin' there in tha station, a ticket in my hand, tryin' to figure out what I'm suppose'd ta do next. I ask one a tha people tha' work at tha station ta help me an' he says tha' the train tha's closin' its doors is the one tha' my ticket's for. Well I was pissed, I mean tha' Suit didn't even say a word ta me an' then tha train that tha ticket is for is leavin'. So I grab my backpack and flat-ass sprint for tha train an' jump through tha door. I mean I was so close ta gettin' left behind that one a my shoe laces is actually stuck in tha door. I pull it out right as one a tha conductors walks over an' asks for my ticket. I handed him tha paper, scowlin' tha whole time cuz a tha' Suit, tha freakin' rat.
Anyways I gave tha conductor my ticket, picked myself up off a tha floor, grabbed my bag and my bat, then found a seat. And that's where you come in diary, well tha's tha story of how I got here, an' now it sounds like tha train is gettin' ready ta stop, so I guess this was perfect timin' seein' as my story was done. Oh, I've gotta write Ma a letter soon…
-Benjamin
A/N: Reviews and comments are nice.
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