Part 12

"In the days that follow, I discover that anger is easier to handle than grief"- Emily Griffin

The days all blurred together as time passed slowly. At the beginning, it felt as if Griest was simply away and would be arriving home at any moment. But, after a while, it almost felt like she never existed. The only indication of the passing days was the silent count each of the Roes had in their head. Three days. Five days. One week. Two. One month.

They went about their lives and assured people they were fine, but they saw through the Roes' lies. Work was slow and torturous as Gene went over every memory he shared with her, wishing for the good times and scolding himself for the bad; why did they argue about the dishes or which colour to paint Adam's room? Why couldn't he have agreed, apologized, and held her tightly for one more night?

Roe knew the kids felt the same torture at school, but they fed him the same lies; they assured him they were fine, but Roe knew better. No one was fine. Adrienne was soft-spoken before, but lately, it would be days before she uttered a single word. Adam was agitated and argued with his sister about everything, even though she never argued back. They were all getting forgetful and the house was neglected; the dishes were left in the sink, clothes went unwashed, and dinner was forgotten, not that they ate much anyways.

Aunty Marie stayed with them for the first week, but had to leave for work. Buck called them often, but wasn't impressed with how it was going. A few Easy member- Luz, Guarnere, Malarkey, and Babe- decided to head down to Louisiana and stay with them until the Roes got back on their feet. Although they never admitted to it, Gene suspected they called Winters every few days and updated the retired major on their progress, or lack of.

One Wednesday, or maybe it was Thursday- Roe never knew anymore, Adam slammed the front door closed as Malarkey followed behind. Not only did Adam argue with his sister, but had started arguing with his teachers and other classmates. It came to a point where they received a phone call from his principal every second day. The principal was gentle and expressed his sympathies and offered small solutions to Adam's sudden anger, but today was different. Today he asked for an adult to pick the boy up from school. Malarkey volunteered to go so Roe could keep an eye on Adri.

Malarkey spoke to Adam in a gentle tone, "I get it, I really do, but you can't do that, Adam."

"I can do whatever I want! I don't have to listen to you! You're not my real uncle!"

"What happened?" Roe looked up from the newspaper he wasn't reading. The pair strode into the living room as Adri looked up from the book in her hands. The other Easy guys paused whatever they were doing and peeked inside.

"Adam beat up one of his classmates at school today," Malark sighed as Roe looked at Adam. The teenager had a bruise forming on the side of his cheek, but it was more than that. He was pale and had lost about ten pounds since... No, Roe didn't want to think about that.

"He deserved it!" Adam protested as he clenched and unclenched his fists. Griest used to do the same thing when she was angry and was trying to keep herself in check.

"How?" Babe asked, glancing at Roe.

"He called Mama a liar! He said she never fought in Europe, never jumped outta airplanes, and never killed any Nazis. I tried telling him we went to Bastogne, saw the places, and saw Mama's photographs but he just said she was a lying whore, and she got what she deserved!"

"Whoa," Guarnere mumbled, whistling through his teeth. "Did you at least win the fight?"

"Bill!" Luz growled as everyone threw him a look. Wild Bill shrugged and waited for Adam's answer. They all did.

"Yeah, he only landed one punch. He cried like a baby when I broke his nose." Adam stood tall as a small smile poked at his lips. Guarnere returned the smirk as Roe sighed and rubbed at his pulsing forehead. He didn't know what to do. What would Griest do? What would she say if the situation were reversed, and he went to the bank instead? He pushed himself to his feet and stood in front of Adam, as the teen glared upwards at him.

"Adam, you remember when we went to Germany? You remember what she said?" Adam dropped his gaze as tears filled his eyes. He nibbled on his lip to hold the tears back. Roe continued, glancing at Adri, "She said you fight to protect people, to defend people who can't defend themselves. You fight evil."

"But he called her-"

"Your mama has been called a lot worse, believe me, and she never batted an eyelash. She might have winked and said something snazzy, but she would never have fought them. Her memory, her reputation is too good to be damaged by some high school boy." Adam rolled his eyes.

"Adam, do you believe your mom went to Europe and became an Easy paratrooper?"

"Yes, of course!" He had grown up with the stories and had seen her uniform, and her scratched and peppered helmet. He had held the pictures as she explained each one. Adam's favourite was the one of her surrounded by the men of Easy in Austria. She was leaning back, laughing with a dark bottle in her hands. Her face was light and carefree while her eyes sparkled; yet, there was a darkness in them, something Adam recognized in his father's and his uncles' eyes. His father had been sitting next to her while Uncle Luz was on the other side, laughing just as hard.

"You know the truth, so why does it matter what this boy said?" Roe pushed.

"He called her a lying whore, and that she deserved to be killed! I had to do something!"

"Adam," Roe placed a hand on his son's shoulders, "would your mom have supported this fight if she were here?"

"No." His shoulders slumped as his hands laid flat against his leg.

"Then don't do it again." Roe glanced at Adrienne. "I know it's hard, but we have to live the way she wanted us to, like she's still here. We gotta made her proud. Okay, guys?" The kids nodded slowly. Then Adam met Roe's eyes, raging once more.

"I'm not going to apologize to him."

"I never said you had to." Everyone smirked.

"Alright, kiddos, dinner's almost ready, so wash up!" Luz called as he stirred a bowl, wearing a striped apron.

"You know," Luz admitted once the kids left, "I would have kicked that kid's ass too."

"Yep!" Malarkey and Babe agreed as Guarnere nodded with a straight, calculating face, his soldier-mode.

"Yeah," Roe nodded, "me too."

"She'd be proud he won the fight," Guarnere added as they followed Luz into the kitchen.

"Live the way she wants you to," Babe repeated as the others began arguing about how much pepper to add. Babe gave Roe a look as a smile danced on his lips. "That's some really good advice, Gene."

Roe nodded. It was.

"Moving on doesn't mean you forget about things. It just means you have to accept what happened and continue living-" Ezra Scarlet