Kit's POV,
San Francisco, California.
"Here you go," Joe placed in front of me a cheeseburger, Malarky across from me on one side and Peggy next to me at one end of the booth. We were in a hole in the wall kind of place, people walking around left and right and ordering food and the lights were dimmed since it was a nice enough looking diner with deep red booth seats, black and white tiled floors, ancient looking pictures and paintings from the customers that came in the past, . We made it San Francisco, Malarky agreeing to come along and stay with us for at least a day to make sure I was truly okay. I was glad Malarky was there to get me out of my house, well, I was glad they all came to get me out. Joe kept his promise, and yet I never doubted him. If Joe was anything, he was beyond loyal. So, as he also promised, he was going to get me a cheeseburger to eat for the first time.
"One for Peggy, and one for me." Joe said he placed Peggy's burger in front of her now and he sat down across from me. I was still eyeing the burger in front of me, suddenly getting hungry and I felt like salivating at that moment when the smell of the burger hit me hard. I was never allowed to have one, not once since my mother was too tight holding with me and what I was allowed to do. But this was the very first time I had some real sense of freedom, true freedom, to do what I wanted.
"You had to get her the one with bacon on it?" Peggy asked Joe as he grinned at me and her. I looked up from the burger in front of me now, seeing Peggy was a bit annoyed with Joe and Joe not even caring about it a whole lot.
"It's the best one they have, Peggy." He reasoned with her as Malarky rolled his eyes and shuffled out of the booth we were in, "I can't have pork, having to stay with my Kosher diet or else my mom will breathe down my neck."
"You two are something else, swear to God." Malarky grumbled to them both, having me giggle and then squint as the pain from my still healing collarbone was there, but less so because of the drugs that were still working within me. Too bad Doc wasn't here, he would be having a field day about it really.
"Oh can it, Malarky. Grab some sodas, will ya?" Joe asked, calling out to him over his shoulder and Malarky flipped him off in return.
"And how is it that you have friends?" Peggy asked him with a coy smile on her lips. Joe glared at her, only playfully from where I was sitting before he set is eyes on my again.
"What do you think, Kit?" He asked me as I was examining the burger again with my eyes, staying still next to Peggy. It looked good, hell it even smelled good enough, but I looked up at him with an eyebrow raised.
"Is it supposed to be this greasy?" I asked him, seeing him smirk and hearing Peggy chuckled next to me.
"What, you act like this is the first burger you have ever had." Joe joked with me, thinking that I was just pulling his leg. But I didn't say a word, the smile falling from his lips now as I was watching now slowly look at me no longer in humor but in shock. Peggy was looking rather shocked too as Malarky was holding four Coke bottles in his hands, all of them with no top on and he looked confused as to what was going on.
"Have you ever had a cheeseburger, Evangeline?" Peggy asked me kindly, and the shock was heard in her tone. I said nothing, feeling beyond guilty for having all of the eyes on me now. Even Malarky was now looking shocked as he was looking at me and his red hair seemed a bit brighter in the dimmed diner.
"Oh for fuck's sake." Joe said in a shocked tone as Peggy glared at him to shut him up, having me feel a bit more shameful from that.
"Don't even, Joe," Peggy said back to him in a warning before she looked at me, "Let me guess…your mother wouldn't let you have it?"
"Not one." I replied, Malarky now slumping into the booth next to Joe now with the shock still written all over his face.
"Well, I'm hoping that we can change plenty of things that your mother tried to keep you from though I think we can really avoid taking you out drinking and smoking a cigarette." Joe joked with me now with a small smirk on his face. I thought it would be worse, much worse really since I looked more like an idiot in front of them.
"I look like an idiot, don't I?" I asked the three of them, in which the shock was no longer there, but genuine smiles were on their face. Joe just shocked his head as he placed my coke bottle in front of me next to my burger and I smiled back at him. We both came far from how we first met at Fort Benning, that way he would bicker at me and now he hated me from something that he really couldn't place his finger on. But we grew, both in a good way and in a bad way now because of the war and how it changed us.
"You're not an idiot to me, Captain Kit." He replied to me kindly now as I eyed the burger again. I was supposed to have this burger, in this booth, with someone else who promised me a date. I thought I remembered with a grimace, my conversation with Ron and how he wanted to take me out on a proper date. where was he now? I had no clue where the others in Easy were and if they were doing okay, and Ron was the one whom I thought of the most. I had no idea if it was because I was still in love with him or I still wanted to have our friendship there with him. Was there going to still be a friendship with him now since I had no idea where he was and if he was okay? Would he be with his wife and son? I only hoped for the best for him as I picked up the burger within my fingers now and I brought it close to me lips, feeling like I was breaking a promise and having another wave of guilt come through me now.
"How is it?" Malarky asked me now as I placed down the burger, a bite mark was there and I looked at all three of them since they were waiting for some kind of reaction out of me now. I grinned at them as a nice catchy tune was being heard over the radio speakers now and people were living their lives around us, and it felt like I was just starting my own life then and there in a diner booth with three of my friends.
"Kind of greasy, but it's good."
5 months later
"Hey, you have a phone call, Evangeline!" I perked up from my spot on the couch where I was reading a new book that I got from the University that day since I went to see if maybe I could start classes there. Thanks to my father, who was still talking to me on the phone and in his letters, I was hoping to get some classes going for the fall. It was still cool there in San Francisco, Joe and I being in our own place now since he moved out from his own house and we moved more to the Wharf District.
I got to meet Joe's family, his parents and all five of his siblings. I had to thank his mother for teaching his eldest son how to be loyal to his friends and for raising him right. She was just glad that Joe had a friend that would be able to put up with his brash nature. Joe's mother was a kind Jewish American woman with a big heart and was willing to have me live with them. But Joe bit that bullet before it got worse.
And now, 5 months into me living here in San Francisco, things were looking up for me as I got up from the couch and placed the book there before I walked over to the phone that was in the kitchen.
"You going out with Peggy tonight?" I asked him as he was handing me the phone.
"As planned, so I don't think you should wait up, mom." He teased me as I took the phone from him and stuck my tongue out at him while he walked away. He chuckled as I placed my ear to the phone.
"Hello?" I asked, leaning against the door frame that was set up there.
"I'm in town, tell me that you're at your place so I don't look like an idiot." I grinned, hearing Shifty on the other end and how he made it out to the West Coast now to see me and make his visit. We talked on the phone also as soon as I got to San Francisco, hearing him sound so happy on the other end and know that I was okay. I was glad he was doing good himself really since he was considering getting his job back as a machinist.
"Thank God, I was worried you got lost on the train route." I said to him in relief, hearing him chuckle on his now end.
"I wouldn't miss seeing you, and I have no idea where to get my hands on a good slice of pizza. Wanna help your best friend out?" He asked me.
"Fine, tell me where you are," I said to him now as I moved over to where I kept my purse, "I can come in a cab and we can grab a slice to eat. Better than the noodles Joe makes that he claims are delicious."
"I heard that!" Joe yelled from his bedroom.
"I'm at Victory Church of the Bay Area, right by the tracks," Shifty replied to me as I grabbed my purse and threw the strap over my shoulder. I was about to answer him when Joe walked over and was back in my view now.
"Hey, make sure you bring him by the apartment tonight at around….let's say 9:00 sharp." I eyed him in suspicion now as he was grinning at me like he was hiding something from me now.
"And why is that?" I asked him in suspicion. He just shrugged his shoulders then, like it was nothing really.
"Oh nothing, just let him know you two will be back here." he replied though I was sticking to my ground there and placing the phone away from me so Shifty would hear.
"Don't be sneaky, tell me what you're hiding." I advised him, and at that point he rolled his eyes now.
"Oh don't be stubborn and just do it." He replied, walking out of the room now before I could yell at him even more. I sighed as I got the phone back to my ear.
"Sorry about that. Apparently Joe wants us back at my apartment at around 9:00 tonight." I explained to him now with a huff of frustration.
"Sounds like fun." Shifty joked with me now as I giggled.
"I'll be right there. Hang tight and we can grab a pizza and I'll show you around the place, okay?" I asked him, already getting butterflies from just thinking about how I was going to meet up with Shifty after not seeing him in over 8 months. He was another anchor for me to hold onto when I felt like drowning, since he was the first to know about what happened to be with Gerald, and yet he still saw worth in me as not just another soldier and comrade, but as a friend.
"See you soon, partner."
"Nice place, you have." Shifty joked with me as we were approached the apartment I was staying at with Joe. It was close to 9:00, and I was really considering on blowing off Joe when he wanted me to bring Shifty over at that time. I thought it was going to be some kind of trick really, but then again I wanted to see what he had up his sleeve. After I grabbed Shifty from the train station, since he only had his army bag that he didn't mind carrying around really, we grabbed a pizza slice and I showed him around the popular places of San Francisco. I was just glad to see him again, the both of us holding each other close when we greeted each other at the station. It almost seemed like we were old lovers really, in how we approached and held each other like we were afraid that the other person was going to disappear.
"Don't be cheeky with me, Shifty. You can be honest and say it looks like shit." I explained to him as we walked up the few steps that were going to lead us tot he front door. The city life was still going on around us with the scattered street lights to illuminate the street we were on. It was chilly enough that I was wrapped in my peacoat and Shifty with his own jacket that he brought with him on the train.
"I wasn't going to say that at all." He explained to me as I got my keys out, "I think it looks good."
"I like it, nothing expensive here and all of it I bought myself. How's that for growing up?" I asked him as I got the key in the lock and turned it. He just smirked at me as I was eyeing him, almost like I was wanting his kind of approval on me now. He only grabbed my hand in his now and just watched me with his kind eyes that would somehow remind me of the woods in the Alps, the same ones where we would hunt for days after days. I missed those moments with him and how things were just simple and clear for me, not hazy and chaotic. Shifty was clear and simple, just what I needed in this world.
"I'm glad you're doing good, Evangeline. I'm really glad." He replied to me, walking up to be at the same level as me on the step before sneaking in a kiss on my cheek. I chuckled as I got the door open, but I still held onto his hand.
"Come on, before we catch a cold." I said to him, the both of us moving into the room and I closed the door, just in time for the lights to be turned on and we were bombarded by several voices yelling out at one time:
"KIT!"
I saw all of the Easy and Wolf Company members. all there in my living room with big grins on their faces and beers in their hands. I was floored with what I was seeing, and it felt like I was really dreaming since I haven't seen any of them since I left the Alp town with a busted collarbone. But there they all were, in civilian clothes no doubt, and their grins showed that they wanted to be there. I grinned at the boys from Easy: Luz, Webster, Garcia, Babe, Lipton, Popeye, Bull, Talbert, Buck, Johnny Martin, Christenson, O' Keefe, Perconte and my dear sweet friend Doc. Even Winters and Nixon was here, which made me feel even happier. All of the women in Wolf Company were present, looking just as beautiful as ever with their angelic faces and their casual clothes they were wearing that consisted both of dresses and slacks. Joe weaved his way through my friends there crowded in the living room while I was still clutching Shifty's hand in shock as he too was grinning.
"So this is why you wanted us home at 9:00?" I asked Joe as he handed me an opened beer, the grin still on his face.
"I wanted it to be a surprise for you since the rest of the guys were wondering how you were doing." Joe explained to me as I gazed my eyes over to Peggy now with an amused grin on my face.
"I couldn't leave the girls out of it." She replied to me with her hair pushed back for me to see her eyes as they locked eyes with one another. I could see the growing attractant here between the two of us them, and I was just glad they had someone to take care of each other.
"Heya, Kit." I heard my name from my good friend Doc, seeing him walk my way now with that soft gentle star about him that I have missed dearly. I knew he tried so hard to keep me alive when I was shot, having me remember those times when Iw as drifting between conscious and unconscious and he was still there, holding my hand and keeping me alive. I would be in a worse condition, if not dead, if it wasn't for him and how he took care of me.
"Come here, Doc." I said to him, hugging him without thinking twice and he hugged me back. I missed him so, beyond words really since he too knew about my family and what happened to me. He had a firm grip on me as someone turned on the radio and once we pulled away, I was grinning at his face again.
"I've missed you so." I said to him.
"Same here, Kit." He replied.
"Not as much as me though, right Kit?" Luz walked over to me now with his own grin and the others were chuckling too.
"Of course not, Luz. No one can compete with you." I reassured him as we hugged and I saw two other men coming my way, two men I never thought I would see in a million years and I almost started crying. There was Bill Guarnere and Joe Toye, both of then on crutches and looking as happy as they could be for someone who lost a leg. But they looked great from where I was, and they were smiling at me widely now like nothing bad happened to them.
"Liebogtt told us how you were and we wanted to come and make sure he wasn't treating you like utter shit." Guarnere joked as Joe was now talking to Peggy again, their hands intertwined together now as he glared at Guarnere.
"Go to hell, Bill." He replied and Joe Toye got himself over to me now and he gave me an awkward hug with his crutch in the way. I was just glad to have all of these men and women back in my life really since they all looked like they were in a bad place when I left them in the Alps. But now they all looked healthy, healthy and content on where they wanted to be in their lives. I didn't know fi Joe told them what happened to me, and at this point, I didn't care.
I had my friends and family back.
"Earthmoving business?" I asked Bull now as we were catching up together, one on one as the rest of the guys and girls from Easy and Wolf were catching up together now in our cramped apartment. After I talked to each of them, checking up on them now and hearing what they were doing. I even talked to Nixon and heard that he was doing just fine, Winters as well. He was just glad I was doing okay, and I was glad too.
"Yeah, my dad's done it for awhile now. He though I should start taking it over before he passes." Bull explained to me as we were sitting by the front window, just the two of us with our beers and no one around us really.
"Sounds like you're doing good." I said, seeing him grin that innocent grin he would use while we were in the war.
"Joe told me you were thinking about going to school?" Bull asked, having me take a drink from my beer and nod my head.
"Sure am. I was thinking English, it's pretty basic for me really. Plus, I have a job interview lined up as a secretary at the University library." I explained.
"You know how to make phone calls better than how you shoot you rifle?" He asked me in a teasing manner.
"Laugh it up, Bull." I countered him back, the both of us laughing at that point for a few seconds as I looked over to see some of the guys talk to each other. It was sure a sight for me to see Joe and Guarnere talking and joking to one another, when I knew they weren't the best of pals in the war. Babe and Doc were chatting together, Martin and Perconte were joking with each other and some of the girls were talking to Easy with ease.
"I'm glad you're okay, Kit." Bull pulled me back to his conversation now as I looked at him, the sincere smile on his face now made me genuinely smile back at him now, "I was worried about ya when you were sent home."
"All the guys were." I explained to him, but he shook his head.
"I think we all were more worried about your mother and what she was gonna do to you than you getting better from a bullet." He informed me, having me move a bit in my seat since I never really talked about the incident with the drunken soldier and the bullet that almost killed both myself and Grant.
"What happened to him?" I asked Bull now in wonder, "The soldier that shot Grant and I?"
"Joe didn't tell you?" Bull asked me with a bit of shock on his voice now as I looked at Joe again, seeing him talk to Toye and Webster together.
"Not one thing." I replied, looking back at Bull now as he looked a bit uncomfortable just talking about.
"We went out to find the soldier while the German Doctor was takin' care of you and Grant. Someone found him at a checkpoint, he was a replacement in I Company and some of us got him in a room to roughen him up a bit since we were pissed, beyond pissed really. I think both Joe and Popeye were going to break their knuckles from the blows they were givin' the guy." I cringed a bit, thinking of how the boys are inflicting pain on that soldier because he tried to kill Grant and I.
"Captain Spiers came in, gun loaded and he looked beyond angry, none of us have seen him that angry before, Kit. He pointed the barrel at the guys head and was about to shoot it," I was so quiet when he told me this, having me see it in my head and how Ron would be beyond angry if there was even a word to describe it really since it made me worry that he would stoop to that level now.
"Some of us laugh on that he cared for you, enough to call you a friend as much as a fellow Captain," Bull went on then, with his voice a bit timider than before, "But I think we saw a different side of him then when he was about to shoot him."
"Did he shoot him?" I asked him, worrying that he would do that because he was angry of what happened to me.
"He wanted to, Kit. I could see it on his face and so did the rest of us. But no, he didn't pull the trigger." He answered, having me breathe out a shaky breath now in both satisfaction and in worry. This is not what I wanted for Ron really, for him to do that. I wanted him to be happy and satisfied with his life, not be hateful and scornful. I was about to say something else when there was a knock on the door, having me look over and see Joe was about to go and grab it when I got up.
"I got it, hang tight there." I said to him, seeing him smile and lean back to his joke with Toye as I walked over to the door, Ron still in my head and what he did for me. Where was he now since he was not here at my apartment. I wanted to make sure he was okay and all was well with him, not scorn him anymore for breaking me apart. I was in a good place now, a very good place. But it was when I opened the door that I was floored with what I was seeing.
Ron Spiers. At my doorstep.
"Ron." I said to him, almost in a gasp, but I kept it level. He was wearing his own pea coat and he smiled at me now at the bottom of the steps, not even moving to meet me where I was at the front door. He looked the same, and yet different at the same time. I was shocked to see him there, and yet I couldn't move to meet him and hug him.
"Hi, Kit." He said to me, and his voice brought me back to the countless times we would talk together and when we enjoy each other's company. I wanted to go out there and talk to him, instead in the crowded group of men inside my house, so I rushed over and grabbed my peacoat that was hanging on the hanger in the hall before closing the door and walking down to see him eye to eye. The street light above him brought out the shade of brown in his hair, along with the angular jawline.
"How did you get here?" I asked him, wrapping my arms around myself, "Did Joe tell you to come?"
"He invited me, but I didn't want to come at first." He explained to me, having me look at him in confusion and uneasiness.
"Why?" I asked, not getting where he was coming from.
"I really….just wanted to come alone and see if you were alright." He said to me calmly now, having me grin at him now and feel the gentle breeze snip through the night now as we were facing each other now and having me just smile at him.
"You can come in and grab a beer if you want." I suggested, but he shook his head.
"No, that's okay." He replied, having me grimace a bit since he didn't want to see the others now and get back to being friends with them.
"I'm glad you came though, Ron. I was hoping that you were doing okay." I explained to him since he was on my mind and he was giving me worried night as to where he was and if he was doing okay being a regular civilian now in the real world.
"I'm doing fine...though I'm still going to be working the army for anything that could happen in the future." He explained, having me pause there to hear that he was willing to stay in the army now though the war was over and we had a chance at a real life. I only hoped he knew what he was doing, and I tried so hard not to get those butterflies in my stomach again. Although it has been a good several months since I saw him last, and even longer since he broke my heart and made me feel pathetic, I still considered him my friend after all this time and I hoped for the best for him.
"How's your wife?" I asked, and I tried not to make it sound so cruel and mean at all, "And your son?"
"My wife just found out that her dead husband wasn't really dead…actually," Ron explained, having me look at him with wide eyes now and it felt like I said the wrong thing at the wrong time. It was awkward now, hearing that his wife had another husband, her first husband technically, and Ron was stuck there now.
"He's alive?" I asked him.
"Yeah, and she apparently wants to go back to him now. So..I'm divorced." I cringed now, closing my eyes in defeat since this was not the kind of conversation I wanted with him.
"I'm so sorry, Ron. I really am." I said to him, but he shook his head now.
"It's alright. I knew I couldn't have loved her as I should have, and I know my son will be I great hands with him now as his stepfather. I didn't know him well to begin with either." He explained, seemingly calm about it yet if it was me, I would be having the worst life ever.
"I feel like an idiot." I muttered to him now in a grimace as he shook his head.
"Kit, it's fine, it really is," Ron reassured me now as he could see that I was feeling uncomfortable now with the conversation.
"You sure? I mean…are you okay?" I asked him as I took another step forward to him, yet I still kept distance between the both of us.
"It's been a good adjustment for me, coming back home to Massachusetts. But Kit, it's nothing that I cannot handle as a Captain in the war." he explained, having me shake my head slowly.
"Trust me, I would sometimes prefer to be back int h war than back out here in the real world." I said to him in sincerity, "Being home in itself was like being in Bastogne."
"That bad?" He asked me now, worry was there on his face.
"My mother was the worst she could ever be, but thankfully Joe got me out of there." I explained, seeing him look over at the window into our apartment, having me think he was seeing Joe in there talking to another Easy member or talking with Peggy and holding her hand like she was the best thing in his world.
"Yeah, thank God for Joe, huh?" He asked aloud in almost a dry manner.
"You make it sound like a bad thing." I said to him now in amusement, seeing him look over at me now and see the pain back there on his face and how he was carrying himself in front of me now. It was like it pained him, what we were talking about with me being back at home and suffering there.
"I should have gone there to help you, Kit." He said it in such a way like he was stabbed in the chest, the pain was in his tone, "I should have known that you were going back to a shit hole of a place-"
"Ron, stop." I stopped him before he would wallow himself into self-pity. He looked at me now, shuffling a bit in his coat as I took out a shaky breath. He was still a good friend of mine, and I hated him suffering like this now.
"I got out of there, okay?" I asked him, showing him a smile that was not harmless at all, "I'm fine here in the city, far away from there. I have Joe, I have Peggy and I can go along just fine out here." He watched me as I said this, saying nothing at all as I heard another rousing of laughter from inside the apartment.
"You should head back in there before they think you got lost." He said to me, pointing to the apartment now and I smiled at him softly, thinking he was trying to find some way out of talking to me as I shook my head.
"I'm better out here with you anyways. You should come on, say hi to the fellas." I urged. But once again, he shook his head again and I felt bad he wasn't going to go in now to see the others. So I walked over there, looking right up atheism now and we were inches from each other, but I didn't touch him. I wanted to really see his face since it seemed like he's changed since I saw him last night. He eyed me too, not saying anything to me.
"I have to go back to Massachusetts in the morning." He said to me softer now, having me a nod.
"I understand, but Ron?" I asked him.
"Yeah, Kit?" He asked me, having me chuckle a bit now.
"It's Evangeline, actually. That's my real name." I said to him, seeing him grin at me and have me see the warmth on his face now.
"It's beautiful." He murmured to me as I could of sworn I felt like I was meeting him for the first time all over again, before all the pain or the war, all the death, and all that happened between us. I wondered if we were meant to be together, if it was destiny that we would find each other even after the war. But then again, we were friends still and we were no longer that way.
"Don't be a stranger to me, please," I asked him quietly, seeing him eye me up and down now, "I don't wanna lose you as my friend since you were good enough for me to call you that."
"I treated you like shit." He stated to me.
"Not when it came to being my friend." I countered back, seeing him go silent.
"Okay," he replied, having me grin at him as he shuffled a bit once more before he leaned over to kiss me on the head. I held it there, not moving as his lips touched my skin. I thought back to when I didn't see him again, back when I was still recovering and he kissed my head before disappearing from me. But this time, he held it there for some time before he moved away from me and grinned at me. I felt the warmth again, the warmth of life.
"Goodbye, Evangeline." He said to me, "I'll phone you later."
"Goodbye, Ron." I said to him as he then turned and walked down the sidewalk now, having me watch and stay still as he was walking away from me. I felt like I was letting go of the life with Ron I thought I wanted, that I craved for. But then again, I knew we could never be the same since he broke that for us. I had no more hate for him, not since he walked back in the Alps. But it pained me to see him go since I had no idea when we would going to see ache other again. So I said goodbye.
Goodbye to the love I thought I had.
Kit's POV
Los Angeles, California
November, 1999
"That's the last time I ever saw my mother," I had to pause then, thinking of that day clearly in my head and how it was faintly raining, the sun was far away and yet, I felt free then. I was sitting within an interview, though it was not my first one to be fair, and I had a young man sitting across from me and a camera was rolling on me now as they asked me when I saw my mother last.
"That day at the house? That was the last time?" He asked me, seeing me doze off for a moment within my own thoughts and I chuckled.
"I'm sorry I…I haven't thought of that day in what seemed like forever." I confessed to him, seeing the man smile at me.
"It's alright," he replied back to me now as I took in another shaky breath and laced my fragile and bony fingers now together on my lap.
"I came to find out that my mother died in the springtime of 1948, she was sick for some time and Bronchitis took her in her sleep. Before then, I only heard from her once, when I sent her an invitation to my wedding. My younger brother, bless him, told me that she was not going to attend the wedding of the daughter who brought her shame, who was going to marry someone without a penny to his name. She passed a year and a month after I was married." I explained.
"But what happened when you made it San Francisco?" He asked me, having me be thankful that he was changed the pace of the interview that I was doing.
"After I arrived and had my first cheeseburger. Joe and I moved into a nice apartment, together as friends of course. Joe ended up becoming one the closest friends that I have ever had in my life, all because he saw me suffering and wanted to help. We lived together for a good year or so as I found work as a Secretary in the public library and applied to go to school there at the University. My father helped me in applying, and he was proud to see me get my degree in English. I stayed in contact with my father, brothers and my Uncle all through their lives up until their deaths, and they attended my graduation, wedding, and the christening of my children.
"I moved out on my own when Joe and Peggy got together, getting married 6 months later and I was their Maid of Honor, along the Godmother of all 8 of their children. After that, I was married, have 5 children of my own, and later about 8 grandchildren. It was the life I knew I wanted, but it was done without the careful planning of my mother and the constant worries of society." I took another shaky breath since this was the first real time that I would talk about all that happened to me really and how it affected me to this point. I was no longer young, but I still felt young enough to believe that what I did was good enough, since they asked me to do this interview to recall all of the adventures of Easy Company and the role they played in the war.
"Wolf Company was recognized for their valued effort and handwork in the war, yet we've stayed the only all female Company in the war and in the army for another several decades. Thankfully, times have changed now and we are still being recognized by female soldiers who are currently enlisted." I explained lighter now, the man chuckling.
"And rightfully so." He added.
"Thank you, I am glad to have been part of a history making Company such as Wolf Company. I stayed in contact with both Easy and Wolf Company all of my life, attended weddings, birthday parties for their children, and even funerals for those who passed. It saddens me to know I'm the last living member of Wolf Company since I was the youngest enlisted in the group, I forgot that I would be the last still standing. After each of them passed, the latest one was Peggy, I attended each of their funerals since I knew they would have come to my own.
"Since the war, I haven't picked up a gun since. I never saw the used to shooting another gun since he reminded me of the war and how much pain I inflicted on other cause I thought it was my job. Those memories, both nightmares, and flashes were enough for me to suffer through, so a gun was not another option for me really." I took a long drink from the glass of water that was sitting next to me now as I caught another wave of breath to come through and keep talking about my life.
"The boys of Easy were never far from my heart, and I was glad that we had our reunions throughout the years. I stayed in contact with most of them: Eugene Roe became the Godfather to my eldest son, Winters coming to visit from Pennsylvania with his family, I would even go out to Philadelphia to see Babe and Guarnere with their growing families. They all came to my wedding actually, in their dress greens."
"Have you stayed in contact with Ron Spiers?" The man asked me now, having me grin at him.
"Oh yes, we stayed close friends, and we still are. Back in 1947, a couple months after I was married, He took me out on the date he promised to take me on, and we talked for hours on end about our lives up to that point. I think Ron had always had a soft part of my heart, the part that was never damaged or broken in the war or with my family. I still wonder, sometimes from time to time, what would have happened if we stayed together if things went differently."
"Things would be different, I suppose?" The man asked me.
"Perhaps, but in the end, I was glad to have a friend like Ronald Spiers. As mysterious as he was, he was good and true in his heart though he hardly showed it. He attended my wedding, helped with my family when we were having trouble, and I did the same for his own family he made." I explained to him now, seeing a soft smile on the man's face as he then looked at his notes on his notepad before looking back at me again.
"I have one more question for you," He said to me, "What can you take away from this experience, being in the war. How has it change you?"
"For me, I guess, it's changed how I viewed my own life. The war, as silly as this sounds, gave me a sense of freedom to do what I thought was right and what I thought would be a good imprint. My life before the war was broken, shattered and shredded apart because of I lost the trust of my own family.
"But Easy and Wolf Company brought it back for me. I still live in those nightmares, that I killed men, that I saw more blood than I should in my one life, and I have seen my old friends change for the worse. But I am glad that I didn't go through that alone since I had brothers in Easy Company and sister in Wolf Company to go through it with me."
The man smiled and he placed the notepad on the table next to him, getting up from his chair and then help get me up from the chair with ease now. I smiled at him, the camera turning off and feeling like I was finally at ease.
"Thank you for your time in talking to us about this. We'll let you know when we start filming the series and who we are going to cast to play you." He explained to me now.
"Of course, I'm glad to be of help, Mr. Tom Hanks." I replied to him as I heard the door open and we both looked. In walked my husband of 51 years and he grinned at me as he came to take my hand in his now in the interviewing room.
"How did it go, honey?" he asked me.
"Better than yours I bet." I teased him, hearing him chuckle as I pecked him on the cheek.
"Let me make sure I get this written down." Tom said to us as he walked to the notepad once more and grabbed the pen, "The finished interview with Evangeline 'Kit' Powers, and her husband, Darrell 'Shifty' Powers."
"Perfect." I replied to him.
Perfect as can be.
The End.
Author's Note: Thanks for reading this story and sticking by me through it. There may be more Band of Brothers stories in the future, and I one I'm working on right now is great! Check it out: Easy Company's Pilot Named Adaline.
Thanks for the reviews and support, you guys are amazing!