Far From Home- Chapter Three
It was 8 o'clock and I was sitting on my bed in my dorm trying to get through the last four one act plays that were on the required reading list for my Women's Studies class, a class that I had a test in the very next morning. I could barely keep my eyes open. I set my books down on the floor and laid back while pulling the blanket at the end of the bed over me. I reached up, switched off the light, and rested my head on the pillow, closing my eyes.
"Only for a few minutes." I whispered to myself.
A soft knock came at my door. My eyes fluttered open to darkness. I glanced at my clock and cursed myself when I realized it was 10 already. I got up and turned on the light, smoothed my clothing and walked to the door.
"Hello?" I called.
"Beth, it's Mrs. Pryor. May I please come in?"
"Of course!" I pulled open the door, shocked to find that it was really her. "Is everything alright?" I asked, but by looking at her face I knew that it was a dumb question. I stepped aside and she walked in. I closed the door behind her. She turned around and stared at me for a long moment.
"Beth, I think you may need to sit down." She said motioning to my bed. This is bad, I thought.
"What's going on?" I demanded.
"Beth, you're going to need to sit down." My eyes grew wide. Oh god, please don't let it be JJ- I'll do anything. I sat down slowly, never taking my eyes from her. She sat down beside me, leaned forward and took my hands in hers. Tears began to fall down her cheeks.
"Is he... Alive?" I softly whispered.
"We got a telegram today, saying that he is missing in action." She let go of my hands, pulled it from her pocket, and handed it to me. I took it from her and just looked at it. Before I knew it teardrops began to fall onto the page. I read it over and looked back up at her.
"So does that mean he could still be-"
"I don't know what that means." She said. "I wish I did."
"He can't be... I don't feel it...In my heart that he is."
"Neither do I Beth, neither do I."
*Somewhere in Vietnam
I opened my eyes and quickly shut them again due to the mass amount of sunlight streaming in through the door. I opened them again slowly and moaned. My wrists, arms, shoulders, and back ached because of hanging from the wall. An elderly Vietnamese woman stood in front of me. She was blurry; I still hadn't regained all of my sight from when he had hit me over the head with his gun. I looked down at myself. I was dirty and my clothes were spattered with blood.
"I ordered, give you food." She got a chair and stepped up onto it. She had a bowl of soup in her hand that she held up to me. I opened my mouth and she poured a little in, I swallowed and she did it again. Just as I was beginning to feel full again their leader walked in. He said something in Vietnamese to the woman, she nodded and left.
"You sleep for days." He said and then held up five fingers.
"My men?" I asked.
"Fine, for now." He answered. "They tell me your name Pryor."
"Yes it is."
"They trained well, they no tell me secrets." He said, I was relieved.
"I give you day to think. If you no tell me, I whip." He said as his hand fell to the whip located on his belt. I moaned and hung my head, knowing that there was nothing I could do. I would just have to take it.
*Later that day- Dusk.
I looked out the door of the hut onto Vietnamese Countryside. The women worked tirelessly on the fields that fed the Vietcong, only resting for minutes at a time to help themselves to water. They worked next to their children and sometimes with tiny babies on their backs. I found it strange that they never cried. Will cried- He cried a lot when he was first born. I remembered sitting in the waiting room of the hospital with Meg, Patty, and Grandma- This was when she was still alive. Dad raced in, still wearing the surgical gown over his work clothes, holding this little bundle in his arms.
"It's a boy!" He announced. Grandma was the first who got to hold him.
"JJ, would you like to hold your new brother?" Grandma asked. I shook my head; I was too scared that I would drop him.
Three days later Dad and Mom brought Will home and that night I couldn't sleep. I went into the bathroom and got myself a drink of water. Walking back to my own room I passed his and I don't know what made me stop but I did. I walked in and peered over the edge of the crib. Will stared up at me and gurgled. His little hands rose in the air and he grabbed onto one of my fingers.
"Whoa, you've got a good strong handshake there little guy." I whispered. People say that babies that young can't understand but I know that he did. He smiled up at me, showing me his pink toothless gums. Suddenly, his little face scrunched up and he began to cry.
"Shh! You're going to wake up Mom and Dad!" I picked up the teddy bear and shook it, hoping that it would make him stop. Instead he cried harder. I noticed a bottle on the dresser next to his bed, and I went and got it. I reached into the crib and carefully supporting his head, I lifted him up and out. Holding him in the crook of my arm I gently put the nipple of the bottle into his mouth. He looked up at me as he drank and before I knew it his cries had turned into quiet sobs and then sobs into barely-audible snores. I took the bottle from him, put it back on the dresser, and then I laid him back down in his crib.
"Pryor!" Their leader yelled. I snapped out of it.
"You tell me secret?" He demanded.
"I'm not going to tell you anything!" I yelled back at him. He screamed something to his guards. They ran at me, unlocked the shackles and I fell to the floor. I groaned, my entire body was on fire. I could barely move let alone stand.
"Get up!" He yelled. I moved into the kneeling position, and using the wall as leverage I tried to get up but having lost all of my strength I fell back down again.
He said something to the guards and each took me by one of my arms, dragging me from the hut to the middle of the clearing. In the middle of the clearing stood a ten-foot pole, nestled into the ground. They stripped me of my jacket and shirt. They pulled me up, wrapped my arms around the pole and then tied my hands together again so I couldn't move.
"Bring troops too see strong, fearless leader!" He laughed at his own joke. I turned my head and I could see my squadron, still tied together being lead from their hut to where I was.
"YOU GUYS HE'S ALIVE!"
"JJ, we thought you were dead!"
"Dude, you look like crap!"
"Real smart Coleman- That's how to boost his morale."
"Don't worry we haven't told anyone anything!"
"Stay strong man!" I smiled and laughed, knowing that they were OK.
"SHUT UP!" The leader of the Vietcong ordered. They did, but I could tell that it wasn't easy for them. He pulled the whip from his belt and said,
"Pryor, tell me no secret so Pryor will have whip one hundred time. If he cry like baby I start over. If you no want him have whip, tell me secret."
"Don't tell him anything and that's a direct order from your squad leader!" I yelled. They nodded. The leader of the Vietcong let out a roar as he brought the whip up and then down on my back. I breathed in deeply, trying to not think about the feeling of burning flesh.
"Stop!" Someone yelled. It was Coleman. He was the younger brother of a good friend of mine from High School. When his older brother heard that I was Pete's squad leader he called me personally to ask if I would keep an eye on him. I gave him my word that I would.
"Pete, stay back and keep quiet." I said.
"But JJ-"
"NO! Gebheart, make sure he stays back and keeps quiet." I ordered. Gebheart nodded.
"Pryor, I tell you no talk and you talk. I start again." He said menacingly. I think he enjoyed it.
"But, that's not fair! It's my fault, I shouldn't have said anything!"
"Shut up man!" Gebheart yelled, knowing that Pete was only causing more trouble. Gebheart pulled Pete to him and put his hand over his mouth. I closed my eyes, praying that he would keep his mouth shut. Their leader started again, and this time it was even more painful. I focused on trying to find a memory that would help me forget about it. I was about to give up and then it dawned on me:
I was eleven and in the sixth grade. I was sitting in Sister Margaret's history class staring at the clock. She was discussing the renaissance and I didn't care. An entire hour to go before the bell rang signaling second block. Class had just started. It was Friday and all I wanted at the moment was to play in the football game that night against Western- and win. There was a knock at the door and Father Phinney walked in, motioning for sister to come toward him. She did, they talked for a few minutes and then he left.
"Class, we have a new student." Sister Margaret announced. "It's alright you can come in." My eyes traveled from the clock to the doorway and in came a girl. She was just a little shorter than I was with shoulder length brown hair and eyes. Her features were delicate but I knew by looking at the redness in her cheeks and the gleam in her eyes that she was strong- passionate. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in my entire life. I came to just after she had introduced herself to the class so I hadn't heard anything that she had said. She sat down two rows away from me, third seat from the front of the class. I couldn't take my eyes away from her and when the bell finally rang I followed her out of class.
I came up behind her as she moved slowly through the halls holding a piece of paper in her hand looking slowly from one wall of lockers to the other. I was almost too scared to tap her shoulder but I did.
She turned around and automatically smiled up at me.
"I'm sorry but I didn't catch your name." I said.
"My name's Beth." She said extending her hand to me. At first I was surprised, having never seen anyone my age do that before but nevertheless I took her hand and shook it.
"My name's JJ Pryor."
"It's nice to meet you JJ." Our hands were still touching. "Do you have any idea where locker 231 is?"
"Yeah, I do."
"Do you think that you could show me where it is?"
"Sure." I said staring into her eyes, completely amazed.
"JJ?" She asked getting a funny look on her face.
"Yeah?"
"In order for you to show me where my locker is you're going to have to let go of my hand and move."
"Oh yeah, right. I'm sorry." I said blushing.
The lashings were over and instead of dragging me back into the hut I just came from, I was put into the same hut as my troops.
Disclaimer: I do not own American Dreams or any of the Characters. This a work of fiction based on the NBC television series.
Authors Note: I am so sorry that it took me this long to write and post chapter three. I will do my best to not take so long to post the fourth chapter. To the person who made the comment about the amount of blood and gore in my story- Get over it. This is a story about a young man fighting in a war and unfortunately in war people die. People are shot and killed. Sometimes they are even blown up and their limbs go flying through the air. There is blood. It is not nice and it is certainly not pretty. It would be unrealistic and unfair for me to not portray the realism of the situation JJ is in.
It was 8 o'clock and I was sitting on my bed in my dorm trying to get through the last four one act plays that were on the required reading list for my Women's Studies class, a class that I had a test in the very next morning. I could barely keep my eyes open. I set my books down on the floor and laid back while pulling the blanket at the end of the bed over me. I reached up, switched off the light, and rested my head on the pillow, closing my eyes.
"Only for a few minutes." I whispered to myself.
A soft knock came at my door. My eyes fluttered open to darkness. I glanced at my clock and cursed myself when I realized it was 10 already. I got up and turned on the light, smoothed my clothing and walked to the door.
"Hello?" I called.
"Beth, it's Mrs. Pryor. May I please come in?"
"Of course!" I pulled open the door, shocked to find that it was really her. "Is everything alright?" I asked, but by looking at her face I knew that it was a dumb question. I stepped aside and she walked in. I closed the door behind her. She turned around and stared at me for a long moment.
"Beth, I think you may need to sit down." She said motioning to my bed. This is bad, I thought.
"What's going on?" I demanded.
"Beth, you're going to need to sit down." My eyes grew wide. Oh god, please don't let it be JJ- I'll do anything. I sat down slowly, never taking my eyes from her. She sat down beside me, leaned forward and took my hands in hers. Tears began to fall down her cheeks.
"Is he... Alive?" I softly whispered.
"We got a telegram today, saying that he is missing in action." She let go of my hands, pulled it from her pocket, and handed it to me. I took it from her and just looked at it. Before I knew it teardrops began to fall onto the page. I read it over and looked back up at her.
"So does that mean he could still be-"
"I don't know what that means." She said. "I wish I did."
"He can't be... I don't feel it...In my heart that he is."
"Neither do I Beth, neither do I."
*Somewhere in Vietnam
I opened my eyes and quickly shut them again due to the mass amount of sunlight streaming in through the door. I opened them again slowly and moaned. My wrists, arms, shoulders, and back ached because of hanging from the wall. An elderly Vietnamese woman stood in front of me. She was blurry; I still hadn't regained all of my sight from when he had hit me over the head with his gun. I looked down at myself. I was dirty and my clothes were spattered with blood.
"I ordered, give you food." She got a chair and stepped up onto it. She had a bowl of soup in her hand that she held up to me. I opened my mouth and she poured a little in, I swallowed and she did it again. Just as I was beginning to feel full again their leader walked in. He said something in Vietnamese to the woman, she nodded and left.
"You sleep for days." He said and then held up five fingers.
"My men?" I asked.
"Fine, for now." He answered. "They tell me your name Pryor."
"Yes it is."
"They trained well, they no tell me secrets." He said, I was relieved.
"I give you day to think. If you no tell me, I whip." He said as his hand fell to the whip located on his belt. I moaned and hung my head, knowing that there was nothing I could do. I would just have to take it.
*Later that day- Dusk.
I looked out the door of the hut onto Vietnamese Countryside. The women worked tirelessly on the fields that fed the Vietcong, only resting for minutes at a time to help themselves to water. They worked next to their children and sometimes with tiny babies on their backs. I found it strange that they never cried. Will cried- He cried a lot when he was first born. I remembered sitting in the waiting room of the hospital with Meg, Patty, and Grandma- This was when she was still alive. Dad raced in, still wearing the surgical gown over his work clothes, holding this little bundle in his arms.
"It's a boy!" He announced. Grandma was the first who got to hold him.
"JJ, would you like to hold your new brother?" Grandma asked. I shook my head; I was too scared that I would drop him.
Three days later Dad and Mom brought Will home and that night I couldn't sleep. I went into the bathroom and got myself a drink of water. Walking back to my own room I passed his and I don't know what made me stop but I did. I walked in and peered over the edge of the crib. Will stared up at me and gurgled. His little hands rose in the air and he grabbed onto one of my fingers.
"Whoa, you've got a good strong handshake there little guy." I whispered. People say that babies that young can't understand but I know that he did. He smiled up at me, showing me his pink toothless gums. Suddenly, his little face scrunched up and he began to cry.
"Shh! You're going to wake up Mom and Dad!" I picked up the teddy bear and shook it, hoping that it would make him stop. Instead he cried harder. I noticed a bottle on the dresser next to his bed, and I went and got it. I reached into the crib and carefully supporting his head, I lifted him up and out. Holding him in the crook of my arm I gently put the nipple of the bottle into his mouth. He looked up at me as he drank and before I knew it his cries had turned into quiet sobs and then sobs into barely-audible snores. I took the bottle from him, put it back on the dresser, and then I laid him back down in his crib.
"Pryor!" Their leader yelled. I snapped out of it.
"You tell me secret?" He demanded.
"I'm not going to tell you anything!" I yelled back at him. He screamed something to his guards. They ran at me, unlocked the shackles and I fell to the floor. I groaned, my entire body was on fire. I could barely move let alone stand.
"Get up!" He yelled. I moved into the kneeling position, and using the wall as leverage I tried to get up but having lost all of my strength I fell back down again.
He said something to the guards and each took me by one of my arms, dragging me from the hut to the middle of the clearing. In the middle of the clearing stood a ten-foot pole, nestled into the ground. They stripped me of my jacket and shirt. They pulled me up, wrapped my arms around the pole and then tied my hands together again so I couldn't move.
"Bring troops too see strong, fearless leader!" He laughed at his own joke. I turned my head and I could see my squadron, still tied together being lead from their hut to where I was.
"YOU GUYS HE'S ALIVE!"
"JJ, we thought you were dead!"
"Dude, you look like crap!"
"Real smart Coleman- That's how to boost his morale."
"Don't worry we haven't told anyone anything!"
"Stay strong man!" I smiled and laughed, knowing that they were OK.
"SHUT UP!" The leader of the Vietcong ordered. They did, but I could tell that it wasn't easy for them. He pulled the whip from his belt and said,
"Pryor, tell me no secret so Pryor will have whip one hundred time. If he cry like baby I start over. If you no want him have whip, tell me secret."
"Don't tell him anything and that's a direct order from your squad leader!" I yelled. They nodded. The leader of the Vietcong let out a roar as he brought the whip up and then down on my back. I breathed in deeply, trying to not think about the feeling of burning flesh.
"Stop!" Someone yelled. It was Coleman. He was the younger brother of a good friend of mine from High School. When his older brother heard that I was Pete's squad leader he called me personally to ask if I would keep an eye on him. I gave him my word that I would.
"Pete, stay back and keep quiet." I said.
"But JJ-"
"NO! Gebheart, make sure he stays back and keeps quiet." I ordered. Gebheart nodded.
"Pryor, I tell you no talk and you talk. I start again." He said menacingly. I think he enjoyed it.
"But, that's not fair! It's my fault, I shouldn't have said anything!"
"Shut up man!" Gebheart yelled, knowing that Pete was only causing more trouble. Gebheart pulled Pete to him and put his hand over his mouth. I closed my eyes, praying that he would keep his mouth shut. Their leader started again, and this time it was even more painful. I focused on trying to find a memory that would help me forget about it. I was about to give up and then it dawned on me:
I was eleven and in the sixth grade. I was sitting in Sister Margaret's history class staring at the clock. She was discussing the renaissance and I didn't care. An entire hour to go before the bell rang signaling second block. Class had just started. It was Friday and all I wanted at the moment was to play in the football game that night against Western- and win. There was a knock at the door and Father Phinney walked in, motioning for sister to come toward him. She did, they talked for a few minutes and then he left.
"Class, we have a new student." Sister Margaret announced. "It's alright you can come in." My eyes traveled from the clock to the doorway and in came a girl. She was just a little shorter than I was with shoulder length brown hair and eyes. Her features were delicate but I knew by looking at the redness in her cheeks and the gleam in her eyes that she was strong- passionate. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in my entire life. I came to just after she had introduced herself to the class so I hadn't heard anything that she had said. She sat down two rows away from me, third seat from the front of the class. I couldn't take my eyes away from her and when the bell finally rang I followed her out of class.
I came up behind her as she moved slowly through the halls holding a piece of paper in her hand looking slowly from one wall of lockers to the other. I was almost too scared to tap her shoulder but I did.
She turned around and automatically smiled up at me.
"I'm sorry but I didn't catch your name." I said.
"My name's Beth." She said extending her hand to me. At first I was surprised, having never seen anyone my age do that before but nevertheless I took her hand and shook it.
"My name's JJ Pryor."
"It's nice to meet you JJ." Our hands were still touching. "Do you have any idea where locker 231 is?"
"Yeah, I do."
"Do you think that you could show me where it is?"
"Sure." I said staring into her eyes, completely amazed.
"JJ?" She asked getting a funny look on her face.
"Yeah?"
"In order for you to show me where my locker is you're going to have to let go of my hand and move."
"Oh yeah, right. I'm sorry." I said blushing.
The lashings were over and instead of dragging me back into the hut I just came from, I was put into the same hut as my troops.
Disclaimer: I do not own American Dreams or any of the Characters. This a work of fiction based on the NBC television series.
Authors Note: I am so sorry that it took me this long to write and post chapter three. I will do my best to not take so long to post the fourth chapter. To the person who made the comment about the amount of blood and gore in my story- Get over it. This is a story about a young man fighting in a war and unfortunately in war people die. People are shot and killed. Sometimes they are even blown up and their limbs go flying through the air. There is blood. It is not nice and it is certainly not pretty. It would be unrealistic and unfair for me to not portray the realism of the situation JJ is in.