Part 102: Tough Love
The daylight had come after a very short day. Most everybody slept peacefully, as a few didn’t sleep at all. The beach was unusually quite. John looked at all the tree, scanning them for any sign of movement. He saw nothing. The archer took a deep sigh, realizing his blind friend was probably right. They were finally safe. It was just sad Brendon had to die to make sure that happened.
Shanna walked back over to their former encampment. Her red hair flayed in the wind as she kneeled down to get the rest of her stuff. She then looked to Brendon’s empty spot. Next to his blanket was his suitcase. Then she remembered the promise he asked of her to take his book with him and finish it. Taking a deep breath, she walked over, kneeled down to the suitcase and opened the lock based upon what she heard him say aloud that night. As she opened it, it contained a mixture of clothes, postcards, his Kendo stick but no book. Shanna raised an eyebrow, wondering where it was. Gently she moved some of the clothes aside and then found something at the bottom but it wasn’t a book.
It was a journal.
She picked it up and opened it. It was indeed Brendon’s writing. But she noticed it wasn’t finished; only half of it was full. Shanna wiped a tear from her, understanding what he meant when he told her to finish it. Perhaps it would help keep her sane while she waited to get rescued from the island. Then a shadow covered her, blocking out the sun. She looked up to find the smiling face of Mia staring down at her. “I didn’t know he had a journal.” She grinned.
“Me neither,” Shanna said, standing up, “When he said he wanted me to finish his book, I thought he had something to read.”
“No, I think he wanted you to write in the journal. Perhaps continue to write about our adventure here?”
Shanna grinned at her friend’s new attitude. “Mia, you. . .you definitely appear more happy today than you were yesterday.”
“I do miss, Brendon,” she confessed, “I will probably always miss him. But I had to realize that he is indeed at peace. That makes me saving. His suffering is over.”
“I guess you are right.” Shanna smiled.
“I am.” She said, walking with her friend, “You’d be surprised what a good night’s sleep will do.”
As the two friends walked down the beach with renew spirit, Mia saw Seth sitting at the beach, letting the water hit him. Even from the distance she could tell he was crying. Shanna looked at her Lakota friend with concern. Even thought Mia was able to help the redhead through their loss, it looked as if Seth needed a little more help. The two girls walked over to their friend who was just rocking back and forth. Mia kneeled down, placing her hand on his shoulder. “Seth?” she asked.
The young man said nothing.
“Seth, talk to me,” the Lakota replied.
“How can I do this?” he whispered, “How can I keep going?”
“Seth, we know you miss Brendon,” Shanna said, “We all do but you remember what he told us; we don’t have to grieve for him.”
“It’s not that, Shanna. I . . .I murdered two kids last night.” He said, wiping his eyes.
“Seth, you can’t dwell on that. You did what you had to do.” Mia insisted.
“They were just kids! They were younger than me. I . . .oh . .God, I chopped his head clean off.” Seth whimpered, “Mia, I can . . .I can see his eyes staring back at me.”
“Seth, you have to let it go, those kids would have killed you.”
Seth wasn’t listening. He was just kept crying. Mia sighed, stroking the back of his hair. Shanna stood up, not sure what to say. The bookstore worker whined and cried, keep into his hands. “How . .how can I go back to Tanya knowing what I have done?” he wept.
Mia took Shanna’s hand and let her away. The redhead looked back as they left Seth crying on the beach. The two friends walked back toward the medical tent area. John smiled at her but then he quickly dropped it when he saw the serious look on her face. Mia gently touched his arm and then looked to the blind doctor. “Tony, can you help me?” she asked.
“What do you need, Mia?” he responded.
“Could you talk to Seth?” she asked, “He’s dwelling on what happened between us and the Black Faction. He believes he is a murderer.”
“Well, it all depends on how you look at it.” John piped in, “Those psycho kids were going to kill me!”
“I know that, John but Seth can’t get past it.”
Tony held out his hand, “I’ll talk with him.”
Mia took the blind doctor’s head and lead him up. She gently lead him from the medical tent and down the beach toward the crying young man. Seth wiped his tears, not being able to stop crying. Tony patted Mia on the arm, letting her know he could take it from here. The blind doctor gently made his way over to Seth and slowly sat down in the sand next to him. Seth sniffed and looked at him. “Mia said you killed two of those kids last night, Tony.”
“Yes, I did.” He whispered.
“How do you live with it? How can you not see them in your sleep?”
“Well, I am fortunate. I didn’t actually see it when I killed them.”
“Yes, I guess so.” Seth sniffed.
“Seth, what you did was necessary. What you are going through will pass in time and you will be as you where once before.”
“I don’t think so, Tony,” the bookstore worked cried, “How I can go home to my Tanya and tell her I murdered someone.”
“You didn’t murder them. You killed them.” Tony said coldly.
“It’s the same damn thing!” Seth scoffed.
“THE HELL IT IS, SETH!” Tony faced him, “Let me tell you something; you don’t murder animals, you kill them! Those may have been teenagers we fought last night but they were raised like animals. Last night was War and soldiers don’t murder; they kill.”
Seth didn’t say a word. He had forgotten that Tony was a former marine. The young man had momentarially stopped crying. He wiped his eyes and whispered, “You’ve seen combat?”
“More times than I cared too.” Tony gulped.
“You had to kill people?”
“My main job was to keep other soldiers alive. I was fortunate to only need to fire my weapon a few times. I had only killed two people with my weapon. The third person I killed, I killed with a blade.”
“Why did you need to do that?” Seth asked.
“Cause of what he did.”
“I don’t understand,” the young man confessed.
Tony wiped his nose. It wasn’t something he had thought about in a long time but perhaps he needed to tell Seth this particular story. Perhaps it would help him through what he was going through. “You ever heard of a country called Triceria?” the blind doctor asked.
“No,” Seth told him.
“Most people haven’t. It’s a small country, virtually invisible to the outside world. It’s located just a little ways inside Nigeria. My group and I were going to extract an American doctor, plus a handful of Priests out of there. By the time we were there, an Nigerian faction had invade the village.”
“They . .they were killing them?”
“No. They were murdering them.” Tony said sternly, “These men . . .these men were performing what CNN calls Ethnic Cleansing. They were murdering these people because they were born of a different culture.”
“That’s horrible.” Seth coughed.
“Yes, it was, Seth. We checked around the village to locate the doctor. To do that, we had to remove the hostile element. One of my fellow soldiers shot two soldiers who were about to set an old man on fire.”
“Oh, my god,”
“I went inside a hut and heard screaming. I found one soldier, holding a woman down. I immediately grabbed him by the neck and pulled him up.”
“He was raping her?”
“No. He was slicing off her breasts.”
Seth nearly vomited. He coughed and coughed. Tony reached over and patted him on the back, understanding full well what he was feeling. “Sweet Jesus, “ he coughed, “Why was he doing that?”
“One of the atrocities of the Ethic Cleansing was that they didn’t allow new mother to breast feeds their babies. They cut off their breasts to keep that from happening.”
“What did you do to him?”
“I took out my blade and I stabbed him,” Tony whispered, a single tear coming down from his left eye, “And I stabbed him, and I stabbed him and I stabbed him. I . . .I couldn’t stab him enough to punish him for what he had done.”
Seth coughed one last time, finding his eyes were finally dry. “What happened to the girl?”
“There was no way I could save her,” Tony whispered, “I gave her enough morphine to die peacefully.”
“Tony, . .I had no idea.”
“It’s okay, Seth. I just wanted you to realize the extent of what you did. When I saw what that Nigerian soldier and what he had done, I no longer saw him as a man. I saw him as a monster that had no right existing on the same planet I did. Perhaps . . .you saw the same thing to the Lost Boy who shot Brendon?”
Seth stared out into the ocean. He didn’t even remember that lost boy’s face who shot his friend. “Yeah . .I think I did.”
“And remember that. You didn’t murder a teenager. You killed a savage that took away your friend.”
Seth sniffed and looked at the blind man. “Tony, I killed a second one. I used Brendon’s sword when I did it. I used all the stuff he had taught me. When I cut off his head, I screamed KIAI. A samurai spirit shout.”
“Then what happened?”
“I went to back to Brendon and he told me I had done well.”
“Then you probably did. Brendon didn’t judge you for that. Why should you?”
Seth took a deep breath. He felt as if a weight had just been lifted from his body. He slowly stood up and then helped Tony to his feet. After he slapped the sand off of his jeans, the blind doctor smiled. “You okay now?” he asked.
“I am,” Seth replied, “Thank you, Tony. For everything.”
“You’ll be fine, Seth,” Tony patted him on the arm, then turned around, “The same old Seth is still inside you. All you got to do is let him come back out. Tanya won’t know the difference.”
Seth walked the blind man walk backup the beach toward the Medical Tent. The young man turned around and decided to take a walk for a little ways to clear his head. By the time Tony got up to the tent, Mia was already near him. He gently touched his arm to let him know she was near him. “How did it go?” she asked.
“He’s okay,” Tony smiled, “He just needed a little tough love.”
Shanna walked back over to their former encampment. Her red hair flayed in the wind as she kneeled down to get the rest of her stuff. She then looked to Brendon’s empty spot. Next to his blanket was his suitcase. Then she remembered the promise he asked of her to take his book with him and finish it. Taking a deep breath, she walked over, kneeled down to the suitcase and opened the lock based upon what she heard him say aloud that night. As she opened it, it contained a mixture of clothes, postcards, his Kendo stick but no book. Shanna raised an eyebrow, wondering where it was. Gently she moved some of the clothes aside and then found something at the bottom but it wasn’t a book.
It was a journal.
She picked it up and opened it. It was indeed Brendon’s writing. But she noticed it wasn’t finished; only half of it was full. Shanna wiped a tear from her, understanding what he meant when he told her to finish it. Perhaps it would help keep her sane while she waited to get rescued from the island. Then a shadow covered her, blocking out the sun. She looked up to find the smiling face of Mia staring down at her. “I didn’t know he had a journal.” She grinned.
“Me neither,” Shanna said, standing up, “When he said he wanted me to finish his book, I thought he had something to read.”
“No, I think he wanted you to write in the journal. Perhaps continue to write about our adventure here?”
Shanna grinned at her friend’s new attitude. “Mia, you. . .you definitely appear more happy today than you were yesterday.”
“I do miss, Brendon,” she confessed, “I will probably always miss him. But I had to realize that he is indeed at peace. That makes me saving. His suffering is over.”
“I guess you are right.” Shanna smiled.
“I am.” She said, walking with her friend, “You’d be surprised what a good night’s sleep will do.”
As the two friends walked down the beach with renew spirit, Mia saw Seth sitting at the beach, letting the water hit him. Even from the distance she could tell he was crying. Shanna looked at her Lakota friend with concern. Even thought Mia was able to help the redhead through their loss, it looked as if Seth needed a little more help. The two girls walked over to their friend who was just rocking back and forth. Mia kneeled down, placing her hand on his shoulder. “Seth?” she asked.
The young man said nothing.
“Seth, talk to me,” the Lakota replied.
“How can I do this?” he whispered, “How can I keep going?”
“Seth, we know you miss Brendon,” Shanna said, “We all do but you remember what he told us; we don’t have to grieve for him.”
“It’s not that, Shanna. I . . .I murdered two kids last night.” He said, wiping his eyes.
“Seth, you can’t dwell on that. You did what you had to do.” Mia insisted.
“They were just kids! They were younger than me. I . . .oh . .God, I chopped his head clean off.” Seth whimpered, “Mia, I can . . .I can see his eyes staring back at me.”
“Seth, you have to let it go, those kids would have killed you.”
Seth wasn’t listening. He was just kept crying. Mia sighed, stroking the back of his hair. Shanna stood up, not sure what to say. The bookstore worker whined and cried, keep into his hands. “How . .how can I go back to Tanya knowing what I have done?” he wept.
Mia took Shanna’s hand and let her away. The redhead looked back as they left Seth crying on the beach. The two friends walked back toward the medical tent area. John smiled at her but then he quickly dropped it when he saw the serious look on her face. Mia gently touched his arm and then looked to the blind doctor. “Tony, can you help me?” she asked.
“What do you need, Mia?” he responded.
“Could you talk to Seth?” she asked, “He’s dwelling on what happened between us and the Black Faction. He believes he is a murderer.”
“Well, it all depends on how you look at it.” John piped in, “Those psycho kids were going to kill me!”
“I know that, John but Seth can’t get past it.”
Tony held out his hand, “I’ll talk with him.”
Mia took the blind doctor’s head and lead him up. She gently lead him from the medical tent and down the beach toward the crying young man. Seth wiped his tears, not being able to stop crying. Tony patted Mia on the arm, letting her know he could take it from here. The blind doctor gently made his way over to Seth and slowly sat down in the sand next to him. Seth sniffed and looked at him. “Mia said you killed two of those kids last night, Tony.”
“Yes, I did.” He whispered.
“How do you live with it? How can you not see them in your sleep?”
“Well, I am fortunate. I didn’t actually see it when I killed them.”
“Yes, I guess so.” Seth sniffed.
“Seth, what you did was necessary. What you are going through will pass in time and you will be as you where once before.”
“I don’t think so, Tony,” the bookstore worked cried, “How I can go home to my Tanya and tell her I murdered someone.”
“You didn’t murder them. You killed them.” Tony said coldly.
“It’s the same damn thing!” Seth scoffed.
“THE HELL IT IS, SETH!” Tony faced him, “Let me tell you something; you don’t murder animals, you kill them! Those may have been teenagers we fought last night but they were raised like animals. Last night was War and soldiers don’t murder; they kill.”
Seth didn’t say a word. He had forgotten that Tony was a former marine. The young man had momentarially stopped crying. He wiped his eyes and whispered, “You’ve seen combat?”
“More times than I cared too.” Tony gulped.
“You had to kill people?”
“My main job was to keep other soldiers alive. I was fortunate to only need to fire my weapon a few times. I had only killed two people with my weapon. The third person I killed, I killed with a blade.”
“Why did you need to do that?” Seth asked.
“Cause of what he did.”
“I don’t understand,” the young man confessed.
Tony wiped his nose. It wasn’t something he had thought about in a long time but perhaps he needed to tell Seth this particular story. Perhaps it would help him through what he was going through. “You ever heard of a country called Triceria?” the blind doctor asked.
“No,” Seth told him.
“Most people haven’t. It’s a small country, virtually invisible to the outside world. It’s located just a little ways inside Nigeria. My group and I were going to extract an American doctor, plus a handful of Priests out of there. By the time we were there, an Nigerian faction had invade the village.”
“They . .they were killing them?”
“No. They were murdering them.” Tony said sternly, “These men . . .these men were performing what CNN calls Ethnic Cleansing. They were murdering these people because they were born of a different culture.”
“That’s horrible.” Seth coughed.
“Yes, it was, Seth. We checked around the village to locate the doctor. To do that, we had to remove the hostile element. One of my fellow soldiers shot two soldiers who were about to set an old man on fire.”
“Oh, my god,”
“I went inside a hut and heard screaming. I found one soldier, holding a woman down. I immediately grabbed him by the neck and pulled him up.”
“He was raping her?”
“No. He was slicing off her breasts.”
Seth nearly vomited. He coughed and coughed. Tony reached over and patted him on the back, understanding full well what he was feeling. “Sweet Jesus, “ he coughed, “Why was he doing that?”
“One of the atrocities of the Ethic Cleansing was that they didn’t allow new mother to breast feeds their babies. They cut off their breasts to keep that from happening.”
“What did you do to him?”
“I took out my blade and I stabbed him,” Tony whispered, a single tear coming down from his left eye, “And I stabbed him, and I stabbed him and I stabbed him. I . . .I couldn’t stab him enough to punish him for what he had done.”
Seth coughed one last time, finding his eyes were finally dry. “What happened to the girl?”
“There was no way I could save her,” Tony whispered, “I gave her enough morphine to die peacefully.”
“Tony, . .I had no idea.”
“It’s okay, Seth. I just wanted you to realize the extent of what you did. When I saw what that Nigerian soldier and what he had done, I no longer saw him as a man. I saw him as a monster that had no right existing on the same planet I did. Perhaps . . .you saw the same thing to the Lost Boy who shot Brendon?”
Seth stared out into the ocean. He didn’t even remember that lost boy’s face who shot his friend. “Yeah . .I think I did.”
“And remember that. You didn’t murder a teenager. You killed a savage that took away your friend.”
Seth sniffed and looked at the blind man. “Tony, I killed a second one. I used Brendon’s sword when I did it. I used all the stuff he had taught me. When I cut off his head, I screamed KIAI. A samurai spirit shout.”
“Then what happened?”
“I went to back to Brendon and he told me I had done well.”
“Then you probably did. Brendon didn’t judge you for that. Why should you?”
Seth took a deep breath. He felt as if a weight had just been lifted from his body. He slowly stood up and then helped Tony to his feet. After he slapped the sand off of his jeans, the blind doctor smiled. “You okay now?” he asked.
“I am,” Seth replied, “Thank you, Tony. For everything.”
“You’ll be fine, Seth,” Tony patted him on the arm, then turned around, “The same old Seth is still inside you. All you got to do is let him come back out. Tanya won’t know the difference.”
Seth walked the blind man walk backup the beach toward the Medical Tent. The young man turned around and decided to take a walk for a little ways to clear his head. By the time Tony got up to the tent, Mia was already near him. He gently touched his arm to let him know she was near him. “How did it go?” she asked.
“He’s okay,” Tony smiled, “He just needed a little tough love.”
posted by Jason | 10:37 AM
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