“Guess what?”
<
“Guess what?”
The Colonel’s wife was curious.
I laughed. “Tom will take care of it.”
Even if he didn’t like Carol, he wouldn’t ignore
her and her kids.
“Tom didn’t do anything.” The Colonel’s wife
said. “He said that he couldn’t take care of it.
So, Carol cried and said that he was
neglecting fallen soldiers‘ kids. The Colonel
had to investigate and found out that Tom’s
brother wasn’t a fallen soldier.”
“What?”
I was surprised.
<
The Colonel’s wife said that his brother was
breaking the rules. He received a payout, not
a settlement.
Carol was lazy and spent all the money and
didn’t want to work. She just wanted to find
someone to take care of her.
Since he wasn’t a fallen soldier, the military
couldn’t do anything.
I felt sad.
Carol wouldn’t change, and she would
probably depend on Tom forever.
I was right. Tom didn’t visit for a long time.
Then, two months later, I saw him again.
Carol had run him ragged, and he looked beat
- up.
When he saw me, his eyes got bright. He
said, “Sarah.”
I frowned. “What is it?”
Tom said, “I’m joining the army to go to
Afghanistan. The family can come with me.
Do you and the kids want to come?”
I shook my head.
Tom’s eyes turned red, but he didn’t say
anything. “I’ll send money. Take care of
yourselves.”
I nodded and turned around.
く
“Sarah,” he called. “Can’t you give me one
chance? I’ve lost everything because of you.
What else do you want me to do?”
“I want you to go through everything that I
went through.” I laughed. “You lost everything
because of me? You lost everything because
you did the wrong thing, what does it have to
do with me?”
“Admit it, you’re selfish and irresponsible. You
let your big sister go so that you could look
good, and now you want to run away to
Afghanistan to get rid of her. If you were
responsible, you would think about your kids,
but you don’t. You’re the same as you’ve
always been.”
I tore through Tom’s masks.
He changed faces, but he didn’t say anything.
After Tom left, three letters became five, and
his checks were on time.
I took the checks, but I didn’t write him back.
Carol found out that he had left and followed
him.
But it was too dangerous, and she died.
She had been with her two kids when she was
killed by robbers.
Tom took care of the funeral and brought
back their ashes.
He came to see me again, but there was
someone else in my life
く
someone else in my life.
The Colonel’s wife had hooked me up with
the new chief.
He had devoted his life to working after
graduating college, and he had missed out on
marriage.
He liked me right away and said that I was
resilient.
We saw each other for a while and liked each
other, so we got married.
When I saw Tom again, I had a sense of deja
- vu.
This time, I was wearing new clothes and had
modern hair. My years of teaching had given
modern hair. My years of teaching had given
me strength.
I looked like I was in my twenties.
Tom looked worn out from being beat by the
sun.
He looked at what I was wearing, at the
house, and at the person behind me.
He swallowed his words.
He just said, “Congratulations.”
