Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Brave Soldier ❯ This is a Long Drive for Nothing to Think About ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter Seven: This is a Long Drive for Nothing to Think About:

Riding down a road paved with checkpoints will give you time to think. This was on the backroads of Thailand, I believe. I was sitting in the back of the jeep at the time. It was the middle of summer from what I can remember. I stared out the window at the scenery passing by. My mind slipped away to la-la land.

“Rookie!”

I jerked my head upward. The driver was looking at me from the rearview mirror. The others in the jeep were looking at me as well.

“Huh?” I asked.

“See something interesting out there?” the driver asked. I shook my head.

“No. Just thinking.” I could see the other soldiers smirking at each other. They treat me like a “sissy”. What? I can't be lost in my head if I want? They were just a bunch of meatheads back then. Okay, I was a bit of a meathead myself. Just not as bad as them.

“Leave him alone,” the soldier in the passenger seat said.

“Yeah,” another one said. I rolled my eyes. My attention turned back to the outside. We had just passed another checkpoint. It was going to be a while before he made it back to the base. I just wanted to be alone in my thoughts. What else could I do? I didn't have a cell phone at the time. I had no games to pass the time. It was just me and my thoughts.

Yeah. Oh boy…

She was still mad at me, I suppose. She wasn't happy when I told her what I had done.

“I did it for us!” I shouted. She refused to hear me out. When I got back, I was going to have to apologize to her. I looked out the window and saw another checkpoint.

I looked at my comrades. I didn't have anything in common with them. Like I said, we were all meatheads. They were more of such than I. All they talked about was fighting, women, drinking, sports, and being macho. I didn't have anything against all of that. It just didn't interest me. I have (or had) a girlfriend. I had my eyes on my future. They wouldn't understand. It was clear to me from day one of training. We passed another checkpoint.

“Are we there yet?”

I looked up at the front. One of the other guys was complaining again. How many times has he asked that stupid question? Every time I find myself sinking into my head, he manages to pull me out. I cursed him under my breath.

“No,” the driver said again. “We'll let you know when we get there. Just go back to sleep.” The idiot groaned as he dropped his head back. His voice made me want to reach up there and strangle him. Can't I just get lost in my thoughts in peace? We passed another checkpoint.

If I took a drink for every checkpoint we passed, I would be passed out drunk. And that was if I could legally drink. I remembered the first time that I tried alcohol. I was ten years old at the time. We were at one of my grandparents' funerals. It might have been grandma's. I don't know. My brain tries to block out that year when I try to think about it. Anyway, we had just come home from the burial. Everyone was in the dining room. I had wandered out into the hall for some reason. I think I was going to use the toilet or something.

I was halfway down the hall when I spotted my uncle leaning against the wall. I saw him holding a giant glass bottle in his hand. He had just opened it and was about to take a sip. I tilted my head to the side. I didn't remember who he was at first. It was he who looked up and spoke first.

“Oh, it's you,” he said. I couldn't think of anything to say. I stood there, staring at him. This uncle poured a little bit of sake into the lid that he pulled out of his blazer and handed it to me. He didn't say anything as he held out his hand. My little brain pieced together that he wanted me to take a sip. He knelt down as I walked closer. I didn't take his eyes off of him as I picked up the lid. Did he really want me to do this? I took one sip and reeled back. My uncle didn't say anything, but I could see him smirking at me.

“Maybe when you're older,” he said, patting my head. That was where the memory cut off. It would take me years to give alcohol another try. With that thought, we passed another checkpoint.

I forgot how many checkpoints that particular road had. They all started to blend together after a while. I just wanted to get out of that jeep and go to bed at that point. Riding along, getting lost in your thoughts can get pretty boring after a while. Everyone but the driver and I were sound asleep. By that time, the sun was high in the sky. By my guess, it was close to 1500. Not that I would know. (I didn't own a watch at the time.) I looked around at the other passengers. A nap sounded like a good idea right about now. Just a quick little snooze. Not like I was going anywhere from this long ride anyway. I closed my eyes and went right to sleep.

I woke up when I heard honking.

“Get up! We're here!”

The guys and I slowly woke up and looked around. It took a moment for everything to click into place for our brains. The driver clicked his tongue.

“Get a move on!” he said. “We're going to be late!” All of us jumped out of the jeep before he sped off to park it. I don't remember what we would be late for or why it mattered. It just did.