Letters from Vietnam [Watty Awards 2012]

Chapter 7

         “Oh my God, mom.” Angela looked at the dazzling, blue dress in amazement. “This is beautiful.”

            Her mom smiled at her. “I knew you wouldn’t want to go shopping for prom dresses, so I took the liberty to get you one.” She looked at her daughter uncertain of the next words that would come out of her mouth. “Angela, I know what I did was wrong. I shouldn’t have hidden the letter, but war is a dangerous thing. I didn’t want you getting involved with a person who may not make it home.”

            Angela looked at her mom and saw the sincerity in her eyes. “What made you change your mind?”

            “I just know how it feels to have your heart broken.” She gave Angela a sad smile. “You haven’t been alive long enough to experience certain things, but I know I shouldn’t shelter you forever. You’re a senior in high school and in a few months, you’ll be heading off to college. I don’t want to hurt our relationship because I meddled in your business.”

            “I love you, mom.” Angela said, pulling her mom into a big hug. “Thank you.”

            Angela’s mom smiled as she watched her daughter dash up the stairs with a huge smile on her face. Just as Angela closed the door to her room, her dad walked into the kitchen.

            “She looks happy.” He noted before walking over to kiss his wife.

            “She is happy.”

            Angela’s dad wrapped his wife up in a hug. “I haven’t seen Angela smile like that since the country club incident.”

            “I know. I think she really is in love, James.”

            James kissed his wife’s cheek. “And what if she is, Amy? She’s no different than you and Iwhen we were her age.”

            “True,” she laughed at the memories that flooded her mind as she thought about their relationship. “And to think no one thought we would last.”

            “We proved them wrong now, didn’t we?”

            She laughed and nodded. “We sure did.”

Tuesday, April 1, 1975

            “It never gets easier.” Chris whispered to Jason as they lay on their stomach behind a fallen tree.

            “Tell me about it.” Jason whispered back. “I haven’t had time to read Angela’s letter.”

            Chris looked at his friend. “Man, you’re whipped and you don’t even know it.” He joked.

            Jason rolled his eyes. “I’m not whipped.” He assured his friend. “It’s hard to be whipped when you are thousands of miles away from your girl.”

            Chris looked at Jason with a wicked smile on his face. “I’m sorry, did you just say, your girl?”

            Jason laughed before realizing that he did actually say Angela was his girl. “I guess I did.”

            “Man, you’ve got it bad.” He joked, earning a slap to the back of the helmet. “And I mean bad.”

            “You’re telling me.” Jason mumbled as some bullets flew over their heads.

            “Well, we’re still alive.” Chris noted, sitting in front of the fire. He rubbed his hands together before placing them in front of the blazing fire.

            Jason looked up at him for a moment before returning to reading Angela’s letter.

            Dear Jason,

            I’m sorry that you didn’t get this sooner. I would’ve written back sooner if my mom didn’t hide my mail from me. How are things on leave? I’m hoping better than what I’m going through here.

            I can tell you one thing. Every day here is a learning experience. Today, I can tell you that I learned a new lesson. Rich people are rude.

            I’ll be honest; I can’t wait for the day you come home. I want to see you face to face and finally put a face to the name. We’ve exchanged letters, but I can’t wait until the day when we can exchange actual words. Stay safe please.

            Love,

            Angela

P.S. I owe you a longer letter.

            When he read the last line, he laughed a little. It had been days since he felt relaxed. It’s been days since he had a few good laughs.

            “Jason,” Chris waved his hand in front of Jason’s face. “Earth to Jason.”

            Jason finally looked up at his friend. “What?”

            “Man, you’ve really got it bad. You totally spaced on me.”

            “No I didn’t.” Jason said, turning his attention to his friend.

            Chris looked at him skeptically. “Oh really? What did I say then?”

            “You can’t wait to go home?”

            Chris shook his head. “That was a lucky guess.” He said, pointing a finger at his friend. “Do me a favor and write this girl back so you can actually pay more attention to me.”

            Jason laughed before throwing a small rock at his friend. “I’m sorry, babe.”

            “Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can shut up.”

            Chris walked off to where most of the guys were. A few were up keeping watch, but besides them, Jason was the only guy up. He sat in front of the fire with a pencil and a crinkled piece of paper in hand.

            Dear Angela,

            I know this letter is long overdue. I haven’t had time to write you since leaving the camp a few days ago. Things here have been getting worse every day. After reading your letter, it doesn’t sound like things are going any better back home.

            I don’t want to get your hopes up or anything, but some of the guys say it’s just a matter of time before they start lifting us out of this place. The day that happens will be the happiest day of my life.

            I can’t wait to go home and see you. I think the only good thing to come of this war was meeting you. And by meeting I mean, writing. I promise I’ll try and stay safe. Just for you.

            Love,

            Jason

P.S. As for the rich people at the country club, I can’t really help you there.