𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞; eugene roe ✔

PART THIRTY

"You're soaking."

I laughed, not out of humour, "Yes, I am."

He chuckled, "Why are you soaking?"

"I wanted to go for a swim."

He chuckled again, squatting next to me, "I can see that. What's going on?"

"Monika died."

His brows furrowed and he pushed out a long breath of smoke. "The girl?"

I nodded.

"Jesus. I'm sorry."

"Thank you."

"Do you want to talk about it? Tell me about her?"

"There isn't much to know, Joe. She was a girl. The sweetest girl. She didn't live long enough to know who her father was or realise that she was born in a war."

"Yeah, it ain't right. I've killed men, men who would've shot me otherwise. But kids don't deserve to die."

I sucked on my bottom lip, the cigarette in my fingers burning into a stream of ash.

"Why are you here so early?"

"Luz wouldn't stop with these poems. Every dusk and dawn, the same thing."

"What is it called?"

Liebgott turned, finding Martin in his view, "Johnny, come here."

He obliged quickly, skidding into a position next to Joe.

"What is the name of that poem Luz won't shut up about? The one he's been reading since D-Day."

"Futility," said John. "By Wilfred Owen."

"How does it go?"

"Uh," Martin glanced between us. "I don't know all of it. Webster would."

"Yeah, well Webster can piss off. What's that part he always says?"

"I think it's, like, until this morning and this..."

"And this snow. If anything might..."

"Rouse him now, the kind old sun will know."

"Yeah, that's it."

"Hey, Lieb, why don't you, uh," John gestured to behind them with his eyes, to a further being.

"Right." Joe understood, staggering up to his feet. "I'll be back."

As soon as his footsteps became a part of the further air, Martin dug his boot caps into the stones. He didn't know anything about Monika. It was the last thing on his mind.

"You know how many people I've had interrogate me the last couple days. All because of that one dance we had together."

I tittered petulantly, "Forgive me."

"Well no, it's just the questions they were asking that threw me off. They seem to think I was the first to know about you and Roe."

"I know you saw, John."

"It doesn't matter what I saw."

"Why beckon him then?" I related to his dismissal of Liebgott.

He paused for a long time.

"John?"

"I can tell Liebgott it's because Gene's a doctor and would do much better than he could." Martin inahled deeply. "But I can tell you it's because ain't none of us can give what he can."