War Torn

War Torn — page 7 — Shut up Beyer What do you want girl I’m Kelsey I’m in eighth grade Too young for McBride but Perez might that particular moment to snap off and drift to the ground He scuffed the pile of ash with his boot What do you want be interested said one of the seated men said Perez My dad sometimes comes here and um well I have to find a Vietnam Veteran and get an interview for a school Silence dropped into the room like a chunk of melted snow sliding off a roof The man with the cane limped over to her No one here was in Vietnam okay No one We’re just buddies hanging around Nothing about the war gets said Get it Kelsey stood still not sure what to do She must have made a mistake The hats they wore had a slightly different insignia than her father’s had and he was a war veteran from the Korean War And they looked much younger than him 12

War Torn — page 8 — Um are you sure Is there anyone you know that you could ask She looked around the group searching for a face that would meet hers But all the eyes stayed on the dice or the pretzels or deeply regarded the beer glass scram before we sic Perez on you Perez cleared his throat Kelsey scrammed Nobody wants to talk with you kid So 13

War Torn — page 9 — Chapter two A Change of Plan By the time she got home she had made a new plan Her story could be about war in general Her father would talk about the Korean War he never tired of telling stories about it Then she’d weave in some anti-war stuff Her mother had been making signs and going to demonstrations against U S involvement in the war Kelsey could probably go with her to a meeting or a gathering and get some statements from the organizers It would be a piece of cake She could even include her brief visit to the Vet’s Hall and say something reportly like The veterans declined comment on the current political goings on in Vietnam When she got home she tried the doorknob hoping to avoid digging into her various pockets to locate the key It opened 14

War Torn — page 10 — Hi He-man Kelsey said She set her Grunts and scraping sounds told her Jake her older brother was home and lifting weights He’d gotten a steel bar from somewhere and attached a milk carton full of cement on each end school supplies on the kitchen counter seventeen eighteen nineteen twenty A loud clunk followed as the bar landed in the cradle He-man is right That’s a hundred fifty pounds right there impressed asked Kelsey looking through the mail The Sears catalog had arrived She flipped to the fashion section and ran her finger along a page with bell bottoms and a little furry jacket Cool Her own pants were corduroy and worn down on the thighs Gigi is no longer part of the equation said Jake He sat up abruptly She apparently likes the poindexter type As in Willie Yerst With whom she was holding hands during Civ Is Gigi 15

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