The Army Comes Calling (24 page)

     “Mommy?”

     She opened one eye.

     Before her stood Little Markie, wearing a huge set of Sony headphones and a straw cowboy hat. The headphones were so big on his tiny head they bypassed his ears completely and rested on his cheeks.

     He was a sight, to be sure.

     “Good morning, little sir.”

     “Good morning Mommy.”

     She looked at him in anticipation, expecting him to say more. Instead he stood in place, studying her.

     “Did you want to tell Mommy something, sweetheart?”

     Then, as if it suddenly dawned on him he had more to say, he said, “Mommy?”

     She smiled.

     “Yes, honey?”

     “Is this the day you’re going to ride in a helo… a helo… a heliochopper?”

     “A
helicopter
,” she said gently. “Yes, sir. Why do you ask?”

     “Because Daddy said it would be your first time in a heliochopper. And I thought that since it was your first time, then maybe you’d let me be your pilot and fly it for you.”

     She smiled again, but not because she saw humor in her son’s request. She smiled because it warmed her heart.

     “Well, thank you little sailor, but do you know how to fly a… heliochopper?

     “Oh, yes. I was watching a movie on the TV yesterday. And it was called
SMASH
, and it was about these Army guys, and they had heliochoppers, and one of the pilots, he wore a cowboy hat, and he pulled on this stick thing and the heliochopper went up, and then he pushed on the stick thing and it went back down again. I can do that, I know I can.”

     “Well, honey, on
M*A*S*H*
a lot of stuff was make believe. And I think there is a lot more to flying a heliochopper than just moving a stick back and forth.”

     “Like what?”

     “Well, I think they have these things called rudders that you have to push with your feet while you’re moving the stick thing back and forth. And you have to be at least as tall as Mommy or your feet won’t be able to reach the rudders.”

     He was crestfallen, and his face showed it.

     “Oh, I’m so sorry, honey. You know I’d let you fly Mommy’s heliochopper if only you were a little bit taller. Maybe if I go again in a couple of years you’ll be tall enough by then. Would you settle for flying Mommy’s helipchopper then?”

     “In a couple of years I’ll be ten. Do you think I’ll be as tall as you then?”

     “I don’t know, honey. You might be. You’re growing pretty fast.”

     “How long do you think it’ll be before I’m taller than Daddy?”

     “I don’t know, sweetheart. Maybe never. Your Daddy is pretty tall, you know.”

     “I know. But I want to be taller so he’ll stop calling me short stuff.”

     “Does it bother you when he calls you short stuff?”

     “Yes. It makes me feel little. And I’m big. I’m taller than Becky and Bailey and David Junior. I’m bigger than all of them.”

     “Well, honey, you might never be taller than your Daddy. But if you want, Mommy can ask him not to call you short stuff any more.”

     “Would you, Mom? Thanks!”

     “Sure. And if you want, I can even bite his nose if he forgets and calls you short stuff again.”

     “No, Mommy! That would hurt him. I don’t want you to hurt my Daddy. I just want him to stop calling me short stuff is all.”

     Hannah stole a look at Mark, who lay beside her with his eyes closed. He pretended to be sleeping, but the smile on his face gave him away.

     “Well, honey, how about if I spank him whenever he calls you short stuff? That’ll just hurt his bottom, and you know he usually deserves a spanking anyway.”

     Markie pondered the suggestion, and then announced, “Well, okay. I guess that would be all right.”

     The smile left his father’s face.

     Hannah looked at the clock. It was almost five a.m.

     “Honey, we have to get up for school in a couple of hours. Would you like to crawl into bed with Mommy and Daddy and get some more sleep?”

     “Sure.”

     Hannah scooted back, making a point to push Mark unceremoniously to the edge of the bed. She considered going further, but thought it might be just a bit mean.

     Markie snuggled with her, his little head in her bosom and his arm around her, and said, “I love you, Mommy.”

     “I love you too, little man. Sweet dreams.”

     “You too, Mommy.”

     Markie was asleep within minutes, and she listened to the soft rhythm of his labored breathing. She thought of the adventure her helicopter ride would be in just a few hours, until she almost drifted off to sleep again.

     Almost.

     Until five forty five, when Sami began pounding frantically on her apartment door.

     “Hannah! Hannah! Oh, my God! Are you awake?”

Chapter 42

     Hannah tried her best to get to the door before Sami woke up her two favorite men in the world. It wasn’t easy to do, since she was stuck between them and had to climb over Little Markie to get out of bed.

     The frantic look on Sami’s face alarmed her as she stepped into the hall and softly pulled the door behind her.

     Sami was almost in tears and fell into her friend’s arms.

     Hannah held her close and asked, “Sami, what on earth is the matter?”

     “Oh, Hannah, it was terrible. I had this horrific nightmare. I dreamed we were gathered at the back of the compound, where the small cemetery is. I dreamed we were all dressed in black, and we were all bawling our eyes out. Hannah, we were burying someone. Someone we love dearly.”

     As much as she loved and wanted to support her friend, it was much too early in the morning for Hannah to reason logically with the situation.

     She tried to lighten the moment a bit.

     “Were you there, Sami?”

     “Yes.”

     “Was I there?”

     “Yes.”

     “Thank goodness. At least they weren’t burying one of us.”

     “Oh, my God! You’re not helping, Hannah!”

     Hannah thought for a moment and decided her effort to make light of Sami’s dream fell way short.

     “You’re right, dear. That was very insensitive of me. Why don’t we go to the dining room and pour some coffee and you can tell me about your dream.”

     “But… you’re still in your nightgown.”

     “So are you, in case you haven’t noticed.”

     Sami looked down and realized for the first time that she had burst out of her apartment in her nightclothes.

     “Don’t worry,” Hannah said. “All the lazy men are still in bed snoring and farting and dreaming about Hooters girls. Besides, if we run into any of them, they can’t see much of anything anyway.”

     Sami was too distraught to argue.

     Hannah led her to the dining room and sat her at an isolated table in the corner of the room.

     “You still like your coffee with cream and two sugars?”

     Sami nodded her head.

     “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

     After placing two cups of coffee on the table, Hannah took a seat beside her friend.

     “Now, Sami, you’ve had nightmares before. What makes you so convinced that this one will come true?”

     “This was more than a nightmare, Hannah. This was more like a premonition. You know I’ve had them before. Last year, before I got shot, remember? I told you several days before that I had this foreboding… that something dreadful was going to happen. And we came under attack. And there were others before that, that you never knew about. Where I had a sense of dread just before something bad happened.”

     “Tell me about the dream.”

     “Like I said, it wasn’t very specific. I couldn’t see most of the faces. Just a bunch of people gathered around, all dressed in black. There was a casket sitting over an open grave. But I don’t know who was in it. Most of the faces were blurred out. The only reason I know you and I were there was because you were holding my hand. And we were crying together.”

     “So, you don’t know if this is going to happen tomorrow, or next year, or even twenty years from now?”

     “Hannah, I know you think I’m crazy…”

     Hannah took her hand.

     “Oh, I do not. I know you have premonitions. And I know that sometimes they hit very close to the mark. I’m just trying to get a handle on this and maybe to set your mind at ease.”

     “How so?”

     “Well, to be blunt, there have also been times in the past when you swore something bad was going to happen and it never did. Right?”

     Sami shook her head, feeling just a little bit foolish.

     “And even if you’re right, you have no specifics about who died and how, right?”

     “Right. I guess.”

     “So, say someone is in danger. We don’t know who, and we don’t know how. So there’s no possible way we can prevent anything from happening, right?”

     “I guess not.”

     “So let’s do this. Let’s just watch everyone especially close for the next few weeks and tell everyone to be extra cautious. Everyone is in reasonably good health. Debbie is making sure of that. And Helen is making sure everyone eats right. So I don’t think anyone is going to drop dead from natural causes anytime soon. If we spread the word for everyone to be extra cautious, and if we go out of our way to look for potential accidents, maybe we can prevent something bad from happening.”

     She looked at Sami and noticed her tears had stopped flowing.

     “Do you think that would help?”

     “Yeah, probably. I guess.”

     “Listen, it can’t hurt. And in the absence of any further details, it’s really all we can do.”

     Sami had something else to say, but hesitated.

     “Hannah…”

     “Yes, dear?”

     “…do you and Dad really have to go on that helicopter trip today?”

     Hannah smiled.

     “Is that what this is really all about? You want me to get worried and cancel my helicopter tour, so you can step in and take my place?”

     This time Hannah’s humor hit the mark, and Sami grinned.

     “No. But I have first dibs on the next tour.”

     Then, a bit more apprehensive, “Do you think I should ask Dad not to go?”

     “Well, you could. But you know how hard headed he is. What do you think he’d say?”

     Sami thought for a moment, then mimicked her father’s gruff voice:
“I appreciate your concern, baby. But this is an important trip, and I’m not going to cancel it because of a feeling you’ve had.”

     She looked at Hannah and asked, “Pretty close?”

     “I think it was spot on. You know that grumpy old man pretty well.”

     “Yes, and I love that grumpy old man. I’d be lost without him. But you’re right. If I asked him not to go he’d refuse. Or, he’d stay back and let somebody else go in his place and then if something happened to them he’d never forgive himself.”

     “Nothing’s going to happen, honey. Your dad will be fine. I’ll go along to babysit him and make sure he doesn’t get himself into trouble by trying to make out with all the women at Colonel Montgomery’s facilities.”

     “Hannah! That’s my father you’re talking about!”

     “Oh, I know. And you and I both know he’s the biggest dog in ten counties when it comes to chasing the ladies.”

     “Well, yeah, I guess that’s true.”

     “So, let him go. I don’t have a clue what information he wants to gather down there, but he seems to think it’s pretty important to our security situation. And I’ll try my best to keep him from knocking up any hot women down there and getting shot at by any jealous boyfriends. You do your part while I’m down there babysitting, and make sure no accidents befall anyone else while we’re gone. Okay?”

     “Yeah, okay. I guess. Would you be sure and ask the colonel if he’ll do another tour soon? Tell him it’s for your pregnant best friend, and she needs to go before she gets as big as a house and can’t fit into the helicopter anymore.”

     “Oh, Sami, you’ll never be as big as a house. You’ve barely gotten bigger at all. Why, you’ll probably get no larger than a three car garage, tops.”

     She smiled.

     “Thanks a lot.”

     At that moment, Sarah and Bryan walked in for coffee.

     Bryan looked at Hannah and Sami’s attire and let out a long wolf whistle.

     “Lingerie day, huh? Nice. Y’all should have told me. I’d have worn my pink teddy.”

     Sarah elbowed her husband in the ribs.