Scene 2

“Get ready boy” My dad shifted in the blind to make sure I was ready for the shot.  It was a cold November morning and I could see my breath slowly steaming in the air.  I had turned 11 that  spring and  my dad had bought me my 1^st real rifle, a Browning .308  X bolt  action with a  scope.  I jumped for joy when my dad had got it. About 100 yards away a 10 point buck was slowly sniffing the morning air emerging from the trees around a cornfield.  He was beautiful and I drew back slowly on the trigger as he bent his head to the saltlick buried at the edge of the field. “Crack” the rifle shot was ugly and flat on such a peaceful morning, the buck lept in the air and took off out of the clearing.  My father and I scrambled out of the tree and I rushed to the spot where the buck had escaped into the forest. There was blood on leaves; it sparkled in the early sunlight. “He won’t get far, that was a damn fine shot son. Now let’s get after him” We tracked the deer’s blood trail a few yards in to the brush and found him behind a fallen log.  He was breathing was labored and his breath was coming in gasps blood had pooled around his flank, I felt something hard pressed into the palm of my hand.   It was my daddy’s hunting knife. “Don’t let it suffer boy” I jumped over the log and the buck made an effort to rise and then fell heavily back to the ground.  He was looking at me, a flat stare of a creature already beyond fear.  I pressed my hand to the side of his head to hold him in place.  When it was done me and my father carried that buck out and put him on the truck. “That were a good shot boy, and now you got your 1^st trophy” I smiled warmed by the approval of my father which was rare and often fleeting. I would spend the next 4 years hunting with my dad all over the country from Big Horn sheep in Utah to Moose in Montana. By my  15^th birthday I was an experienced hunter and had over a dozen trophies on the walls of our house.  I had learned to hunt with a rifle, shotgun, bow and all sorts of black powder weapons. I could ride a horse and shoot from horse back. I could even track a deer through the thick Carolina mountain forest.  I was also a high school athlete and all county , conference, in football and track.  I had a 3.4 GPA and was in college prep classes.  You could say that my life was going according to plan.  That was the year everything change my life changed in ways that you would find hard to believe.  That was the year my oldest brother came back home from the war in Afghanistan, and like all young men who go off to war and come home he was changed forever. Just how much he had changed I was soon to find out.  My father had been in the military a decorated Vietnam Vet and was dead set against any of his sons joining the Armed Forces, so when my brother announced that after college he was joining the Army, he was less than thrilled. I still remember that day it was just three weeks after I had killed my 1^st buck.  I had run home from my best friend’s house and was out of breath Deon my middle bother had called and said that Markus was home from college.  I had just come in when I heard the yelling. “ Boy the US military is no place for a Black man, I served because I had no choice and your dumb ass gonna sign up for that” my dad was hotter than fire and I knew better than to let him know I was listening. “ Pops I’m not a kid anymore I’m 22 years old this is my choice.  I have to do what I feel is right! Isn’t that what you always taught us? You do the right thing even though it might not be the easy one remember?  My dad slowly shook his head “ Using my own words to convict me.  I guess you was listening when I was flapping my gums.  Well son go if you fell you got to ; me and you brothers love you, so come back safe”   The next week my brother left for boot camp.  The day he left I was outside standing in the carport watching the rain fall.  I was scared to face my bother I didn’t know how to say what I was feeling .  I was excited for him, being in the military was always something I wanted to do, but I was afraid to lose my brother.  Markus came outside he had his bags and loaded them into the truck. “ Well little brother I’m off “  he came over and placed his hand on my shoulder. “ Don’t worry I’ll be ok, This is the right thing. We all have a role to play in life and I think that this is the right move for me. Beside I’ll be an officer so I’ll have lots of help out there”.  I nodded because I didn’t trust my self to speak. I turned and gave my brother a hug. My whole body shook with the effort to keep myself from crying. “I’ll write and call you guys all the time. Look out for Pops”.  He hopped in his truck and backed out of the driveway with me walking alongside. As he drove away I could see my dad standing in the bay window out front looking at me.  I stood there in the rain, as he watched through the wet glass both of us glad the rain hide our tears.