Page 145 of Come Back to Me

Looking back, I’m furious at myself. I didn’t tell anyone, Tee. I went through it all alone. I didn’t even tell Mrs. Abelman or Mum. Never mind my brothers.

They’re family. We’ve gone through hell together. But I still kept them out of the loop.

I miss you.

Yours forever,

Cody

Cody,

You’re an idiot.

A-.

Any song requests?

Tell me about Paulie and Ricky.

Tee

Tee,

I know I’m a moron.

“Skin and Bones” by David Kushner?

One time, we were in training, and Paulie decided to set off a stink bomb in our CO’s quarters. We weren’t allowed off base (that was Ricky’s fault for being discovered with contraband). Our mail was being monitored, so we had to go the homemade route.

Fun fact: our mail was being monitored because my nanna (Mum’s mother) used to write me every week before she died. It’s one of the reasons I took part in the program where we met. I missed her letters. She never failed to put a smile on my face, and though I knew I wouldn’t find that connection again, I still looked forward to receiving mail. I never imagined, of course, that I’d meet someone like you. <3

I digress… On this particular week, though, Nanna proved she was less of a prude than I realized, lol. She’d determined that being locked up in training wasn’t good for any of us ‘yung ‘uns’ so she actually sent us some porn, lol. Said she thought it would ‘diffuse tensions.’

Naturally, it was confiscated, and I was fined 1k for it!

Why do I think you’d have liked my nanna, huh?

Paulie knew how to make stink bombs, seeing as he was a closet delinquent. (Fun fact: his father is the Prez of a local MC.) Anyway, Paulie was mass-producing stink bombs by the time he was five because he loathed his kindergarten teacher.

A book of matches, some ammonia purloined from a cleaning cabinet, and an empty bottle later, we had ourselves a stink bomb.

There was only one problem.

Paulie got into trouble with the CO (he was a real bastard), and Ricky decided that we were going to avenge Paulie. (Masters had an issue with Paulie. I think because of his dad.) Anyway, neither of us could remember how much ammonia we were supposed to use…

You guessed it.

We used too much.

There may have been an explosion, and Ricky might have ended up in the sick bay. He wore those scars like a badge. The CO ended up in the bed beside him too, LOL. We nearly killed the asshole. He survived Desert Storm, but not one of Paulie’s homemade IEDs.

It’s been a long time since I thought about them in a good light. Thanks for that, Tee. You’ve done it twice now.

Yours forever,

Cody

Cody,

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