Page 3 of Aim High Mountain Man
Almost.
But I hadn’t cracked a true grin since that day with Johnnie.
“For?”
“Johnnie never showed me a picture, so I just didn’t know what you looked like. I didn’t even know what to expect.”
“He didn’t have a need.”
I knew I sounded like a grump, and I never minded. The sooner I could get rid of people, even if I invited them, the better it was for me.
I suffered enough that day that I knew I was never great company. Even my sister, when she called me on the odd occasion, said that I needed to be more outgoing and personable, but that wasn’t going to happen. Even worse when I was still so young. But I was totally fine just being solo and living my life up here.
Well, me and my thoughts, I guess.
“Right,” she finally said, nodding some.
“Let’s go in so that you can grab the stuff.”
“Oh, sure.”
I walked up the steps, trying not to let the limp I had show. I always had people ask me about it and I never answered. It wasn’t their business. But they often labeled me a grump, and certainly a recluse.
Neither title did I have a problem with, honestly.
I glanced behind me to look at her, seeing her following, but then glancing around, I picked up on the lack of a car.
How was she going back to the hotel?
“Something wrong?” she asked.
“No car.”
“Oh, uh, no. I had a driver take me up here and I can get a driver to take me back down. It’s not a problem.”
I nodded, surprised that someone could get up here, but I also noticed the lack of fresh tire marks, so I was going to assume that they didn’t make it all the way up. Which was normal, too.
“I see,” I muttered, finally walking into the cabin.
I walked over to the counter, ready to grab the box I had for her when I noticed she had paused right by the door, her attention captured by something. I followed her line of sight,seeing the picture by the doorway, knowing what had stopped her.
That was the group of us when we were all stationed together for the first time. There were ten of us that day, and only five of us had made it home safely.
“Johnnie never sent me this photo. I wish he had. You all looked so happy.”
“We didn’t know what life would bring us.”
She hung her head, swallowing hard. “We never do. Each day is something new.”
I just watched her, not knowing what to say to that. I knew that I wasn’t the only one who lost something that day, that he was her only child. So, I couldn’t imagine the pain it caused her when she got the notice.
“Why did they call him Joker?”
“What?” I finally zoned back in, seeing her look at another picture of two of us with our heads pushed together, our names on the side.
“Where did Joker come from?”
“He was always joking to ease everyone around him. He didn’t have a call sign until he got to the outpost, and because of that, we gave him that. It seemed to fit him pretty well.”
