“Dill! We need to get out of here now!” John screeched at me, and my mouth hung open as I watched in horror of the upcoming German squad. John was my best friend. We met in Mobile, Alabama.. I was fourteen and he was fifteen. Aunt Rachel sent me to live with another ‘family’ member in Mobile. Those were the days, we would run through alleys, screaming our heads off, causing huge chaos throughout the town. We did everything together, whether it came to anything; school, work, we did it together. I stayed there till I was eighteen, then we both enlisted together into the U.S Army. We were scared when we enlisted, but we knew we could stay there. We kept alert and ended up here in the smack dab of the World War. It wasn’t bad, and I enjoy serving our country, especially with John by my side.
We sprinted across the open field and whipped our heads back to see if they were getting close. Mountains of sweat piled on my face, which slicked my hair onto my slimy skin. Unfortunately the enemy ran through the trees and caught us. One german soldier threw a grenade and That was it for us. We were sent flying away from the bang, but mostly me, I was the closest to it. My leg, I remember, was bleeding heavily from my thigh, and my leg was completely numb to my brain. Some people yelled my name, but I don’t remember anything else. All I remember is screams of my friends, calling out for me.
My eyes flickered open to see John’s panicked face. He looked like an abandoned child, looking into the eyes of his parents. His tears were filled with mixed feelings; disgust and happiness. He told me I was safe now and everything was going to be okay. When I lifted my head to look down on myself, I saw the cripple part of me for the first time. My leg was cut off from two inches below the knee. That day was difficult for me, I kept forgetting my leg was gone.
Before that ‘accident’, we were stationed in Strasbourg, Germany and we were running in figure eights, playing cat and mouse with the Germans. Then, the grenade blew us over. John told me we were shipped over to the hospital after the boom, and we were meant to stay there till further orders. We most likely will be send back to America, since both of us were crippled now. (John’s ankle was blown off from the bomb.) We were dreading yet waiting happily for New York. Our officer told us we were most likely going to be sent to a hospital there to recover. Therefore we were expecting the send off. He was just making sure we recovered okay, and didn’t come down with any abnormalities.
Now thinking of it, it was really nice of him to take care of us. I remember one of my friend’s officer sent him to New York after his accident. He had gotten his hand blown off, and the officer said it was fine but he needed to return back to New York.. Once he got to the U.S, his arm started to bother him more than before. He saw a Doctor and it turned out he did not take care of his arm properly and he needed to cut off his arm from just above the elbow. He sent us letters full of rants on his Officer. I guess we got lucky with our officer.
After I got caught up on all of the damage of my injury, we struggled over to the dining hall. I inched my way there, hopping and laughing with John. We were being foolish and carefree.
The food was lined up, buffet style. We twisted our head back and forth over the line of men, searching for the best meal choice. There wasn’t much food selection, however our plates were filled with the necessities: a roll, a small chicken breast, and broccoli pieces. We stuffed our mouths with the bland food, and drank a good amount of orange juice. We wiped our mouth free of orange pulp and we stood up to go to the Doctor’s wing, for the checkup.
Finally after walking through the maze called the hospital, we passed the hospital beds and walked into the dreaded stone office.
“Take a seat,” He mentioned to the seats laid in front of his brown desk. Our heads sank from our smiles, and the Doc snaked his eyes out to face ours. We were nervous, I was clenching my hands together to block out my thoughts. Was I going to get more of my leg amputated? Was I going to have to stay here? Was John going to be okay? Was I going to be okay? Even though I knew the answers to all the questions, I couldn't stop thinking about them through the whole day. I hid my worry from John behind my huge fake smile. That expression needed to be worn to stop me from breaking down.
“You're going to be sent back to New York together along with a couple of guys from your old squad. These injuries are too serious for you guys to be serving here. I am sure you expected this, and I hope when you get to New York, you immediately head to the hospital to check up on your injuries.” He smiled thoughtfully, and we thank him. Both of us stood up slowly together and said our regards. John wrapped his right arm under my shoulder to support me, and we wobbled away as fast as we could.
Once we got back to New York by plane, we both took the Doc’s advice and headed to the Naval Hospital. They checked us and sent us to the recovery end of the hospital. They gave me a fake leg so I could walk. They gave John a fake foot as well. Once we arrived at the recovery station, we were welcomed into a huge cafeteria. Mountains of food piled the food bar, there was pastries, chicken, beef, pastas, breads, fresh vegetables, and all the drinks and fresh squeezed juice you could ask for. We scurried towards the food bar, grabbed a plate, and stuffed our plate with all the desirables. The room was silent. It was obvious that both of us didn’t much options for food over the past year. We turned away from the food bar and stared in confusion at the crowd. Mouths were breathing and drooling over our backs and we traveled to one of the empty tables. The people's eyes followed us to our seats, and we turned our back away from them. Once we began emptying our plates, the cafeteria resumed the usual loud environment. The food melted our mouth into a salty and sweet soup of great food. I felt like I was in heaven, it was indescribable. Both of us were probably eating like gorillas, but we didn’t care one bit. That moment was the only time, I forgot about my leg.
John and I found a condo near the college, and we began to rent it out. It wasn’t much of a place, it was one room with a bathroom and kitchen. The appliances in the kitchen were rusted and grimy, but we thought we could lived with it. The airtight bathroom consisted of a fresh new toilet, and a very small smelly sink. It was perfect.
After a couple months of trying to find a job, we made the decision of getting better schooling. We both decided to attend the junior college down the block from our home. It was the only choice. We couldn’t find a job, therefore this was the only other option. We are both going to study architecture as full time students. We knew it was a big and unfamiliar step, but we knew it would be good for us. It was August at the time we made this huge decision. The leaves were turning burgundy, and we were heading to our classes.
We kept the same routine every school day; wake up, freshen up, eat, school, lunch, school, eat, school work, activities, sleep. This routine was practiced through the first two months of school. Then the routine was stopped.
I was heading home from school one day, it was about 5:30 pm. I came home to find a familiar stranger standing in the doorway. Scout.
It’s been awhile since I’ve seen her. During the summer of 8th grade, I couldn’t make it to Maycomb, and I thought it was fine. However what I didn’t know was Scout was angry with me, and she took that anger out on other people, beating people up, and disrespecting Atticus. During the summer, Jem said Scout would wait by the tree in front of the Radley house for a couple of hours each summer day with a hopeful look on her face. Jem sent letters from the Law School near Maycomb all about the mess. He said it was no use trying to calm her down, she was on a constant rage. She would holler at Atticus for the smallest things, and run off from home every other day. But the most important thing Jem told me was Scout loved me, and it made me think. I returned back to Maycomb the following summer to find Scout. I found her on the first day of Summer, sitting under the Radley tree writing in a book.
“Scout,” I said. But she didn’t say anything back to me, all she did was lift her head up and take a good look at me, disgusted. I was clean, and I dressed my best for her. My brown eyes were anxious for her to speak and my crooked smile waited for her mouth to smile back. But she remained with a straight face. I took a few cautious steps towards her, and took a glimpse of Scout. Little freckles spotted over her cheeks, and her hazel eyes burned bullets through me. Her long brown hair was tangled and fluffed up in all directions, and her pink lips were pulled into a clenched frown. I noticed her fragile, and slender body was covered in brown cloth, an unlikely color for Scout. She stood up, as I took those steps, and she walked swiftly towards me, her face remaining the same. Her eyebrows and her hand were raised, and her fist hit me firm across my cheek.
“Don’t you even! I don’t want to hear from you. You leave me right alone.” She spoke with such rigidness, and pain. I felt the need to hug her, I wanted to. Scout turned her body directly away from me and I took a pace towards her, and stretched my hand out to touch her shoulder. Her shoulder was unhealthily bony and stiff. She turned back to my face and our noses touched. I could see a blue fleck in her beautiful eyes and I brushed my hand back to flick a hair from her flushed face. My hand tucked the little golden strand behind her small ear, and I looked at her. Her eyes teared up and she stifled a sob, a single tear leaked from her left eye, and I wiped it away. Her little tear left a small stain on her perfect complexion. I couldn’t help but bring my hand over to hold her head, rubbing her smooth cheek with my rough thumb. Her head was cradled in my hand for a second and she closed her eyes. Then she startled me and pushed me back away from her with her small hands, and ran straight down the deserted street.
I visited Atticus and said my hello’s to Jem. I knew Scout didn’t want anything to do with me, so I also said my goodbyes. As I left Atticus's house, I looked back and saw Scout staring out the clean window, watching me as I left her. I didn’t visit her any other summers after.
That was the last time I saw her, till then.
Scout was in front of the door with a worried look on her face, one look I hadn’t seen from her since we were 11. She was almost the same from when I left her except her hair was cropped short, and she was even more beautiful. Her curled hair was pinned back away from her face. Surprisingly, she was wearing a yellow sunday dress, that back then, she would refuse wearing. Scout darted towards me, wrapping her arms around me in tight hug. I brought my hands to her hair and leaned my head on her shoulder. She smelled of rosemary, and flower buds. Scout pulled away from the hug.
“How are you? How’s school? Did you know? Jem graduated from law school, and is working with Atticus! What happened to your leg? Your General told me you got hurt badly, and you were sent here. He told me your address and Everything! I hope your doing well at college. I’m studying literature in Maycomb, did you hear?” She said so many things at once, with her red lips bobbing up and down as fast as you can imagine.
“How do you know the general?” I said quietly, speechless.
“Oh!” She sighed. Her eyes flickered down and she bowed her head and whispered, “You put me down for family contact.”
“Oh.” I looked down and lifted my head back up at her light brown eyes.
“Mind if I come in, John already welcomed me.” She claimed, glancing back at John who quietly smiled, standing at the arch of the door. I didn’t know he was standing there, so I jumped just a little.
We walked into my little studio apartment, and talked for a while on the couch, discussing our new lives, and how we were doing. She was the same as I remembered, always discussing what was on her mind. It was okay. She was Scout in different skin, a bit different from the one I left behind.
“Hey, would you like to spend the night here, so we could catch up, maybe go to dinner?” I smiled at her and mentioned to our seat, the couch. We laughed together, and both looked up at John who was carefully studying Scout. John grinned, still looking at Scout.
“Sure, why not!” He responded. Scout and I smiled at each other, and spoke to one another for another hour.
“Dinner, Scout?” I asked. She smiled and nodded. “John?” She said. John grinned and nodded. Chatting away, we all stood up and headed out the apartment door.
I took Scout to the Italian Restaurant, around the corner from our studio. When we arrived at the front door of Daniella’s Italian, we laughed a little.
“Madam,” I snickered, and stifled my laugh under my breath. I bowed down and opened the glass door.
“Thank you, my peasant,” She played along and giggled, curtsying to me with her yellow dress. We both looked back at John, and all three of us chuckled together, strutting into the family restaurant.
We all enjoyed delicate pasta and buttery breadsticks, and the table was quiet, which one of the most awkward times with Scout.
“So, Jem graduated from law school?” I asked even though I knew the answer. I took another bite of the pasta.
“Yeah, he is working with Atticus. And he is hav-” She began.
“NO WAY! Your brother is a lawyer, mine is too! That's so great!” John interrupted and burst out in conversation.
“Don’t you feel like you need to live up to them!”
“YES! D oesn’t it feel impossible.”
“Absolutely!” Scout exclaimed. It seemed as though John related more with Scout than I did with Scout. They began chatting away with similarities between them. I was sitting in the corner of the tale, keeping to myself.
“So, remember when we went white-water rafting?” I inched my way into their conversation.
“Yeah, it was fun! So, John what does your Dad do again?” She turned back to John, and scooted her chair closer to his, leaving me hanging. This was an uncomfortable times with Scout, or John, I felt left out. I couldn’t believe how much they had in common.
After dinner we headed out, I walked in the front of them and they trailed behind, chatting. Once we got back to the studio, I went straight to my bed. They stayed up and talked, and I overheard them talking about her staying for the week. It turned out she was going to. So she stayed with us. We skipped school for a week.
Everyday was the same with dinner. They would talk and leave me out. I felt like I had lost them both, like they forgotten me.
On the fourth night, I was done. We were having dinner back at Daniella’s.
Once dessert came I lost my appetite, I felt sick to my stomach at both of them.
“Hey you know what…” They turned their heads towards mine as I talked, “I think I’m going to go and head back to the condo.” I said it with my head turned towards Scout, “Scout, want to come?” I said hopeful.
“Nah, go ahead.” She said it smiling, and then she turned back to John and began talking again.
I stood up slowly and turned my head back to scout. She seemed happy talking with John, but John wasn’t me. A tear leaked out of my eye and I swiftly walked out of the restaurant, paying the bill on my way out.
Once, I got to the studio, I grabbed a snack out of the pantry and started reading the newspaper for today. It was 8 o'clock. I cried just a little, and slept a little as well.
Two hours passed, then the front door finally opened. All I could see of Scout and John was their dark shadows, I heard John jump into his twin bead, and saw Scouts shadow come towards me. I stood up and touched Scout’s arm.
“Do you want to go outside to talk?” I whispered, and brought my hands to her dark hair.
I felt her head bop up and down, and then I lead her into the hallway.
I could see her clearly now, tears ran down her face.
“I’m so sorry, I ignored you all week, I’ve been...well,” Scout explained it and didn’t finish, looking down.
“You have been what?” I asked her and ran my hands down her bare arm.
“Confused.” She said and looked down.
“Why?”
“John kissed me.” Scout said, wiping tears from her face.
“Oh.”
“He just leaned in when we walking and kissed me, I pushed him away of course-”
“Then what are you confused about?” I asked her.
“I don’t know... let’s not talk about this. I’m leaving tomorrow.” She turned away from me and walked back into the pitch black apartment.
Some part of me snapped. I felt anger towards John, something I never felt for John. He betrayed me, I’ve told him how I felt about Scout, and he didn’t even think about it when he kissed her. He deserved to pay for what he has done. I still couldn’t believe him, but I didn’t know I would have gone as far as I did for revenge.
The next morning was silent, we all woke, and stared at each other. Scout decided to stay another day for me, but she left for breakfast alone. I thought it was time to confront John, while Scout was away.
“Did you kiss Scout?” I asked quietly, looking away from him.
“Did Scout tell you?” He responded, and looked at me.
“Yes.” I nearly shouted and I looked straight into his brown eyes.
“Did she tell you, she also kissed me?”
“Doesn’t matter.” I claimed sternly. “Why did you, you know how I felt about Scout.”
“I thought you didn’t care about her anymore.” He said cold heartedly.
“I care about her, no matter what!” I screamed bursting into tears. “John, You betrayed me! I love her!”
“Man, I didn’t kno -”
“I don’t care. Promise you won’t do it again.”
“I can’t promise.” John mumbled.
“PROMISE!” I raged at him.
“I can’t.”
“SAY YOU WON’T DO IT AGAIN!” I shrieked.
“I CANNOT, CAN’T YOU SEE! I think I love her too.” He yelled then whispered the words. I felt no sympathy.
It all happened so fast, my fist hit his face, and blood splattered out of his nose. All I remembering seeing was a face of flesh. Before I knew it I was being carried away by two police officers. They injected me with something that calmed me down, and made me sleep. The last I saw was Scout crying and looking disappointed in me.
I was sentenced to a year in prison, to teach me a lesson. It turned out John almost died. It scared me.
PRESENT:
“Well, that’s my story boys. Nothing more to tell. I am to be let out in a few days, and I’m scared to see what tomorrow brings.” I met a group of good people that were locked up for a problem like mine. We all sat in a circle, and all their faces turned towards me. I could feel tears running down my cheeks and they gave me a big hug.We were like family over the years.
I awakened and found a police officer.
“You are getting out. Let’s go.” He tells me. He lifts me up and drags me across to the chained exit gate. Groaning, I stand up and shake his hand.
“Thank you sir. Are you going to escort me to the exit wing?” I ask.
“You sure are right.” He grabs my shoulder and walks me to the exit wing.
I find Scout sitting in the waiting room, and I get lead to her. She stands and starts tearing up. I grab my personal items and run into her open arms. She cradles me as I once had cradled her and we hug tightly. We stand there and smell each other. She smells of roses and rosemary, and I run my hand over her hair.
“I’m sorry, Scout.” I say mumbling.
“I’m sorry too.” She whispers.
We stand there in a hug and cryed together. We cry for sadness, anger, and relieve. All I know is that we are going to be okay, so I stay put and smell the roses.