| OCR Text |
Show "We're at war. Desertion during wartime i s high treason." "But i t i s n ' t called a war. The c a l l i t a ' c o n f l i c t . '" Brian shrugged. "They i n t e r p r e t i t the way i t s u i t s them." He paused. "As long as I'm AWOL, I'm a d e s e r t e r , a coward." "You mean they could pick you up r i g h t now and t r y you for desertion?" ?-~- He nodded. "Unless I t u r n myself in f i r s t ." "Then we don't have much time. We c a n ' t wait for them. What about Canada?" "Do you want to go?" He watched me c l o s e l y , his eyes darting from the road to my face. I nodded, then shook my head. The baby s t i r r e d within me. I thought of him being born so f a r from my home, Zion. I thought of him growing up without grandparents, r e l a t i v e s . How would I survive without loved ones to s u s t a i n my l i f e ? I realized suddenly that my family meant a great deal to me - much more than I had pretended to myself and o t h e r s . I began to cry. "Oh, Brian, I d o n ' t know. It i s n ' t my d e c i s i o n . I ' ll follow you to Canada with no complaints. And I don't want you to go to Vietnam. But. t h e way -you t a l k ! Of d e s e r t i o n , high treason! If we went to Canada, would be ever be able to come back and see our f a m i l i e s ? " ^ •'-" "•-'-- # He shrugged, then shook his head. "Probably not." "Oh, Brian." I buried my face in his parka. The rain sounds fell on the roof of the car, its peltingAeehoing against the walls of my heart.. It had been raining for days, weeks. In two more days Brian would be officially classified a deserter. His name would appear on wanted rosters, his picture posted in Post offices throughout the area. They would send MP's to his |
