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Show 5Sf-inBeckv' .*. - ^ v deeming to even compete with h e r for my a t t e n t i o n in the hours When we were t o g e t h e r - There were many times during t h a t period on the premises when I felt myself to be the only a d u l t * - - and a d i s t u r b i n g ly inadequate adult at t h a t. It was into t h i s atmosphere t h a t Ed s t r u t t e d one summer afternoon. He c a l l e d u n e x p e c t e d l y from the bus depot, and Brian and I were more e x c i t e d than we'd been in months. Ed had been B r i a n ' s buddy through boot camp and s p e c i a l t r a i n i n g - 'like brothers' Brian had d e s c r i b e d the two of them. When their t r a i n i n g was completed, he and Brian had gone on a binge and buffaloed each o t h e r i n t o having i d e n t i c a l t a t o o s engraved on their r i g h t arms. 'USMC said the t a t o o s - ' U n c l e ' s Sam's Misguided C h i l d r e n , ' joked Brian and Ed. I had been h o r r i f i ed when I saw the t a t o o - t a t o o s were a d i s g r a c e to a Mormon and supposedly not allowed i f one aimed to received temple endowments. But I had been m o l l i f i e d by Ed's p o r t r a i t -- devastatingly handsome, almost B r i a n ' s l o o k - a l i k e only darker -- and by the concerned, c h e e r f u l l e t t e r s he wrote to r e a s s u r e me while Brian was i n Vietnam. After the war the two had l o s t touch but now he was in Salt Lake, wanting to find a job, wanting to buy some land and 'start a new l i f e . ' My skin t i n g l e d with premonition as we drove to the bus s t a t i o n. 2d was as good-looking as h i s p i c t u r e and again I was astonished hy the resemblance to Brian i n f e a t u r e s and manner. I knew immediately t h a t he loved and r e s p e c t e d Brian - even i d o l i z e d him. I had loved and r e s p e c t e d Brian before the war. Now I only loved him, the way one w i l l nurse a broken limb or a smashed finger. How long would the good w i l l between Brian and Ed l a s t. |