Page 82 of The Sniper
Huh?
“Oh...yeah.Cute that you think you’re in charge of the guest list.”I smirk.
He concedes.“Listen, when your time comes, the best thing to do is back away slowly and just sayyes, dear.”
“Let me guess, our two mothers and Jessie have you cornered.”
“Dude, I just threw my wallet at them and ran.”
We laugh and sip our beers, both aware that my distraction tactic worked.
I lean back and sigh, laying one arm on the wooden table.I stare at the tattoos along my arm, reflect on my watch I bought in Australia while in the Air Force, and how being a pilot—and sniper—changed my life.
It shaped my life.
Now, who am I?
“So, what happened?”Liam asked.
“You heard the gossip.”
“You fucked her?”He nods.“But I don’t mean that.I mean, last year.When you returned and came back a different man.”
Fuck.
Here we go.
“It was nothing different from what all of us have seen during live fire.It’s fucked up.”I rub the back of my neck.“But my brain broke.So I’m fucked.”
Liam shakes his head.“Bullshit.”
Our eyes lock.
I was expecting that response, if I’m honest.
“You have to say that; you’re my best friend.”I tell him.
“Have you met me?”Liam props an elbow up on the back of the seat.“I’m going to hazard a guess that what you saw was through the sight of your rifle.”
I shake my head over and over, then stare down into the froth of my beer.“Shape it however you want, Liam.Soldiers on the ground see things a lot closer than I did.It’s me.I’m the problem.”
“Tell me.”
I lift my face.“I can’t.”
“Tell me something,” he pushes.
“Two women blown to pieces from something my aircraft sent their way.Flesh flying as a young boy runs looking for his mother.”
He curses.
“The worst part, one of them glanced up.She must have heard or sensed us up there and, fuck...”I have to take a deep breath.“My memory is probably warped, but I see her eyes lock with mine before every particle of her body is ripped apart.”
“Jesus, Jay.”He rubs a hand over his face.
Well, I wasn’t sugarcoating it.
It’s not like Liam hasn’t seen much the same thing.As a pilot, he’s done time in the skies and on the ground.All of us have seen death.
