Hearts in Baghdad (708 hits)
Category: Politics -> IraqRating: 1.89 on 19 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by AJ <uberaj.at.gmail.com> (View user info) at 2009-02-11 14:03:01 EST
Yay for more creative writing. Or not. At least it's not a bandwagon.
--
"Gold star for Robot Boy, well that's my move."
The refrain repeats three or four times before the feedback of the guitar takes over and the music cuts out altogether. I find myself listening to the CD that was hidden in the shoebox in my mother's closet, amidst my father's other personal effects. I thumb through my pamphlet and application from the Army, then place it next to the box. It is my eighteenth birthday, and the words my mother told- me combined with the blaring guitar are stinging my ears, trying to clear the space between them. This is no Sullivan Five. This is no Pearl Harbor. But this is my story.
--
They met like any other pair of social misfits. These are my mother's words, not mine: We met like any other pair of social misfits; on the internet. I was coming off a long-term relationship. I was afraid of commitment. He was afraid of me. I remember the first time he kissed me. He was opening the security door to his apartment. He was so drunk he couldn't find the lock. He dropped the keys and stuck his tongue down my throat. He was cute, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt, even though I couldn't help but laugh when he hit his head on the wall.
Your dad was funny. Sometimes. Sometimes he tried too hard, and sometimes he didn't try hard enough. The latter was usually when emotions came into play. I used to call him Robot Boy. I never knew what he was thinking, because he was always cracking a joke like a robot from a cheesy 50's sci-fi flick. But he was cute, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt.
He was in the Army Reserve for extra money. He didn't have much, but he was more than willing to share what he had. That was the main way your dad knew how to show affection. Poor kid mentality. Government cheese and steak dinner. Spending money and sticking his tongue down my throat.
He asked me to be his girlfriend and I said no. I didn't think he was ready for it. I wasn't ready for it. He asked me why, and I told him I didn't think he could handle it. He never took anything seriously. He took that to heart. He worked on it. He asked me a few months later and I said yes. We weren't the most romantic couple. We fought a lot and then made up in bed later. There were no silk sheets covered in rose petals, or fine wine chilling on ice; just flannel sheets and condom wrappers tossed on the floor, sloppy kisses, and hurried entry. That's where you come in.
Take this bit of advice and keep it in the back of your mind. You never. Want to upset a pregnant woman. Too bad for your dad he didn't know I was pregnant. We started fighting one day about something silly on our way to a movie. The main drag through town was always terrible. Potholes and asphalt seams everywhere. Our argument was flash in the pan and evolved into griping about the road. These goddamn roads, I said. It's like Baghdad. Your dad smiled at that. He brushed my hair back behind my ear with his thumb and said, "Baghdad. My heart's in Baghdad."
I was three months pregnant when his unit got called up. I had told everyone but him about the pregnancy. I didn't know how he would react. Your grandma was so excited I had to make her promise not to tell him on the threat I would give you up for adoption while he was in Iraq. Your grandma gave me the blue star to put in the window after he left. Blue star for Robot Boy. We wrote each other every week, and I told him the news a month after he was deployed. He couldn't wait to come home and see you.
Your grandma came by two weeks later. It was unlike her to visit. She was crying. She handed me the letter. We regret to inform you dot-dot-dot. His death was nothing heroic. He didn't dive on any grenades or storm any enemy bunkers. He just shouldn't have taken the left turn at Albuquerque. She handed me the infamous gold star enclosed in an envelope and put her arms around me. We cried for what seemed like hours. Never upset a pregnant woman. Gold star for Robot Boy.
I thought about giving you up for adoption, but I couldn't do it. Your grandma and I needed you. I've tried to raise you as best I can. I think I did a pretty fair job. I'm sorry you had to grow up without a dad. Don't get me wrong, men came calling. Young girl with a dead patriot baby daddy still won't scare them all away. But I told them all the same thing. My heart's in Baghdad.
It's your life. I can't tell you what to do anymore, but I'm begging you. Don't make it go somewhere else.
--
I pick up the paperwork laying next to the shoebox and stuff it in an envelope. I grab my keys and head for the recruitment office at the mall. That's my move.
User Reviews
Submitted by Shallabow (user info) at 2009-02-13 07:08:32 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Great stuff. The style fits the speaker's background very well, and the almost stream-of-consciousness thing works perfectly here.
Submitted by polyamorousaj (user info) at 2009-02-12 12:00:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
What's SWF?
Submitted by rubbermaid (user info) at 2009-02-12 09:32:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
1.66
Submitted by rubbermaid (user info) at 2009-02-12 09:32:01 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
No Comment
Submitted by rubbermaid (user info) at 2009-02-12 09:31:56 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
As much as I want to bomb you for your "foreword" I'm going to give you a Uniter rating.
Submitted by F.J.Bell (user info) at 2009-02-12 08:26:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
SWF
Submitted by experima (user info) at 2009-02-12 02:30:20 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by HateMudkips (user info) at 2009-02-11 19:01:06 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
+2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 +2 !!!
Submitted by DonkeyOnTheEdge (user info) at 2009-02-11 18:23:18 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
At least it's not a bandwagon.
Truth.
Submitted by Wildman (user info) at 2009-02-11 16:55:55 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Never drink and drive before deployment.
Submitted by polyamorousaj (user info) at 2009-02-11 15:51:47 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Think of it as a foreword?
Submitted by Quint (user info) at 2009-02-11 15:44:45 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by comicbookguy (user info) at 2009-02-11 15:35:28 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
don't be a pussy and put the disclaimer, just write it
good show regardless
Submitted by JoeyG (user info) at 2009-02-11 15:18:11 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by scourge (user info) at 2009-02-11 19:36:24 GMT (#)
Ranking: 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqi5F5MqqTQ&feature=rec-HM-r2
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What the fuck.....
That is more shades of awesome than I ever thought possible from small plasticine figures. I want a kid, just so I can show them this before bedtime.
Submitted by scourge (user info) at 2009-02-11 14:56:18 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
isn't it?
when i get home i'm going to hook lappy up to the television and watch it on huge screen with good sound.
Submitted by polyamorousaj (user info) at 2009-02-11 14:53:25 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
That's fucking trippy, scourge.
Submitted by scourge (user info) at 2009-02-11 14:36:24 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqi5F5MqqTQ&feature=rec-HM-r2
Submitted by SilvrWolf (user info) at 2009-02-11 14:36:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by corn_nugget (user info) at 2009-02-11 14:11:13 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I can't believe I ate the whole thing.
-- Homer Simpson