Cloudancer: Preview 3

“You want me to leave you alone with your issues? Maybe I will. See where that gets you, Little Brother. You see where it’s gotten you so far don’t you?” Bill had never been this inflamed with Jack before in his life.

“What this?” Jack fired back, arrogantly holding up the beer bottle for Bill to see before taking a drink. “This isn’t an issue for me; only for you.”

“You are refusing to face your problems here, Jack. What you have been doing is called self-medicating so you don’t have to deal with what is hurting you.” Bill hated confronting his younger sibling but it had become apparent that the time for a little tough love was long overdue.

“I don’t have any problems to face” Jack countered taking another drink from the beer sounding casual despite his growing temper.

“You don’t do you? Then why are you running scared? Just like that time when we were kids. When Mama left and we didn’t know where she was for days. You were inconsolable. You cried uncontrollably the entire time.” Bill was trying to touch on a nerve and he knew that mentioning the time Mama ran away would do it.

“I am a Marine! A Paiute Warrior!” Jack rocketed to his feet, the beer forgotten.

“You are a God damned coward hiding inside of this” Bill grabbed the long neck bottle from the table where Jack had left it, shoving it in his brother’s chest. Instinctively Jack snatched from him ready to fight if it came to blows. Bill continued as though he hadn’t noticed, “… because you are too afraid to embrace your own life. You call yourself a man but you are a slave. What kind of Marine, what kind of Paiute warrior would serve a demon as destructive as this one has been to you for the past year?”

Glaring, Jack’s eyes burned into Bill’s. His mind was too clouded to think of how to respond to what Bill had said. Jack wanted to defend himself, to tell Bill that he had everything under control but the fact was that he didn’t. His life had shattered the day that Laurel had left him for another man. Try as he might he could never put the puzzle that was his life back together. Too many pieces were missing. He wasn’t a warrior of any kind anymore. He hadn’t been since the first beer he picked up after Laurel’s car had driven out of sight leaving nothing but a sandstorm in her wake. Jack knew Bill was right; he was nothing but a drunk, yet he was still not ready to admit that.

“You need to leave, Bill.” It was not a request, Jack’s voice hard and cold.

Bill realized that for now, this discussion was done. Jack needed time to think. Bill had planted the seeds of doubt that he had anticipated. The way Jack had jumped out of the lawn chair as if it had been hooked up to electricity and someone had just flipped the switch to the on position made that perfectly clear. Before Laurel had shredded the man’s heart, Jack had been an honorable human being. He was an exceptional Marine; decorated multiple times with metals and commendations for his bravery in the line of duty. He had risked his own life to save others in Desert Storm. Jack had been an American hero. His people, the Paiute people had been proud of their warrior. What Jack had become didn’t resemble the man he had been. Bill missed that Jack. He hoped that one day Jack would realize that he missed him too.

Without another word spoken, Bill turned and walked back toward the campground office leaving Jack standing outside of his camper with the beer in his hand. When Bill was about fifty feet away, behind the storage shed, he heard the bottle smash against the side of the trailer.

“Son of a bitch!” Jack’s cursing followed the sound of shattered glass. Bill smiled to himself. Yes Jack would be doing a lot of soul searching.