I have money. Thanks to Bruno, my bank account is full, but I only use the funds when it is absolutely necessary.
“It was, but what I want isyournumber.”
Oh!
This isn’t the first time he’s asked. I’ve already turned him down a thousand times, but this time, I give it to him.
Don’t ask me why, something inside me takes the initiative.
Maybe it’s Life.
“My number? Sure.”
“Wait, really?” His whole face lights up.
“Yeah, why not?” I give him a half-smile.Is this Sarah? Hello?
“Am I going to die, and somehow, you secretly know it? Is it why you’re saying yes?”
Life butts in saying, “No dummy, a girl needs to eat… or maybe be eaten.”
For once she’s not wrong.
I chuckle. “You’re not going to die, as far as I know.” He sits, unmoving. “Come on, give me a piece of paper.”
“Right, here.” He rips a piece of paper from a notepad.
I write down my number and hand it to him. “Now, don’t lose that, okay?”
“Trust me, I won’t.”
Chapter Two
SARAH
My dog tag hits my chest as I walk down the street.
FITCHER
SARAH.
873-34-0150
0 POS
NO PREFERENCE
Enlisting was the only thing I could think of doing the day Bruno abandoned me. It felt like the right thing to do, something that would bring me closer to him or at least the idea of him.
I think that, deep down, I knew that if I wanted to go out looking for him, this was the right place to start.
Basic training wasn’t basic at all, not with all the physical training, or PT for short, involved. It was cumbersome, taxing and straight-up hard but not impossible. I always had an advantage over the rest of the trainees – I didn’t need to be broken down and reassembled. I’d been through that before. Bruno was my destroyer and my maker.
PT involves three phases named with colors. Red. White. Blue.
Each one of these phases will leave a mark on you.
Loyalty.
