Hope On The Rocks/Issue 84

This is Issue 84 of Hope On The Rocks, entitled "War".

706, War
“Come on, papi.” I hear Timmy saying. “You’ve been driving for seven hours straight. Relax a little.” “I’m good.” I hear Neil muttering. “Papi...” Timmy says, continuing the argument. I stop listening to them at this point. I turn my attention to my game of Crazy Eights with Doug and Geary. “It’s funny.” Geary suddenly says. I look at him, not seeing what’s funny at this moment. We lost three people eight hours ago. “What?” I say, not sounding too mad just yet. “How death isn’t that scary anymore. How casual we take it when someone dies.” Geary says, picking up a card. “Death will always be scary.” Doug comments. “Just in a different way.” Geary nods. I’m not sure if that’s because he agrees or because he just can’t argue against that. Neil comes over, sitting down next to me. Seems like Timmy convinced him after all. “Hey.” I say, making room for him. “Are you okay?” Neil shakes his head in an uneasy way. “Why Adam? He was a good man.” Neil mutters. I only knew Adam for a few hours, but he seemed like a nice guy. He didn’t deserve this either way. “He was.” Geary comforts Neil. “Someone has to die in war.” Doug comments. Lately he has been saying cryptic comments like this all the time. It’s starting to get on my nerves. “This is no war.” Neil says, looking at Doug. “This is just slaughter.” Doug raises his eyebrow in a way that indicates a ‘touché’. “War or not,” I say, laying my cards away. Geary and Doug do the same. “we’re still alive, and let’s keep being that.” Neil nods. “Yeah, yeah.” I give Neil a smile, and then I get up.

Margaret is sitting in the other end of the RV, reading a book. The small bedroom with only two beds is empty, except for Margaret. I enter the room. “Are you okay?” I ask, actually wanting to know if she is okay. I have a thing for this woman. She is pretty, smart and just my type. I’ve tried to find occasions to talk to her the last couple of months, and now I have one. Margaret looks up from her book, laying it down. She sighs. “I only knew Dani three weeks more than you...I feel like I just lost a sister.” Margaret says with red eyes. I take a quick glimpse at the book. I don’t catch the title, but it seems like a sad romance. If the book made her cry, or if she simply misses Dani already, I don’t know. “I know.” I say, sitting down next to her. I give her a small hug, and she awkwardly hugs back. it feels nice, but still awkward. “She was so young.” Margaret begins to sob. This makes me feel uneasy, but I continue to hug the woman. “I know.”  “If I had just...” I stop her. “It wasn’t your fault.” “I know, but I could have...” I stop her once again. “Hey. It wasn’t your fault, okay?” Margaret looks at me. She nods, saying “Yeah. Okay.” She places her head on my shoulder, and we hug for a few minutes. Then I close my eyes, and I feel Marget lips on mine. What I have been wanting the last couple of months is happening right now. I kiss her back.

Deaths

 * None

Credits

 * Chad Bottom
 * Timmy Ember
 * Douglas Tallie
 * Margaret Wing
 * Geary Franklin
 * Neil Bradson