Collateral by Ellen Hopkins Page B

Springs one morning. At least,
    that’s where I thought we were going.
    Instead, where the highway split,
    he drove north toward Twenty-Nine
    Palms. We’re going to train here.
    I want to see it, and I want you to see
    it, too. The Marine Corps Air Ground
    Combat Center is a huge stretch
    of yucca-and-cactus–studded sand,
    where they train soldiers in the ways
    of desert warfare. It is stark. Cursed.
    Dry-Sahara in summer, dry-tundra in
    winter. But, for a small, magical
    window in spring, wildflowers paint
    the landscape purple and poppy
    and raspberry pink, clear to the far
    horizons. It steals your breath away.
    And that day, Cole and I drew
    the lucky card that brought us
    there at that perfect time of the year.

RATHER THAN INVESTIGATE
    The base proper, Cole turned
    off on a dirt track that plunged
    us into all that frail beauty.
    He barely slowed, fishtailing
    the truck, scaring up bunnies
    and flushing quail. “Hey, take
    it easy. I’d like to make it out
    of here all in one piece.”
    He backed off the gas, just a little.
    What? You don’t trust my driving?
    I rested my hand on his thigh.
    â€œI trust everything about you. But
    it’s so pretty out here, I’d like to enjoy
    the view. Hard to do when you’re
    raising such a big cloud of dust!”
    It was behind us, and that made him
    laugh. You’re looking the wrong way!
    But he did slow down and, in fact,
    drifted to a stop, letting the Avalanche
    idle and said dust catch up to us.
    Once it settled, he opened his window.
    It is pretty out here, isn’t it? Empty
    of people, just the way I like it.
    A muted ka-boom of artillery
    reverberated off faraway hills,
    echoed back across the valley.
    â€œGuess we’re not so alone out
    here after all.” An afternoon
    training session must have
    begun, because more reports
    followed. Definitely not alone.
    We listened to the rise and fall
    of munitions fire for a few minutes.
    â€œIs that what war sounds like?”
    Not the war I was in. Regret
    inflected his voice. Damn. Look
    at the size of that critter! Wish
    I had my rifle. It was a huge
    jackrabbit, with ears half as long
    as my arms and almost as wide.
    It sniffed its way out of the brush,
    stopped in front of the truck
    and froze right there, staring
    through the window with piebald
    eyes. Unafraid. Curious, even, like
    it wanted to know more about us.
    â€œYou wouldn’t really shoot it?”
    Hell yeah, I would. Desert’s overrun
    with the damn vermin. They ain’t
    worth a shit, except in the stew pot.
    A weird smile crept across his face.
    Let’s have a little fun. What do you say?

HE DIDN’T WAIT
    For me to answer. Before I could
    even consider what might come
    next, he put the truck in gear.
    Punched it. By the time the rabbit
    realized squashation was imminent
    and reacted, it ran straight on up
    the road. Big mistake. Jackrabbits
    are quick. V-8s are powerful.
    Faster than small mammals.
    The rabbit feinted right. Cole
    followed. Left-right. Veer-veer.
    That would have been one dead
    animal except it got lucky.
    Goddamn little bastard! Cole
    yelled at the rearview mirror.
    The Avalanche had good clearance
    and went right over the top of
    the petrified bunny. Had the tires
    hit it, Taps. By the time Cole got
    the truck turned around, Mr. Rabbit
    had taken refuge in a hole somewhere.
    Cole was pissed. Hope I scared
    it to death, anyway. I didn’t say
    a word all the way to Palm Springs.

BY THE TIME
    We got there, I had mostly convinced
    myself that Cole had just been messing
    around. Having, as he said, a little fun.
    He didn’t really want to run over a poor,
    defenseless rabbit. He didn’t mention
    it and I never brought it up to him again.
    We checked in to a nice hotel with
    a jetted tub in the bathroom and two
    pools outside—one hot water, one cool.
    I thought it must be very expensive
    but Cole said not to worry about it.
    What else was he saving up his