bottle of water right next to his bed so he didn’t have to get up to the mini fridge. I made my way out of the room where the captain was waiting. I wanted answers…now.
‘ What the fuck happened to him, Captain?’ I was furious. I couldn’t believe the state of Tommy. I had to keep it together for Tommy in his room but out here I could let go. ‘I fucking want answers now,’ I shouted as the captain tried to hush me, leading me into an office.
‘ Please, sir. Please sit down.’ The Captain looked genuinely concerned. I could feel his empathy.
‘ We found Tommy near an abandoned compound. Well, I suppose another way to describe it would be a destroyed compound, because there wasn’t much left. It had been in what we call a hot spot for Iraqi militants. We are not sure as yet who they were, why they had Tommy, or what their cause was. But one thing is for sure, they are quite a few men lighter.’
‘ So you took the men into custody?’
‘ Ha-ha.’
I wasn’t sure why the captain was laughing.
‘ And that’s funny why?’ I asked because I certainly wasn’t getting the joke.
‘ Look, Joey. May I call you Joey?’
‘ Sure.’
‘ Look, Joey, I’m not laughing at your boy or what they did to him. They deserve to burn in hell, and that’s the thing: they were all dead, Joey, the lot of them. Your boy Tommy here is a modern day GI JOE. He damn wasted all of the motherfuckers, all that were there anyhow, and by the looks of things, Joey, he took his time’.
‘ What? How?’
I couldn’t believe it. I was under the impression he had been rescued, but it seemed Tommy had escaped without the aid of anyone.
The next question would be how Trigg was involved in this. Trigg, that fucking bastard, the man has, and always will be, pure fucking poison.
The captain described to me about the area where Tommy was found, an old abandoned warehouse-type building apparently. He said that there wasn’t much left when they got there. They had gone there just to investigate some ‘activity’, as he put it.
‘ Yeah, we had some recon marines in the area. Now you gotta understand, Joey, that apart from Fallujah, Diyala was one dangerous place to be. I mean one minute the people wave at you, the next you got a god damn RPG (rocket propelled grenade) flying at you from the same god damn person. And what’s also crazy is these here neighbourhoods are supposed to be Christian neighbourhoods too. I tell you, one big cluster fuck. Seems your boy blew the place up somehow.
From the sulphur my men said they got a whiff off I’d guess your boy found an incendiary grenade or a C4 charge, but my guess isn’t the latter. We have a pool going between the guys to see who’s right.’
‘ Yes, well, I hope that works out for you. I just hope he is going to be ok. Is he going to be ok, Captain?’
The captain’s blasé attitude concerned me at first but, thinking back, I guess the things he had seen, well not just him all guys in war, I suppose you have to have a sense of humour.
‘ He will be fine, young Joey. We don’t just fight well y’know. It ain’t the Hilton here, but he is getting the best medical care there is, doesn’t matter he’s a Brit - a soldiers a soldier.’
True to the captain’s word, Tommy was well looked after. He had soldiers coming to see him to play cards as he got better and, being a British guy, he became the celebrity within the medical quarters.
I cannot speak highly enough of the medical staff’s commitment to help Tommy. They were amazing. The captain too was such a nice man. He set me up with a hammock and said I could hang around until Tommy was ok to go home, which was great because I got to hang around with some great characters from the US military, as well as being close to my friend.
Chapter Twenty
It is strange because that day I had called Joey’s office to talk to him. I needed to talk to Joey because he was the only other person that knew Tommy, I mean really knew
‘ What the fuck happened to him, Captain?’ I was furious. I couldn’t believe the state of Tommy. I had to keep it together for Tommy in his room but out here I could let go. ‘I fucking want answers now,’ I shouted as the captain tried to hush me, leading me into an office.
‘ Please, sir. Please sit down.’ The Captain looked genuinely concerned. I could feel his empathy.
‘ We found Tommy near an abandoned compound. Well, I suppose another way to describe it would be a destroyed compound, because there wasn’t much left. It had been in what we call a hot spot for Iraqi militants. We are not sure as yet who they were, why they had Tommy, or what their cause was. But one thing is for sure, they are quite a few men lighter.’
‘ So you took the men into custody?’
‘ Ha-ha.’
I wasn’t sure why the captain was laughing.
‘ And that’s funny why?’ I asked because I certainly wasn’t getting the joke.
‘ Look, Joey. May I call you Joey?’
‘ Sure.’
‘ Look, Joey, I’m not laughing at your boy or what they did to him. They deserve to burn in hell, and that’s the thing: they were all dead, Joey, the lot of them. Your boy Tommy here is a modern day GI JOE. He damn wasted all of the motherfuckers, all that were there anyhow, and by the looks of things, Joey, he took his time’.
‘ What? How?’
I couldn’t believe it. I was under the impression he had been rescued, but it seemed Tommy had escaped without the aid of anyone.
The next question would be how Trigg was involved in this. Trigg, that fucking bastard, the man has, and always will be, pure fucking poison.
The captain described to me about the area where Tommy was found, an old abandoned warehouse-type building apparently. He said that there wasn’t much left when they got there. They had gone there just to investigate some ‘activity’, as he put it.
‘ Yeah, we had some recon marines in the area. Now you gotta understand, Joey, that apart from Fallujah, Diyala was one dangerous place to be. I mean one minute the people wave at you, the next you got a god damn RPG (rocket propelled grenade) flying at you from the same god damn person. And what’s also crazy is these here neighbourhoods are supposed to be Christian neighbourhoods too. I tell you, one big cluster fuck. Seems your boy blew the place up somehow.
From the sulphur my men said they got a whiff off I’d guess your boy found an incendiary grenade or a C4 charge, but my guess isn’t the latter. We have a pool going between the guys to see who’s right.’
‘ Yes, well, I hope that works out for you. I just hope he is going to be ok. Is he going to be ok, Captain?’
The captain’s blasé attitude concerned me at first but, thinking back, I guess the things he had seen, well not just him all guys in war, I suppose you have to have a sense of humour.
‘ He will be fine, young Joey. We don’t just fight well y’know. It ain’t the Hilton here, but he is getting the best medical care there is, doesn’t matter he’s a Brit - a soldiers a soldier.’
True to the captain’s word, Tommy was well looked after. He had soldiers coming to see him to play cards as he got better and, being a British guy, he became the celebrity within the medical quarters.
I cannot speak highly enough of the medical staff’s commitment to help Tommy. They were amazing. The captain too was such a nice man. He set me up with a hammock and said I could hang around until Tommy was ok to go home, which was great because I got to hang around with some great characters from the US military, as well as being close to my friend.
Chapter Twenty
It is strange because that day I had called Joey’s office to talk to him. I needed to talk to Joey because he was the only other person that knew Tommy, I mean really knew
Similar Books
