“I wanna get out of here, away. I have to. If I want to do anything with my life.”
“Africa? There’s nothing closer to home?”
“That’s the whole point. I want to get as far away from home as possible.”
“What do mom and dad say?”
“Haven’t told them, yet.”
“Oh, Kevin. How risky is it?”
He pulled up his shoulders. Probably very.
“The money’s good though. It will help get me set up with something when I come back.”
He wanted to leave in a few weeks’ time.
“If something happens and I don’t make it back…”
“What?!” I couldn’t believe he was talking to me like this.
“Just listen!” he said. “In the attic, there is a box with my name on it, it has my will, some last things, ok?”
“There’s a chance you’ll get shot?!’
I was starting to freak out.
“There is always a chance that you die, don’t you know that? You could die from a stroke in your bed, or from falling in your own shower, or choking on a bloody nut. These things happen every day. And in case you need reminding, we all die in the end.”
“You’re dark, dude,” I said, trying to lighten the mood.
Kevin had a tendency towards gloominess, especially lately.
I wondered if the new job might change that.
For a long time neither of us said anything.
“I’m over it, though,” he finally said. “Jessica leaving, it’s cool with me.”
I gave him a look.
“Okay, maybe not cool,” he conceded. “But I’ve decided to let her go. She doesn’t want to be with me, and I get it. Maybe I also wouldn’t want to be with a man who listens to Dolly Parton’s music all day?”
“Dolly Parton?”
Kevin smiled sadly. “There was this buddy of mine in my unit, he had a thing for Dolly. He got injured in a car bomb explosion in Kabul. I went to see him in hospital, and we had a long conversation before he passed. But first, he told me to get him his favorite Dolly track and play it for him. Afterwards, whenever I felt low, I’d play her songs, and it cheered me up. It was like he was talking to me.”
“Which track was his favorite?”
“I couldn’t hear. So, I listened to all of them. But it drove Jessica crazy. She said all the Country and Western music was driving her to suicide.”
“In fairness, I can understand that.”
We laughed for a bit.
“Don’t give up on your dream,” he suddenly said. “Just because not everyone gets it, doesn’t mean it isn’t true.”
He got up and walked over to his bed, fell on top of the covers, and promptly fell asleep.