A Time for Patriots

A few hours later, Ron Spivey walked into the squadron conference room. Brad was the only one using the laptops. “Hey, bro,” Brad greeted him. “Where have you been? I only see you at practice these days. We could use some help around here.”

“Working,” Ron said wearily. “I gotta leave for the convenience store in Elko in a few minutes. I’m doing a twelve-hour shift there tonight.”

“You sure are busting your hump these days.”

“Yeah. I’m kinda glad they suspended the squadron’s activities — gives me a little time for some rest.” He sat beside Brad, but he didn’t look at the laptop’s screen. After several long moments he said, “Brad?”

“Yeah?”

Ron was silent until Brad looked at him, then said, “Marina’s pregnant.”

“What?”

Ron nodded. “We… actually found out a couple months ago,” he said in a quiet voice, “but I wanted a paternity test done. We just found out today: chances are, it’s mine. They can’t tell you positively, only give you a percentage, but it’s a pretty high percentage.” He sighed, then said, “I guess I knew it was mine all along. Marina’s been faithful. Me, not so much.”

“Is this why you’ve been working your ass off on a dozen different jobs?”

Ron nodded, then looked up at Brad. “Marina wants to keep it,” he said, the fear evident in his voice. “She told her parents — they noticed her morning sickness — and they freaked, and now my mom knows. I haven’t spoken to her yet, but she calls me every ten minutes. What the hell am I going to do, Brad?”

“Sounds to me like you’ve already got a plan of action, bro — you’re working your butt off, saving money for when the baby comes.” He looked at his friend carefully. “That is what you’re doing, right?”

“Well, of course it is, ass-wipe,” Ron shot back. “What’d you think I was going to do — skip town?”

“It had crossed my mind,” Brad said. He saw the hurt and disbelief on Ron’s face. “Oh, give me a break, jerk-off. I see you with a different girl almost every day. You may be with Marina most of the time, but you can’t say you’re exclusive.”

Ron’s face turned crestfallen, then he lowered his head in shame. “I guess I have been a jerk,” he said. “Marina didn’t sleep around — that was me.”

“Well, maybe the fickle finger of fate pointed you in the right direction after all.”

“The what?”

“Forget it — old TV-show bit. What I’m saying is: maybe out of all the chicks you aimed your shotgun at, the right one got bagged.”

That seemed to brighten Ron’s entire demeanor for the first time in many days. “Yeah, maybe you’re right,” he said. He actually smiled. “Did you know Marina is half Greek and half Apache Indian? Can you imagine a Greek woman going at it with an Apache? She sure is a wildcat in the sack, that’s for sure. And she can actually cook — not just reheat takeout, but make meals out of just random stuff in the cabinets. She wants to go to nursing school.” He fell silent. “Shit, I guess a football college scholarship is out the window.”

“You never know,” Brad said. “Like they say: when one door closes, another opens.”

Ron looked at him in mock disgust. “You been beating off while watching some chick flick again?” Brad laughed. Ron shrugged, still smiling. “Yeah, maybe that’s true. I always thought Marina was just another lay — you know, date the high school football captain, trading sex for cash. But she actually saved the money I gave her, and she used some of it to pay for her doctor’s bills — she didn’t blow it on clothes and stuff. All this time I thought she was just this moody, clingy bitch, when it turns out she was nesting, trying to straighten me out.” He was silent for a moment, then looked at his watch. “I gotta hit the road.”

Brad smacked his friend on the back as hard as he dared. “Congrats, you SOB. You’re going to be a dad. And you’ve actually got a plan.”

“I wouldn’t go giving me too much credit,” Ron said, shrugging off the sting in his back. “My dad ran out on my mom a long time ago, and I know how tough it’s been for her to raise two sons alone. I’d hate to do that to some little kid of mine.” He shook hands with Brad. “Thanks for listening, bro.”

“Sure. See you at practice.”

He watched Ron’s face fall. “I… I’m not so sure,” he said. “I got a chance for a full-time job at the overnight delivery company warehouse in Elko. I might drop out of high school after I turn eighteen in a couple months.”

Brad was thunderstruck. “Are you sure you want to do that, Ron?”

Ron shrugged. “I hate school, Brad, you know that — the only reason I’m there is for football and girls,” he said. “At the company I’ll get a decent salary, medical and dental, a pension, and they’ll help with getting a GED and an online bachelor’s degree. After a year I could become a manager. And I actually like working there. I won’t just be loading and unloading short-haul planes, but working toward a real career in the express shipping industry.” He fell silent, then nodded. “I think it’s the right thing to do.”