Bullets
Easy
“Hey, look at this.”
Estelle threw the paper she was holding from where she lay on Joey’s bed to her friend. He turned away from the window he had found himself looking wistfully out of and picked up the paper. He scanned the page, yet didn’t find the article that Estelle was showing him.
“What?”
“You idiot, can’t you see the story in the bottom right hand corner?” Estelle swung her legs over the edge of the bed and strode over exasperatedly. She snatched the paper from his grasp and pointed to a tiny group of text located on the edge of the newspaper.
“Oh, my bad, I didn’t see the mention on the new harvest of apricots being disrupted. Can you just stop it with the joking, Stell? I honestly don’t see any point.”
Estelle ignored him disdainfully, instead forcing the paper closer to his face. “See there? The bit about the girl that’s been arrested.”
Joey pulled the paper back from his friend’s grasp and looked toward the paper where Estelle had been pointing previously. His stomach lurched uncomfortably as he read the title - ‘Teenager Arrested After White House Stunt’ – yet he continued to read on. He couldn’t believe what he was reading; not only did it mean someone his age had attempted to break in to parliament in protest to her brother being eligible for conscription, but it again reminded him that what was happening was real. Swallowing uncomfortably, the teenager folded the paper in half, for a moment forgetting the presence of the girl behind him.
Estelle cleared her throat. “Well?”
“Well what?” Joey asked numbly, slowly placing the paper down on his desk beside him.
His friend placed a hand on his shoulder and forced him to turn around so that he was facing her front on. Estelle scanned Joey’s face carefully, her vivid blue eyes so like her father’s meeting his hazels. Joey knew he wouldn’t be able to hide anything from his best friend – he was so sure they existed on telepathic wavelengths with one another – but he couldn’t bear to let her know how he was feeling. Sure, Estelle could be as sympathetic as she liked, but she wasn’t the one in his shoes. She wasn’t the one facing the possibility of joining the army and going to Iraq to fight.
After a moment she spoke. Her voice was soft.
“How did the talk with Melanie go? I meant to ask – you didn’t say anything about how she reacted.”
Joey ignored the chill that shot down his spine.
“It was fine.”
“How could it be ‘fine’?”
Joey groaned. “Please, Stell, could you just drop it?”
There was a moment’s silence as Estelle paused before speaking. She placed a hand on his arm, her voice resuming its soft tone.
“You’re scared.”
“I’m not scared!” He said indignantly, shrugging himself away from her touch. “Estelle, you don’t fucking get it do you?” He couldn’t contain the anger that had begun to shoot through his veins. He couldn’t even bring himself to feel guilty for his outburst, despite the shocked look etched upon Estelle’s Mike-like features.
“Get what?!” she cried, looking at her friend in despair. “Do you think this is easy for me, too? Seeing you like this?”
“Yeah, it must be so hard.” Joey rolled his eyes. “Do you not think that for one second, one second, I felt ready for this? Do you think I want to talk about it for every second of the day? I get enough of it from my parents.”
“They’re only trying to protect you!” she exclaimed, “We all are, Joe! Do you think this is easy on us?”
“Of course I don’t!” Joey shot back. “But can’t we just forget about it? For one second?”
Estelle crossed her arms. “You’d like to forget about the situation you’re in?”
“Yeah, maybe I would,” he replied angrily. “Maybe I would like to pretend that my biggest worry at the moment is getting into college, not avoiding army time. Just like I always wanted to pretend I wasn’t the son of the rockstar when I was a kid.”
“Hey Joe, do you know who you’re talking to?” Estelle’s face was thunderous. “My dad’s in Green Day too! Don’t try and give me that crap about how hard it must be for you, because I had to go through it too.”
Joey opened his mouth to fire back angrily, but he knew she was right. On both counts. He did, however, wish that more than anything else in the world he could be worrying about college applications, or where to take his and Melanie’s relationship next, or some other stupid teen problem, rather than over something like this. Since when had a teenager living in the 21st century been expected to deal with war themselves?
From downstairs the two heard Adrienne call for lunch, and at least for now, their argument remained settled.
“C’mon, we’d better go eat,” Joey said quietly, heading over to the door of his room. Estelle nodded and followed, only pausing once reaching the doorway.
“Joey…” she began, faltering slightly, “Just… just remember you’re not alone, okay? We’re going to fight for you.”
He nodded hesitantly, giving a vacant smile. “Thanks, Estelle.” She smiled in return, and continued on her way downstairs ahead of him.
Pausing once more, Joey’s eyes quickly flicked back to the article resting on his desk, and he knew within himself that no matter what anyone else said, he was alone.
Estelle threw the paper she was holding from where she lay on Joey’s bed to her friend. He turned away from the window he had found himself looking wistfully out of and picked up the paper. He scanned the page, yet didn’t find the article that Estelle was showing him.
“What?”
“You idiot, can’t you see the story in the bottom right hand corner?” Estelle swung her legs over the edge of the bed and strode over exasperatedly. She snatched the paper from his grasp and pointed to a tiny group of text located on the edge of the newspaper.
“Oh, my bad, I didn’t see the mention on the new harvest of apricots being disrupted. Can you just stop it with the joking, Stell? I honestly don’t see any point.”
Estelle ignored him disdainfully, instead forcing the paper closer to his face. “See there? The bit about the girl that’s been arrested.”
Joey pulled the paper back from his friend’s grasp and looked toward the paper where Estelle had been pointing previously. His stomach lurched uncomfortably as he read the title - ‘Teenager Arrested After White House Stunt’ – yet he continued to read on. He couldn’t believe what he was reading; not only did it mean someone his age had attempted to break in to parliament in protest to her brother being eligible for conscription, but it again reminded him that what was happening was real. Swallowing uncomfortably, the teenager folded the paper in half, for a moment forgetting the presence of the girl behind him.
Estelle cleared her throat. “Well?”
“Well what?” Joey asked numbly, slowly placing the paper down on his desk beside him.
His friend placed a hand on his shoulder and forced him to turn around so that he was facing her front on. Estelle scanned Joey’s face carefully, her vivid blue eyes so like her father’s meeting his hazels. Joey knew he wouldn’t be able to hide anything from his best friend – he was so sure they existed on telepathic wavelengths with one another – but he couldn’t bear to let her know how he was feeling. Sure, Estelle could be as sympathetic as she liked, but she wasn’t the one in his shoes. She wasn’t the one facing the possibility of joining the army and going to Iraq to fight.
After a moment she spoke. Her voice was soft.
“How did the talk with Melanie go? I meant to ask – you didn’t say anything about how she reacted.”
Joey ignored the chill that shot down his spine.
“It was fine.”
“How could it be ‘fine’?”
Joey groaned. “Please, Stell, could you just drop it?”
There was a moment’s silence as Estelle paused before speaking. She placed a hand on his arm, her voice resuming its soft tone.
“You’re scared.”
“I’m not scared!” He said indignantly, shrugging himself away from her touch. “Estelle, you don’t fucking get it do you?” He couldn’t contain the anger that had begun to shoot through his veins. He couldn’t even bring himself to feel guilty for his outburst, despite the shocked look etched upon Estelle’s Mike-like features.
“Get what?!” she cried, looking at her friend in despair. “Do you think this is easy for me, too? Seeing you like this?”
“Yeah, it must be so hard.” Joey rolled his eyes. “Do you not think that for one second, one second, I felt ready for this? Do you think I want to talk about it for every second of the day? I get enough of it from my parents.”
“They’re only trying to protect you!” she exclaimed, “We all are, Joe! Do you think this is easy on us?”
“Of course I don’t!” Joey shot back. “But can’t we just forget about it? For one second?”
Estelle crossed her arms. “You’d like to forget about the situation you’re in?”
“Yeah, maybe I would,” he replied angrily. “Maybe I would like to pretend that my biggest worry at the moment is getting into college, not avoiding army time. Just like I always wanted to pretend I wasn’t the son of the rockstar when I was a kid.”
“Hey Joe, do you know who you’re talking to?” Estelle’s face was thunderous. “My dad’s in Green Day too! Don’t try and give me that crap about how hard it must be for you, because I had to go through it too.”
Joey opened his mouth to fire back angrily, but he knew she was right. On both counts. He did, however, wish that more than anything else in the world he could be worrying about college applications, or where to take his and Melanie’s relationship next, or some other stupid teen problem, rather than over something like this. Since when had a teenager living in the 21st century been expected to deal with war themselves?
From downstairs the two heard Adrienne call for lunch, and at least for now, their argument remained settled.
“C’mon, we’d better go eat,” Joey said quietly, heading over to the door of his room. Estelle nodded and followed, only pausing once reaching the doorway.
“Joey…” she began, faltering slightly, “Just… just remember you’re not alone, okay? We’re going to fight for you.”
He nodded hesitantly, giving a vacant smile. “Thanks, Estelle.” She smiled in return, and continued on her way downstairs ahead of him.
Pausing once more, Joey’s eyes quickly flicked back to the article resting on his desk, and he knew within himself that no matter what anyone else said, he was alone.