Candy for Strangers
“There was this one kid. Smaller than most of the others, but he had old eyes.”
The speaker pauses as his voice catches. He takes a deep breath, and looks through the other men sitting in a loose circle. The folding steel chair beneath his weight creaks a little when he shifts position.
“He’d always come up to me. He recognized me, singled me out. Every time we’d ride in to that little village, everyone’s yelling at us in Pashtu. Not him. He never raised his voice, not once. Not ever.”
His hand swipes away what may have been a tear. A man with one arm places his hand on the speaker’s shoulder, gripping. Encouraging. Reassuring.
“He always ran up to me and gave me this big goofy grin. It was the cutest thing, because I swear he had three teeth in his whole head, and none of them were in front. Questions, man. This kid always had questions. He knew a little bit of English, see. He was smarter than the other kids. He recognized ranks, and I think he could even read a little. The village was certified Green, no hostiles. So we relaxed a little. The elders were in our back pockets, hell, we even traded on the economy there with the Colonel’s blessing. This kid, I called him Barney. I’ve no idea about his real fucking name, yknow? He just wore this stupid purple shirt a lot of the time.”
The story stopped as sobs filled the empty space between shuffling boots and faraway stares. All these men had their own Barney, in one way or another.
Finally, the church multi-purpose room was filled with the man’s baritone once more.
“He always called me---”
______________________________
“Hey Mister Captain! Mister Captain!” I smiled at the officer as big as I could. I know he liked me. I liked him, too. He was nicer than the other soldiers, and always took time to talk with me.
And give me snacks.
“Hey Mister Captain! Do you have any Ruth-Babies for me today?”
He laughed and shook his head.
“No, Barney. But I have Hershey’s.”
“Oh, Mister Captain, I like Hershey, too. Thank you, sir. Thank you.” I never waited to eat the candy he gave me. I learned a long time ago that the other kids would try to take it, if I got out of sight of the soldiers.
“Thank you, Mister Captain. Thank you. You make talk now?”
_________________________________
The group session listened, fascinated. His story wasn’t special, but it was his. They owed it to him to listen, because that’s all they could do. By hearing him, they shared his burden.
The speaker wiped away another tear and laughed.
“That kid. He asked about baseball. How does a kid in Kandahar know about Baseball?”
No one answered him. That’s not what they do. They don’t have answers to give, they only have time to listen, and hopefully peace to share.
“I Skyped home one night about Barney. My wife sent me a cheap little aluminum bat and a few baseballs. You shoulda seen this kid’s face when I showed up with that gear. I like to think I made that kid’s life better.”
Silence echoed off the cinder block walls and the old-school green chalkboard. A few scattered toys spilled out of the box in a corner, and the former Captain idly looked at a few words of a Bible verse tacked to the bulletin board.
“We controlled that village. Until we didn’t. Taliban took exception to our being so friendly with the locals. An elder disappeared, a few other people showed up dead. So we had to head back in, this time with our heads on more of a swivel than normal. Barney, though, he was still smiling. Still asking questions. Still hitting me up for chocolate. Until the last question he ever asked anybody.”
__________________
“Hey Mister Captain! You have the Snickerings for me today?” I smiled, and he laughed.
“Barney, it’s Snickers. And yes, I have a Snickers for you.” I reached for the brown and white wrapper, and I opened it.
By the time I had my first bite, the world went white.
When I woke up, the officer was standing over me, telling me I was going to be fine.
I didn’t believe him.
“Mister Captain?”
“Yeah Barney, it’s ok little man. Just don’t try to move, ok? You’re going to be fine.”
“Mister Captain, where are my legs?”
____________________
The speaker thought of Barney every day, but especially on days like this. His partner, a grizzled detective who’d seen it all, regarded the scene that unfolded in front of them.
The sound of the old-timer lighting a Marlboro broke the former Captain’s reverie.
Horrors of yesterday have to take a backseat to the horrors of today.
The two men went to work.