All Men Fear Me by Donis Casey Read Free Book Online Page A

unexpected question. Rob stopped walking and eyed his nephew over the blankets.
    Gee Dub continued. “Mama told us that you ran away to join the Army yourself when you were just about the same age as me. You must have wanted to.”
    â€œOh, I did. I was just like Charlie, all piss and vinegar. I was wild to charge right up San Juan Hill with old Teddy. I was just a little squirt, not big and well-grown like you, hotshot, but I found a recruiter in Little Rock who was looking to fill his quota for that month, and he signed me up. My daddy could have had me mustered out for being underage, but he said I had made my bed and I could lie in it. I figure he knew I’d just run off again, and besides, I’d have been old enough the next year, anyway. By the time I finished basic, the Cuban part of the Spanish War was over. They sent me to the Philippines. I spent the next six years of my life wrestling with malaria and foot rot, wading through swamps, picking leeches off myself, and trying not to get my head chopped off by some scrawny little stinker with a big machete.
    â€œI never did know why we were there. The Filipinos were glad to get rid of the Spanish, but they never did cotton to trading one master for another, and wanted us out of there just as bad. Those Moro tribesmen were about as big as a minute, but they sure scared the liver out of me. We all knew that it was better to blow your own brains out with your service pistol than to let yourself get captured.”
    â€œSounds like the Apaches.” Gee Dub was a lover of Zane Grey novels.
    Rob shrugged. “At least you maybe could see the Apaches coming across the desert and eat a bullet before they got you.”
    â€œI think this is different, though, Uncle Robin. The Spanish weren’t after ruling the world, but the Germans are. And in the end I’m an American, and when my country calls, I’m going, all right.”
    Rob broke eye contact and looked out over the dark expanse of Alafair’s garden. “You looking to kill some Huns, too?” His tone was neutral, but Rob wasn’t best pleased by the announcement.
    â€œThey’ll take me or I’ll go of my own accord like I’ve got a choice in the matter.” Gee Dub delivered this piece of information as a plain statement of fact. “I expect whatever we think about this war, we’re all going to have to get behind it. It’s win or die, now.”
    â€œWell, Gee, each of us has to follow our conscience as best we can. I’d hate to think that we might lose the thing that makes America different than all the other countries—the right to say what we think.”
    After a brief, awkward pause, Gee Dub said, “So you don’t have a good opinion of Army life?”
    Rob’s expression when he looked back at Gee Dub was oddly compassionate. He knew the young man was anxious to hear something comforting. Rob wracked his brain for a moment. “Well, Army life ain’t so bad. They feed you pretty good, and you get as fond of your comrades as if they was your own brothers. And when you’re all decked out in your military finery, the ladies think you cut quite a dash.” Rob was glad to hear his nephew snort a laugh. He turned and began walking again. “You told your mama yet?”
    â€œNo. I figure I’ll tell Daddy first. Don’t look forward to telling Mama.”
    Now it was Rob’s turn to laugh. “I reckon not.”
    ***
    The beds in the toolshed bedroom were basic, but comfortable. In fact, Alafair had made Gee Dub’s “bachelor quarters” into a place that Rob wouldn’t mind calling home himself. The furniture was mostly recycled and threadbare, but serviceable and clean. Rob was glad to see that the two cots had iron bedsteads, which made it more difficult for bedbugs to get a foothold. He had spend many an itchy night in bunkhouses and two-bit hotels. Considering the number of animals