Off to War by Deborah Ellis Read Free Book Online Page A

just go to school and then to work, so I wasn’t home much.
    Dad was in Kandahar for six months.
    I emailed him there. We talked about how we were going to go fishing when he got back, maybe get a car and fix it up for the drag races. We were talking about how he was going to retire, but that’s not happening now. He’s staying in for a few more years. He wants to get his chief ranking.
    Before Kandahar, he was quiet, but he always wanted to do stuff with us. Now he’s always running around all over the place, trying to keep himself busy.
    He lives on the base with me. We moved my mom down to Kingston last Saturday and my dad and I live here on the base so I can finish high school here. We share a house, and we hang out, but we don’t talk.
    I’m used to waking up and having my mom here, so it’s different for me. Now it’s just him, and he’s not really here. I’m glad I can talk about this with my brother. He’s a police officer in Kingston.
    I wish I knew what happened to Dad in Kandahar. He won’t talk about it. I think he’s afraid he’ll end up scaring us because of what he went through. It makes me lonely, but I don’t worry about stuff he doesn’t want to talk about. I’ll let him come to me if he wants to, but I don’t think he’ll want to. His temper is short, but it’s always been short.
    I do know that there was an American civilian killed by a suicide bomber just a few yards away from my dad. That would change anybody.
    I’ve got lots of friends, not just kids from the base. Most of my friends live in the city, and we drive around, go to parties, whatever.
    Hopefully I’ll go into the police college and become a cop like my brother. I wouldn’t want to join the army because I wouldn’t want to be away from my family. I couldn’t do that.
    I think my relationship with my dad will still be steady. Hopefully we’ll still have our fishing trips, like old times. That would be good. Mom’s doing okay, although she’s still kind of in shock.
    I honestly don’t know what Canada is doing in Afghanistan. I just tried to keep my mom nice and cool when Dad was over there. Even though things are different now, as long as my dad is home safe, I’m happy.

Edwin, 8, and Erika, 17
    There are currently five US military bases on Puerto Rico, a small island in the Caribbean not far from the Dominican Republic. Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States, and Puerto Ricans are considered to be full US citizens. There are more than 3,500 Puerto Ricans serving in the United States military.
    Edwin and Erika’s father is stationed at Fort Bragg, although they live off post in the city of Fayetteville, since there is not enough on-post housing for all the military families that want to live there. The family loves their Puerto Rican culture and have held on to it even while living on an army base in Germany and on other bases in the continental United States. Their father is currently serving in Afghanistan.
    Edwin — Daddy is in Afghanistan. It’s deserty there. He’s there working but I don’t know what he’s doing.
    I feel all alone when he’s gone, like I have no one to play with. He plays baseball with me, and football, and sometimes I help him fix stuff. When the lawnmower breaks, or the fence, I help him fix it.
    I have trouble sleeping when he’s away. I keep waking up and listening in case he came home in the night.
    He goes away a lot. He comes home for a little while, but then he goes away again.
    Erika — My dad’s away a lot, on training, in lots of places. He’s in Afghanistan now. He’ll be there for another year.
    He was supposed to be coming home on leave in October, but they’ve moved it back to December or maybe even February. One thing I know for sure is that we’ll be without him for Christmas. It will be our first Christmas ever without