“What was it like, Kip? Being a Marine?” she asked him, squeezing his hand.
“The good parts? Or the bad parts?” He asked her back.
“Were their bad parts?”
Kip nodded. Dumb question.
“Then all of the parts. Good and bad.”
Kip held still and looked her in the eye then he let his eyes wander over the cabin thinking. Kip unbuckled and leaned forward in the seat, speaking to the pilot without using the mic. The pilot pulled one headphone to the side and listened. Then he nodded and Kip sat back down proper and buckled up again.
“Okay, Annie, here is what it is like. Take right now, for example. Seeing things in ways you never have before. Going places and doing things you never thought you would do. Even the hard work was enjoyable. Like you, getting over the fear of taking off in this thing. It was hard, right? But not overwhelmingly so, and you knew there would be an amazing payoff to it, right?”
Annie nodded.
“Seeing how the rest of the world lives,” he continued. “Like looking in on people in their apartments as we ascended.” Annie looked slightly embarrassed. Like she was being accused of being a peeping tom. “You don’t know them. You don’t know how they live. But just for a brief moment you get this quick glimpse.” Annie nodded again. “We don’t know how the rest of the world lives, Annie, because we don’t see it like the rest of the world does. Now, a case could be made either way, that that is good or bad. I think it is good. The whole world should live like we live. Comfortable in our beds at night. Warm in our houses. Money in our pockets to go see one of my concerts. But a lot of the world doesn’t have those things. And some would say that it is our fault that they don’t. But it’s not. It’s their governments fault. I did my part to spread happiness throughout the world, and I feel good about doing it. America spreads democracy. We spread prosperity throughout the world. We don’t terrorize other countries. We liberate them. And I feel good about that. I feel good about what I’ve done.”
“Interesting, huh? Even fun. Exhilarating. The world gets smaller for you. You’ve seen more of it. The ways of people start to come into focus. And when you are a part of the United States military, you know that, for the most part, you’re doing good in the world. You’re helping people. Oh, I know there is a lot of bad press about the US armed forces out there. But mostly it’s just that. Bad press. I’ve seen articles in the New York Times that flat out lie about the military. I’ve seen articles about my very own company, accusing us of killing civilians. I know for a fact that it is a lie. Made up. They do it because they are trying to paint the military in a bad light before the world stage. God knows what the hell they are thinking. Just like rock stars too. The press makes us seem like bad people. But just the same, I didn’t see any of that, and I was a huge part of it. We did good. We helped people throughout the Middle East. I felt good about what I did. I felt bigger than myself and way bigger than anything I could have done with the money my family had. Being a rock star is thrilling and I love to hear people chant my name but serving my country is better.” And then Kip swallowed and said, “Okay Sammy.”
Suddenly the helicopter broke away from the stern face of the statue of liberty and went into a dive. Annie’s stomach lurched inside and she gripped Kips hands, digging her nails into his flesh. He let her, without pulling his hands away. She screamed a short yelp.
In seconds the helicopter was nose down toward the open water, heading straight for it. Then it pulled up at the last second and skimmed across the surface. Annie could see when tears weren’t obstructing her vision, the water ripping by just feet below the skids. The helicopter zoomed at high speed, and Annie was pinned tight back into her seat.
“And then there are times like this, Annie. Shear, Stark, terror! And it happens just as fast as that. From peace and happiness in knowing that you are seeing the world and making a difference to the people in it, to shear horror and helplessness with your life in the hands of others, and there is not a damn thing you can do about it.”
“Kip, Please!” Annie screamed between clenched teeth. Blood was being drawn from kips hand by her nails. Kip just beamed into her eyes, trying to gauge her reaction. Then he realized he’d made a mistake. He made his point. But he feared he’d gone too far. “Okay Sam, that’s enough,” he said to the pilot.
The helicopter slowed and pulled up gently. In seconds they were at a higher altitude and a more moderate speed. The pilot was an expert and handled the craft with a sure hand.