LOST TRACK
© 2011 PW Covington
Two men in waiting room….MAN #1 (handsome, mid 20’s, appearing in every way, a typical, upper middle class, recent college graduate) has been fidgeting around restlessly, adjusting then disconnecting his MP3 player, constantly checking his cell phone, etc…. MAN #1 displays an obvious bored expression on his face…MAN #2 ( mid-late 30’s, shorter than stylish hair, hints of a muscular physique slowly going soft, slightly weathered face, tidy in appearance, but not “stylish”) sits calmly, his gaze focused indistinctly ahead of him….
MAN #1
(makes eye contact and smiles broadly at MAN #2….it is observable that MAN #1 has always felt very confident in social situations)
So, you here waiting on your Dad to get done?
MAN #2
No, I’m just a little early for my appointment.
MAN #1
(nodding)
Oh, yeah? You were over there in Vietnam or something?
MAN #2
(struggling to keep his eye contact with MAN #1 non threatening and friendly, but a bit disturbed, which MAN #1 does not seem to notice)
In 1973, ground troops left Vietnam, the ones they let come back, anyway…The US pretty much quit the war altogether in ‘75. I was born in 1973.
MAN #1
Oh, man…my bad..you just seem kinda older, ya know? Not “old”, just older.
MAN#2
Uh huh…. (Looks away)
MAN #1
Yeah, I’m here waiting on my Step-Mom’s Dad. He was in the Marines or something…
MAN #1 (cont.)
(awkward silence, MAN #1 obviously expected a response from #2, who stares blankly, yet non-menacingly, ahead)
Maybe he was in the Army, I don’t know. He never really talks about it. I don’t know why my Mom thinks that he can’t catch the shuttle bus back at the end of the day. I think he gets around fine.
(a slight nod from #2, but no conversation)
So, you must have fought in that first war, huh? That was pretty easy for you guys though, right?
MAN #2
(still looks straight ahead and speaks in monotone, academically listing his combat/hazardous deployments)
1st Gulf War up into Iraq, Somalia, Haiti ’94, Kuwait, the Balkans, West Africa, the beginning of OEF
(#2 immediately realizes that “OEF” means nothing to #1, but does not offer any explanation)
MAN #1
The Balkans? When was that?
MAN #2
’99 mainly, but it spanned a few years. We’ve still got some folks over there.
MAN #1
That was the Bosnia thing, right? I heard that the US didn’t do anything there. That was the UN, right?
MAN #2
NATO…the US did most of the air.
MAN #1
Yeah…but I mean, it wasn’t combat though…really.
MAN #2
I was in the Air Force
(pause……it seems as if #1 is going to put his ear phones in and listen to his music, but then he stops and again looks at MAN #2 with a confident smile)
MAN #1
I loved that movie Top Gun when I was a kid, I always wanted to do that, too….what’s it like to fly one of those fighter jets? They go like Mach 4, right? How fast is that in civilian?
MAN #2
I wouldn’t know, I was on a gunship
MAN #1
Like a battleship? The Air Force has boats?
(#2 deliberately chuckles, assuming #1 has made a joke…..actually, his comment was made in all earnestness…#1 has no idea why #2 is laughing)
MAN #2
Oh, you’re serious. Yes, the Air Force has boats, but they are mainly used with the Space Program….a gunship is:
(he begins to offer a detailed description of the AC-130 and its missions, then pauses and looks directly at #1 for the first time….he decides to revert to his previous shortness)
It’s a big cargo plane with guns and cannons sticking out one side of it.
MAN #1
And y’all would shoot down other planes with it? Or drop bombs? Stuff like that?
(#2 can not help giving #1 an incredulous look for a second before softening his glare)
MAN #2
Gunships are CAS and Interdiction platforms.
(he knows he is speaking above #1 but does not care)
MAN #1
Well at least you didn’t see any really bad action, like the shit going on now, huh?
MAN #2
They killed an entire crew at Khafji, we lost another bird over Somalia. I was medically retired after getting hurt in Afghanistan. 100% Disabled. Still got metal in my head, some burns and stuff other places. I figure that and all the other shit is bad enough.
MAN #1
Yeah, just glad it wasn’t like “Combat” you, know? I think this one guy I used hang with in High School went over there to Iraq, I don’t know, we kinda lost track…
MAN#2
(staring again into space, with a sigh)
Yeah, that’ll happen
FEMALE VOICE on speaker
Mr. Wynne, please check in at exam room 4. Mr. Wynne. Please check in at exam room 4.
MAN #2
That’s me. You take care.
(gets up and starts to walk towards hall)
MAN #1
Umm, Mr. Wynne
(almost as if knowing the other man’s name encourages him in some way)
MAN #2
Yeah?
MAN #1
If you see a really old guy back there in a wheel chair, could you ask him if he could catch the shuttle-bus back home later this afternoon? I don’t know how much longer I can wait here…
(MAN #2 turns his back and continues walking down the hallway)