Звездный десант
Chapter 6
Ididn’tevenwanttoriskbeingflogged...eventhoughthedoctorstandsbytomakecertainthatitdoesn’tdoyouanypermanentinjury.Nobodyinourfamilyhadeverbeenflogged(exceptpaddlingsinschool,ofcourse,whichisn’tatallthesamething).Therewerenocriminalsinourfamilyoneitherside,nonewhohadevenbeenaccusedofcrime.Wewereaproudfamily;theonlythingwelackedwascitizenshipandFatherregardedthatasnorealhonor,avainanduselessthing.ButifIwereflogged—Well,he’dprobablyhaveastroke.
AndyetHendrickhadn’tdoneanythingthatIhadn’tthoughtaboutdoingathousandtimes.Whyhadn’tI?Timid,Iguess.Iknewthatthoseinstructors,anyoneofthem,couldbeatthetaroutofme,soIhadbuttonedmylipandhadn’ttriedit.Noguts,Johnnie.AtleastTedHendrickhadhadguts.Ididn’thave...andamanwithnogutshasnobusinessintheArmyinthefirstplace.
Besidesthat,CaptainFrankelhadn’tevenconsideredittobeTed’sfault.EvenifIdidn’tbuya9080,throughlackofguts,whatdaywouldIdosomethingotherthana9080somethingnotmyfault—andwindupslumpedagainstthewhippingpostanyhow?Timetogetout,Johnnie,whileyou’restillahead.
Mymother’slettersimplyconfirmedmydecision.Ihadbeenabletohardenmyhearttomyparentsaslongastheywererefusingme—butwhentheysoftened,Icouldn’tstandit.OrwhenMothersoftened,atleast.Shehadwritten:butIamafraidImusttellyouthatyourfatherwillstillnotpermityournametobementioned.
