Trigger warning if you are a parent. My newest short story.
Emmitt and Narelle had three sons. The oldest, Donavan was the hot head that had to learn to control his anger issues as he began a career in construction. His temperament went well with the trades and there he met his share of other hot heads. It was dealing with other people who had trouble controlling anger, he realized the damage his outburst had on other people. He is still has his moments of rage, but quickly realizes it and calms himself down. He is married with three daughters and this tests his patience every day.
The youngest Kenyon was quiet and unassuming but managed to get into enough trouble to be a pain in his parents side without having a criminal record. He worked his way through college to become an IT person making a good living. Today he has a son with the same propensity for trouble which makes Emmitt and Narelle smile.
Rodney was the middle son who just plodded along in life taking calculated risk and accepting the best of the risks. He went to college on a ROTC scholarship and in turn served six years in the army as an officer. The service life suited him well and he signed up for another six years. He had not found the right girl yet, but was still looking.
Rodney did a hitch in South Korea and when his year was almost over, his commander asked him to stay another year. He agreed and after two years of foreign service, he had a thirty day leave coming to him. He thought about taking a secluded vacation but also wanted to see his family. He chose to go home for the month.
Emmitt was busy with his job for they were experiencing a busy time. He was working fifty or more hours a week to meet the company deadlines. Narelle was busy setting up an outdoor Church event where they were selling member’s household items to raise money for the local foodbank.
Rodney arrived home on the Wednesday before the weekend sale at the church. Donavan was helping her set up a large tent for items that do not weather nicely. Rodney familiar with the tent said it was not properly set up and became angry over it and started barking orders to everyone as if they were his subordinates in the army. Rodney wanted the tent moved to a more secure location in case of an attack. There were protocols for establishing a compound in the field.
Donavan refused to move it and in an ironic twist of fate it was the middle brother going off on the older brother with a fit of anger. Donavan started to bark back in like style but remembered his counseling and just walked away. Rodney tried moving the tent on his own but Narelle stopped him and talked him into coming home with her. This flash of anger concerned her but she put it off to stress of the army and several days home would bring him back to his self.
Later that day, Donavan stopped to apologies to his younger brother for the misunderstanding and properly greet him home after two long years. Before Donavan could say a single word, Rodney lashed out at him in a torrent of angry words. He used words that would have any of the boys mouth washed out with soap when growing up. Narelle came running when she heard the language and as she exited the house she saw Rodney throwing punches at Donavan. Donavan stood there and took the punches until mom pulled Rodney away. Her concerned increased to thinking there was something wrong with her son.
The next day, Narelle called the army and requested the name of his commander in South Korea so she could find out what was happening to her son. At first she was not allowed that information, but Narelle is not a woman to be trifled with when one of her sons are in danger. After ten transfers, she reached someone high enough up the ladder to help her. He could not give her the information but would put a call into the commander and get back to her.
Rodney erratic behavior continued throughout the day with him becoming mad about the smallest inconveniences. Narelle heard the phone at eleven at night and almost didn’t answer it. It was Rodney’s commander from South Korea. “This is Colonel Wright, I just saw the note about Rodney when I came in this morning. I wanted to call you as soon as possible. I know it is late there, can you talk?”
“Yes” as concern for her son struck an all-time high, “Rodney has been very irritable since arriving home. The smallest inconsistency will set him off into a tirade. He even became physical with his brother. I was wondering if anything happened that might cause the change in behavior.”
Wright with tension in his voice, “We have been at peace with no new threats and yet I have seen a change in his character. He was becoming angrier with every passing day for the past few weeks. I thought it was just home sickness and my best Major only need some time off. That is why I recommended a thirty day leave.”
Narelle still looking for answers, “Could it be PTSD? I heard that can cause bouts of anxiety.”
“No, I don’t think so. Like I said, things have been pretty quiet here and the Major is more composed than that. Also, I have seen PTSD and the symptoms are not the same as I have seen in the past nor do they follow all the training we receive in looking for the symptoms.”
“What is causing the outburst?”
“I don’t know, but is there a medical facility where he can get a checkup? I can order him to go if necessary.”
“You can only discharge him. He will go or face my wrath.”
“I understand, if you need help let me know. Oh and please keep me informed.” He gave Narelle his personal phone number which still carried a US number.
The next morning mom fed Rodney breakfast and told him to get dressed as they headed out for the doctor’s office. He tried to refuse but the mama bear in Narelle took command and he went to see Doctor Adkins, her personal physician.
Narelle explained to Adkins the change in his personality over the past few weeks and even gave him the name and number for Wright. Her doctor left her in the waiting room while he ran an evaluation of Rodney. It was to be a routine checkup just to make sure there was nothing physically wrong with him. After ten minutes there was bustling in the examination part of the office and a couple minutes later an ambulance appeared rushing to the back room. Then Narelle saw the one thing that rocked her world in the worst possible of ways. Rodney was on the gurney rushing out to the emergency room. Due to government laws, the doctor couldn’t tell her anything about his condition and told her to get to the hospital.
Narelle called Emmitt and told him of the events that morning. Narelle is not the kind of person to panic but her tone clearly showed dread and horror over the events that morning. Emmitt called Rodney’s brothers, informing them, and then headed for the hospital himself with more worry than a father should have.
On the way to the hospital, Narelle called Wright and told him of the events of the morning. Wright called her doctor who didn’t want to talk with him. Wright with his best commander’s voice, “I being his commanding officer gives me privilege to the condition of my soldier.”
The doctor told him he noticed some cloudiness in the eyes and they were not reacting properly to the light. Then Adkins started some simple neurological test and blood appeared from his nose. Then Rodney’s eyes became dilated and he started convulsing. The office went into emergency mode and the ambulance was called.
The emergency room immediately ran test including a MRI scan of his head. Test results usually take several hours but with the urgency of this case, the results came back within minutes. The neurologist said, “There are lesions all through his brain. They appear to be numerous and scattered throughout it. I am fairly certain they are malignant tumors and growing rapidly.”
“How many is numerous?” asked Narelle as nothing else was coming to mind.
“We stopped counting at forty-eight but there may be as much as a hundred with many of them being very small.”
Emmitt holding back the tears, “Can they be cut out?
“No, there are too many and they located throughout the brain. We would have to dissect his brain into thousand pieces to get them all,” as regret came across his face at the last sentence honestly coming out of his mouth.
“How much time?” Narelle asked hoping to see him again.
“Hours, maybe a day or two” with the normal doctor stare.
Emmitt called Rodney’s brothers and they got to see him one more time. He was in a coma as his brain was failing to keep the life flowing in his body. An hour later, Rodney’s brain stopped producing electric impulses and a few minutes later the body gave out.
Narelle first thought was to call Wright and tell him he was down one Major as she went through the rest of the day in a total daze. Emmitt called off work until further notice and his boss gave him at least two weeks. Later that night Narelle broke down and cried into Emmitt’s arms. He kept up a brave face for her as she was coming to terms of losing her son. Neither of them slept well that night as the ache in their hearts kept them from falling asleep.
The next day, Emmitt went out without breakfast to make arrangements for burying his son. A family friend Clarence was a funeral director and helped greatly in setting the dates and times for viewing and final service. He called the local cemetery and found a plot for Rodney in their military section set aside for those active soldiers dying while serving. Clarence was familiar with all the military formalities and made sure they were in place.
Emmitt left the funeral home without a sense of purpose and began wondering the streets meandering his way downtown. There he saw a man in a Ghillie suit scaring people walking the downtown. He stopped for a moment and a small smile crossed his face. There was a pizza restaurant that served whole or by the slice. Emmitt stopped inside and asked for a box. He offered five dollars for the box. The manager wouldn’t take his money and asked why he wanted it. Emmitt took the box tore it in half and wrote “FREE DAD HUGS” on it. The manager took a magic marker and traced over the letter in the bold ink.
Emmitt held up the sign just outside the pizza shop which was one store down from the ghillie suit. Some teenage girls passed and smiled at the sign as they continued down the sidewalk. The ghillie suite went from a standard bush in front of a store to a goblin jumping out at them. They ran back to get the free dad hug. Several people passing the other direction were equally scared with two of them opting for the free dad hug. A couple of soldiers dressed in fatigues came from the other direction. The ghillie suit jumped as usual and both men jumped in excitement then started laughing. As they passed Emmitt, he reached out and grabbed them both. Hugged them tightly and said, “You need this.”
The one soldier remembered the article in the paper that morning of the family losing their son the Major to brain cancer. It had a stock photo of the family and he was sure this was the father of the fallen soldier. As he walked away, he called other army friends telling them of the dad hugging soldiers and sent them to him. Within an hour there were fifty soldiers in uniform lining up for the free dad hugs.
Other people visiting the downtown were made aware of Emmitt giving out free dad hugs in memory of his son. People started ling up to hug him. Store workers, street vendors, and even the Mayor came out for his turn. However, people in uniforms received the biggest hugs from Emmitt. The ghillie suit removed his head covering and came down wanting a turn. He graduated high school with Rodney and wanted his hug as well.
Being a small town, news of a man giving free dad hugs and the reason for it spread very quickly. Then Narelle came around the corner to see five people waiting their turn for a free dad hug. She waited in line behind them. When it was her turn for the free dad hug, Emmitt broke down in tears. He was having trouble standing it hurt so badly. The pizza manager who watch the events unfold and had been keeping an eye on Emmitt after she found out who he was. She came running with a chair in hand. Narelle sat him down until the wave of grieve passed over him.
After he composed himself, the gathering of people watching this, erupted in applause in support of him. It was a somber, echoing clapping to encourage him. Narelle took Emmitt home. As he passed through the crowd, they patted him on the shoulder. He arrived home without saying a word.
The funeral took a week with the military needing to be part of it. Wright flew to the occasion to see his Major one more time and pay his respect to the family. It was sobering to hear taps played as two fully dressed soldiers folded the flag. Wright himself presented the flag to Emmitt and Narelle. As the guns saluted their son, a peace came over them to know he served their country well.
Cancer in the brain can cause a person to go into fits of anger. I have seen people with cancer acting angry at people whom they would normally love. As long as the loved ones are aware of this and not take the anger personally, people need to be more understanding. My husband had cancer and yes, during the final months of his life he became more agitated and was less tolerant. We understood it was not the character of him, it was cancer in his system that had caused it.
