Dan's Revenge

Ron said there was one girl that had a black eye, and bruise on her forehead. I described Pam, and Ron said that was her. Ben must have found the moles.

I showed up about 6:30 and sat at the bar, but didn't acknowledge Ron. About 7:15, just after it was dark outside, Ben walked up to me. "Alright Dickhead, you've had your fun. Pam payed for playing games with me, now it's your turn, and you're going to get 10 times what she got."

I ordered another beer, to make sure the bartender/owner heard everything going on, and would be able to tell anyone asking who started this.

"Alright big talker, what is it you want?"

Ben replied, "you just step outside, unless you're afraid." He gave me a push toward the door.

The three with him were staying on the other side of the room. I guess Ben hoped I was thinking it was just him and me.

I got up, shrugged my shoulders to the bartender/owner, and walked out. The owner started to pick up the phone to call 911, but I motioned for him to let it go.

While Ben and I were sparring, my friend Ron Damon was sitting at the bar, minding his own business, casually talking on the phone.

The other three from across the room joined Ben, and the four of them followed me out.

As Ben and his buddies walked out 'all hell broke loose'. There were two marines for each guy that walked through the door. Two of Ben's friends, seeing the situation, took a couple of swings, went to the ground, and just gave up. The third had a broken nose before he got as smart as the other two.

Ben was a different story. No one was going to let him give up. This was for Dan. He was hit, kicked, stomped, fell to the ground more than once, pulled back up, then hit again. He was going to need an ambulance. I didn't need to get involved, but I got in a good shot at Ben's jaw, just because I wanted to.

We learned later, If Ben ever walked again, and that wasn't a sure thing, he would likely need a cane. Also, he would probably never father any children, or even have the urge to try.

For an outsider all of this would seem rather extreme, just to get revenge; but, as beat up as Ben was, he could breath and maybe have some enjoyment in life. That's more than Dan would ever have.

The last thing I did before calling 911 was put a copy of his letter to Dan in his pocket. He'll find it someday, and know what this was all about.

Everyone other than Ben and I seemed to evaporate. Ben's guys just wanted to get away. They hadn't been beaten up badly, but they knew they were lucky, and didn't want any more of it. The marines got back in the cars, and returned to their lives, proud to have done their part in avenging their dead brother-in-arms.

Two policemen showed up just after the ambulance took Ben away, asked the bar owner a few questions, then left. I guess they may get around to me at some point, but they found out Ben started it, and may not question much further.

The only person to come back inside was me. Everyone heard the ruckus outside, but no one wanted to go out to see what was going on.

I sat at the table, looking directly at Pam, and took out a copy of each of the two letters. I said, "some of you knew Dan Adams, through his wife Pam. I'm sure you heard he was killed in combat. What you don't know is, Dan basically committed suicide. He got these two letters about a week apart, first Pam's, then Ben's. He was so depressed he didn't protect himself from enemy fire. Pass them around and read them when you can.

I was with Dan when he died. The commotion you heard outside were marine buddies of Dan, showing Ben and his friends they didn't like his damn letter.

The next day I was in the parking lot of the commercial real estate company at quitting time. Several of the people I had met at Maggie's walked out, and I waved at the ones that noticed me; then eventually, the one I was waiting for came out. As she got close, I yelled her name. With a surprised look, she came to my driver's window. "Hi, Pete, what's up?"

"Jeanie, sometime, when you have time, I'd like to explain what's been happening between me and a couple of your co-workers.

She smiled, walked around to the passenger side, got in and said, "How about now! Someplace other than Maggie's."

That's how I met my wife, and best friend, for what was really the first time.

After that we were constantly together, and spent a lot of time meeting my rather large family. Mom, Dad, and my siblings all loved Jeanie, and eventually she joined the rest of the family in the tire business.

Two years later we gave Mom and Dad beautiful twin granddaughters.

Ben never did get back to work at the real estate company. He spent years recuperating, eventually going on disability. Pam worked for the real estate company for a while, but those two letters kept circulating. Eventually she quit and moved out of state.

Sometimes I think about how good my life is, with Jeanie, and the twins, and how Cpl. Dan Adams was robbed of a chance for something similar, by those letters.