Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 2

breeze felt like it was dancing on his skin and spinning in time with his head. Rico sighed. He was comfortably fuzzy and he slouched a little lower into his chair. It had been a long time since he had allowed himself to let go like this.
    He had been incredibly upset when they first arrived at the bar, but Dan hadn't tried to fill the tense silence. He just grabbed a bottle and sat them in a quiet corner. They had been drinking for about twenty minutes before Rico had realized how comforting it was to have someone just be there for him. The tension he had been carrying ebbed slowly
    He had thought he would be too angry to listen to anything Dan would have to say in defense of his uncle; but Dan had calmly offered him an outsider's view of his uncle's actions that made Rico feel more understanding towards the situation.
    Rico let his thoughts drift back to the conversation from earlier that evening.
    "He really does love you, you know." Dan's voice had caught Rico as he took another large swallow of whiskey. "He didn't want to add even more stress than you are already dealing with at work. He worries about you."
    Rico drummed his fingers on the table. "That's all well and good, but I get to worry right back. He's family . Families share the load."
    "Absolutely," Dan agreed. "The thing is; Salty has had to keep his own counsel for a long time Rico. He isn't used to sharing."
    Rico smacked his glass down in frustration. "How do you know my uncle, Dan?"
    "You know Salty was in the Marines, right?"
    "Yes, about twenty years ago. You couldn't have known him then."
    Dan nodded in agreement. "That's right. My former commander, however, did know him. They had kept in loose contact over the years."
    Rico watched as Dan took another sip of his whisky. He seemed to be carefully considering his words.
    "I was seventeen when 9/11 happened. Like the rest of the country, I was wrapped in a patriotic frenzy. I convinced my parents to help me enlist early and it wasn't long before I was off to serve my country.
    "I had been serving for almost five years before Captain Evans took command of my unit. On this particular mission, we ended up fighting in close quarters. It was supposed to be a precision strike, in and out, but the intel was off. Fortunately we found a defendable position and after a prolonged fight, we achieved our objective. When the Captain found me, I was sitting on a stump eating an MRE."
    Dan paused for a moment and took another drink. He was lost to his thoughts.
    "It took me a minute to realize why the Captain was so upset. There were six freshly killed bodies near my stump and my only response had been to sit down and get some chow. It was a month before my twenty-second birthday."
    Rico felt his stomach tighten with tension at the incredibly clear picture Dan was painting.
    "How does Uncle Russell fit into this?" he asked with trepidation.
    "Captain Evans called in some favors and got me discharged early. Your uncle had completed his career as a Gunnery Sargent. Captain called him for help, saying one seriously mixed up young man , as I was, was not going to get the better of an experienced gunny. Salty agreed with him. He found me a small place to rent and basically rehabilitated me."
    Rico refilled both their glasses as he mulled over the information.
    "You were seventeen around 9/11 so that means you got out around 2005 or 2006. I was in college at that point. That's why I never knew what Uncle Russell was up too." Rico was happy to have settled part of the equation but there were still unanswered questions.
    "And Mickie? Why did Uncle Russell 'give him' to you? Why are you taking care of him?"
    Dan laughed a little. "Mickie is a whole other can of worms. Mickie's smart with computers. Scary smart; like, be grateful every day he's on our side smart. Don't ever let him touch one of your computers because he might make it jump up and do tricks, but he will also slave it to his control.
    "Anyway, he was working with the DEA and happened to be in D.C when Salty was there testifying about the need for increased psychiatric support for veterans. They met and hit it off. They kept in touch, maybe three or four times a year. One day, Salty finds out that Mickie is in the hospital. One of the bad guys wanted Mickie's skills for his own purposes. He had been kidnapped and held for about three weeks before he was rescued. Salty brought him to me after he was released from the hospital.
    "Salty convinced me I was the best