Free Court Martial by Donald E. Zlotnik Page A

quivered.
    “It’s all right, Spence....” Colonel Sinclair held out his arms and the seventeen-year-old warrior who had stood up to horrible
     NVA torture, juvenile homes, and abuse from stepparents took a step forward and let the dam break.
    Colonel Sinclair held the soldier and felt his own heart ache. Spencer cried quietly but the old warrior could feel him shaking.
     The tears were soaking through his khaki shirt but the colonel didn’t care. What was taking place in the hospital room was
     something that should have happened a long time ago, but Spencer needed to be near someone he trusted before he could allow
     that to happen. Reggie Sinclair’s dad was that kind of person. He understood and didn’t judge.
    A knock on the door interrupted the emotional scene.
    “Give us a couple of minutes!” Colonel Sinclair yelled through the closed door and received a muffled reply.
    Spencer went into the bathroom and washed his face while the colonel blotted his shirt with a clean napkin. Spencer stepped
     out of the bathroom holding a towel. “I screwed up your shirt. Fuck… crying like a baby… I must be really fucked up.”
    “There’s
nothing
wrong with you, Spence.... Don’t tell anyone, but I cried in Korea… in Vietnam… and in fact, I just cried last week when
     they buried a good friend of mine in Arlington.” Sinclair smiled. “Warriors cry too.”
    Spencer tried grinning. “Yeah… it did make me feel a little better.”
    “Watch out, though—too much crying will make you queer.” It was the colonel’s turn to grin.
    “Shit!” Spencer fell back into his old role. “This here white trash from South Carolina has had too much pussy to turn back
     now!”
    “Right! You and Reggie both!”
    “I can’t speak for your son.” Spencer smiled a wide, honest smile. The tears had washed away a lot of his pain.
    “What can I do for you, Spence?”
    “Can you get me
out
of here?”
    “Where do you want to go?”
    “Sir, this place is driving me nuts!” Spencer’s voice lowered. “Anywhere… just a couple of weeks… maybe up in the Blue Ridge
     Mountains. I know a nurse here who might let me use her family’s summer home.”
    “Call her in here.” Colonel Sinclair knew that he was sticking his neck out, but he also knew that if Spencer broke, a great
     deal would be lost, and that included the young soldier himself.
    Colonel Sinclair waited in the stuffed chair while Spencer ran out the door and over to the nurses’ station. He returned a
     couple of minutes later pulling the same cute nurse Sinclair had seen when he arrived.
    “Sir... this is Mary.” Spencer almost stuttered in his excitement.
    “Mary?” Sinclair smiled. “Enlisted men now call lieutenants by their first names?”
    Spencer and Mary blushed. “Come on, sir... give us a break.”
    “This
one
time.” Colonel Sinclair kept smiling. “I can see why Spence likes you.” She blushed even more. “Spence tells me that you
     have a place in the mountains that he might be able to use for a couple of weeks.”
    “Yes, we have a place up in the Shenandoah Valley, but—” “But what?” Sinclair had already guessed what was coming next.
    “But… we’ve made a rule that when someone is up there a member of the family has to be there also. I have a couple of weeks’
     leave coming to me.” Mary smiled shyly at Spencer.
    “Sounds like a bribe to me.” Sinclair kept smiling.
    “It is.” Mary touched Spencer’s hand.
    “Let me make a couple of telephone calls.” Colonel Sinclair turned to leave. “Would you give me the address, please?”
    “Sure. Let me walk you out to the desk and I’ll get a pad and pen.” Mary squeezed Spencer’s hand and let go.
    “Spence, pack up your things. I’m going to try to get you released from here today.”
    “Today?”
    “Within the hour, I hope.”
    “Colonel.”
    Sinclair paused in the doorway.
    “You’re right about the medal. If I don’t take it, guys like Billy-Bob,