Free First Class Hero (First Class Novels) by AJ Harmon Page B

keep it hidden, as it’s not something I’m proud
of. I didn’t have the idyllic childhood, and I certainly never really had a
mother. So I’ve always guarded it. Embarrassed? No, I don’t think so. Sad?
Yeah, a bit. Heather, my mother, left home at the ripe old age of sixteen.
According to her, her dad used to beat on her so she left one day and never
went back. I’ve never met my grandparents so I only have her word on it. I
don’t know why she would make something like that up but then I’m not her
biggest fan so I wouldn’t bet the farm on it. Anyway, Norfolk is as far as she
got on the bus. According to her, her parents never left home so the hundred
mile distance between them was plenty. She got a job in a restaurant and made a
few friends that she crashed with until she could afford a very small studio
apartment. About a year later she met a young man that she immediately fell
passionately in love with. She got pregnant and then he disappeared. She never
saw him again. I don’t even know his name. My birth certificate doesn’t even
have his name on it. My entire childhood I was reminded I was an accident; an
unwanted accident. According to Heather, the only good thing that came of it
was the government assistance that helped to pay for rent and groceries and for
her to go to school so she could become a paralegal. She works in the same job
she got right after she finished her education. Oh, and why do I call her
Heather? Because when she decided to start dating, she wanted the men to think
I was her little sister. She didn’t want to scare them off with the thought of
dating a single mother. And she didn’t want them to think she was actually old
enough to have a child. I think I can truly say that I have no happy memories
during my childhood that involved my mother. And she wonders why I don’t want
to have coffee with her. I basically raised myself. I put myself through
college and I bought my own car. I have been independent since I was about ten
years old. I always made my own meals and got myself up and ready for school.
My first day of kindergarten I walked myself, not knowing the way, just
following the ‘big kids’ and hoping I ended up in the right place. I started
babysitting when I was twelve for some neighbors and that’s how I bought my
clothes for school all through middle school and high school. Yeah, I’m
probably still a little bitter.
    She told me father was in
the Navy and then she brainwashed me to believe that all men in the Navy were
scum; not to be trusted and worthless human beings. I think she must have
really loved him to feel so betrayed and deserted. It’s taken me up until just
a few weeks ago to realize how wrong she was. I have you to thank for that. I
see the world slightly differently now and it’s better, much better.
    Anyway, that’s my story.
Pathetic, but it’s made me who I am and I don’t consider myself pathetic, not anymore. Sorry you asked? LOL
    Well, I need to get
packed for tomorrow’s train ride to Manhattan. Wish me luck!
    Nic
     
     
    RE: Back in three
months
    From: Lathem, Paul R.
LCDR (lathempr@nav...
    Date: Friday, May 24
01:08 PM
    To: Nic Stewart
(nicas821@out...
     
    Nic,
    I am kind of stumped for
a response here. I am humbled by the honesty you graced me with in sharing your
past. You are an amazing woman and you have a bright future before you. I can’t
claim to understand what you went through as a child, or even as an adult, but
I have enormous respect for you and the way you live your life. You are an
example of courage and determination to not let your past define you. And you
should never be embarrassed by the actions of others. It has no reflection on
you at all. Thank you for trusting me enough to let me in.
    We made it to base,
obviously, and now we are just waiting for orders. I have no idea exactly what
we will be doing here so I guess we just wait and see. Nothing like spending
the summer in the desert! LOL
    So today is the big