Free Off to War by Deborah Ellis Page A

constantly. He maybe mentioned the deployments once, and that was it. It was just the fact that we could hang out, that I knew that he got what was going on. It made my head feel clear again, not stale and down, and made me want to go to school again and do things.
    We made a new routine when Dad left, and found new things to do. We couldn’t just do the old things, because whenever we did, Dad wouldn’t be there and we’d really feel that. It would have taken us down. I had new chores, and I did stuff with my sister, like walking her to school and picking her up from daycare. Some Sundays we would go to church. We just made a new routine, and we stuck with it, and we were able to get through it.
    Malia — We sent Daddy packages. If it was up to me, I’d send him a package every day. My mom set out a box, and every time I made something I wanted to give to my dad, I would put it in the box. When the box got full, we would send it to him. I sent him pictures and school work.
    I also did a book with my class in first grade. It’s all about our dads being in the army. There’s a picture of all the kids in the class, and I remember their names. We wrote a whole book, with stories and pictures.
    Dahshan — I got really into music when Dad left. I started listening to all kinds, a lot of hip-hop and jazz. I started making my own music, too, rap songs.
    Malia — Dahshan draws, too. He draws really good, lots of different kinds of things. And he’s teaching me to play the trumpet.
    Dahshan — Dad came home on leave just in time for Malia’s birthday. Then he had to go back again. He hadn’t wanted to come home because he knew how hard it would be for everybody when he left again. It was hard for him, too, because he got away from Iraq, then he had to go back there again.
    He came home for good in January. It was really heaven at first. Then after a month or so, it came back to normal. Our old routine came back and our lives were good and normal again.
    My dad’s really good at bouncing back. I know it must have been really difficult for him over there, but he worked hard at being the same guy when he came back as he was when he left.
    Malia — He was very the same. He is a good role model and so is my mother and so is my brother.
    Dahshan — Dad wasn’t going to war-war. He was in the war, but he was kind of just doing paperwork. He was treating prisoners at Camp Bucca. There were a lot of riots there, but it was more like a fire drill, not like the riots you see on TV with a bunch of people running around. It was more like a cultural protest than an actual riot. But still it must have been difficult. He made a huge effort not to allow the things he saw and did affect him at home. He was real conscious of that. He thought a lot beforehand on how to separate what he was doing from his life with the family.
    Malia — He’s a really fun dad.
    Dahshan — He doesn’t have to go back to Iraq, but they’re sending him to Korea next. It won’t be dangerous like Iraq. There’s no war there. He’s just going to live there for awhile. We’re staying here in Fort Bragg.
    Malia — We’re going to make a new routine. And I’m going to try to write the routine down, and write about our lives so Daddy will know what we’re doing while he’s away.
    I’m not going to join the army when I get bigger. I’m going to be a movie director and a teacher. I’d enjoy both those things. There’s too much work in the army.
    Dahshan — I’m not joining the army, either. Right now I’m at a really weird stage, because I’m really good at the music thing I’m doing, and I’m really good at art, too, so I don’t know what I’m going to continue with. I could do both, but I’d like for me to have just one destiny, just for me to be stable, so I can direct my focus. I’m not really very