Pretty Papaya #2
It would have been pitch black in the room if it weren’t for the light that crept through the tiny crack between the metal door and the floor. Katie sat there, eyes closed, knees against her chest, her back supported by the corner of two cold, wet stone walls. She stopped shivering a while ago. She hadn’t eaten anything but stale bread for weeks so shivering would require too much energy. Now she just twitched from time to time.
Despite the hunger and the cold, wet stone walls surrounding her, all Katie kept thinking was how much she wanted a cigarette. She put her fingers up to her lips as if she was holding a cigarette and took in a long drag of air. This is what comforted her; this is what made it all go away.
How did this happen? This wasn’t supposed to happen. If she had just listened to him, if she had just listened, she would be off at college like her friends… going to parties…. meeting lots of cute boys… sitting on the beach sipping margaritas during spring break…. or even if she didn’t go to college and got a full time job, she could be lying in her warm, soft bed at home, with her golden retriever Lucky lying by her feet.
But no, Katie couldn’t listen to him. She had to decide her future, not him. Her father Michael did not control her life; she did. That is why she took up smoking, because her father didn’t want her too. He also wanted her to go to college. Therefore she didn’t want to go. And when she purposefully failed to send in her college applications her senior year in high school, and he found out, he became unbearable to live with. Only if her mother Barbara were alive she could fix the situation. She always found a compromise that Michael and Katie could accept when they disagreed. But she was dead for almost two years by the time Katie was a senior in high school. So there were no more compromises.
By the time June rolled around her senior year, Katie’s father gave her a choice: find a job or apply to a community college with no application deadline. Otherwise she would have to find another place to live. Forced to make a decision, she came up with a great idea. Katie’s dad was drafted into the Army at 18 and was shipped off to fight in the Red War. He never really talked about it; whenever Katie asked about his experience, all he would say is that all she needed to know was that that was a life experience that he never would wish on her. At this point, the Army sounded like a good option for Katie. Not only did her father not like it, she could move away, get a living wage and travel the world. And with no war going on, she was not very likely to experience any life threatening situations.
It was a Saturday that Katie left for boot camp. She didn’t tell her father until early that morning that she had joined the Army. When she told him, fear overcame Michael’s face. He started crying and grabbed his daughter by the shoulders. “Honey, please tell me you didn’t. Please tell me you didn’t.” She pulled her herself back. Trying to act confident in the face of her father even though she felt unsure inside, she said, “I did and there is nothing you can do about it…” Katie’s words trailed off as she became startled by the beeping of a car horn.
“That’s for me dad. Bye,” Katie said abruptly as she turned her back to him and went to pick up her bags.
“Wait Katie; please don’t do this to me. I lost your mother; I cannot stand to lose you too. Please…” Michael said through the tears he could not hold back.
Michael’s words struck a cord in Katie’s heart. She choked trying to hold back tears, and walked quickly out of the house. As she walked down the porch she repeated herself, “There’s nothing you can do about it now.” This time she was less sure about her words.
Katie got a hold of herself as she put her bags in the trunk. Her dad watched from the doorway. “Don’t worry, we’re not at war. Five years and I am done,” she said with assurance. She opened the passenger side door to the recruiter’s car.
Michael, getting a hold of himself, said, “Katie, I love you.” Katie wanted to tell her dad she loved him too and that she would miss him, but she was mad at her father for making her feel this way with his words. With a mixture of sadness and anger, Katie responded, “I love you too dad,” and slammed the car door.
“Let’s go. Please,” Katie said to the recruiter and they left.
Six months later, the Russians invaded. They were at war. Katie was shipped out right way.
That was almost three years ago. Now Katie was sitting in a holding cell, all alone.
…
A sudden BANG forced Katie to become alert to her surroundings again. Then she heard a long, annoying screeching noise as the door slowly opened. She put her hands over her ears and covered her face with her legs.
When the door was finally opened, Katie felt a breathe of fresh air sweep across her body. When she looked up she had to semi-cover her eyes with her hands in order to adjust to the light. She saw a blurry image of a solider standing in front of her. He said in a stern voice and a thick Russian accent, “Get UP.” Katie struggled to get to her feet. Immediately after she barely got her balance, the solider grabbed her right arm and forced her to walk forward. The pain in her calves was unbearable. It was as if her joints were as rusty as the door hinges.
After a short walk down a hall that smelled like gun powder, they came to a tiny room lit only by a fluorescent lamp. There was a table with two chairs in the middle of the room. The solider threw Katie into one of the chairs. She had never been so happy to sit down.
“Can I have a cigarette,” Katie whispered.
“What?” the solider said.
“Can I have a cigarette?”
“If you answer my commander’s questions, I will give you a cigarette.”
Katie put her head down. The solider just stood there. Katie figured they were waiting for his commander.
A feeling of complete hopelessness finally overcame Katie. Tears started slowly streaming down her face, collecting the dirt that her face collected over the past couple of weeks in the cell. Then she started thinking about her father and became very angry. But she wasn’t angry at her father this time. She was angry at herself. There was a reason her father made decisions for her. It was because she was a child; children do not know how to make the right decisions for themselves, that is why their parents do it for them, and that is why Katie’s father did it for her.
If she had only listened to her father, none of this would have happened. She wouldn’t have joined the army, she wouldn’t have ignored her commander when he told her to stay alert, she wouldn’t have fell asleep on guard duty, her unit would have never been captured and she wouldn’t be in that room wearing a torn, bloody army uniform that smelled like dirt, feces and urine.
She kept thinking, “Why didn’t I listen, why didn’t I listen?” Right at that moment, she knew she needed her father more than any other moment in her life. She didn’t know how to get out the situation she was in. She never wanted so badly for her father to make a decision for her.
All of a sudden there was screaming and running down the hallway.
“RUN!!!!!!!!!” is all she heard.
The next thing she remembered was darkness and lying on the floor. She looked around and saw the guard on the floor as well. She figured some sort of an explosion occurred, but it didn’t matter. She needed to escape. She slowly got up and took the gun off the soldier’s belt. She went to the door and looked down the hallway. She couldn’t see anything except rubble and smoke. She slowly started walking out the door, pressing her back against the wall as she walked down the hallway.
As Katie walked down the hallway, she began to hear a faint sound that resembled a child crying. She followed the sound. She turned the corner, and saw a solider standing in a room pointing a machine gun at a little girl. The little girl was maybe five or six, and was undernourished. The solider was whispering to the little girl in a low voice but Katie couldn’t understand him.
What Katie didn’t understand was him saying, “Shut up, they’re going to find us. I’ll shoot you if you don’t shut up.” This made the little girl even more scared. Katie raised her gun, pointed it at the man and shot him dead. The little girl screamed.
Katie put her gun down and ran into the room. The little girl kept screaming, so Katie put her arms around her, kissed her hair and said slowly in a motherly voice, “Everything is going to be alright… everything is going to be alright.” And even though the little girl did not know what Katie was saying, she knew by the tone of her voice that Katie was her friend. She threw her arms around Katie’s shoulders and Katie carried her out of the building.
Right outside the building they found rescue. One of the members of Katie's unit escaped the raid the night Katie fell asleep on duty, and sent for back up when they found out where Katie was being held.
Katie and the little girl got into an army truck headed towards base. The driver of the truck asked Katie if she wanted a cigarette. She looked at the little girl and then looked back. “I quit,” Katie said.
As Katie and the little girl were driving back to base, the little girl never let go of Katie. This was the first time in her life that she knew what it felt like for someone to depend on her. This is the first time in her life that she knew what it felt like to be responsible to make decisions for someone else. Even as a solider she never decided to take on the responsibility of another person. This is was defining moment in her life.
After they got back to the base, they tried to locate the little girl’s parents and family. They found out that her name was Olga Stanislav and her parents were killed in a raid earlier that month. She had no known living relatives so one Russian soldier, feeling pity for her, took care of her until he was killed in the explosion the day Katie and Olga were rescued. Katie’s unit granted her permission to take care of Olga until the war was over. Katie and Olga became inseparable.
Four months later the war ended. Olga was re-assigned to a desk job in the base by her father's house and given an apartment on the base.
An international adoption organization helped Katie adopt Olga. They flew home together.
….
Katie stood with Olga at her father’s front door. She hadn’t seen him in over three years. Sure, she talked to him on the phone after she was rescued and told him how sorry she was. But this was different. She would get to look him in the eye, tell him that he was right, how sorry she was, and thank him for being such a great father.
She pointed at Olga and said, “Doorbell.” Olga repeated in a Russian accent, “Doorbell.” Olga pressed it and her father came to the door. As soon as he opened the door, they began to cry and embraced.
When they were done, Katie looked at Olga, and said, “Olga, this is your new grandpa. Grandpa.” Olga repeated, “Grandpa.” The Katie looked at her dad. “Dad, this is Olga.” Then she started crying again and said, “I know I still have some growing up to do, but I wouldn’t be half the person I am today without you. I just hope that one day I am half the parent you were.” He smiled and said in a silly voice, “I know you will be a great mother. You’re my daughter, I wouldn’t expect any less.” They both laughed and all three of them went inside.
Despite the hunger and the cold, wet stone walls surrounding her, all Katie kept thinking was how much she wanted a cigarette. She put her fingers up to her lips as if she was holding a cigarette and took in a long drag of air. This is what comforted her; this is what made it all go away.
How did this happen? This wasn’t supposed to happen. If she had just listened to him, if she had just listened, she would be off at college like her friends… going to parties…. meeting lots of cute boys… sitting on the beach sipping margaritas during spring break…. or even if she didn’t go to college and got a full time job, she could be lying in her warm, soft bed at home, with her golden retriever Lucky lying by her feet.
But no, Katie couldn’t listen to him. She had to decide her future, not him. Her father Michael did not control her life; she did. That is why she took up smoking, because her father didn’t want her too. He also wanted her to go to college. Therefore she didn’t want to go. And when she purposefully failed to send in her college applications her senior year in high school, and he found out, he became unbearable to live with. Only if her mother Barbara were alive she could fix the situation. She always found a compromise that Michael and Katie could accept when they disagreed. But she was dead for almost two years by the time Katie was a senior in high school. So there were no more compromises.
By the time June rolled around her senior year, Katie’s father gave her a choice: find a job or apply to a community college with no application deadline. Otherwise she would have to find another place to live. Forced to make a decision, she came up with a great idea. Katie’s dad was drafted into the Army at 18 and was shipped off to fight in the Red War. He never really talked about it; whenever Katie asked about his experience, all he would say is that all she needed to know was that that was a life experience that he never would wish on her. At this point, the Army sounded like a good option for Katie. Not only did her father not like it, she could move away, get a living wage and travel the world. And with no war going on, she was not very likely to experience any life threatening situations.
It was a Saturday that Katie left for boot camp. She didn’t tell her father until early that morning that she had joined the Army. When she told him, fear overcame Michael’s face. He started crying and grabbed his daughter by the shoulders. “Honey, please tell me you didn’t. Please tell me you didn’t.” She pulled her herself back. Trying to act confident in the face of her father even though she felt unsure inside, she said, “I did and there is nothing you can do about it…” Katie’s words trailed off as she became startled by the beeping of a car horn.
“That’s for me dad. Bye,” Katie said abruptly as she turned her back to him and went to pick up her bags.
“Wait Katie; please don’t do this to me. I lost your mother; I cannot stand to lose you too. Please…” Michael said through the tears he could not hold back.
Michael’s words struck a cord in Katie’s heart. She choked trying to hold back tears, and walked quickly out of the house. As she walked down the porch she repeated herself, “There’s nothing you can do about it now.” This time she was less sure about her words.
Katie got a hold of herself as she put her bags in the trunk. Her dad watched from the doorway. “Don’t worry, we’re not at war. Five years and I am done,” she said with assurance. She opened the passenger side door to the recruiter’s car.
Michael, getting a hold of himself, said, “Katie, I love you.” Katie wanted to tell her dad she loved him too and that she would miss him, but she was mad at her father for making her feel this way with his words. With a mixture of sadness and anger, Katie responded, “I love you too dad,” and slammed the car door.
“Let’s go. Please,” Katie said to the recruiter and they left.
Six months later, the Russians invaded. They were at war. Katie was shipped out right way.
That was almost three years ago. Now Katie was sitting in a holding cell, all alone.
…
A sudden BANG forced Katie to become alert to her surroundings again. Then she heard a long, annoying screeching noise as the door slowly opened. She put her hands over her ears and covered her face with her legs.
When the door was finally opened, Katie felt a breathe of fresh air sweep across her body. When she looked up she had to semi-cover her eyes with her hands in order to adjust to the light. She saw a blurry image of a solider standing in front of her. He said in a stern voice and a thick Russian accent, “Get UP.” Katie struggled to get to her feet. Immediately after she barely got her balance, the solider grabbed her right arm and forced her to walk forward. The pain in her calves was unbearable. It was as if her joints were as rusty as the door hinges.
After a short walk down a hall that smelled like gun powder, they came to a tiny room lit only by a fluorescent lamp. There was a table with two chairs in the middle of the room. The solider threw Katie into one of the chairs. She had never been so happy to sit down.
“Can I have a cigarette,” Katie whispered.
“What?” the solider said.
“Can I have a cigarette?”
“If you answer my commander’s questions, I will give you a cigarette.”
Katie put her head down. The solider just stood there. Katie figured they were waiting for his commander.
A feeling of complete hopelessness finally overcame Katie. Tears started slowly streaming down her face, collecting the dirt that her face collected over the past couple of weeks in the cell. Then she started thinking about her father and became very angry. But she wasn’t angry at her father this time. She was angry at herself. There was a reason her father made decisions for her. It was because she was a child; children do not know how to make the right decisions for themselves, that is why their parents do it for them, and that is why Katie’s father did it for her.
If she had only listened to her father, none of this would have happened. She wouldn’t have joined the army, she wouldn’t have ignored her commander when he told her to stay alert, she wouldn’t have fell asleep on guard duty, her unit would have never been captured and she wouldn’t be in that room wearing a torn, bloody army uniform that smelled like dirt, feces and urine.
She kept thinking, “Why didn’t I listen, why didn’t I listen?” Right at that moment, she knew she needed her father more than any other moment in her life. She didn’t know how to get out the situation she was in. She never wanted so badly for her father to make a decision for her.
All of a sudden there was screaming and running down the hallway.
“RUN!!!!!!!!!” is all she heard.
The next thing she remembered was darkness and lying on the floor. She looked around and saw the guard on the floor as well. She figured some sort of an explosion occurred, but it didn’t matter. She needed to escape. She slowly got up and took the gun off the soldier’s belt. She went to the door and looked down the hallway. She couldn’t see anything except rubble and smoke. She slowly started walking out the door, pressing her back against the wall as she walked down the hallway.
As Katie walked down the hallway, she began to hear a faint sound that resembled a child crying. She followed the sound. She turned the corner, and saw a solider standing in a room pointing a machine gun at a little girl. The little girl was maybe five or six, and was undernourished. The solider was whispering to the little girl in a low voice but Katie couldn’t understand him.
What Katie didn’t understand was him saying, “Shut up, they’re going to find us. I’ll shoot you if you don’t shut up.” This made the little girl even more scared. Katie raised her gun, pointed it at the man and shot him dead. The little girl screamed.
Katie put her gun down and ran into the room. The little girl kept screaming, so Katie put her arms around her, kissed her hair and said slowly in a motherly voice, “Everything is going to be alright… everything is going to be alright.” And even though the little girl did not know what Katie was saying, she knew by the tone of her voice that Katie was her friend. She threw her arms around Katie’s shoulders and Katie carried her out of the building.
Right outside the building they found rescue. One of the members of Katie's unit escaped the raid the night Katie fell asleep on duty, and sent for back up when they found out where Katie was being held.
Katie and the little girl got into an army truck headed towards base. The driver of the truck asked Katie if she wanted a cigarette. She looked at the little girl and then looked back. “I quit,” Katie said.
As Katie and the little girl were driving back to base, the little girl never let go of Katie. This was the first time in her life that she knew what it felt like for someone to depend on her. This is the first time in her life that she knew what it felt like to be responsible to make decisions for someone else. Even as a solider she never decided to take on the responsibility of another person. This is was defining moment in her life.
After they got back to the base, they tried to locate the little girl’s parents and family. They found out that her name was Olga Stanislav and her parents were killed in a raid earlier that month. She had no known living relatives so one Russian soldier, feeling pity for her, took care of her until he was killed in the explosion the day Katie and Olga were rescued. Katie’s unit granted her permission to take care of Olga until the war was over. Katie and Olga became inseparable.
Four months later the war ended. Olga was re-assigned to a desk job in the base by her father's house and given an apartment on the base.
An international adoption organization helped Katie adopt Olga. They flew home together.
….
Katie stood with Olga at her father’s front door. She hadn’t seen him in over three years. Sure, she talked to him on the phone after she was rescued and told him how sorry she was. But this was different. She would get to look him in the eye, tell him that he was right, how sorry she was, and thank him for being such a great father.
She pointed at Olga and said, “Doorbell.” Olga repeated in a Russian accent, “Doorbell.” Olga pressed it and her father came to the door. As soon as he opened the door, they began to cry and embraced.
When they were done, Katie looked at Olga, and said, “Olga, this is your new grandpa. Grandpa.” Olga repeated, “Grandpa.” The Katie looked at her dad. “Dad, this is Olga.” Then she started crying again and said, “I know I still have some growing up to do, but I wouldn’t be half the person I am today without you. I just hope that one day I am half the parent you were.” He smiled and said in a silly voice, “I know you will be a great mother. You’re my daughter, I wouldn’t expect any less.” They both laughed and all three of them went inside.
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