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Captain D.T. Thomas got a phone call and could not believe what he was hearing.
“That's a strange commission,” he said. “They are offering Ludlow a specialized case manager position with the mental health wing at the Veteran's Lodge? With his kill record? What's he going to do: scare people into therapy?”
“That's more Col. Lee's speed,” the person talking with him said, “but that's just the thing. Neither of them have killed anybody for almost a year – so it must be working and it takes one to know one. None of us are listening to these civilians who don't know what kill or be killed as a life situation is.”
“Well, I guess Ludlow is qualified if you look at it that way,” Capt. Thomas said. “What all is he supposed to be doing?”
“I think he may be taking over basically the wellness check bit – glorified accountability partner, basically.”
“Oh, well, that might work, too,” Capt. Thomas said. “One thing about Ludlow: he was accountable to our superiors and accountable to his unit. I respect him. I just cannot stand that personality!”
“Yeah, he is a character – as dramatic as that big voice lets him be.”
“Not that, although that's actually how he got away with the stuff he pulled that made my life harder – while being accountable to our superiors he also somehow convinced them that they had better be accountable for their decisions as well – he should be a colonel, but he ticked off so many people that they would not promote him, but then he was right, so they didn't muster him out … and just took out how they could not cope with him on the rest of us because not promoting him jammed up every other promotion behind him. I should have been a major ten years ago!”
“Yeah, that has to be annoying.”
“It's not really his fault, though – I need to be fair to him,” Capt. Thomas said. “But what I cannot get over was how he let it be known he was glad about it because he loved being a captain and this was the best punishment ever – but the rest of us didn't want that!”
“But you know old 'Hell to Pay' Ludlow is crazy! Remember that time in Afghanistan when he jumped a whole armored vehicle over the enemy's lines and fought his way back toward us?”
“The ones who were not crushed did not even comprehend what they had just seen,” Capt. Thomas said, “so he and his crew just had their way. Crazy like a fox!”
“But that's the thing. It's a strange commission until you get that it takes one to know one. Ludlow is mental, and so is Lee, which is why Lee mans the backup suicide help line which is really what majors, colonels, and generals want to call first, and Ludlow can go gather up these lieutenants and non-commissioned officers. When you are certifiable, but you are living a good life in the full freedom instead of a strait jacket, you're the person that needs to be helping people get to the same state in terms of walking alongside them.”
“That man is going to have me restart my appointments just so I can get over there and see what is going on!” Capt. Thomas said.
“It's not a bad idea!”
Capt. Thomas did exactly that … meanwhile, the supposed tenor on the other end of the line that Capt. Thomas assumed was a particular old friend laughed all the way back down into his natural basso profondo.
“You thought I was going to leave you out there, Doubting Thomas,” Capt. Ludlow said to the quiet phone. “Never – not on my watch!”
“You know,” ten-year-old Andrew Ludlow said to his best friend eleven-year-old Velma Trent from next door, “Papa is not getting paid yet, but I think he loves his new job!”
“Well, he gets to use all the voices that fit inside his own, so that's a perk,” Velma said. “Pop-Pop as a billionaire has done this to people as a baritone for years because baritone is between bass and tenor, and has taught all of us: make sure you identify whoever you are on the phone with, because people will be sounding like, telling you, and having you do anything out here!”
Interesting
Thank you for reading!
Hey ! How can I possibly contact you ? Are you on discord?
Yes, I am on Discord ... I'm deeanndmathews over there too.