Read Online Broken Road by Mari Beck - Free Book Online Page B

wanted to talk to him.   Then when he did remember, he wanted to forget it. After a few more minutes of staring out of the window the stewardess approached him.
    “Hi.” She said softly.   Riley turned to her and she smiled.   He wondered if she knew who he was.   He couldn’t help wondering that if he had been anybody else, he would have been kicked off long ago.  
    “They’re waiting for you.” She said. His heart sank but he wasn’t surprised.   She knew who he was after all.   Maybe the clothes hadn’t done as much for him as he had thought.  
    “Really?” he asked her.
    “I guess they’ve been here for hours.” She said.
    “Oh.”
      The plane had been delayed in Atlanta for more than three hours due to a rain deluge that blanketed the city and grounded all air traffic.   But it was obvious, Riley thought sadly, that the rain never made it back to Nebraska.   There wasn’t a drop of moisture or a hint of clouds anywhere.   Nothing but clear blue sky and a bright, hot sun.   Dammit , he thought.   He started to get up but she made no real effort to move out of his way.   She seemed nervous. So, he stood there half sitting half standing unsure as to what he should do next. That’s when she finally spoke.
    “I. . .I. . .just wanted to say that it has been a pleasure to serve you during this flight.   I didn’t want to bother you during the flight, but I just wanted to say how touched I was by what you did.   My brother is serving in Iraq. I’d like to think that if something happened to him, that someone would do for him what you did for the other solider. What you did . . .well, it was just so brave.   I mean. . .you could have died but you went back and you. . . well, it was incredible and I wanted to let you know.”
    Riley made an effort to smile.   This wasn’t the first time he’d been stopped by someone. He was never quite sure what he should say because he really didn’t want to talk about his own story.   He just mostly wanted the whole thing to go away.   But what could he do?   He had been involuntarily immortalized and frozen in time in a photograph taken at the precise moment he would have done anything to escape from the hell that surrounded him.   But instead the opposite had occurred.   He had been shoved up and out onto the world stage. He couldn’t go anywhere without someone knowing his name or alluding to what he had done.   He had become the poster boy for some patriotic movement that swept the country and forced him into the spotlight, something he had tried to avoid his entire life.   Now there was no escaping it.   The stewardess still stood there, tears glistening in her eyes, her little American flag lapel pin shining in the bright sunlight coming throw the window seat.   Riley attempted a smile again and said what he said to everyone that stopped him.
    “Thank you.” He said and this time as he moved toward the aisle the stewardess moved out of the way to let him pass.   He opened the top luggage bin and took out his duffel bag.   He made his way to the front of the plane and turned to exit.   He heard it as soon as he stepped into the light.   The roar of the crowd and the loud rhythmic oom pa pas of the local high school band threw themselves at him.   There were hundreds of people surrounding the little plane, some holding signs of welcome, others holding children who were holding signs of welcome and some with his name and the words A Real American Hero spelled out in magic marker and glitter glue.   People were waving their arms at him and there was a flash frenzy as people strained to take his picture with their cell phones and digital cameras.   The high school band started in on their rendition of Lee Greenwood’s ‘God Bless The U.S.A.’ while a group of school children released red, white, and blue balloons.   Riley just stood there.   It was surreal and it was the last thing he wanted.   But if he had learned anything over