Read Online Under a Dark Summer Sky by Vanessa Lafaye - Free Book Online Page B

alongside these men, who had shown themselves capable of extreme violence over the pettiest excuse.
    â€œYou can go fuck yourself, Henry Roberts,” Two-Step said with lazy insolence. “You ain’t in charge of us.” When he was bayoneted in the Argonne Forest, Two-Step had pulled the blade from his body and stabbed it straight into the German’s mouth. He and his crew would sooner shoot themselves in the head than take orders from a black officer.
    This was too much for Lemuel. “Now, Two-Step, that ain’t the way to talk to a officer.” Lemuel flicked through the Bible that accompanied him everywhere, including into combat, where it had proved its worth. The stained leather cover was scored with the indentation from a bullet. Lemuel’s quotations, however, usually confused rather than illuminated. “Ecclesiastes tell us, Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might .”
    â€œShut up, you fat baboon,” said Milos Dubcek. One of Two-Step’s crew, he was a large man with a surprisingly delicate constitution, which had earned him the nickname Sick Bay. He slammed the book shut. “All I know is we gonna have us a good time tonight, ain’t we, boys?” And he rubbed his crotch with meaningful slowness.
    Henry caught a sideways glance from Franklin’s one eye. Franklin had been a carpenter in Pennsylvania before he enlisted; now he spent his free time carving delicate sculptures of birds and animals from driftwood. Henry had carried him from the battlefield when Franklin lost an eye in a grenade attack. The scarred socket itched when he was nervous. Franklin scratched at it now.
    Two-Step leaned back in his chair, hands linked behind his head. This was not the first time he had gotten in the way. Henry had met many like him in the army, both white and colored, men just out for what they could get. Even among the hard cases in the camp, Two-Step had a reputation for calculated, cunning brutality. His frequent stays in the federal pen had made him an artist of manipulation and subterfuge. Henry avoided him as much as possible, but there had been inevitable clashes, some petty and others not. I should walk away, just walk away. As he had done so many times in the past.
    But an unfamiliar feeling crept up on him: the feeling that something mattered. He thought again of the little white girl on the beach. He could easily imagine the kind of evening that Two-Step and his crew had in mind. Resolve solidified inside him. Even if it was only for one night, he was determined they would behave like men. He held Two-Step’s cold gaze while making fast calculations of weight, angle, and speed. The silence in the tent rang with anticipation.
    Henry saw his chance and pushed hard on Two-Step’s chair. The man went over on his back, limbs flailing. Before he could react, Henry’s boot was on his neck with almost enough pressure to crush his windpipe, but not quite. Franklin grappled with his thrashing legs.
    Pale eyes bulged up at Henry, lips bared across a mouthful of ocher teeth. “Help me, boys!” gasped the prone Two-Step. “Help me!”
    No one moved.
    â€œNow listen to me!” Henry said. “Those of you not from Florida won’t be familiar with our giant cockroaches. They get BIG down here.” Two-Step squirmed under his boot just like an insect. “The only way to deal with them is to stomp on ’em. Hard.”
    Quiet chuckles flickered around the room. Henry did not turn his head to look. He knew he would pay for this at some point. Two-Step could not let this insult go unpunished. But he didn’t care. “So I say again: all the human beings should be ready at 1700 hours to march into town, and I do mean march . Then we’re gonna have ourselves a civilized evening with the other humans. And you know why?” He scanned the faces, one at a time. They had come here from every part of the country, joined