War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 456 This is the first time for a bar

The Ferraro weapons shop is not too big, and there are not many weapons in it, and at the position facing the gate, there is a blond woman in a leather apron and glasses who is using a carving knife in her hand. Something was carefully carved on a double-barreled shotgun.

In addition, there is a little boy who looks to be eight or nine years old in this weapons store, lying on the wooden floor and playing with some tin-cast soldier toys, simulating the confrontation before the battle.

"Is it Ms. Laura?" Will, the black man walking in the front, asked, "Ms. Laura Rafter?"

"Hello"

The woman who was busy behind the workbench raised her head, nodded first, then shook her head, "Laura Rafter was my name two years ago, and now my name is Laura Ferraro."

Having said that, Laura paused, and then asked tentatively, "Are you Tom's comrades in arms?"

"It is true"

Will glanced at the child who was still lying on the floor, dubbing the cannon fire, but he didn't know how to continue this topic.

Laura was silent for a moment, then pointed to the stairs leading to the second floor, "Come upstairs with me and have a chat."

"Ms. Laura, can I ask him to take care of the baby for me?" Marshall asked, pointing to the stroller with one hand and pointing to the little boy lying on the floor entertaining himself with the other.

"Pierce, how about locking the door and helping take care of the little guests in the stroller?" Laura asked loudly.

"No problem Mom! Leave it to me downstairs! I will definitely take care of this little guest!"

The little guy named Pierce made a promise like a little adult, and at the same time locked the door of the weapon store familiarly.

"He's Tom and I's child, Pierce." Laura explained as she led everyone up to the second floor.

When she got everyone a glass of juice, the scene fell silent, because neither of them knew how to speak or what to say.

In the end, it was Marshall who spoke first, explaining the relationship between everyone and Tom and what happened on the battlefield that year in detail.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Laura, but I'm the one who killed Tom," Marshall said finally. "If it wasn't some birthday party I wanted to throw, maybe Tom would."

"Don't think so"

Laura, who had been crying because of the sad incident, said quickly, "Marshall, don't think so, Tom won't blame you for this reason, and I won't blame you for this reason, whether I or Tom, we don't want to You carry on with the rest of your life with remorse."

Laura wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, tried to smile and said, "On the contrary, I am very grateful to you for allowing Tom to have so many friends on the battlefield. I believe he must have been very happy at that time."

"The time spent with him is also our happiest memory in Guam."

Wei Ran hesitated for a moment, pulled out the pistol from his waist that he had won by betting, turned the handle of the pistol and pushed it to Laura who was sitting opposite, "This is Tom's pistol, sorry for sending it back so late."

"This is the last work left by his father."

While speaking, Laura pointed to a small cursive engraving on the trigger guard and said, "The phrase 'God be with you' was engraved by me myself before he set off."

"Laura, and this"

Marshall also handed the plastic-sealed Bible that he had been holding in his hand to the other party, "This is also Tom's relic. He comforted many wounded on the battlefield with his faith in God, and also saved me."

Picking up the Bible, Laura gently stroked the two bullets that were still inlaid on it, but tears fell down like beads with a broken thread, wet the book that had already been stained with the blood of countless people. The transparent Bible also wet the 1911 pistol with complicated patterns.

"Laura, I still have a gift that Tom prepared for you when he was alive." Black Will said after deliberation, "But I'm not sure if it will scare you."

"To be precise, it's a gift that Marshall helped Tom prepare for you." Randy added on the side.

"What is it?" Laura asked, wiping away tears.

"It's a human skull"

Seeing that the people on the left and right were silent, Marshall could only explain himself, "Tom once said that you are a sculptor, and the most suitable gift he gave you might be a human skeleton, so I will use it."

Before Marshall could finish speaking, Laura shook her head, "I haven't made sculptures since Tom's death, and now I'm putting all my energy into this store and Pierce. However, that share Can I see the gift?"

"Of course! Of course!"

Before the words were finished, Will opened the satchel in a hurry, and took out the white head from inside.

Looking at the text left by Tom on the person's head, Laura seemed to have remembered something, and said with nostalgia in her tone, "His biggest hobby is usually going to the strip bar next door to fool around, although at most he is only drunk and sent Back, but it still makes me very concerned. If I had known that he would die on the battlefield, maybe I would have been more tolerant to him."

Wei Ran and the others couldn't help looking at each other, and couldn't help but think of the tattoo on Tom's butt again.

Sighing silently, Laura picked up the human head and deftly twirled it on her calloused fingertips like she was spinning a basketball, then accurately threw it into the satchel next to Will, "Although this is a gift prepared by Tom for me, if possible, please take it away. After all, Pierce is still young and our house is also small. I am worried that it will scare him."

"give it to me"

Marshall took the initiative to say, "My place is big enough, I will keep it well, Laura, if you need this thing someday, you can contact me at any time."

"Then I will trouble you"

Laura picked up the Bible and pistol on the table, "I will keep these two things forever. Marshall, Will, Randy and Victor, thank you for sending these things back."

"Thank you for your willingness to forgive us," Marshall said sincerely.

"Tom just did what he was supposed to do, and you did what you were supposed to do, so don't feel guilty."

Laura wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes again, but then got up and ran into the bathroom and closed the door. Not long after, suppressed crying came from inside.Obviously, even though more than a year had passed, Tom's death was still a bad news that she couldn't mind.

"It's time for us to leave," the black Will said, and then he was the first to stand up.

Hearing this, everyone got up one after another and followed Will back to the first floor.

Hanging the satchel in his hand on the armrest of the stroller casually, Marshall knelt down and waved to Tom's son Pierce. When he ran over, he reached out and took out an A natural gold nugget the size of an egg was handed over to the other party.

Ignoring Randy's staring eyes, Marshall said gently, "Good boy, this is a gift from your father Tom. After we leave, you lock the door again and give it to you How is your mother?"

Pierce looked at the heavy gold nugget in his hand, then nodded seriously, "I will do as you said."

"I'll see you later when I have time"

Marshall, who was half kneeling on the floor, saluted Pierce with high spirits. After getting a response from the little guy holding a gold nugget, he stood up, pushed the baby carriage and left the Ferraro weapons store, and went straight After Pierce locked the door again, he walked towards the jeep parked in the distance.

"Marshall, was that gold just now?" Randy asked dully.

"Isn't it gold, is it shit?"

Marshall seemed to have returned to his unscrupulous attitude in Guam, and said as he walked, "Remember when I said that I found a piece of gold the size of a hand grenade in a tributary of the Mississippi River?"

"Remember" Randy seemed to remember something, "You also said that when you woke up, Ji Nu had already taken your wallet."

"That idiot woman did take my wallet," Marshall said with a smug smile, "but she forgot to take the gold nuggets from my safe."

"So what you said was true?" Randy asked belatedly, "You really found a gold mine?!"

"There's no such thing as a good thing"

Marshall explained with a smile, "I just found that piece of gold from a sunken car when I was hunting near the Mississippi River. I also joined the army so that I would not be suspected that the piece of gold ran into my hands, but Unexpectedly, I lost too many things on the battlefield that are far more precious than that piece of gold."

"You should be content," Randy said, holding Marshall's shoulders. "At least you know our friends, don't you?"

Marshall looked back at the weapons store on the corner of the street, and then nodded vigorously, "It is indeed like what you said, but I don't know whether that war caused me to lose more, or let me gain more. many."

"About this question, I'm afraid even God can't tell."

Will pointed to the strip bar across the street, "Should we go for a drink? For this day, Randy paid a lot of money to go there."

“Really time for a drink”

Marshall said, pretending to take out a children's eye patch with Mickey Mouse printed on it from the sundry bag of the stroller, and put it on the little guy lying in it, "But he's not ready to watch the strip show yet, and I Hopefully the bartender will serve this little guy hot milk today."

"You fooled the baby as badly as you fooled God," Randy said angrily.

"I'm taking care of him very seriously." Marshall proudly pushed the stroller across the road and said, "And I have a hunch that this little guy will definitely become a good bastard like me in the future."

"That was truly the greatest disaster in American history."

Randy sighed pretentiously, and then everyone laughed heartily at the same time,
Going to a strip club is definitely a new experience for Wei Ran, but even for an old fritter like Randy, it is definitely the first time to go to a strip club with a friend who is pushing a stroller.

Of course, for those dancers standing next to the pole waiting to perform, the little guy wearing blindfolds but using a 1911 pistol as a toy is definitely the youngest guest they have ever received in their careers—— Even if he couldn't see anything because he was wearing a blindfold.

Since there were so many first-timers, this bar that was reserved by Randy naturally didn't mind preparing a bottle of absolutely non-alcoholic warm milk for the youngest guest, Mr. Brown.

Leave the job of feeding the little ones to what Marshall and Randy agree is the ugliest dancer.

The four of them sat on the sofa and chatted about their experiences while admiring the dancers who had never twisted their bodies under such soothing music.

"Are all your white strippers this elegant?"

Will drank most of the glass of beer in one gulp, "It's the first time I know that a white girl can perform a striptease with the accompaniment of Bach's minuet."

"Aren't you worried about disturbing our Mr. Brown?" Randy pointed helplessly at the little baby who was surrounded by two scantily clad dancers in the distance, "That little bastard is really happy."

"Mr. bartender, please bring a bottle of milk to Randy, remember to use a bottle with a nipple." Marshall joked happily.

"I didn't book this place to drink milk." Randy picked up the glass angrily, "I was worried that you were not doing well."

"On the contrary, I'm doing fine."

Marshall held up his glass and said, "I went back to Texas and my grandfather died last year and he left me his farm. What about you? What are you doing now?"

"After retiring, I went to the shipyard in Houston," Randy said gloomily, "now I'm a welder."

"I remember you wanted to be a doctor?" Wei Ran asked in surprise.

"I still want to be the president of the United States. Who would have thought that that idiot Truman would take my position."

Randy made a self-deprecating joke, and finally said with a bitter face, "I tried to be a doctor, but there are too many things to learn, so after two days of thinking, I still think that a welder may be more suitable for me."

"What about you?" Wei Ran turned to look at Will, "Are you still a music teacher?"

"No, no, no, I'm the pastor of our local church now." Speaking of this, Will seemed to remember something, reached out and took out a cardboard box and handed it to Wei Ran, "Victor, I hope you didn't Forget our original bet, this is the harmonica I owe you."

"It's rare that you still remember." Wei Ran took the box handed over by the other party dumbfounded.

"What about you?" Marshall looked at Wei Ran, "What are you doing now?"

"Photographer?" Randy pressed, "I remember you saying you wanted to be a photographer".

"I'm really a photographer now." Wei Ran scratched his head, "I should have brought a camera."

"Mr. Victor, we have a camera here, can I borrow it from you?"

The bartender who came over with a glass of milk asked politely, and then said to Randy, "This is your milk, sorry, we don't have a bottle with a pacifier here, but if you want to wait, you can wait until Mr. Brown finishes using it. "

"Thank you, I'll just drink it."

Randy couldn't help but refuse the bartender who was also teasing him, "By the way, bring the camera and take a group photo for us."

"Remember to keep those pretty girls standing behind us," Marshall reminded, holding a glass.

(End of this chapter)