la Legion d'Abraham - Remembrance of a Summer's Day

Independent piece on the la Legion d'Abraham story about a war reporter's cheerful memory of a time before the war.

It had started to rain again. The black drops drummed against the window in a sad symphony. And he looked out, trying to see beyond the black clouds, trying to envision how the sky once was; crisp blue and beautiful. Days like this made you think. It made you stop doing whatever it was you were doing, and think. Was it all worthwhile? He knew the same question raced through hundreds, maybe thousands of soldiers out there, looking up at the same sky wishing it would clear. Maybe that’s what I should write about, instead of dreary war report meant to inspirit the soldiers. He couldn’t even remember when he last stopped and smelled the flowers, when he felt the sun shine on his face, or even how the chirpings of birds sounded. It all felt distant, unreal somehow, as if those days had been a dream and that the days he now experienced was the only reality there ever was.

 

 

Do you remember when the first sprouts heralded the coming of spring? When the gees returned from winter, flying far above, screaming in delight? Do you remember how the streets crowded with bare skinned people, eager to cherish summer after a lengthy winter? Do you remember the smell of a freshly baked pie?

Do you remember…?

 

For me it’s all a distant haze with no strong memories of neither. It’s all bits and pieces of a whole. Last night I thought I smelled caramelized baked apples coming from outside, then I thought it smelled rhubarb pie, and then it hit me that I wasn’t sure how either smelled. My sense of taste and my memory of it were in complete disarray, unable to cooperate.

 

I started thinking, what is the last cheerful memory I have of the world pre-war? And one memory popped into mind. I was fifteen years old, I had spiked hair and a cocky attitude, and I felt myself immortal, better and above all. I had dreams and goals, but more important, I had a Lakers ticket. Not a regular match-ticket, but to the famous show with the LA Lakers, the Globetrotters and the Spheresome 5. The show was due at 8pm so I had a couple of hours to kill before I met up with Johnny Perdere.

Johnny was my best friend, I thought him cool and he always knew how to impress the girls. His older sister, Janet, my God! She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, but I never told Johnny this and I dared not tell her. She was two years my senior and girls never dated younger guys, especially not Janet, I convinced myself. I remember when I visited the Perdere family for the first time; they lived in a house on de’Camp lane, with a white flaking façade, a small overgrown yard lined by a brown fence filled with gaps where planks were missing.

 

When we entered Johnny’s house I saw his family sit around a table in the living room, obviously waiting for him so that they could start to eat. Janet was sitting with her back to me and when she turned and looked at me with her large blue eyes I nearly sighed in disbelief. Never had I thought that God could create something so beautiful. I got invited to dinner and when I sat down beside Johnny I did my best not to stare at his sister. She was wearing an old, white and grey specked Guns n Roses t-shirt but I could see the curves of her body hiding underneath. I remember how her n*****s perked through the shirt and how her skin seemed to shine there under lamp, all tanned and perfect.

 

Anyway, I would meet up with Johnny in three hours by the hamburger cart standing close to the parking lot of the arena. Janet was coming too, Johnny had told me. She and some friend. This scared me a bit; maybe she wanted to see me. I spent 79 dollars that day, buying a new shirt and jeans, and cut my hair so I would look my best.

 

At 7.30pm I was standing by the burger cart watching Johnny, Janet and another guy approach from the bus stop. My heart sank when I saw Janet and the guy hold hands. Johnny greeted me with a smile and a tap on the back, and together we went to see the last show the LA Lakers, the Globetrotters and the Spheresome 5 ever held, although we did not know that then.

 

Two years later, during one of our most intense battles, later known as the Night of the Fireflies, me and Janet Perdere married. We had been a couple for two years and even to this day we still talk of our first true date, on the night the Globetrotters played. Johnny died a year into the war but he is still in our hearts and I’m proud to be a part of his family.

 

I ask you now, dear readers, to dig inside your minds and remember how it was when the sky was blue. Write to me and let me know how rhubarb pie taste like, how a flower smells or whatever fond memory you have of a summer before the war. Let me know whether the struggle is worth its while, or if all this fighting is in vain. For me though, it’s definitely worth it.

 

By: Anthony J. Perdere