"Wake up Tom. Get your brother up."

Tom woke up and looked up at the ceiling. Too early — he thought. Now I have to get my brother up. He got up, and sat on the edge of the bed. After pulling on his pants he looked in the drawer and pulled out a tee-shirt. Standing in the doorway he yelled back "Johnny, it's time to get up." He quickly left the room and headed towards the kitchen.

"Did you get your brother up?"

"I started the process."

On the stove was a frying pan with some eggs in it frying in bacon grease. There was a pile of bacon on a plate in the middle of the stove. The percolator was on the counter making the coffee.

"Why don't you go back and try to wake him up again T."

"Ok." Tom got back up and walked to the back of the house. He looked in the bedroom. "Johnny? You up yet?" No answer. "Johnny, Johnny, Johnny." A pillow was heading his way as he made a hasty retreat back to the kitchen.

"He's getting up." Tom said as he sat back down at the kitchen table. He picked up a piece of buttered toast and started munching on it. Sitting on the table was a portable AM radio. On the radio Tom could hear Bob and Ray deep into some crazy unbelievable story. He listened as he dug into the bacon and eggs. His Dad's coffee was sitting in front of his Dad's seat, and Tom picked it up and took a sip. There's nothing like a cup of black coffee with breakfast he thought.

John walked into the room scratching his head.

"Better hurry up and get your breakfast. We're leaving in about ten minutes." Their Dad sat down and quickly gulped his breakfast down.

"Gotta pee." Tom said as he rushed up from the table. His brother was waiting at the door of the Ford pickup as Tom ran out the door carrying he shoes. "How come I gotta sit in the middle?"

"Cause you are the punk." His brother said as he slammed the door of the truck. "Besides, you are the smallest one. I need the room.

Tom settled in the middle as their Dad put the truck into reverse and backed out of the driveway. At least the stick shift is on the column Tom thought. The radio was now sitting on the dash and they listened to Bob and Ray for a while. They merged into the traffic heading for Los Angeles.

"Dad, what islands were you on?" Tom asked.

"Well, let's see, first I was on Iceland. That was before Pearl, of course. As soon as Pearl Harbor was attacked they sent me back to the States. The next island I was on was Bougainville. The next island was Guam."

As their Dad reminisced they could still hear the radio in the background. The sun was just starting to rise when they pulled into the driveway of the house. Their Dad stepped out and started to walk to his work trailer. He grabbed some keys and handed them to John.

"You two start unlocking the houses. After you're done make sure you stay out of trouble. I will have some work for you a little later, so don't stray too far."

They took off to the houses at a run. There were about a hundred houses to unlock, and they needed to open them so the tradesmen could get in them to do their work. Their Dad was the super on the job. John tossed a key to his brother. Their key was master, so one key would open all of the houses. "Ok, Tommy, I'll meet you in the middle. See if you can beat me this time." Tom ran to the first house, unlocked the door. He counted one, and then ran to the next. He counted 47 as his brother ran up to him. "Beat you." John said.

"But I got more than last time." Tom said, a little out of breath.

"See you when the coffee truck comes." John said as he tossed Tom his key. He ran off to the back of the track homes.

Tom started walking and watched as the trucks and cars started coming into the track. He waved as his Dad's helper drove by in his new yellow '67 Mustang convertible. Tom wondered how they could call it a '67 when it was still 1966. He started running as he saw his friend drive by. Jack stopped as he saw Tom run and opened the passenger door of his pickup. "Hop in Tommy, he said." Tom jumped into the seat and slammed the door. "I'm only going to be here for a couple of hours today. Say hi to my son Billy." In the middle of the bench seat was a boy about six years old.

"Hi Billy." Tom said. Billy only waved.

Jack pulled up to one of the houses. "Go get my red toolbox." Jack called out to Tom as he headed to the back of the house. As Tom caught up Jack was opening the cover to the breaker box. "Do you know what it's like to get shocked?"

"No, never been shocked."

"Ok, first thing you need to know is to never touch a wire with both hands. The power will go right through your heart and kill you in a flash. The next thing is to never trust that the power is turned off. Look here, you see that the main is turned off. You should be able to assume that the power is off, but when you start working with the wires you need to test each wire to make sure that it is not hot. Here, I'll turn the main on. You see all the rest of the breakers are also on." They walked into the garage and Jack walked up to a box in the wall that had some wires poking out of it. He took out something that had a little light and two wires. He touched each wire to the exposed wires sticking out of the box. The little light lit up. "See, that one is hot." He quickly slapped the black wire. "Now you do that too. Put your left hand behind your back. Make sure you do it quick." Tom slapped the wire and felt a shock in his hand.

"Ouch!" He yelped.

"Now, do you ever want to feel that again?"

"No!" He said looking at the wire.

They walked to the breaker box and Jack flipped the main to off. He closed the cover and slapped a piece of red tape that said Caution on it. "Here, take this and go get a box of outlets, and a screwdriver." Jack handed Tom the tester and Tom ran off to the truck. In the house Jack pointed to the wall next to the floor. "You know how to install those. Start putting them in." Tom plopped down on the floor and started on the first outlet. He tested each set of wires before touching them. After a while he looked down the stairs as Jack yelled back at him. "We have to go now. Come on down. I'll see you later" He said as Jack handed him the box of outlets and the screwdriver. "Say hi to your Dad." He called back as he stepped into his truck. Tom ran to the front of the track.

Poking his head in the trailer, he saw his Dad looking over a stack of papers. "Jack says hi."

Not looking up, "I thought he wasn't coming in today."

"He was just in for a short time." Tom heard a horn honk. "Do you want anything?"

"No, and don't you eat everything he has."

The Coffee Truck stopped a couple of houses down from the trailer. Tom started walking slowly to the truck. He waited until most of the workers got their coffee and snacks. As some of the painters walked up, the driver uncovered a few beers. "I'll have these for you guys later in the day." Tom sat on the curb as the crowd thinned. He grabbed a chocolate milk and a glazed donut. He showed them to the driver and the driver nodded his head.

The rest of the workers were all gone as John strolled up. He grabbed a milk and donut. "Oh yea, my Dad wants a pack of cigarettes. He smokes Marlboro." The driver tossed him a pack.

As the truck pulled away John slapped Tom on the back of the head. "Now don't you tell Dad."

"Tell him what?" Tom said, mostly to himself since John had already walked off. Tom walked off to the back of the track where he noticed that there weren't any workers. He walked into one of the houses and as he did walked into another world. A couple of hours later he could hear his brother call. He poked his head out the window of the second floor.

"Come on down. It's lunch time." John called out as he started running to the front of the track homes.

Tom walked into the trailer. His Dad and brother were sitting on the only chairs. "Here." His Dad said as he tossed a peanut butter sandwich stuffed in a baggie. Tom opened the baggie and started eating. "After your lunch I want you two to sweep out a few houses."

Tom wasn't very fast at sweeping, but he was very thorough. While he swept he was on the same adventure in his mind that he had been on earlier. He was on his fourth house when he heard his brother calling. As he stepped out of the house his brother said, "Come on, to the trailer." At the trailer their Dad was talking to the painters. As they walked up the painters got into their truck and drove away.

"Thanks John." Their Dad said.

"What happened?" Tom asked.

"Your brother was up upstairs in one of the houses and saw the painters thinning the paint. They were cheating us. Now I'll have to get another paint contractor. Now go lock up and we'll head for home."

They headed in opposite directions running to each house. It took more work to lock up than to unlock since they had to check each door and window in each house. This was done at a full run. They were each trying to get to the most houses. Tom was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to lock up the most houses. He just wanted to see if he could lock up more than last time. At least John was there to help. Sometimes Tom was the only one and he had to lock up all of the houses. They met in the middle again. Tom knew that he had locked up less than John, but he had locked up more than last time.

"Let's head back." John said. "You did pretty good this time."

They pulled into the liquor store. "Why can't I sit by the window on the way back?"

"Because you're smaller, it's uncomfortable for me in the middle."

"Get your drinks boys."

Tom grabbed an RC Cola, and John picked up a Bubble Up. Their Dad put his beer on the counter just as they both got to the counter. Their Dad handed the clerk the money and they all went out to the truck. John stood by the door as Tom sullenly slid into the middle of the bench seat.

"Turn on the game T." Their Dad said as he started the engine. Tom grabbed the radio and turned it on. You could hear different radio stations go in and out as he looked for the game.

"Hey stop there. That's a good song."

"Dad wanted to listen to the game."

"Go ahead and listen to the song. The game isn't on yet."

Tom dialed it back to the pop station. They listened to the song in silence as their Dad pulled onto the 405 freeway. When the song was over Tom dialed the radio to the game. He laid the radio on the dashboard. The voice of Vin Scully filled the cab of the truck. Tom closed his eyes and listened. He wasn't quite sure what he was saying. Tom just liked the sound of his voice. Tom had heard the voices of Vin Scully when the Dodgers played and of Chick Hearn when the Lakers were playing for his whole life. His Dad wasn't a fanatic about his games, and usually just listened to the games rather than watch them live or on TV.

They sipped their drinks as they listened to the game. Tom preferred to sit by the window so he could look out and watch the scenery or look into the cars. After pulling on the 11 freeway Dad settled in the fast lane and sipped his beer. The beer was wrapped in one of those skinny paper bags. When he finished the beer he slipped it under the seat and pulled out his pipe. Filling the pipe one handed he then lit it with a match, somehow keeping at least one hand on the steering wheel. He then cracked the window a little so most of the smoke went outside.

Tom shook his head out of his daydream as they pulled off the 10 freeway. Just moments later they pulled into their driveway. "Mom will be home late tonight. Let's see if we can remember that hobo soup we made the other night T." Tom ran into the kitchen, but quickly made a stop in the bathroom by the washing machine. It was a 1/2 bath with only a toilet and a sink.

"Did you wash your hands?" Tom went back into the bathroom and ran some water over his hands for about two seconds.

Dad had the cans sitting on the counter when Tom walked into the kitchen. "Start opening cans." Dad said.

"What's this?" Tom asked as he held up a small jar.

"That is artichoke hearts." Dad said.

"What is an artichoke?" Tom asked as he tried to twist it open.

"We'll have to buy some fresh ones and steam them some time." Dad said as he took it and opened the jar himself. "You loosened it for me." He said as he dumped it into the big soup pot. "Start dumping the cans in the pot. I need to cook up the hamburger meat."

Tom sat at the kitchen table reading his book as the soup cooked. His Dad was drying his hair with a towel as he walked onto the kitchen. "I think it's just about ready." Call John and Sue and we'll serve it.

Tom jumped up and ran to the back of the house. He poked his head in the Family room and called out. "Dinner!" John and Sue were watching the TV and didn't even look up as he turned around and ran back to the kitchen.

Dad was placing bowls on the table as he walked into the kitchen. "Get some soup spoons." He said.

Tom had just sat down with his bowl just as Sue and John walked into the kitchen. "What are you reading?" Sue asked as she sat down with her bowl.

"It's called Brady. It's about a boy. His Father is a pastor and they live on a farm. It's before the Civil War..."

"Don't get him started. He'll tell us the whole book." John interrupted.

"I'm interested." Sue said.

Tom sullenly picked up the book and stuck his nose in it.

"Now you got him all moody." Sue said. "I'd like to read it when you're done." Tom smiled a little behind the book.

They ate in silence and then they all went into the family room to watch TV after cleaning up. When the first show was over Dad called out to Tom. "Time to get to bed T."

"Can't I stay up longer? It's summer, and can't I start staying up until 10?"

"Not yet, besides you have to get up early. You're going to work with me again tomorrow."

"OK." Tom said as he got up and went into the bedroom. He slipped on his PJ's, and got into bed. He could hear the TV in the family room behind the closed door. He was eleven, so he could sleep in the dark. He lay on his back with his legs tucked in under him. Tom stared at the ceiling. The foxhole was a little damp. Tom laid his head back and looked up at the stars. His helmet lay on the back of his head.

It was wise to take advantage of a break in the fighting and rest. He couldn't afford to sleep though. Tom listened to the sounds of the jungle. He could hear a couple of soldiers talking quietly in a foxhole near him. He picked up his tin cup and sipped the cold black coffee. He hadn't eaten since last night. He couldn't afford to take the time. He checked his rifle. It was still pretty clean and he had a full clip. A soldier slipped in the foxhole.

"Hey Joe." Tom whispered. "Any news?"

"Nothing yet." Joe answered. "You want to catch a few while I watch?"

"No, you rest a bit. I can't sleep."

The door opened as John walked in the room. "You still up?" He asked. "He grabbed his cigarettes and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Tom lit his smoke on the burning butt that Joe had handed him right before he closed his eyes. He shielded the burning end with his hand as he looked out into the night. The enemy was out there, but for the moment they had a chance to rest.