Page 38 of Switch!

Eddie settles down on the ground, using the fence as a backrest. “Having second thoughts about enlisting?”

“Yeah,” I admit as I sit next to him. “And I don’t know what to do about it.”

“It’s no big deal. When do you turn eighteen?”

“February. No… August.”

“You might want to slow down,” Eddie says, nudging me. “I never drank so much that I forgot my own birthday.”

“It’s been a long day. You’re right, though. As soon as I’m eighteen, I’ll be an adult and can do whatever I want.” I think about Caleb’s father reacting to the news. “Although I’d need to make sure I have somewhere else to live.”

“Yeah, man, that’s important. My older brother ended up on the street.”

“Because he didn’t want to enlist?”

Eddie tilts his head back and forth. “Kind of. He’s a musician. That’s what my brother calls himself anyway. He used to be in a band, but after he graduated, everyone else went off to college or got jobs. Marco was supposed to enlist, but then he got this crazy idea about going to LA to start a new band. He’s only a drummer. I guess he sees himself as the next Dave Grohl or some shit.”

“Who’s that?”

“Lead singer of the Foo Fighters. Used to be the drummer for Nirvana.”

“Oh. Right.”

“Anyway, last time we heard from Marco, he was living in a tent. I don’t know if it was skid row or what. I worry about him.” Eddie swallows. “All the time.”

“That’s rough. Sorry, man.”

“It’s all good. You have options, homie, but make sure you’ve also got a plan.”

I take another swig of the wine and grimace, wishing it tasted more like grape juice. “I’d rather go to college. If I could afford to.” This would have been the summer I began applying for scholarships. My mom never earned much, so I always kept my GPA score high. Caleb’s grades are average at best. Not everything I inherited from him is perfection.

“College is easy,” Eddie says. “Join ROTC.”

I don’t know what that means. Caleb’s memories are vague. ROTC was something he wasn’t interested in. I don’t want to admit that I’m clueless, so instead I ask, “How’s that work again?”

“Like a college elective but they pay for everything. All your tuition and books. No student loan, man. They even give you money. Three or four hundred per month or something.”

“But it’s military classes?”

Eddie laughs and swipes the bottle to top off his glass. “You’ve definitely had enough of this. It’s training, yeah, but you still have normal college classes too. You’ll get a real degree and everything. You just won’t have to pay for it, like most people do.”

I stare at him in disbelief. “How come you’re not doing that?”

Eddie scoffs. “I don’t want to be an officer and get stuck behind some desk. I’m a mechanic, homie. As soon as I’m done with active duty, I’m moving to Tucson to work in my uncle’s shop. And someday I’ll open my own.”

“I wouldn’t mind sitting behind a desk.”

Eddie looks over at me. Then he cracks up. “Sure, man. I believe you.”

“For real!” Then I try to imagine Caleb’s hulking body squeezed into a tiny office cubicle and start laughing too.

I wrestle the bottle away from Eddie, deciding to let the subject drop. I don’t know what it means to be an officer in the military, but I’m guessing it isn’t as physical as what I was imagining. That gives me hope. There’s just one more question I need the answer to. “A major is an officer, right?”

Eddie bursts out laughing again. “You’re messing with me.”

“Totally.” Not really. I’ve never been interested in the command structure of the military. From his reaction, I’m guessing that a major is indeed an officer. I’ll research it later to be sure, but I’m grinning now, because Major McCain will surely agree to this plan, since he’s an officer too. College instead of bootcamp? Sign me up!

“You’ve got a weird sense of humor,” Eddie says. “I like that. Hey, listen to this: I wanted to prank a friend of mine last year and—”