The heat was a physical thing on the flight line at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, a thick, shimmering curtain you had to push through. It rolled off the vast expanse of concrete in waves, making the distant mountains ringing Tucson wobble and blur. The air smelled of baked asphalt, ozone, and the faint, sharp tang of jet fuel, a perfume that for Roger Bentley was more familiar than any cologne.
At eighty-two, his world had grown quieter, the sharp edges of his memories sanded down by time, but here, standing in the shadow of the A-10 Thunderbolt II, the past had a way of getting loud again.
He had his hand laid flat against the massive front tire of the landing gear, the rubber cool and solid beneath his wrinkled palm. The plane sat squat and mean on the tarmac, not sleek or elegant like a fighter, but pugnacious, all muscle and teeth.
It looked like what it was: a brawler. Its gray paint was faded, scarred by sun and service.
Roger wore a leather jacket, the hide cracked and mapped with the geography of a long life, defying the sweltering Arizona sun.
The jacket was a second skin, a repository of moments he couldn’t bear to hang in a closet. It was the base’s annual Family Day, a carefully orchestrated affair of bouncy castles, hot dog stands, and static aircraft displays. Families drifted in loose, chattering constellations, their brightly colored clothes a stark contrast to the muted grays and greens of the machinery of war.
A small group of young airmen, their blue uniforms crisp and new, had drifted over, their curiosity piqued by the old man who seemed to be in silent communion with the Warthog.
They had been polite, asking about the faded, hand-stitched patch on his jacket. He had started to tell them, his voice a low, gravelly rasp, when the interruption came.
“Go on then. Start her up.”
The voice was a blade—sharp, slick, and coated in the casual poison of condescension.
Captain Davis, all of twenty-eight and wearing his authority like a brand-new flight suit, swaggered over.
He was a portrait of polished ambition: manicured hands, a jawline that looked engineered for a recruiting poster, and silver captain’s bars that glinted with self-importance. He gestured toward the A-10 with a flick of his wrist, a gesture of pure dismissal. “Show us how it’s done, old-timer.”
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