Freedom Flight
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About this ebook
Having a parent return from military duty is a dream come true. But sometimes, coming home comes with problems.
When Paige's mom returns from her final tour of Air Force duty, Paige couldn't be happier for things to go back to normal. But before long, Paige realizes her mom brought something else back with her—an addiction to pain pills. The irritable, medicated, zombie version of her mom isn't the person Paige wanted to come home. She'll try anything to get through to her mom and help her with her painful secret. But can Paige get her mom clean without ruining their relationship and her own ROTC dreams?
Patrick Jones
Patrick Jones lives in Minneapolis and is the author of many novels including the Support and Defend series. A former librarian, Jones received lifetime achievement awards from the American Library Association and the Catholic Library Association.
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Freedom Flight - Patrick Jones
—P.J.
1
SEPTEMBER 26 / SATURDAY AFTERNOON
LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE / SAN ANTONIO, TX
I’m calling it her freedom flight,
Paige Harkins whispered to Josie Wilkins, mouth barely moving as she uncharacteristically broke cadet rules. They stood together, along with their friend Erin and other members of the Sam Houston High ROTC unit, on the hot pavement at Lackland base in San Antonio, Texas.
Despite the heat, it was as if the young men and women were frozen as they stood staring at their commander. Other than Paige’s whisper, the only sound was the flapping of American flags in a non-cooling breeze.
Beads of sweat trickled from under the brim of Josie’s cap onto her neatly pressed blue uniform that was identical to that of the other Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets. Paige thought Josie was sweating because she was undisciplined and carrying too much weight for a cadet. No one in Paige’s unit, school, or family would ever accuse Paige of that.
Paige squinted, the blazing sun in her eyes. For the other cadets this was another AFJROTC outing, another chance to display the colors and show off the unit’s discipline. But for Paige, it was more, much more. It was the moment she’d been expecting for years. Her mom. Home. Not for twelve months before being deployed again, but for good. For great.
On the plane that towered over them were members of the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing. The unit had been activated in 2002, just two years after Paige was born in a hospital in Germany. Since then, the unit had been assigned to Afghanistan. As hot as the pavement was in Texas, Paige guessed it was nothing like the heat of Bagram Airfield, where her mom had been stationed many times over the years.
March!
Commander Eckert yelled. As always, the cadets did exactly as ordered. The unit moved closer as the staircase from the large Air Force plane was deployed.
Attention!
Right hands moved quickly from the cadets’ sides to their foreheads as they saluted the plane. Paige closed her eyes, telling herself it was the exhaust from the plane that was making them water. Telling herself she wouldn’t cry. Cadets didn’t cry. Soldiers didn’t cry. They live. They die. They fight, so Paige fought back tears as she waited for her mom to emerge.
One by one, members of the unit exited the plane until, at the top of the stairs, ramrod straight as if at attention, Paige’s mother stood. Paige expected to see a smile on her face and it was there, but it passed quickly. Her mom’s eyes narrowed, her lips tightened.
As her mom walked slowly down the stairs, clutching the railing, Paige tried to concentrate on the scene in front of her and not let her mind drift to a dark place. Another plane landing, another return home. She hadn’t been there for it since she was only three at the time. Her mom wouldn’t speak of it. Paige could beg, bargain, or bray, but her mother was unbending in her silence about Paige’s dad’s return from Iraq. His flight had stopped first at the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. There, Air Force Captain Roger Harkins came off the plane in a flag-draped casket.
2
SEPTEMBER 27 / SUNDAY AFTERNOON
NINA’S CANTINA
It’s just a glass of wine,
Paige said to her mother, feeling oddly defensive.
You’re fifteen,
her mom barked. You’re not old enough to drink.
Paige and her mom’s terse conversation could barely be heard over the laughter coming from the extended members of Paige’s family. From as far away as Houston, Paige’s aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews had ventured to San Antonio to welcome Capt. Harkins home.
So raise your glasses,
Paige’s Uncle Jacob, her mom’s older brother, said. Paige and her older brother Perry had lived with Uncle Jacob and Aunt Tracy whenever their career military mom was deployed. Paige’s mom glared at Paige until she returned the wine glass to the table.
It’s great to have you home, Helen,
Aunt Tracy said. Everybody yelled in agreement, but none louder than Paige in the crowded party room at Nina’s Cantina.
Once the eating and drinking were finished, everyone gathered for pictures. Paige photobombed almost every shot with her mom until it became a joke.
"Paige, people will think you’re a conjoined