Link: Every Day Is Your Last Title Page and Description

--

I met Jack and Rich when we were all three posted at Alameda Naval Air Station just across the bay from San Francisco. Jack was a total clown who hit on everything with breasts! We called him Corporal Strikeout because he couldn't get a date to save his life, but just kept right on swinging! From what everyone told me, it'd always been that way, too. Rich, on the other hand, was attractive, smooth, and never lacked for female attention. I would have hated him, except he was just so nice!

They both grew up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, which is funny when you consider that later Rich would move into a house near Pittsberg, New Hampshire, but I'm getting ahead of myself! Rich used to tell this funny story about how he met Jack. Of course, Jack being Jack, he had to add his own twist to it every time Rich would tell it. Rich's story would always be the same, but Jack added bits that were always different. Not that he would change his story mind you, but it was like each time Rich told it, Jack would remember some new little tidbit to add to it.

So this is how it all began.

---

Richard Hargrave was standing in line for lunch as usual. It was the first week of his freshman year in High School and he was starting to really like it. It wasn't as though he was always serious about school before, but he did get decent enough grades. To his mind though, the school's sports were more important, and he'd developed well from many years of football, baseball, and hockey. His natural athleticism and youthful good looks, as well as his above-average five-foot ten height, made him popular and a natural leader.

While waiting, he spotted a scrawny kid sitting at a table trying to eat while three jocks were standing over him. Ox, a nickname the boy had gotten due to his heavy and extremely muscular physique, yelled down at the poor kid.

"Move it or lose it, dork!"

The small boy just kept eating as though Ox wasn't there. Getting impatient, his tormenter shoved him and Richard just couldn't stand by and do nothing. Jumping out of line, he hurried over next to the kid, plopping down right next to him as though they knew each other.

"Hey, Ox! How was your summer?"

The bully was flummoxed. He knew Richard. They played football together and had been casual friends growing up, so Ox looked at him and shrugged. "Summer was OK, Rich... but fall is shaping up to be a problem. We have a severe case of loose leaves. This one fell onto our table and it doesn't seem to realize that it's gonna get squashed if it doesn't... leave!"

"Who, this guy? Ox! You got your signals crossed! This is my buddy! My buddy..." Richard patted him discretely on the shoulder and looked at him in that way that says, 'Insert blank'.

"Jack." he said flatly.

"Jack! Jack's cool, Ox! Come on and sit with us!"

The jock wasn't totally stupid. He knew Richard was joking, but he couldn't figure why he was hanging around a kid that looked like he'd never even seen a football, let alone played. After a moment he shrugged and said, "Uh, I think we'll go sit over there for a change." indicating a table over by the windows. "Better light. Come on, guys. See you at practice, Rich."

After they left, Richard found himself sitting next to Jack alone. Finally, the boy stopped eating, turned to him and said, "Ya know, if you sit there next to me, not even having a lunch, people are gonna think you're hitting on me."

Richard busted up laughing, turned to him, and held out his hand. "I'm Rich."

"So I gathered from what lum-Ox said." the scrawny boy rolled his eyes toward the departing bully. "How rich? 'Cuz I could use a loan."

The pun made him chuckle a little and he found he was starting to like this funny little guy. Slapping him gently on the back, Richard stood and started back to the lunch line saying, "Catch ya' 'round then, Jack. Try to stay out of trouble. I might not be there next time to get you out of it!"

The next day he was in line again when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Jack there, this time in line behind him.

"So I was thinking..." Jack started in as though resuming the conversation from the day before. "Since you seem to have an influence over the muscle-for-brains set, it would be good for me to stick around you."

Turning forward again, Richard asked, "What makes you think I want you hanging around me?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Jack replied condescendingly. "You need me because I need you! You can't help yourself! I'm all weak and helpless and you're the strong hero type. So, you need me to stick around you so you have someone to be a hero for. What good's a hero without someone to save? Besides, I have many other fine qualities that don't relate to the physical, as I'm sure you noticed that I'm quite lacking in that department."

"I did." he smirked. "So what're these qualities you have that defy detection?"

"I'm funny!" he answered quickly. "I can bust a gut on a gutless toad! I got a quick wit and naturally perfect comic timing!"

"Anything else?" he said, chuckling.

"I'm reliable! You can always rely on having to get me out of a jam. I seem to be a jam-magnet at times. See? You need me! What's your next class?"

As Richard took a tray, he looked over his shoulder at Jack, who stood easily a foot and a half shorter than him. "R.O.T.C.. You?"

Taking his own tray, Jack looked down. "Phys Ed. I'm thinking I should see the counselor and transfer to R.O.T.C.. It might be good for me!"

Filling his tray, Richard shook his head and laughed. "Why? Because I'm in R.O.?"

"Not entirely. After the last few days I can tell that I'm just not cut out for the type of activities they do in Phys Ed. I seem to lack the qualities the coaches are looking for, namely any sort of muscle tone."

"You should stay in Phys Ed. It'll build you up. You need it!" Richard moved down the line.

"What! And ruin this fine physique with bulgy muscles?" He gestured to his thin frame as he moved along the line behind Richard before pushing his blonde hair that needed a trim out of his hazel eyes. "Surely you jest! That's like saying the Mona Lisa could use a makeover and Madonna's wardrobe! How can I deny the girls of this world the beauty that is this body?"

Looking down at the scrawny boy next to him, Richard finished filling his tray. "So, you've actually gotten a girl to date you before?"

"Not as such." Jack responded as he followed Richard to a table. "Girls our age are flighty, finicky, and too easily swayed by peer pressure. They want me, but they let their girlfriends talk them out of it so they can have me for themselves. It's obvious!"

After Richard sat and stuffed part of a roll in his mouth, he chewed it and shook his head. "Sounds perfect. They want you, but you never have to be bothered with things like dates or stuff."

"Exactly, my boy! It's the perfect set up! I know they find me irresistible, but I never have to settle down!" Taking a bite, Jack stopped eating as he saw a group of four girls walk close by their table looking at the two of them before giggling to each other and walking toward an empty table.

Swallowing quickly, he stood up and tapped Richard on the shoulder. "Just watch." Striding over to the where the girls had taken their seats, Jack leaned on it with one arm and smiled. "Ladies! I couldn't help but notice you back there."

The girls sat and looked at each other in stunned silence. Beth, a cute blonde who seemed to be the spokesperson of the bunch, looked over at the table where Jack had been sitting. "Do you know Richard? He's cute! Can you introduce me?"

Jack looked over at Richard, who seemed to be trying to ignore the whole situation. "Who, Rich? Sure! We're old buddies!" Turning back to the girls, he sat on the edge of their table. "But as I was saying..." As he sat, his weight tipped the surface off balance and it toppled over, sending most the girls' lunches down on him as he hit the floor with an earsplitting crash.

"You idiot!" Beth screamed at him, her skirt covered in her own soup. "Now look at what you've done!" Running off in tears, the other girls followed as everyone around Jack started to applaud his clumsiness.

Richard shook his head and stood up, walking over to the mess as the kids around Jack were laughing and clapping.

Jumping up, Jack smiled and bowed to the kids around him as though he'd done it all on purpose to entertain them. "Thank you! Thank you! No! No more! You've been a great crowd! Tip your waitresses, but not your tables!"

"Well, I can admit when I'm wrong. It seems you certainly do have a way with the ladies, Jack." Richard said sarcastically as he picked a shredded lettuce leaf off Jack's shoulder. "One thing's for certain, they're sure never to forget you!"

The scrawny boy smiled, still covered in scattered and spattered food. "You see? It's perfect!"

After the janitor came up dragging his cart, the three spent several minutes cleaning up the mess. Soon the two boys were back at their own table.

Chewing on a french fry, Richard got a grossed out look on his face. "You know, I think you may be right. I do need you around. Who else could ruin my appetite so fast?" tossing the half-eaten fry back onto his plate.

Meanwhile, Jack ate with gusto, seemingly unfazed by the gross mix of odors emanating from his food-stained shirt and pants. "See? I knew you'd come around to my way of seeing things! You eat too much, anyway. I noticed it yesterday. With my help, I'll have you down to fighting trim in no time! So, can I have your fries then?"

When the two finished and dropped their trays off, Richard headed for the JROTC building with Jack following. Noticing his shadow, he shook his head. "Don't you have Phys Ed to get to?"

"First, I wanna see what all the fuss is about. We have fifteen minutes 'til lunch is over. Why are you in so much of a hurry to get to class?"

"Because I like school!" Richard replied. "R.O. especially. I think I'm gonna join up after high school."

"Join up what?" Jack scoffed. "Two ends of a broken pencil? Surely you don't mean the military!"

"Why not?" he asked. "It's an honorable profession! Sergeant Egman, my instructor, was in the Marine Corps. So was my dad. Sergeant's been telling us all the basics of the military and it seems like a really good idea. They'll pay for college ya' know."

Jack furrowed his brow. "But you could end up someplace like Vietnam or something!"

"We're not fighting in Vietnam anymore, Jack!" Richard barked. "Jeez! It's nineteen eighty-five for crying out loud, not nineteen sixty-five! We're not in any wars! Only war we have to worry about involves someone pushing a button and then... Boom! So it doesn't matter anyway!"

Biting his lower lip, Jack puzzled the issue out. "Well, I guess it could be OK. I mean, I should at least check it out, right?"

"Suit yourself, dumpster top. If I were you, I'd get cleaned up before next period, though."

"Oh, yeah. Can I meet you after school then? I wanna talk about this some more. Takes a lot of thought to commit to something like this!"

Richard rolled his eyes. "Look Jack, if you wanna join R.O., fine. Maybe it'll do you some good, but it's not like you're signing up to get shipped out next week! It's friggin' High School R.O.T.C., not the Army! Anyway, I have football practice after school."

"Alright, I'll see you there then!"

Stopping just outside the ROTC building, Richard turned to the boy. "You? At football practice? As what? The football?"

"Moral support!" Jack cried out as he slugged Richard's shoulder. Shaking his hand, he murmured, "Ow!"

A single chuckle escaped Richard's lips. "That's why we have cheerleaders!"

Jack's head perked up. "Do they come to the practices?"

"Sure, but they're busy doing their own thing. Anyway, I gotta go. See ya' 'round Jack."

His eyes widened and a half-smile crept across his face as Jack turned to head for his locker. "Yeah! Cheerleader! I could do that! They have male cheerleaders! How hard could it be?"

That afternoon, Jack sat on the bleachers watching football practice as well as the cheerleaders. He'd always considered sports to be a waste of time practiced by dullards who couldn't think beyond 'smash geek', but he was beginning to see the benefits, especially the company jocks got to keep. He'd quickly disabused himself of any idea of becoming a male cheerleader when he saw how much actual physical work was involved, but he had definitely enjoyed the show. When he saw Richard starting to gather up his things, he headed down the benches and ran up to him.

"Hiya, Rich! Say, you looked good out there!"

Richard laughed as the two walked together. "So good of you to say! So now you're some kind of football expert as opposed to just a professional victim?"

"So, about this R.O.T.C. thing." Jack changed the subject. "I talked to my counselor and he switched me starting tomorrow. We're in the same period!"

"Wonderful." Richard said deadpan as he started to walk off the practice field. "Just what I needed."

"You do! Soon, you won't be able to function without me." Jack handed him the helmet that he'd forgotten on the bench. "See? You need me!"

"Well, how about coming over to my house for a snack then? You any good at math?"

Jack laughed maniacally. "Are you kidding? Why, last year I turned down the Nobel Prize for mathematics!"

"There is no Nobel Prize for math, dummy!" Richard pointed out.

"Of course there isn't, not anymore. They already did all the math there is. To answer your question though, it's an absolute unmodified negative, but I'm a quick learner and can be a great study partner. You taking Algebra?"

"Yeah. Maybe we can help each other. Hi, Anne." Richard raised his helmet toward one of the cheerleaders who was walking past them.

"Hi, Rich!" she replied bubblingly. "Looking good out there!"

Jack turned and walked backwards to face her as he continued along with Richard. "See? That's what I told him, but he wouldn't believe me!"

Anne stopped and looked back at Jack, looking him up and down like she was examining an insect. "I can see why!" At that she turned and jogged to a group of other girls.

Jack turned around and sighed. "Ah! What is this power I have over ladies! Did you see they way she looked me over? And you said I should bulk up!"

"She probably couldn't believe her eyes!" Richard shot back with a sly grin.

After changing in the locker room and a short walk, Richard walked in his front door a short distance from the school, Jack still tagging along behind him. "Mom! I'm home!" he shouted as he dropped his helmet off at the door before walking toward the kitchen. "I brought company over!"

Judith Hargrave met her son at the entrance to the kitchen. "Welcome home, sweetie. Who's your new friend?"

Richard gestured between the two. "Jack, this is my mom, Judith Hargrave. Mom? This is Jack, Jack...?"

"Dunning!" Jack replied wiping his hand on his faded jeans before he held it out to her. "Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Hargrave! My, you have a lovely home! Must be hard work for such a young lady for it to look so nice!"

The woman blushed almost as red as her hair as she shook the boy's hand. "Oh, stop it! You better keep an eye on this boy, Richard. He's a little Eddie Haskell! Would you two like a snack?"

Grabbing a handful of cookies from the jar, Richard headed back out of the kitchen. "Sure, Mom. Jack and I are going to go study Algebra. Could you bring it in my room? Thanks!"

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Mrs. Hargrave!" Jack bowed at the waist, folding one arm under his belly and the other behind his back before he ran to catch up with Richard. "Hey, Rich! Wait up!"

Running up the hallway toward the room that he'd seen Richard enter, a girl came out of another doorway. "Richie? Could you... AH!"

Jack ran straight into her. As he began to stumble, his left foot caught on her right, twisting him in place and making Jack grab for her instinctually to try and prevent his fall. However, he only succeeded in dragging her down with him, such that as he hit the floor, she landed on top of him. Her notebook full of papers flew into the air to come flittering down around them both like leaves in autumn.

Erica Hargrave looked down at the strange boy who she was laying on top of and who was holding her waist. Shock turned to fury inside her toward this boy who not only ran right into her and made her fall, but also had just ruined her carefully organized folder. "Will you let go of me!" she yelled.

Immediately, Jack released the girl. "S-sorry!" he exclaimed as she got up off of him. Crab-walking backwards to get away quickly, he turned as he stood up and ran into the room he'd seen Richard duck into.

"You could at least help me pick up the mess!" Erica yelled down the hall as Richard closed the door behind Jack.

"Sorry." Richard explained as he dropped heavily onto his bed. "That's my ten-year-old sister, Erica. She can be sort of a pain sometimes, all the time pestering me for something. Anyway, we should get started."

A pounding sounded on Richard's door a moment later. From behind it they heard, "Richie! Your clumsy friend just ruined all my homework! Fix it!"

Richard rolled his eyes and got back up. "If we don't help, she'll just keep pounding!"

"Sorry!" Jack shrugged. "Just for the record though, she walked right out in front of me!"

Opening the door, Richard saw his sister standing with her hands on her hips and full of indignation. Storming down the hall she stood by her bedroom door, folded her arms, and waited for Richard to pick up her scattered papers.

While he started picking up the papers closest to him, Jack stuck his hands in his front pockets and turned on the charm. "Well, Erica! It's nice to meet you! Sorry we had to meet under these circumstances, but you know how it is!"

"I know how it is." Richard grumbled. "I'm cleaning up your mess again, Jack. You wanna help?"

"Oh! Certainly, Rich!" Jack said apologetically as he picked up a few papers and stepped over the others that were scattered around to hand them to Erica. "Here you go! Nice penmanship, by the way!"

"Jack!" Richard nagged, dragging out his name.

Sighing, Jack started gathering papers while Erica stood and waited. Shortly, they had them all gathered up and handed back to Richard's sister. Jack bowed to her and smiled his half-smile. "Why don't you let me straighten those out for you, Erica! It's the least I can do!"

She eyed him suspiciously, even as his smile turned her knees to jelly. "Well, OK. I suppose you should. It's your fault they got all messed up!"

Looking at her, Richard again tried to rescue Jack from his own disasters. "Erica! We need to study! Jack can't waste his time on this kid stuff!"

Gallantly, Jack held up a hand toward Richard. "Now-now, Rich! I owe it to her! It'll just take a sec!" Ten minutes later, Erica sat on her bed as he sat at her desk and finished sorting out the mess. "There! All fixed, Buttons!"

Erica sighed. "Took you long enough! Why did you call me Buttons?"

The boy turned and smiled at her with his cute half-smile, making the girl's heart flutter. "Red hair? Red Buttons? Plus cute-as-a... Buttons!"

She almost smiled giddily at him saying she was cute, but stopped herself. "Fine. Now get out of my room!"

He turned and bowed at her once more as he left. Erica couldn't figure this boy out. He was cute and funny, and he'd even made her laugh a few times while he fixed her papers with his little jokes. She'd tried to stay mad at him, but somehow she just couldn't. Once gone, she finally allowed herself to smile at his compliment as she moved to her desk and started her homework, completely forgetting the question that she was going to ask her brother.

Entering Richard's room, Jack let out a breath. "Whew! Your sister can really be a grouch, Rich! Remind me never to cross her!"

"No worries, Jack. Come on, Mom brought us some sandwiches. We can eat while we go over this stuff."

After Jack had gone home, Erica knocked on her brother's open door. "So, Richie? That boy that was here. His name's Jack?"

Richard turned a page of his comic book. "Yeah. Jack Dunning."

Leaning against his doorway, Erica fidgeted with her fingers. "He's kinda small for high school. How old is he? Is he really smart or something? Did he skip grades?"

"Who? Jack?" he asked as he put his comic down. "Really smart? No! He's just small for his age. He turns fourteen next week. Why?"

She shrugged and looked at the floor. "No reason. He's kinda weird! Why is he your friend? There's no way he plays football!"

"He could, if he wanted to." Richard noted, picking up his comic again. "He could be a running back or slot back. Guy that small could be hard to catch, but I don't think he likes football."

"So why is he your friend, then?" she persisted.

Putting down his comic once more, Richard sighed. "'Cuz he's funny and fun to hang out with! Plus he's kinda smart, in his own way. Jeez, Erica! What's with you today? Why the third degree? You still mad at him for an honest mistake? He fixed all your papers, didn't he?"

"It's just that he's so different from your other friends!" she scowled at him. "I mean, usually you hang out with guys like Hank or Ox. Jack is just..." she sighed almost wistfully. "...so different!" she repeated herself. "He is funny, but you've never had a friend like him before."

"What, so I can only hang out with jocks? I have a few brains too, ya' know. Someday, I'm gonna go to college and study business like Dad."

Wandering into his room, Erica sat at the desk where Jack was earlier. She looked at her brother on his bed. "Is that why you play football? So you can go to college?"

Putting down the comic again, he rolled over and looked at her. "No, I'm not good enough for like a scholarship or something. I think I might join the Marines like Dad did. They'll pay for college if you serve long enough. I play football because it's fun and I know Dad did when he was my age."

"Oh." Erica replied, seeming disappointed over something. "I'd miss you if you went away a long time."

Her brother laughed. "I'm not leaving tomorrow, ya' goof!"

Standing up suddenly, Erica felt insulted. "Fine! I won't miss you then!" At that she stormed out of his room.

Picking up his comic once more, Richard shook his head dismissively and sighed. "Girls are weird!"