Chapter 3: Acquaintanceship
#3 of Duty
Marcus learns more about Joji.
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Chapter Three: Acquaintanceship
Marcus stood in the living room of Joji's house. Reis had stepped out onto the back deck with Joji to help him start the grill. Marcus gazed at the photos on the wall and the bookshelf. It turned out Joji was not kidding about being the brother of Gus LaFleur. Right on the bookshelf was a family photo featuring Joji standing next to Gus LaFleur, and Gus LaFleur next to Helen LaFleur (a music producer), all standing behind a seated couple, a middle aged tan German Shepherd male and a red Irish Setter female. Marcus assumed that the German Shepherd was Joji's dad but that Gus and his sister were the off-spring of the Irish Setter. Next the family photo was a picture of Joji and Gus standing shoulder to shoulder with their arms around each other, grinning widely at the camera with Gus's tough hanging out. They were standing outside, under a red twilight sky next to a crowd of people. They were wearing Rolling Stones T-Shirts and a caption in the bottom left corner of the fame read: "Stones Concert Summer '09".
From the looks of it, Joji very much resembled his father, except for Joji's gray fur. Gus LaFleur, however, though he maintained some of his father's features like his short ears and Shepherd-like muzzle, his fur was like his mother's: dark red except for his pinkish muzzle. He also had wide twinkling green eyes that glistened in the camera's flash. Though Marcus would never tell Reis, he kind of had a silly high school crush on Gus LaFleur (who won't, because from what Marcus's had heard, LaFleur was as charming as he was good looking).
Most of the pictures on the wall were of Joji dressed in a military ACU standing with his back to a desert. He was tellingly younger and looked thinner. Some of the pictures featured him posing with his gun over sand dunes or near signs written in Arabic. Most of them were of him and other soldiers, happily standing around shabby buildings and wrecked statutes. The one that really caught Marcus's eye was of Joji smacking a golf ball off a rubber tee and into what looked like a long pool.
"I never did get golf." Joji's thunderous voice startled Marcus.
"Iraq?" Marcus asked as he settled.
"Sure is. Spring of '03," he pointed to the picture Marcus had been looking at. "That was right outside one of Saddam's palaces. I think it's weird that some of the most evil guys have the nicest places."
Reis came up from behind Marcus, putting his paws on his shoulders. Marcus looked over to see Reis smiling down at him.
"Dinner's ready if you two pigeons are," said Joji.
"Is Alex gonna join?" Reis asked.
Joji's face suddenly stiffened. "He's out. He'd better be back before sundown."
As the two followed Joji, Marcus looked up at Reis and whispered, "Who's Alex?"
"He's a kid from the city Joji looks after."