Chương 11: DIARIO de MARTILLO II

Day 23 Woke from a terrible dream. There was a coyote howling outside. For some reason I thought it would break in the house and take all the birds. I went into the kitchen to look for them and outside the windows it was all white, like the house was in a bright fog. The roof was gone and the full moon was right above. Mamá was sitting at the table. Her eyes were shut, but she was not asleep. I had this awful feeling like I wasn't supposed to see her.

When I tried to turn away, everything hurt like I was nailed in place. I was afraid and I asked her where Tita was. She said"Ya Mero (In a minute)." But she was just like a statue. She didn't open her eyes and her mouth didn't move. Above us, the moon went black. I woke up and there was a big pain in my heart and my jaw was sore from clenching my teeth. The coyote was real. I could hear it a long way off. I was very worried something had happened to Tita. I felt like maybe she had died and I was all alone again.

Then, I heard her puttering around in the kitchen. I guess maybe she had a bad dream too. I thought about going out and talking to her, but I didn't. The last time I talked about a dream she got all weird on me and I had to go talk with a priest. She takes that stuff so seriously. At breakfast she looked more tired than me. Day 24 I never want to see another clay bird in my LIFE. Una keeps chiding me for sloppy lines. I said I needed a break because my hands were cramping.

She lit into me and said if I would eat my bananas like I'm supposed to, maybe my hands wouldn't cramp. Then, she said I'm lucky to be a kid. She says when I get older my hands will hurt every day, 'cause that's how life is. Great. I asked Una how she can paint so good without mistakes. She told me it was because of Grandpa Hector. He used to love building model planes but eventually his eyes got too bad, even with a magnifying glass. When he got sick, she would read him the paper every morning.

In the afternoon they would listen to the radio and build airplanes. He would paint the big pieces and she would do the details. Even now, she got a little misty remembering it. I said it was cool how she did all that for him, she waved it away like it was nothing. Hasta que la muerte nos separ ('Til death do us part). I realized she's kind of doing the same thing with me. It's crazy how different Mamá was from Tita. Una used to say her men were like the seasons, gone in three months.

Even if one had stuck around, I don't think Mamá would ever take care of them like Una did for Hector. It just wasn't in her. I think a lot about how things would be if she was still alive. If not for living with Tita, I might not have gotten to the doctor in time. Mamá would have talked big at the start, but the treatment has been so hard. I'm pretty sure she would have disappeared by now. Everyone expects me to be so heartbroken that Mamá is gone, but I'm mostly just mad. She let me down so many times.

I wish I could talk about it with someone. I would never say this to Tita, she has it rough enough already. First, she lost her husband. Then she tried so hard to save Mamá from herself and just couldn't do it. Now she's stuck listening to her sick grandkid throw up every night. She just keeps starting up every day somehow, like the Falcon. Grandma told me my room used to be full of Grandpa's model planes. That's what all the hooks in the ceiling were for. I asked what happened to them.

After he died, she gave them away to kids at church. I said I wished I could have seen them, and she told me to wait a minute. She came back with a big hat box from her closet. Inside was a P38-M Night Fighter, painted matte black. It's a twin-engine fighter. Una said the P38 Lightnings were made through the whole war. They did well against the Japanese Zeros, but not so good in the European theater, where the P51 Mustang was better.

The top US ace, Richard Bong, flew one and got 40 victories but he never saw the end of the war. Once he got off the front, he worked as a test pilot for Lockheed and flew the experimental P80. One day he forgot to flip a switch and his plane blew up. That's rough! I was really impressed by the paint job. It's a very different style than painting LOR miniatures, much more subdued and realistic.

Under the cockpit, in tiny, silver cursive script, Una wrote Capulina(Black Widow) and painted a little spider insignia with a crimson hourglass on its belly. So cool. I asked if I could hang it up in my room and she said yes, if I was careful and didn't let it get dusty. I could tell she's super proud of it. Tita said she had to freehand all the insignias and lettering because decals would be too shiny against the matte paint. It must have been so crazy to fly one of those out in the middle of the Pacific.

I asked Tita what it takes to become a pilot. She said my grades would have to get better in a hurry. I decided it's probably not worth it. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. DAY 25 SATURDAY No nausea, no fog, no headache! Even Una was in a good mood. She'd been saving up to go to Isleta Pueblo and play bingo on the reservation. The big jackpot is $50, 000! Tita said I should save some of my bird money and come play with her when I turn 18.

She can play twenty four cards at once. She says the best players can play thirty six. It's nice to finally see her excited about something. She was smiling when she dropped me off at Duke Games. This time, I made sure to show up early and have my pick of the case. I looked at some of the Knights, but the more I thought about it, they're just not that good without a larger army to protect them. Then I thought about going all Elves, but I'd hate to lose the Berserkers, they hit so hard.

I worried someone else would take them and I'd have to play against them. In the end, I decided to just go with the same army as last week. Since I didn't need to worry about them breaking under barrage, I could take less Imperial Halberdiers and field the Shieldbearers without an onus. Duncan was surprised by my picks. I told him I had kind of a storyline going in my head. He said I should write it down and they'd try to weave it into the campaign. Maybe someday I can make a comic book or a short story out of it.

I even have a name for my army, The Heartbroken Brigade. Duncan told me if I can get a general to lead my army, he'll let me play in the regular campaign! That would be amazing. One thing is, the store doesn't own all the units in the case. The dwarves are Duncan's, but the Hawkmoon belonged to Chuck's older brother who left for college. The Halberdiers are from Sandy's old army. Players leave them at the store for other people to use, but they can take them back at any time. It would be best if I got my own army.

There were three other new players this week, I got to play in two skirmishes. The first was with Sammy Wilson, Bill's younger brother. Bill and JC played their match on the table next to ours. Duncan set both battlefields with cottages and bridges and river terrain. JC and Bill were supposed to be fighting upriver from us. The outcomes of our battles would determine if the villages would survive and be able to contribute troops and supplies later in the campaign. Duncan showed us their big map.

All over it, there were battle markers and skulls over destroyed villages. Awesome. It really raised the stakes and motivated me to save the little river town! The first game was the Storming of Stokencolt. My Heartbroken Brigade needed to hold a vital bridge against an attack from Sammy's Madmen. He needed a lot of help with the rules during setup, but I knew everything so we didn't have to bug the referee. The game was night and day from playing with Jeremy. Sammy was just happy to be there.

Right away I could tell he didn't really care about winning, he just wanted to charge and roll big handfuls of dice. It almost worked. His charge wrecked my Halberdiers, but the Master Halberdier has a special save if they lose half their unit in a single turn. This let them hold together long enough for the Berserkers to engage. Sammy had to commit his footmen to try and stop them. This let my Hawkmoon pick shots on his high value units and clean up on VP. Sammy lost hard, but he had fun anyway.

I guess he's had to compete with an older brother his whole life so he's used to losing all the time. It would drive me crazy. Next to us, JC and Bill took their game way more seriously. I was worried Bill would spend our whole game giving his brother advice, but he was preoccupied trying to survive. Bill played Gorelord Goblins. JC played a magic-heavy Chaos army based around his new Riftmaster. On the second turn, they got into an argument over the amphibious assault rules.

I looked them up too, and I agree, the wording is ambiguous. Duncan came over and ruled they would do a coin flip. It went in Bill's favor, but JC still won the game. His Riftmaster wrecked everyone in the magic phase. It's critical to stop him before the Summoner Coven gets going. The Gorelord seem strong too, if they can get into melee. The evil armies are very strong. I'm gonna have a tough time if I get to play in the campaign.

We were supposed to fight victor versus victor but Bill and Sammy asked if we could change opponents so they didn't have to play brother vs brother. JC was on board, he wanted an easy win. On paper, I didn't think my army was that great against Bill's Gorelord Goblins. I was happy to agree though. I'd almost rather lose than have to suffer through another game with JC again. We played the Battle for Brambleberry scenario. The Heartbroken Brigade needed to liberate a tavern that had been overrun by drunken Goblins.

The Gorelord are SO strong. Their base units are cheap and they get a big Ancient Enemy bonus against Dwarves. Bill was playing for blood. He's got a huge case of units that let him tailor his list. Meanwhile, I was stuck with what I had. The scenario didn't do me any favors either. There was no high ground to deploy the Hawkmoon and I had to hold against an attack from two directions. For the first three turns I turtled up, but casualties mounted and more Gorelord reinforcements poured in.

Finally, things got grim enough that I had no choice but to have Bobbert cast his spell. Big mistake! I rolled awful and it was right to the Arcane Disaster table. The fumbling Loyal Apprentice managed to blow up the very alehouse we'd sworn to liberate! The whole room broke out laughing at my bad luck. At least I went out with a bang. The Heartbroken Brigade was forced into an ignominious retreat while the evil gobbos danced in the burning ruins of Brambleberry Tavern.

This battle really highlighted how badly I need to get a real general for my army. Brakakak-Bak the Sorcerer Supreme was a huge part of Bill's victory. The Warlord Aura made his cheap units much harder to break and he could run the table during the magic phase. I have my eye on Prescote the Sage. He pairs well with Bobbert and the model isn't too expensive. I need to paint more birds. Una had much better luck than me. She rolled up with a huge smile and four brand new tires on the Falcon. Bingo!

She didn't hit the big one but she still won a fair bit. She took us to the Dog House to celebrate. Tita ate TWO chili dogs with an orange soda. I got a Frito pie and a cherry shake. We were both groaning on the drive home but in a good way. I didn't even throw up. I wanted to paint some birds before bed, but I could barely keep my eyes open. Una said the birds would still be there tomorrow. Best day in a long, long time. I realized I hadn't even thought about being sick all day. Maybe it means I'm getting better.

I really hope so.