by: Marty Chrisman
Luke stared out of the window of the bus as it crossed the state line into Georgia. He couldn’t believe that he was finally on his way home. After two weeks in the military hospital in Saigon, he was strong enough to be discharged and go home. That had been a week ago and soon he would be back in Hazzard and with his family. His leg was still healing and he still needed crutches to get around. He’d called the farm from the bus stop in Nashville and told Uncle Jesse when to expect him. His excitement and anticipation grew with each passing mile especially once familiar landmarks started coming in sight. It was 3 P.M. when the bus finally arrived in Hazzard. Luke slowly eased himself to his feet and carefully grabbed his crutches. A fellow passenger helped him get his duffle bag down from the overhead compartment and offered to carry it off of the bus for him. Luke accepted his offer gratefully and carefully made his way down the aisle to the front of the bus and then down the steps to the street.
He saw Uncle Jesse immediately. He hadn’t changed much except his hair and beard was a little whiter. His blue eyes still sparkled with life and his lined face broke into a broad smile when he saw his oldest nephew step down from the bus. Four months ago, they had been told that Luke was M.I.A. and presumed dead and they had grieved. Then a little over a week ago they had learned that he’d actually been a P.O.W. but had been rescued and was in a hospital in Saigon. Jesse rushed forward as Luke’s fellow passenger sat down the duffle bag at Luke’s side and walked away. Jesse immediately reached out and took Luke into his arms as he thanked god for sending Luke back to them alive. Without shame, he let the tears leak from his eyes at his relief to finally have Luke home again.
Jesse stepped back, looking at his oldest nephew with a critical eye. There were obvious changes in Luke’s appearance that spoke of the ordeal he’d been through. The pale contrast of his skin that had been tanned the day he left the farm. The dark circles under his eyes, eyes that were dull with pain and fear where they had once sparkled with life. He had once been a healthy 180 pounds but now couldn’t be much over 150. Clothes that had once fit, now hung loosely on his slender frame. And the spirit was gone from his smile.
Daisy could contain herself no longer. She ran to Luke as he held out his arms and hugged her tightly. He could smell the clean fresh frangrance of her hair and the aroma of her favorite perfume. He pulled back and took a long slow look at her, taking in every detail. “Hey, you grew up while I was gone….” He said with a slow easy smile “And grew up real healthy too…” Daisy laughed and hugged him again, thrilled to have him back home.
Luke anxious eyes sought out his youngest cousin, Bo. Bo was the one who had changed the most since Luke had been gone. He had been fourteen when Luke had left and he was seventeen now. He had grown into a tall handsome young man with feathered blonde hair and baby blue eyes. At six foot three, he was almost three inches taller than Luke. Bo let out a whoop of pure joy and gave Luke a huge bear hug that almost busted his ribs.
“Okay, cuz….” He told him with a chuckle “I’m glad to see you too….” He looked at his family, so happy to see them and to be back in Hazzard again that he couldn’t stop smiling.
“Let’s go home.” Jesse suggested. Bo grabbed Luke’s duffel bag and they all helped Luke over to Jesse’s old pickup truck. Daisy and Jesse climbed into the cab, while Bo helped Luke climb into the back. Luke stretched his injured leg out in front of him and leaned back against the cab of the truck with Bo sitting beside him, talking a mile a minute and trying to catch him up on three years of news on their way back to the farm.
It didn’t take long to get home but for Luke it had taken far too long. He was exhausted and badly in need of some rest. Nightmares had haunted him ever night since he’d been rescued. Nightmares of the things he had done and seen, the pain of what he’d gone through. In the hospital he’d been able to sleep because of the drugs. He just hoped that here in his childhood home he could finally find some peace..
Jesse pulled the old pickup in behind the weather beaten farm house and turned off the engine. The Dukes climbed out of the truck and went into the house. Bo carried Luke’s duffle bag upstairs to the room the boys had shared all their lives while Luke sat down at the kitchen table. Jesse poured himself and Luke both a cup of coffee while Daisy started fixing supper.
Jesse recognized the haunted look in Luke’s eyes. Jesse had seen that same look in other young men’s eyes returning from a war. He knew that Luke had seen things over there that no man should ever have to see and that he had done things and experienced things that could scar a man for life. He just hoped that Luke could learn to live with his experiences in the war especially the experience of having been a P.O.W. for almost 3 months. Jesse had been in the Korean War and he knew how atrocious conditions were in a prison camp and how badly the prisoners were treated. His heart ached at the thought of his oldest nephew being forced to go through something like that. He had left this farm an innocent boy and had come back a grown man. A man with his own private demons and nightmares that he would have to learn to live with somehow.
Soon the aroma of Daisy’s famous fried chicken filled the air, one of Luke’s personal favorites. To celebrate Luke’s homecoming, she had prepared all of his favorites for supper. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes with white gravy, corn on the cob, hot rolls and cherry pie for desert. Bo joined them at the table and Jesse said grace adding a special thanks of his own for bringing Luke safely back home. Throughout supper and the rest of the evening, the family talked and caught up. Luke was quieter than usual, listening more then he talked but nobody seemed to notice except for Jesse.
Finally it was time to turn in and Luke went to his old bedroom, the room he had shared with Bo since they were young children. The two boys undressed and crawled into their beds. Luke turned out the light on the nightstand between the two beds and lay there staring into the darkness and listening to the gentle sounds of the night that used to lull him to sleep as a child. Maybe back here in his childhood home where he felt safe he could sleep again with the fear that seemed embedded in his mind everytime he closed his eyes. He finally felt his eyes growing heavy and he slept.
Bo was awakened by a scream, one that he had never heard before and it scared him to death. He shot upright in his bed to see Luke sitting up in his bed breathing heavily, his whole body trembling.
“Luke?” Bo said worriedly, starting to climb out of bed but Luke held up his hand. Before Bo could ask him if he was right, Luke jumped out of his bed and ran to the bathroom across the hall.
Bo jumped out of bed and ran into the hallway where he found Jesse and Daisy already standing there. Jesse sent Daisy and Bo back to their own rooms, to give Luke what little privacy and pride he had left. He quietly closed the door to the bathroom, concealing at least some of the retching sounds that Luke was making as he hung over the commode losing what little supper he had eaten. Silently, Jesse turned and walked back to his own room. His heart ached for Luke but he knew that it would take time for him to come to terms with what had happened over there.
When he was finally able to pull himself to his feet, Luke leaned heavily against the sink and looked at his reflection in the mirror. The face of a stranger stared back at him. His heart was still pounding with fear and his eyes darted around anxiously. When he had first awakened from his nightmare, it had taken Luke a minute to realize that he was at home in his own room instead of locked in a cage in a prison camp in the jungles of Viet Nam. He was still shaking inside and his heart was still pounding inside his chest. He knew he wouldn’t be getting any more sleep the rest of the night. The truth was he was too afraid to go back to sleep. The dream had been too vivid and too real, he couldn’t deal with having another one like it. He could still feel the pain in his mind of them torturing him all over again.