I shake my head, and, turn back to my food. “Hey, why do you think they are called, “the sugar”?”
He sets down the remote and turns to face me. “I asked my dad once. He said, he wasn’t sure, but it reminded him of an old movie called Mary Poppins. There was a song in it called, A Spoonful of Sugar “
I shake my head in complete confusion. “Really?” I give Omar a sly grin. “Why don’t you, sing it for me.”
He looks at me like I’m crazy. “Yeah, right dude…that’s not happening. It’s this really lame kids, movie”
“Have you seen it?”
“Yes.”
“Did you like it?”
“It was okay when I was seven.”
“So, how does the song go?”
“Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, the medicine, go down, the medicine go down.”
Omar doesn’t sing it, but he can’t quite keep the melody from his words. I snicker at him, but he just rolls his eyes and continues to explain.
“It’s a metaphor. My dad says that entertainment changed when it became government sponsored. He says the famous people became the sugar. They are there to provide a sweet distraction. People watch them and their personal drama and don’t pay attention to all the crappy, unjust, stuff the government is doing.”
My eyes widen and I try not to show my shock at hearing his very antigovernment statement.
“Wow...that is a pretty strong anti-government metaphor, coming from someone about to be enlisted in government service.”
“I told you dude, I’m just here to jump out of planes. That doesn’t mean I suddenly think that Lui has become altruistic.”
My mouth drops open a little at his forthrightness. “You should be really careful who you share your opinions with. Or better yet don’t share them.”
“I am really careful.”
“How can you say that, we just met, and you basically admitted you have no loyalty to the, U.A.”
“Yeah, but neither do you.”
“How do you know; I didn’t tell you that?”
“Am I wrong?”
“Well…No but, still, you didn’t really know that.”
“I am really good at reading people. It’s kind of my thing.”
I shake my head in disbelief. “I’m sure sometimes you’re wrong.”
“Rarely”
“It only has to happen once.”
He gives me a serious look, and sighs. “Point taken, now come here, I want to show you something.”
He switches his phone to projector mode and props it on the table facing the blank white wall.
“Go turn out the lights.”
I do as he asks and come back to sit on the bed just as a very old looking video plays. It is a woman and two kids in old timey cloths. Then she starts singing and the chorus of “a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down” begins. The video is only a few minutes. It is old fashioned and childish, but oddly comforting. I turn to Omar when it is finished.
“Great, now I’m going to have that song stuck in my head for the rest of my life.”
“Nah, it will be stuck in your head a couple of days, tops.”
“Please tell me you have something better to watch on your phone, than Mary Poppins’ videos.”
“Porn?”
“No thanks”
“Just kidding, dude, I took all that off my phone before I got here.”
I can’t help but laugh. “You got rid of your porn, but you decided it was okay if your drill sergeant found Mary Poppins on your phone? Can we just watch something normal…like, maybe something in between porn, and Mary Poppins?”
He laughs, but, then puts on Sky Jumpers. It is one of my favorite shows about a group of scientist and soldiers that travel through worm holes in time to right the wrongs in history or to prevent catastrophes in the future. They always wear parachutes because the worm holes are usually at high altitudes.
“Holy Crap, Omar! Is this show why you want to jump out of planes?”
His face gets a little red, so I know I’m right.
“No! Well, maybe a little. It is my favorite show.”
I try unsuccessfully to stifle my laugh. And Omar pegs me in the head hard with one of the lumpy, pillows. “Don’t worry man your secret is safe with me. It’s my favorite show too.”
We watch a couple of episodes of Sky Jumpers and then I fall asleep. I am awake and walking toward the bathroom when the wakeup call pounds on the door. Thirty minutes later Omar and I head down to breakfast. There is a buzz of excitement most of us are picking jobs and getting sworn in for service today. We finish our breakfast, and head to the white Van. After we get out of the van, I turn to Omar.
“Good luck man, I hope you get your rigger job.”
“Oh, it’s that or nothing. Sergeant Jefferson has been checking to see when there are rigger slots available. I should be good. Good luck to you too man.”
Inside MEPS, it is another long day of hurry up, and wait. I am beginning to think this is going to be the story of my life in service of the U.A. When I finally get to the job recruiter, I am a little on edge. I take a deep breath and tell myself this is my destiny. I walk into a small office, seated at a computer is hulking ginger headed man in BDUs. Without looking up from the screen he orders me to take a seat. He stays focused on his computer screen for another two minutes, then, he finally looks up at me.
“Based on your scores, and job availability, I am recom-mending you pick cryptologic linguist or cryptologic network warfare specialist. “
He says this with the kind
