Lieutenant Smilowicz
May, 1966, Firebase Gio Linh, Vietnam
The attack was brutal. People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) launched an attack on the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) base at Gio Linh. Dozens of people were killed, including some American trainers. Morale was at a low point as issues ranging from corrupt leadership to outright desertion plagued the American unit. Lieutenant Desmond Smilowicz was hiding in a bunker, scared out of his mind but determined to live through the attack.
Captain Julian Koninsk, trying to evade the onslaught of PAVN firepower, came upon Lieutenant Smilowicz. They agreed to watch each other’s backs as they looked for a way to get to a safer location. They’d heard that PAVN had built a network of tunnels and bunkers in the area and thought they might take advantage of that cover to get to safety. Lieutenant Smilowicz volunteered to go on a scouting mission.
Soon after the Lieutenant left, Capt. Koninsk noticed blood soaking through his right shirt sleeve on his lower arm. The sight freaked him a bit because he was just days away from going home and the thought of dying in that bunker sent him into a rage where he vowed to kill anyone who impeded that. His eyes were wide open from fear of dying in that place, and he was ready to lash out at anything he perceived as a threat.
Lieutenant Smilowicz had found a way to safety, and he headed back to get Captain Koninsk. He was unaware of the Captain’s mental state and didn’t dare call out before entering the bunker where the Captain hid. As soon as he entered the room, the captain, overcome with fear, opened fire with his M16 pumping a barrage of rounds into the unsuspecting lieutenant. As the captain riddled his body with bullets, he looked on in astonishment at the captain as if asking “why?” as he fell to the ground. The Captain, realizing what he had done, how cowardly he’d acted, ran off and prayed no one would tie him to killing the Lieutenant.
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Lubbock, TX, 1987 - Twenty-year-old Veronica Koninsk was a typically happy young woman who had grown up in Lubbock. She elected not to go to college after high school, opting, instead, to help mom run the family shoe store in the South Plains Mall. At least that was the lie that made her feel better about not going to college. It was a decision few people understood, as her parents had saved most of their lives for her higher education. She was a bright young lass and always sought the good in people. To some, that was a detriment, but she had a reputation for not bending to naysayers.
Veronica was a hottie whose unabashed, promiscuous nature was all too familiar with people in her orbit. And in a town as small as Lubbock, pretty much everyone was in her orbit. The kids in her graduating class who, like her, elected to forego college all acted as if high school was still a thing. They were completely oblivious to the fact that their former classmates looked down on them as losers.
Conner Tate was the high school all around jock. He took part in all the sports and had his pick of the ladies. He had an on again off again relationship with Veronica. She thought they would grow up, get married, raise kids. He thought no such thing and missed zero opportunities to drive that point home whenever the subject came up.
“Veronica, read my lips,” he’d say. “It ain’t happening, so get it out of your mind.”
It was never about him not liking her, but he had his pick of all her friends. His attitude was why settle for one when he could have them all? Conner could be a bit of a butt-head when things didn’t go his way. His parents were among the wealthiest in town, and his sense of entitlement was, well, elevated. Veronica experienced many a night thoroughly embarrassing herself to be seen arm-in-arm with Conner, only to have him leave her behind for someone else at night’s end. Some of her friends who had long since moved on from him chastised her for her lack of self respect and pleaded with her drop him, but she wouldn’t listen.
Her parents knew she was the butt of jokes around town and they felt terrible for her. Unfortunately, even knowing that, Veronica still could not see Conner for who he was. She’d come home many a night in tears over something he had done to humiliate her. It seemed it was perfectly fine for Conner to have other girls, but not for them to see other guys. Veronica made that mistake once, and he promptly dropped her.
She never said it was Conner who put her in the hospital, and her father was furious about it. She knew he never liked him and had been looking for an excuse to dole out some fatherly justice. Veronica begged her father to forget about it, that it wasn’t Conner, and that she had stopped seeing him. But he was obsessed and lived for revenge. The thought of a rich, entitled kid beating his daughter was more than he could stand. It ate at him day and night until he could take it no longer.
One night, he and some friends tracked Conner down and beat the crap out of him. Conner pleaded with them to stop, saying he didn’t know what they were talking about. He told them he would never lay hands on Veronica and that they were no longer even seeing each other. His pleas fell on deaf ears as Veronica’s father, Julian, was in a rage for which he couldn’t control. His friends got nervous, thinking he may very well kill Conner that night. They ran off and never looked back. Soon after they left, Julian must have realized how out of control he was and sat on the ground with head in his hands and cried. Years of pent-up emotions flowed freely, and he didn’t care whether Conner saw it. Conner, seeing an opening, bolted. He couldn’t have cared less about Julian’s emotions. But what Julian was feeling at that moment was nothing compared to what was to come.
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He came to town with a specific agenda, an agenda of shame and torment. Years of physical therapy had left him cold and bitter, but his motor skills were nearly one hundred percent recovered and he was ready to confront his sworn enemy face-to-face. But first, he needed to soften him up, make him crazy with anger. Someone not thinking clearly is someone a weaker opponent can defeat. He was admittedly the weaker opponent, but he was determined to get his revenge.
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After Veronica left the hospital, things between her and her dad were strained. She found out about what he did to Conner and was furious.
“Dad, it wasn’t Conner that did this. Please make this right with him.”
He refused, while her mother pleaded with Veronica to forgive her father.
“He only did what he thought he had to in order to protect your honor, honey. Surely, you can’t blame him for that?”
“Mom, he could have killed him. You know how he gets when he’s scared, but Conner did not do this.”
“So who is this new guy that did this to you? And tell me you’re no longer seeing him.”
“No mom, of course not. It ended the night this happened.”
Veronica knew her parents would never approve of the new boyfriend and she had no intention of telling them his name. The relationship was over. He turned out to be a creep who asked way too many questions about her dad. It was as though his only actual interest in her was to get information on her dad. As far as she knew, he had left town, and that was that.
But he hadn’t left town, and he hadn’t finished with her. He was playing a long game, for which she was the key player. And he had all the time in the world to let her get comfortable in thinking she was safe. He relished hanging out in the shadows, watching her go about her daily routine, knowing that he could get to her anytime he wanted.
Sitting alone in the darkness of his empty apartment, he allowed visions of the past to feed hate and loathing. He lifted the phone’s handset off the receiver and dialed her number.
Veronica was still talking to her mother when the phone rang. She answered and her mother watched in horror as every pixel of color left her daughter’s face, leaving a horrifying ghost-like appearance of sheer terror. The look frightened her mother. Veronica quickly hung up the receiver and stared straight ahead, obviously terrified by the call.
“My goodness, honey, who was that?”
Veronica said nothing as she stood and walked as if in a trance to her room, closed the door and locked it. Her mother could only look on in disbelief.
She was still in her room when her father came home. Her mother rushed to him to tell him what happened with the strange call. Concerned, he went to Veronica’s room and demanded she open the door. He wasn’t angry… yet, but in a “concerned” mode. Veronica hesitantly unlocked the door and opened it just enough to peek through.
“Hi, dad. What’s up?” she tried to sound somewhat normal.
“Open the door, honey. I’d like to talk to you,” he said.
“Dad, I’m kind of in the middle of a thing. Can it wait?” she asked.
“I’m afraid not, honey, and I’m about to kick it in. I’d much prefer you open it.”
She slowly backed away, allowing the door to fully open. She had news that she knew he would not like, neither of them would, but it was time to come clean. Unfortunately, the news she thought would be so devastating would pale in comparison to the hell she was unknowingly about to drop on her family.
“Guys, I have some news. I’m in love. We get along really well, well except for that one time. But… he’s wonderful and I know we’re going to be good for each other. He’s an older guy. Actually, about your age, dad.”
She could see her dad was in a pre-rage state and her mom didn’t look much better.
“What’s his name, dear?” Her mom asked, trying not to reveal her dissatisfaction.
“It’s Desmond, Desmond Smilowicz, and he’s headed over here to meet both of you now.”
Veronica and her mother watched in horror as every pixel of color left her dad’s face, leaving a horrifying ghost-like appearance of sheer terror. The look frightened the both of them. Her father stared straight ahead, terrified by the news.
Before he could ask Veronica to describe him, the doorbell chimed, and she ran excitedly to open the door. Mom and dad followed. She opened the door with outstretched arms and a big bright smile to meet her man, but what she saw set off all kinds of warning flags.
Standing in the doorway was Lieutenant Desmond Smilowicz. He wore the same uniform he had on that day back in Vietnam when then Captain Julian Koninsk gave in to fear and opened fire on him. Surprisingly, most of the captain’s bullets hit the lieutenant’s vest, and while he suffered massive bruising and trauma, he survived. He took one step inside, pulled his government issued Colt Commander and ordered Veronica and her mom to take a seat on the couch. He ordered Julian to sit in a chair facing the couch. Veronica tried to speak, and he put a finger to his lips to shush her. He then turned to Julian.
“Hello, Captain. Remember me? The man you shot and left for dead back in Gio Linh?”
“I thought you were dead, Lieutenant.”
“Do I look dead, Captain? You tried to kill me because you couldn’t face your fear. You were a coward. It has taken years for the doctors to restore my sanity, and now I’m going to show you how that feels.”
Veronica and her mother were crying as they begged Desmond to leave them alone, but they could see he was too far gone. The crazed look in his eyes foretold the horror that awaited them, as he turned his gun on Veronica and put a round into her left shoulder. She screamed out in pain.
“Sorry, babe,” he smiled sadistically. “That was a spur-of-the-moment thing.”
His original plan was to marry Veronica and spend the rest of his life watching Julian squirm every time he saw them together, every time the grandkids were over, but he changed his mind. It turned out that Veronica was an incredible pain in his rear and he could no longer deal with her, so he figured instead he’d give Julian a sample of the pain he endured.
Without thinking, without hesitation, he raised his weapon and put a round into Julian’s chest, careful not to hit his heart. Julian screamed in pain as the force of the bullet pushed him violently backwards as the chair tipped over. Veronica and her mother screamed in horror. Again, Desmond calmly shushed them.
“Stings like a mother, don’t it, Captain? What do you say, one more for good measure?”
And again, without hesitation, he popped another round into Julian’s right shoulder. Julian muffled a scream as he writhed on the floor in pain. Desmond seemed to really enjoy the terror he had unleashed on the family. He looked to the ceiling and smiled while doing a jig as he muttered a little “happy” song.
“I gotta tell ya, Captain. I didn’t think I’d enjoy this as much as I am. This makes my years of pain and therapy worthwhile.”
He suddenly turned to Veronica.
“What do you think, sweetheart? Should I finish him now?”
He began laughing as he raised his gun and turned back to Julian just in time to feel a bullet enter dead center into the front of his forehead. His body immediately went limp, and he fell to the floor, dead for sure. Veronica and her mother ran to the Julian, took the gun out his hand, and tried to comfort him.
Amazingly, the police showed up a minute or two later to say they were there to warn Captain Koninsk about a possibly hostile visit by a former subordinate.
K.R. Eaton - Lieutenant Smilowicz
Short Stories by K.R Eaton
