I still liked their logo. Neil Armstrong planting the flag on the moon, the photograph captioned, “Metric system? Whose flag is on the moon?” That sounded like my friend’s sense of humor. I wondered if he had anything to do with the logo, or if that’s what attracted him to the company.

I called DP and told him I could start soon as they needed me. I was shocked how quickly he arranged the weeklong training at their base in Alabama. This clearly was not the US government.

DP said, “Don’t get me wrong, Mitchum. Afghanistan is no picnic. But it’s calmed down a lot in the last few months. I think you’ll like the work. And I know you’ll like the pay.”

I woke up the next morning with an odd combination of anxiety and relief. Whatever the outcome of my adventure, I was going to see the world again, just like they told me in the Navy. I never thought I’d see Nevada while I was in the Navy, but I did. Same with Arizona and Cincinnati. I never considered them huge duty posts for the Navy.

I drove my mom to the hospital in Newburgh because we were going to bring Natty home. At least to my mom’s home. She was very excited.

I wasn’t terribly happy that my brother would be living under the same roof as Alicia.

I’d carefully considered the best time to tell my mom I’d taken a job that was going to ship me to Afghanistan. Just the sort of topic to start the day off on the right foot. I considered doing it at the hospital in front of people so my mom wouldn’t fly off the handle. But waiting in the car, I realized it was time. I was as hesitant to start this conversation as anything I’d ever done.

I said, “Mom, between your stay and Natty’s stay at the hospital, the bills are going to be outrageous.”

Staring out the window, she let out a snort. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

“Okay, I will: I’ve taken a job with a security company and I’m going to have to go to Afghanistan for a couple of months.” Just like removing a Band-Aid, I decided to rip it off.

The silence was chilling. I tried not to speak, just to see how long she’d go. After a full minute, I had to say, “Did you hear what I said?”

Now her head twisted to face me. It reminded me of something from The Exorcist. I focused on the road with my eyes straight ahead.

Finally, she said, “You’d desert your family at a time like this?”