Dad’s fighter-pilot friends were mostly class acts, true warriors dedicated to protecting their country and drinking every last English pub dry. But as with any group of egomaniacs, there are always one or two assholes to ruin everyone’s reputation. In Bentwaters, Captain Kelso was just such an ass.

I remember a time when Sam and I went to the Officer’s Club with Dad and a bunch of his fighter pilot buddies. There was food and plenty of beer. Dad and Sam were drunk and talking to the super-cocky fighter jock named Captain Kelso.

“So, Sam, you gonna fly like your old man when you graduate?” Captain Kelso asked.

“You better believe it,” Sam answered. He took off his Sony Walkman headphones and changed the cassette tape to side B.

“You should do it,” Captain Kelso said. “It takes balls, but when you’re done you feel like you got the whole damn world by the ass,” he added, making an earth-shaped fist.

“Yeah,” Sam said. “I’m gonna fly. It’s gonna be rad!”

“How about you?” Captain Kelso asked me.