One September Morning by Rosalind Noonan

load of crap—the suffering part. And somehow, for a guy like Scott with a wife and baby at home, maybe he’d want a few minutes’ warning, a chance to say good-bye, to send last messages to Suz and Sofia.
    Of course, Madison is not supposed to know any of this stuff because it is strictly AW—Adult World—but she’s always listening, and when her mother gets engrossed in her military wives’ network stuff, she forgets anyone else is around.
    But Madison hears everything.
    She heard her mother’s cry of outrage when the base commander announced there would be no more individual memorial services for soldiers killed in Iraq—because they couldn’t friggin’ keep up with it, that’s why. And she’s heard the endless stories, the families whose sons or husbands signed up for a stint in the National Guard, thinking they’d be called in during an earthquake or flood or something, but finding themselves shipped off to Iraq and returning in a body bag. Those stories hit all the papers in Washington and Oregon, though no one on base wants to talk about it because they have to believe they’re doing the right thing serving their country. Otherwise, they’d go crazy.
    Un-fucking-believable, as Ziggy says when his head is screwed on straight. That would be when he’s not floating on a cloud of weed or trying to scrounge some money to cop some. Ziggy is one of those untapped geniuses. He’ll probably become an engineer, or a scientist who comes up with a cure for cancer, if he ever kicks the weed and survives high school.
    Madison holds her sign up to passing motorists, motioning for them to honk if they support peace. Behind her, half the people she came with are already flaked out on the mall, and the other half seem to be dropping like flies, abandoning their march to sit in the grass, search for four-leaf clovers, and contemplate their navels. Ziggy and Sienna are working the edge of the gas station, bumming money from people who come in to fill up their cars. Cameron, Matthew, and Lily are stretched out, sunning themselves beside the WELCOME TO GREENDALE sign, but no surprise there. She knows they just came along to get in Sienna’s good graces and prove they can fly their freak flag whenever.
    Suz comes up from behind her, her sign held high. She gets a passing motorist to honk in support, and both girls wave back.
    “Thanks for doing this,” Madison says, feeling awkward. Every time she’s been with Suz, it’s been orchestrated by her mother, who’s in that group of ladies who intervene when a soldier dies, trying to cure grief with casseroles and coffee cake and conversation.
    “No problem,” Suz says. “It’s a hell of a good cause, and I can think of a lot worse things to do with my morning off.”
    Madison was happy to help Suz when her husband got killed, and Sofia’s a cute kid, no trouble at all. But this is weird. Madison is here to prevent other guys from getting killed the way Scott was. But still, when she turns to look at Suz, a sickening feeling soaks through her. It’s too late for Scott, right? He’s dead. And Sofia, their little kid with brown eyes as wide as buttons, who loves to sing the alphabet song and lace her fingers through yours, Sofia is never going to have a daddy. And that’s so wrong.
    Madison’s cell phone chimes. When she sees that it’s her mother, she definitely does not want to answer, at least not until she considers the alternatives. What if Mom persists and then calls the school to leave a message in the office? What if they tell her Madison is absent for the day?
    Suz is watching her hesitate when her cell phone starts ringing, too. When she snaps it open Madison decides to answer her mom. She’ll pretend she’s between classes or at lunch or something.
    “Hello?” her mother’s voice sounds surprised, but she recovers quickly. “Honey, I’m on my way to pick you up,” she says. “You need to come home.”
    Madison panics, thinking of her driving down