An Interview with a Pilot
My InterFiction badge starts to glow and I hurriedly grab a pad of paper and a pencil... just in time, too, because the next thing I know, I feel that strange sensation - that is becoming more familiar now - of having my insides exchanged for my outsides. It reminds me those Giant Drop type rides at amusement parks... not wholly unpleasant, but definitely disorienting.
The next thing I know, I’m standing in a dark room. The glow of my badge fades and I’m left blinking, trying to get my eyes to adjust. Thankfully, I have pretty good dark-vision, and it doesn’t take long for me to begin to make out my surroundings. It appears that they’ve landed me pretty close to my subject this time... probably because of his circumstances, even with my credentials it would be difficult to find anyone willing to tell me where I could find him.
My eyes have adjusted and I can see him now. Jimmy Rogers, a character in Jack Lewis Baillot’s new WWII historical-fiction novel: Brothers-In-Arms.
I make my way across the dark basement and sit down in a chair across from Jimmy. He’s wearing a jacket that immediately identifies him as an American pilot. He is tall, with brown hair and eyes - attractive, but obviously malnourished. I can tell he used to be quite fit, but he's been hiding down in this basement for almost two years now, and it shows. His face is gaunt and pale, but he seems antsy and ready for action. I'm sure that being stuck in hiding is not agreeing with who he is as a person. In spite of his haggard appearance, he flashes a grin my way as I take a seat and flip open my pad of paper.
"Hi, Jimmy, nice to meet you. I'm Jenelle Schmidt with the InterFiction Gazette, I believe they told you I was coming for a brief interview? I will try to keep my voice down, I know we're hiding from the Nazis. First, can you tell me a little bit about yourself and how you got into this situation?"
“Yes, they told me you would be here,” he replies. “I'm impressed you got by the Krauts. Don't suppose you managed to get any good American chocolate through with you?”
I actually do have a Twix bar on me. I offer it to him and he looks at it skeptically, but unwraps it and takes a bite. The surprise on his face shows, and I realize belatedly that Twix wasn’t invented until 1967. Oh well.
He continues, munching on the candy, “But to answer your question, as you know, my name is Jimmy. My full name is James Rodgers. I joined the war after Pearl Harbor was attacked. I've joined the air force since I already knew how to fly, I learned by stealing my dad's crop duster with my best friend Danny. I ended up in Germany with a co-pilot named Sam Winters, and I managed to get us both shot down over Berlin when I flew off course. Not my proudest moment...
I scribble furiously and then glance up. "I'm sure you want to get home to America, any ideas how you might go about getting out of here?"
“I would just grab a gun and blast my way out if it was up to me, but the resistance wants Sam and me to get out alive. They're trying to teach us German and get us fake papers. I personally could make a convincing German, but Sam is Irish, complete with accent. I'm sure you can see how that is a problem.”
I nod. "I wish you luck with that. I was hoping to get a bit of a peek into the man behind the hero, so would you be willing to tell me about your family? I know you have a sister who is a spy in France right now... what is she like? What was your life like before the war?" I feel my cheeks getting red. "Sorry, that was a lot of questions all rolled together."
Jimmy shifts around. “I'm no hero....but yeah, I have a sister in France. She dropped in behind enemy lines to get information for the allies. Her name is Becky, and I do worry about her, but she has the smarts to get back out. Besides that she has a fella she wants to come home to. I also have a kid brother who collects scrap for the war effort. My family is big into helping with the war, even my dad joined up. My best friend, Danny, and his family is the same way. His twin sister, Sadie, is helping build planes and Dan is with the Tuskegee Airmen. He's the best pilot they've got in my opinion. My life before the war was easy going. I grew up on a farm next to Dan. We got into trouble, mostly caused by me, and had fun. When we got older we moved into Queens. We were living there when the war started.”
"I hope your sister is okay. Thanks for giving us some insight into your private life, Jimmy." I think for a minute. I hear the rat-a-tat-tat of gunfire in the distance and shudder, trying to think of a lighter subject than the obvious dire situation this character is currently in. "Do you have a favorite song?"
“Ummm....” He glances at the shaded window. “I suppose. Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree by the Andrew Sisters.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcyiC79l910
“That’s a good one. The Andrews Sisters are pretty stellar musicians.” I tap my pen on my pad of paper. "I wish you the best in this situation and hope everything turns out all right. Okay, here’s another question: What is the first thing you plan to do when you get out of here and the war is over?"
He gets a wistful look in his eye. “Head back to Queens with Danny. See our families, and get the biggest scoop of ice cream possible.”
I grin, picturing him with an ice cream cone, an arm around his sister, and Danny striding along next to him... maybe playing a pick-up game of baseball... I don’t know how his story ends, but I hope it ends happily. “That sounds nice. Chocolate?”
He shakes his head vehemently. “Vanilla. It's the best and don't let my sister tell you otherwise.”
I skim through my notes, chuckling. “Final question and I’ll let you go: If you could talk your author into changing one thing about your story, what would it be and why?”
“If I could ask my author to change one thing..... I'd like to ask her to change my back story, but since I'm the one who told her that...if I hadn't it wouldn't have been in there at all because she had no clue about it. So I guess that is more my fault than her's....Wait! I know! I'd ask her, I would TELL her, to be nicer to Japhet. That poor kid needs a break.”
I stand and shake his hand. “Thanks for chatting with me today, Jimmy. I wish you the best, and I am very excited to read your story and find out if you get out of this situation. I’m rooting for you.”
He flashes me a grin and opens his mouth to say more, but my badge starts to glow and I can’t hear what he’s saying. I’m going to assume it’s an assurance that he will make it home... because this character has seriously grown on me through this interview, and I can’t bear the thought of anything horrible happening to him. But, like the rest of you, I’m going to have to read the book to find out!
If you would like to read more about this character, Jack wrote up a very nice post about him and his back-story over on her blog HERE.
Find out more about Jack Lewis Baillot online:
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