This story by James Lee Burke flows back to an earlier time of a patriotic America, the recollection by the narrator of when he and his best friend were twelve and came up against the neighborhood bully. This fight mirrors on a small scale the battles of WW II requiring by ratio the same amount of courage and self-knowledge. Burke also gives us a glimpse through Charlie’s eyes of problems between his parents that his mother dismisses with, "You mustn’t talk like that. We were just having a discussion." But this is just an idealistic hope on her part.
Burke reinforces this background of man’s tendencies toward war in various ways. The obvious ongoing WW II serves as an underlying thread on a huge scale, but does not personally affect this family or the neighborhood except for "member in the forces" stickers in the house windows. The aggressiveness instead is seen in the struggles between Charlie and his friend Nick against the bully, Vernon. Charlie’s father has marital fights, a different but very real daily war, but he as well avoids facing the realistic nature of man, evident in this comment to Charlie as the boy tells him of his own problems:
"There’s a new kid on the next street from Chicago. He thinks he’s better than everybody else. Why doesn’t he go back where he came from?" I said.
"Hey, hey," my father said, patting me on the back. "Don’t talk about a chum like that. He can’t help where he’s from. No more of that now, okay?" (p. 15)
The writing is skillful and the story presented in fine form, reminding me of my friend Jim’s style, and that is one that is smooth and capable of involving the reader in the storyworld completely.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology