THOMAS

By Devin Thomas Corey

From the blood tide beaches of Normandy, to the artificial, drug-filled haze of Hollywood, to the lethal underworld of the South American jungle, Devin Thomas Corey blends memoir with his imagination to produce an emotional work of auto-fiction that lays bare his deepest regrets and wildest fantasies in pursuit of self-love and harmony.
As a child, Devin was always searching. He rebelled against his strict New England upbringing and military academy rules, finding solace in running and listening to his grandfather's war stories. Constantly in his head, creating a life of make-believe for himself, Devin heads down a dark road, one underpinned by innocent drug use, that will turn into his Achilles heel once he sets off for South America.
Following the death of his best friend in a skiing accident, Devin escapes to Peru with a potential lover, and almost immediately, his balance is knocked off course. Wanting to make a fortune, he secretly plots an arrangement to import contraband into the US, but ends up being the target of a conspiracy between cartel lords and corrupt intelligence operatives.
When his grandmother falls ill, Devin reluctantly returns to Massachusetts to settle down and conform to the buttoned-up life he traveled so far to avoid. As his drug use worsens, and another love affair bites the dust, Devin packs up once again, this time, for Hollywood, in search of another fantasy, a life on the big screen, which will set him even further off-course on his quest for self-discovery. Meanwhile, the same maleficent forces whose drug plot he foiled will continue to monitor him, placing threats on his life when he least expects.
Eventually, the crazy parties, and small roles in films like Almost Famous, pale in comparison to the opportunities that might be unlocked should he get back into the drug-importing business. Unexpectedly teamed up with the leaders of the Sinaloa cartel, laundering millions through celebrity real-estate, Devin is abused and interrogated inside a Tijuana jail, only to return to his roots once more, a shell of who he once was.
At forty years old, Devin is as lost as he was in his youth, but now, with a crippling addiction and a total loss of identity. Given up, he overdoses, praying for some sweet release, but God has other plans, saving his life in a blizzard and awakening his consciousness to something more.
And so begins the long road to recovery, a humiliating nuisance at first, until he meets Thomas, somewhat of a guardian angel who will hold his hand on his spiritual path for peace. What follows is one man's reckoning with a life unhinged, and the beautiful ecstasy that comes with self-determined redemption.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Aug 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798988549611

Book preview

1944

Pre-dawn, A landing craft boat approaches the shores of Omaha Beach in Normandy. Young soldiers pack inside it like sardines. Name tag on the chest of the handsome young boy reads COREY.

Backpack overloaded with gear, rifle in hand, fear in the eyes. Corey expresses to Martinez something is wrong with the tide. Deep water, not low tide previously discussed in training.

Corey expresses he cannot swim. Martinez reassures him explaining he has the May West flotation device around his waist.

Enemy fire from shore. Landing craft stops. Door goes down. Boys begin to exit. Immediate casualties. Corey hits deep water and goes upside down. The may west causing buoyancy coupled with the extreme weight of his pack makes him top heavy forcing him upside down.

Struggling to right and catching breath Corey eventually releases may west from waist. Bullets shoot through the water narrowly missing him. Bubbles rise to the surface before him as he sticks his head out of water, gasping for air, opening his eyes.

Troop trekking through the French countryside. Corey advances through the hedgerow marsh area. Enemy fire. Martinez the bazooka man is hit. Corey returns fire hitting Nazi. Barb wire prevents their advance. Small Corey lifts the dead Nazi putting his body over barbed wire.

Lifting Martinez on his back, grabs his bazooka, crawling over the dead body protecting them from the barb line to temporary safety.

Corey leads his team through hedgerows Saint-Lo France. Waist lined with explosives. Corey meticulously takes explosives from one side of the belt and detonator cap from the other side. Blowing up hedge rows for his tank team following behind. A short distance behind Nazi tanks are gaining ground. Corey’s rifle team covers him from enemy fire as he advances through the beginning of the dirt town road of Saint-Lo.

Corey is spotted in the scope of a Nazi sniper hiding in the distant tree line. Nazi sniper fires. Corey falls in the middle of the road alone. Corey is critically wounded.

Enemy fire is strong. Corey’s team cannot assist him. Nazi tanks approaching. Corey plays dead on the road. Nazi tank is about to drive over Corey. Corey loads dynamite with a cap.

Tank drives over Corey in the middle of tank tracks. He confidently places dynamite in the tank tracks as it passes over Corey. Tank continues exploding a short distance after Corey.

Corey’s men rush in the road dragging Corey with a shattered leg across the road. Corey takes cover in the window. Nazi tank teams follow, but are jammed up in the road due to the lead tank exploded by Corey.

This moment American forces attack Nazi’s, completely disabling Nazi advancement. Corey is sharp shooting from the window wounded. American reinforcements move into the town stabilizing village.

The Americans have the upper hand.

1952

T ommy, Tommy!! Corey awakens from a dream. in his chair, leg up on an ottoman. White v neck t shirt, khaki pants, and combed back hair.

Rushing down the hallway, Eileen, pregnant in her sundress, hands him an envelope marked with the White House seal. Corey reaches for the letter opener on the side table and reads.

By direction of the President, under the provisions of Executive Order 9419, February 4 1944, The Bronze Star Medal with Bronze V" Device has been awarded to Private Thomas R. Corey for HEROIC achievement in performance of outstanding service against the enemy in France.

Private Corey, as a member of the Engineer Component in the Engineer Infantry tank teams used in the assault, displayed great courage and fearlessness by constantly exposing himself to heavy enemy fire in order to assist the tank to which he was assigned in the advance.

He preceded the tank and selected likely passages through hedgerows, when necessary blowing a gap for the tank with explosives. He continued to do this until wounded by enemy small arms fire. His actions aided materially in the tanks completing the mission."

Tommy what does it say?!

The President has asked me to come to Washington. They want to award me the Bronze Star with Valor for my actions in Saint-Lo. He is not phased. But Eileen is excited and firm.

You’ll take Brian. I’ll buy new suits at Wilsons.

In suits, Corey’s son watches the officials pin his father with a medal, and he follows their salute. Corey returns the gesture, followed by applause, followed by the pomp of a presidential band playing.

Martha’s Vineyard

A grand summer house porch in Oak Bluffs with housewives scurrying inside. Julia tells Betsy, 6 years old, to mind Marie the maid and help her younger brother get ready.

Your father arrives at the ferry soon and we can’t be late.

A neighbor opens the door of a rumble seat convertible as Julia steps in and Betsy climbs in back in her Sunday dress. Marie hands Betsy her younger brother, and they’re off to see their dad at long last.

At the pier, a dignified man disembarks from the ferry. Betsy runs and embraces him with his suitcase and a gift in both his arms.

Julia holds back, waiting and holding their son.

Tommy, so good to have you home. I sincerely hope it is for the rest of summer.

Devon, England

A child is conceived and he is prematurely named for the town in which his parents copulated. Betsy and Brian have plans for a bigger family, but if their firstborn Brian Jr. could talk he would object.

Money questions linger. How? Flipping burgers and building tar roads will soon bring them back stateside. Betsy falls in love with the countryside of Devon. Brian’s plans to become a history teacher will not support their growing family and fantastic dreams. Law school and house talk.

Brian, Brian Jr and Betsy are now pregnant, living in a 3rd floor apartment at Brian’s parents house. Brian gets ready to commute to law school.

Betsy sends him off for the day with lunch departing in his classic green MGB. Enough gas in his tank and change in his pocket to catch the train into the city. Leaving the house says goodbye to Dad in HIS chair reading the newspaper and Mom Eileen on the front porch at the table.

Betsy’s brother Tommy Jr. arrives with lemon squares for Eileen per usual to sit with her and says goodbye to Brian as he departs. I need to go to coach football and get to the restaurant, Tommy tells Brian.

Brian and Betsy buy a big new house nearby to Eileen and Tommy. The old sea captain’s home is large, needs work, and out of their price range but they are determined to make it happen. Betsy’s parents don’t live far in a nicer neighborhood.

Duality

Tommy Jr, Betsy’s brother, is out operating his popular restaurant. A new, rival restaurant has opened. Tommy visits alone one night to see. Although he is nicely dressed as always, the owner refuses service to Tommy per dress code.

Tommy respectfully departs. When walking down the street, Tommy is confronted by thugs. Tommy, well built, declines to engage in conflict but they won’t let him leave.

After the first punch, he cleans house of them all single handed. A beaten thug crawls to the trunk of a car, grabbing a shotgun, he shoots Tommy in the stomach. Tommy bleeds out on the street and dies as the men flee like cowards.

Hours later, Julia receives news of her son’s murder and the hysteria spreads.

Thomas senior in a wheelchair. In tears, he has a stroke and dies. Julia alone collapses.

Brian is flipping burgers when he hears about his brother-in-law. He tears off his apron and runs home to his pregnant wife, who is checking on Brian Jr. in his new bedroom. Holding her belly, Betsy collapses at the news just like her mother.

A dual burial, dual names, dual coffins and granite tombstones reading THOMAS.

Brooklyn 1973

A long-haired hippie wearing bell bottoms climbs on stagnant trains at the depot. Sitting on top of the train with his feet dangling, he gets high.

He lays back on the roof. The train starts to move. He stands and loses his balance. He reaches for what he can, grabbing a live wire as electric volts charge through his body, exiting through his boots and ripping them open.

He is rushed to the hospital miraculously. He is severely burned just out of surgery. A priest gives him his last rights as the doctor consoles his parents. He lays wrapped in gauze next to a clipboard with his name: THOMAS. Tom is floating above his bed in white light. God tells him you can stay but you don’t belong up here.

Come and follow me?

Tom answers NO is catapulted down into his body.

The doctor and his parents are sent into a joyous frenzy as he regains consciousness.

The Trial

Brian, the young lawyer, sits with Betsy and his family during the trial of her brother’s murderers. Betsy’s pregnancy is in danger due to stress.

Brian is to be the best lawyer if justice is to be served. Inspired by his father, the war hero, Brian is determined to make an individual mark for himself.

And he succeeds, and his family comes out victorious, yet the verdict is unceremonious.

More trials, more cases, culminating in a serious one on Cape Cod. Just as the judge is about to read the jury’s decision, a clerk rushes into the courtrooms and hands the judge a second paper.

He asks Corey to approach the bench, Congratulations are in order.

Thank you, your honor, I worked hard to win this case.

Congrats on that too, but go home, Mr. Corey, your wife is in labor.

Brian rushes out of the court and gets to the hospital in time for the birth of a healthy new son. His middle name will be Thomas, after your brother and my father who saved Saint Lo. But his first name will be Devin, after England. After so much loss, he is our new beginning.

Saint Joe’s

My family works hard and prospers. One morning, my father sits down my mother, who is noticeably obsessed with me in her strict protective way, but ignoring Brian Jr. My law practice is doing good, and we planned to fill this house. I think we should have another baby so Devin can have a friend.

And so a third son is born, and the house begins to fill.

We will call him Alex. Lex for short. Lex means Law in Latin, Brian said.

My mother starts teaching school. She tells Dad, I want to contribute. I want our boys to have the best. I want them to go to private schools and have the best education. Full family breakfast and dinner every day.

So my parents hire babysitters, one for my brothers and one for me. Holidays and vacations are extravagant and dreamy. My mother takes pride in her children’s wardrobe. Clothes are laid out at the foot of our beds every night.

Cashmere monogram matching sweaters at church. In our pew, my mother sits down at the end like always. In between, all of us boys and my father, in our coordinated outfits.

We kneel. Dad reaches in his back pocket for his wallet. He takes a tiny card and prays with intention, holding his head down and clinching it in his hands.

What is that? I ask.

"This is Saint Jude. He is the patron saint