Walker

"Triple and pairs, Ladies. Pay up," Tadhg boasts. Groans all around as we fold our hands on the crate before us.

"Shit, MacCrithein, that's the third time tonight," Chadwick gripes. "I'm out." He gets up to leave the table and head out into the night, lifting the flap of our tent as he does.

"You're just sore 'cause you losin', Chips," Corban teases, stretching his head back to make his voice carry.

"Shut up, Coach," Chadwick hollers back. "And enough with the 'Chips'. When you guys gonna quit that shit?" You can hear his voice getting further away from us, but not gone before he adds, "You ain't doin' that much better than me, anyway, Coach," he grumbles. "I gotta take a piss."

I shake my head and laugh. These two; always at each other. Corban never lets up on him. He thinks it's his duty to hassle Chadwick. Chadwick had a rough recruit period. He slipped up more times than I wanna remember. It got so bad, we decided to band together and do what we had to do to make sure he excelled at whatever our Drill Instructors threw at him. If not, we all suffered. Corban, who we nicknamed Coach, was always encouraging Chadwick to do better, to do more; "to reach his full potential". Corban has a never-ending supply of positivity no matter how many times things go wrong. Chadwick's been his biggest beneficiary all through training.

I like Corban. He's one of the good guys. Not that the rest of my brothers are any less. I'd give my life to save any one of them in the field. Corban, though, he's special. He has that extra something you look up to, appreciate. He's loyal and one hundred percent good. He doesn't take any bullshit. He'll kick your ass six ways to Sunday before you even drop your first punch. He can hold his own and then some. But, he just has this way about him. You can trust him with your life, and your friendship. He gives you advice, but it never comes across as condescending. He's genuine; he just really wants to make a difference. He's the epitome of what a Marine stands for, in body, mind and spirit.

Chadwick, on the other hand. What can I say? I laugh just thinking about him. Chadwick is that guy. The one guy in every group that makes you laugh. Unlike most class clowns, however, Chadwick never does anything on purpose; he just comes by it naturally. Something's always just happening to him. It's never his fault, but somehow it's always his fault.

I rub my neck and think about the first time his family sent him a care package. I wince. I can still feel the sand in my ears, and the chafing between my thighs and under my armpits.

I look up at my hand. "Shit. I'm out," I say, folding the cards down on the crates. As our group completes their round, I lean back and remember that day. We'd just finished a brutal week. Pretty new to boot camp, no one warned us ahead of time what we should and shouldn't receive in care packages from home. Usually, the guys received something small, like a letter from their mom or a girl back home. Once in a while, though, someone would get something special. That day, Chadwick had gotten a small box of chocolate chip cookies. Apparently, they were his favorite.

There we all were, laying on our racks, looking through our mail, when in comes our Senior Drill Sergeant. In no time, we're standing at attention in front of him, as two other instructors march into the room as well. We hadn't been doing anything wrong; it'd been a pretty quiet day so far. As far as anything can be considered quiet in boot camp, that is.

Standing still, I couldn't think of what was in their heads, but for some reason, as I looked around the room, a feeling of unease came over me. Why were they looking at us like that? Worse yet, what did that gleam in McGuire's eye mean for all of us?

And then I saw it; Chadwick's pillow. It wasn't on his rack right. It'd fallen sideways and was now leaning half on, half off his bed. Shit. Making matters worse, I could see the corner of something sticking out from under the pillow.

Of course, since I could see it, it was very easy for Sergeant Calous to find it as well.

"Chadwick, what is this shit?" Calous yelled in Chadwick's face, spittle flying everywhere.

"You got something hidden under there, Son?" McGuire yelled, stomping over for a closer look.

"Something you don't want us to see?" Yi hollered at him.

All three of them were in his face, their veins busting from beneath the skin on their forehead.

"Oh, a box of cookies, Chadwick?" McGuire bellowed.

"You got some chow in here you're trying to hide from the rest of the men?" Calous screamed.

"You holding out on us, Chadwick? You think you're special? You think you can just eat this shit when you weren't given leave to?" Yi asked. "You like cookies, boy? Do you? Huh? What's a matter with you, Son? Can't you talk? Say something! Answer me! Tell me! Do you like cookies?"

The volume was cranked up as Chadwick stood there sputtering, trying to both get a word in and to stand tall and at attention without making things worse.

"Sir, yes, Sir. I like cookies, Sir," he finally got out.

The three instructors stopped their yelling and exchanged looks. Right then, I knew we were in trouble. If loud screaming was frightening, drop dead silence was terrifying.

Not one hour later, we're on the beach, rolling in sand, wet from the surf. "More sugar, Walker! You need more sugar!" McGuire bellowed at me, as I rolled and Coach covered me in sand. When he was done, I flipped and returned the favor. I threw it everywhere, piling it on his uniform-covered stomach, his back, his shoulders. I heaped it over his sopping-wet boots and crusty head at the same time.

"Hurry up, Walker. Damn your lazy ass is slow!" Calous shouted. "20 push-ups! 20 push-ups! Now, Walker! Now, Corban. Move it!"

"Bear craws, bear craws, bear craws, Chadwick! Bear crawls MacCrithein! Move that skinny ass, Jaceen!"

"Toledo! What's taking you so long? You think you're special; that you can lag behind? Get up! Get in that water!" Yi yelled.

And there we went again, back into the water. The waves crashed over our fingers and toes first. I took a mouth full of the salty surf as another wave crashed against my face. "Wetter, Walker! Wetter! More Water! Get in there! What are you doing? Drinking that shit? I said get wet!" Yi roared from behind me.

"Out! Out! Out! Let's go!" McGuire yelled. "Back to the beach! More sugar! More sugar! Gonna make a sugar cookie outta your ass yet, Chadwick! Look at you now, son. How you like those chips now, boy? No? No chips for you? Yup, that's right, Chadwick, just sugar now. How you like them cookies now?

Let's go! Let's go! 10 jumping jacks! 10 jumping jacks. 10 more!"

On and on that night we went. Before boot camp, I loved to eat sugar cookies. Mom would let me have them fresh from the oven, edges crispy, centers still warm and a little gooey. After that night, though... No. I don't ever want to see another sugar cookie again.

I smile at the memory, as painful as it was at the time. Chadwick has been called 'Chips' ever since. The only things he receives from home now are letters and non-edible items.

"...the fuck you laughin' at, Walker?" Chadwick asks me, strolling back into the tent. "You got someone back home you thinking about over there?"

I throw a rock at him. "Shut up, asshat."

"So feisty! I like it, Baby. I like it," he answers and I smile. "I'll give you something to like, Chips," I reply, laughing and standing up.

"Oh yeah, Walker? Well, hey man, come give it to me, sweet thing," he teases, puckering his lips and batting his eye lashes at me. I can't help myself. I have to laugh. How can you resist a fool like that? What a freakin' ham.

"Hey, seriously, Man. You gotta a girl back home, Walker?" Chadwick asks me. Tadhg looks up and makes eye contact with me. He knows I've yet to hear from Jenny and how that silence has been eating at me. Corban turns my way. He waits to see what I'll say. I know he's curious. He's caught the tail end of a couple of conversations Tadhg and I've had about Jenny and Coailainn. Corban has never asked me anything, though. He's just not that type of guy. He's listening in on this conversation now, though.

I smile and look away.

"Aawh, yeah! Walker's got a girlfriend, y'all!" Jaceen ribs me, holding the pile of cards he has in his lap.

"I gotta take a piss," I tell them, ignoring their cat calls, as I get up to leave.

"What's she like, Walker? Is she..." I see Chadwick from the corner of my eye as I move forward. He's making the universal hourglass shapes with his hands behind me. I block him out as I go outside into the night. When I'm far enough away, I relieve myself and sigh. When I'm done I zip up, and stop to rub my forehead. I close my eyes and think back to Jenny. Chadwick brought the ghost of Jenny's presence to my mind. Halfway back to the tent, I stop to lean up against a tree. I'd been doing well; not thinking about her. Now, though, forget it. She's back, front and center. I wonder what she's doing tonight. I wonder how long it'll be before I hear from her, or see her again. Will she wait for me? I'm no fool. Being separated from each other for so long, especially when no commitments have been made, doesn't leave me much hope.

Maybe there is something I can do, though, to let her know I'm thinking about her. I pull out the knife I wear on my calf and worry it in my hand. When we get back to base, I need to get myself online.

I throw my knife at the nearest tree, releasing my energy with it as the blade leaves my hand. 

_______________________

Photography Copyright 2018 A. E. F.

Please click on the star below to let me know you're enjoying this story so far! Thank you for your support.