Fraternizing (46 page)

I
sat in my seat, pissed that I was so entrenched in Twentynine, but would be
uprooted soon, and there was nothing I could do about it. Newsome took over
where Jensen left off, taking us clear back to chapter one and outlining
exactly what it was that we would be expected to know for the final. I couldn’t
concentrate, instead focusing on how Alex would react to the news when he
finally got wind of it. The thought hurt, like a piercing stab with sharp
knife, twisting and turning until it could go no further. I tried hard to block
it out, but everything led back to it, and I was beginning to feel sick.

After
a while of note taking, which I did very little of, Newsome released us for
lunch. I was never so thankful to get out of the suffocation of the classroom
and outside, even if it was above one hundred degrees and no breeze. The room
and the confines of the four walls seemed as if they were closing in on me.

Like
they were crumbling, leaving me standing in the middle of the debris.

Like
they were killing me.

My
heart ached in the worst way, and as anger and sadness began to pile up, so did
the anxiety of having to share this news with Alex.

Dalton
walked over to where I stood, his usually infectious smile plastered to his
face. “Guess where I’m off to?” When I didn’t say anything he blurted out,
“Third Light Armored Reconnaissance. I’m staying right here in Twentynine and
going to Third L.A.R. I’m so fucking excited about that. What did you get?”

I
looked Dalton in the eye, the misery shining through me erasing his smile.

“Uh
oh. This isn’t good.”

“I’m
going to Eighth Comm.”

“Noooo….”

The
hairs on the back of my neck began to stick up as I felt a presence near me
that was wholly unwanted. Allen was passing by with the idiots that made up his
crew. Not only was I pissed that I was being ripped away from Alex, but I’d
have to go and join a unit with a guy that I didn’t think belonged in this
century, let alone in a purely technological unit.

“Dalton,
did you just say you got Third L.A.R?” Allen asked, his face pinched and angry.

“Yeah,”
Dalton answered back, giving him a dirty look.

“This
is fucking unbelievable. Your weak ass gets Third L.A.R., a fucking combat
unit, and I get to run off to some pussy ass unit like Eighth Comm with a bunch
of bitches.”

I
wanted to let it go, but I couldn’t. I was already in a rotten mood, and he was
spoiling what little positive I could possibly salvage from this day.

“I
guess you just aren’t cut out for infantry, Allen,” I said, turning to find his
red face filled with throbbing blood vessels that looked as if they would pop
at any second.

He
moved closer to me. “Maybe going off to North Carolina will be good for you. No
instructors around.
Just fleet Marines, not giving a fuck
about bitches and their issues.
Maybe then I can teach you how to stay
in a bitches’ place. On your fucking knees with my dick shoved down your throat
so you can’t run your fucking mouth anymore.”

I
was about to say something to him when Newsome’s voice came bellowing through
the corridor. He stridently walked over to where we were, his face stiff, eyes
low, yelling, “Private Allen, Private First Class Bennett, over here! Now!”

I
turned and walked his way, meeting him halfway. I swallowed hard, afraid of
whatever was to come. This day was horrible, and it seemed to be getting worse
and worse.

“What
the fuck was that bullshit I just heard?”

Allen
stood quiet, staring Newsome in the face like he was ready for battle. He
looked like he had lost it, much more so than any other time I had seen him go
crazy.

“Don’t
look at me like you’re fuckin’ crazy, Allen. Answer my fuckin’ question.”

“You
heard whatever you heard, Sergeant,” he lowly grumbled, not talking his eyes
away from Newsome’s. The look was scaring me.

“Devil
Dog, you’ve lost your motherfuckin’ mind. I know female Marines in Eighth Comm
that will fuckin’ destroy you. That shit you just said is grounds for sexual
harassment, and I won’t
fuckin’
tolerate it.
Especially not from one of my students.
Go stand-by in Gunny
Chavez’s office right the fuck now. He’ll decide if this shit goes up to First
Sergeant.” Newsome’s face was nearly touching Allen’s—deep red, and full
of rage. His finger looked as if it would poke Allen’s eyeball out, and to say
that I would be glad to see it happen would have been an understatement.

Allen
didn’t say a word. He glared at Newsome for a minute longer. Newsome wasn’t
moving...wasn’t blinking...

“Jump
if you feel
froggy
, Marine,” Newsome growled.

For
a second, I wasn’t sure if he was even breathing. As angry and volatile as
Allen came across, Newsome looked ready to kill him should he make one wrong
move. I glanced around and found most of the students’ eyes trained on us,
taking in the tense, albeit entertaining scene. Allen finally tore away from
the stare down and turned away, walking down the hall that would take him to
the upper administrative offices. I had never seen that side of him and it
worried me, but Newsome wasn’t afraid. I was sure if Allen went completely
stupid, he’d be thinking twice after Newsome was finished with him.

“Bennett,
stand-by. You will be called in for your statement about this.”

I
nodded, not knowing exactly what to say. He turned and followed the same path
that Allen took, finally bringing air back to my lungs, and blood back to my
veins. The whole thing happened so fast, and now a shit storm was brewing,
leaving me feeling light headed.

“Whoa!
That was some serious shit. You okay?” Dalton asked, coming up behind me.

“Not
really,” I said, choking back a sob. When my clear thinking mind finally came
back to me, fear set in as I realized that it was certainly going to get back
to Alex.

“Hey,
he’s gone. He’s probably going to get a serious punishment, and then maybe you
won’t have to PCS with him.”

“I
know. I don’t care about that though.”

“Ohhhh.
You’re thinking about Alex.”

I
nodded my head, wiping away the loose tear that had managed to escape.

“He’s
going to find out about it. You might as well be the one to tell him. Call
him.”

“I
won’t reach him. He’s a on a plane, on his way back here.”

“So
leave him a voicemail and he will hear it when he gets off. You need to be the
one to tell him, Cassie.”

“He’s
a loose cannon, Dalton. If I tell him that, he won’t even think. He’ll just
react and come straight up here. Jeopardizing everything.”

“Cassie,
I listened to you when you said not to tell him what had been going on with you
and Allen. Now, this—this will surely get to him, and he’s going to be
even more pissed. I think it’s better if you tell him. Just leave him a
voicemail and discuss it with him once he’s off the plane.”

Dalton
was right. I needed to call and let Alex know what was going on, but inside, I
didn’t want to. I knew how angry he would be, and I didn’t want to deal with
that. I wanted everything to go back to before Allen ever opened his mouth in
that courtyard. I wanted to take it all back and re-do it, leaving Allen out of
the equation as Dalton went on with his excitement about his new unit and I
wallowed in self-pity for mine. All of that seemed so much more enjoyable than
what we were faced with now, and the thought of calling Alex and telling him
what had taken place, in front of numerous students, made me sick with worry.

“I
can’t do that right now, I—“

“Cassie,
stop,” he said, raising his voice and drawing attention to us. He grabbed my
arm and pulled me away from all of the prying eyes fixed on us. “You need to
seriously shut up and listen to me. You do not want Alex to hear this shit from
anyone but you. Look at everyone out here. This is going to be the talk of
school for days to come. Don’t let Alex hear about it through the fucking
grapevine, Cassie. What’s wrong with you?”

I
stared at
him,
completely understanding what he was
saying, and agreeing with it, but unable to bring myself to actually do it. The
one thing Alex had told me before he left was to stay away from everyone else
stay out of trouble. I was in the middle of a big heaping mess of it.

“Call
him, Cassie. Go over there by that bush, and call him.”

As
much as I wanted to slap Dalton in that moment and tell him to fuck off, I
didn’t. Rationality hit me and made me realize that he was absolutely right in
everything he was saying and that delaying the inevitable would only make
things worse. I stepped away from him, over to the bush like he said, and
dialed Alex’s number--knowing he wouldn’t answer-- and readying myself for the
voicemail that was sure to set him off.

Chapter 29

Alex

Touching
down at Palm Springs International Airport put a smile full of anticipation on
my face. I never thought I’d be so fucking happy to look out the window and see
the sparse, brown desert laid out before me, but I was. I was excited to be
back, and sitting in my seat waiting for everyone to gather their shit and get
off the plane was starting to piss me off. The drive back to Twentynine would
be another hour or so, but the sooner I was back in my truck and on the road,
the better.

I hauled ass out
of the terminal, and thankfully, since I carried on my bag, I made my way out
to my truck and hopped in, finally powering on my phone. Numerous missed calls,
texts, and voicemail notifications buzzed as it finally came back to life. The
two newest voicemails were coming from Cassie and Newsome. Whatever Newsome
wanted could wait. I plugged the phone into the auxiliary and tapped Cassie’s
message, driving off in the direction that would take me back to her.

When her message
started, the tone in her voice and the thick lump in her throat I could hear
her trying to
speaking
around froze me.

“
Hey, Alex… I um—um, I really need to
tell you about something that happened here today—um, it’s pretty
serious.”

Every word that
came out of her mouth struck fear into me. I wasn’t sure what had happened, and
with a million mangled thoughts jumping around in my head, I couldn’t get a
clear enough mind to even remotely try and pinpoint one thing over the other. I
tried calling her back, but her phone went straight to voicemail. I called
again and again, frantically trying to reach her. I finally remembered that
Newsome had left me a message, so I tapped on his, hoping it had something to
do with Cassie so I could put my ill feelings away.

“Hey. Man. Just letting you
know
that you’ll have to go in and see First Sergeant O’Hara
first thing tomorrow morning. Had to report a sexual harassment incident
between Private Allen and Pfc. Bennett—“

As soon as the
names were spoken, I stopped listening and floored the gas pedal, weaving in
and out of the traffic on the ten
freeway
. I knew
there was something more with that fucking Allen kid than she had led on. Rage,
worry, and sickness swirled around in the pit of my stomach, threatening to
come exploding out, all over my truck. I forcefully pressed down on the window
button, desperately needing fresh air to keep my disgust locked down.

I grabbed the
phone and called Cassie again, but again, it went straight to voicemail. This
time I left a message.

“What the fuck happened? I told you to
fucking lay low. And why didn’t I know more about Allen? Don’t say shit to
anyone. I’m coming to get you.”

I hung up and
immediately dialed Newsome. He picked up on the second ring.

“Hey, man. Welcome
back. How was the flight?”

“It was fine. What
the fuck happened?” I was breathing hard and speaking so fast that I forgot to
think, and thinking would have reminded me that Newsome was unaware of
me and Cassie
. I didn’t want to give myself away to anyone
else. I took a deep breath,
then
spoke more
rationally. “I mean, what’s going on? Was anyone hurt?”

“No. But I did
hear what was said, and I acted on that shit. Allen even tried to stand up to
me. I’m telling you, I was about ready to be pulled as an instructor because if
that motherfucker had made one wrong move, I was about to deck his ass.”

“Why does First
Sergeant want to see me?” My guilt was beginning to seep through my words
again.

“I took it to
Chief Instructor Gunny Chavez, who thought it warranted taking it to First
Sergeant. He just said that as lead instructor for the class, he’d need to see
you, to fill you in on what happened, and to brief you on what to do from here
on out.”

I breathed a
heavy sigh of relief, wiping away the newly formed sweat that coated my brow.

“Alright, man. Good
to go.”

“Yep.”

I hung up. My
heart was racing as I pressed down on the accelerator, propelling my truck
through the mountain pass that would take me into the upper desert that led to
the base. I tried calling Cassie again but couldn’t get a signal, making me
drive even faster as the road twisted and turned all the way up to the top. When
I finally reached the apex of the mountain, I called her again, this time
finally getting her.

“Hey!”

“What the hell
happened?”

She breathed
hard, not answering my question.

“Cassie, what the
fuck happened? And why didn’t you tell me about Allen when I asked?” My voice
was a low, menacing grumble, scraping the bottom of the barrel on its way out.