Deployment:
Day 2
(Ligero)
Afghanistan. My first deployment as a Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant. I was a bit young to pick up the seventh rank out of nine on the enlisted side. I celebrated my 28th birthday a couple of months ago. Now I was in a waiting terminal at Bagram Airfield. A small delay here and I would hop a flight to a base in Jalalabad, capitol of the Nangarhar Province where I would spend the next year’s deployment.
I glanced up from reading my iPhone, setting it to the side, I looked around. The room was dusty from desert sand and had six rows of construction made wooden benches with cheap light blue cushions. Three on my side, with three on the opposing side facing me. Desert brown netting hung from the walls and there were two doors. One to an exit, and one to an outside smoking area. The only other person in the room was another gunnery sergeant.
We were in the center rows and he was seated across from me. Dressed like me in a desert brown camouflage uniform, with his rifle next to him on the bench he was reading a small beat up paperback novel. I casually noticed he was good looking in a rugged sort of way, with dark hair, and a lean body. As he read one hand dropped to his rifle and stroked the stock. As if he needed the reassurance of its presence. The name tape on his uniform said “Solas.”
Standing up I stretched my body and grabbed my rifle, looking quickly at my gear bags I was about to ask Solas if he’d mind watching them while I went to the bathroom. Realizing the odds of anybody coming in and taking anything in the short time I’d be gone I didn’t bother. I walked to the exit and into the next room to find the head. I wasn’t gone for more than ten minutes before I returned and took my seat again.
Reaching down I went to grab my iPhone and I noticed it wasn’t where I left it. Frowning I did a check of my pockets and looked on the ground to see if it had fallen.
Finding nothing I looked up at Solas, “Hey Guns, did you see my phone?”
He looked up at me for a second in confusion, realizing I was talking to him he looked around then said, “Huh, no, sorry.”
“Did anybody else come in here?”
He shook his head no.
I started fuming, this asshole must think I’m stupid. Clenching my fists, I counted to ten.
“Well, if nobody came in, and you’re the only one here…” I emphasized the words and let my sentence trail off purposely.
He frowned, “Not sure what you’re getting at.”
“Look, just give me back my phone and I’ll forget this ever happened.”
“I don’t have your phone.”
I gritted my teeth, “You just said that nobody else came in here. You’re the only person that could’ve taken it. Do I need to go get somebody else and make this official?”
His eyes flared, “You can go get anybody you damn want, I haven’t moved from my seat and I sure as hell didn’t take your phone.”
I snapped, “Jesus Christ, are seriously going to pull this bullshit? Just give me my damn phone.”
He jumped off the bench and stood up straight. He was at least six feet tall and looked 180 pounds of solid muscle. The expression on his face made me flinch a little but my own anger at having been stolen from by a fellow Marine, not to mention, a fellow rank was pissing me off. I stood up just as fast.
He moved toward me and for a second, I thought it was going to turn physical, but then he bent over and started jerking the cushions away. The second one he pulled uncovered my phone.
Oh for crying out loud.
DAMN.
That sucked.
Unfortunately, I was mad, and when I get mad, I have a tendency to act up.
Thinking furiously, I glared at him, “What a coincidence, you knew right where to look. Probably did that yourself so if I forgot about it you could pick it up later and keep it.”
His jaw dropped in astonishment, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Never one to admit I was wrong, I said, “Screw you asshole.”
He didn’t say a word but grabbed his gear and moved it to the farthest corner on the last row. Ignoring me he sat back down and started reading again.
I sat there fuming. Way to go dumbass. I needed to write a book, “How to make friends.” I just couldn’t help it, when I get mad and embarrassed, I tend to lash out. It doesn’t matter if I’m wrong, hell, I tend to be worse when I’m wrong.
Fortunately, the odds of us being on the same base were slim. He would live his life thinking I’m a bitch and I would live my life regretting the whole incident.
Just then an airman came in the door, “Whoever’s going to Jalalabad, get ready, we’re loading up now.”
As I stood up, I noticed he did too, we looked at each other and came to the same conclusion.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
DAMN, DAMN, DAMN.
Okay, reign your temper in, try to be polite and say you’re sorry. I can do this.
I took a deep breath and looked at him, just in time to see him roll his eyes and shake his head. Then he ignored me and bent to grab his gear.
Oh hell no, you did not just roll your eyes at me, I will cause the plane we’re getting on to crash and kill us both, I really don’t care!
With that happy thought I grabbed my own gear and smiled sweetly as he passed by me. He frowned and took a step away from me, maybe he sensed the danger he was in. I reached out and stroked the stock of my rifle while I smiled.
He took another step away from me.
Now I was enjoying myself. Gradually I felt my blood pressure go down. I quit smiling like a madwoman and followed the airman out to the runway. We loaded up and took seats across from one another.
(Solas)
Wow, and I do mean wow. So I’ll admit, I have a thing for fiery Latina’s and this girl was textbook. We’d sat across from one another for hours in the airport terminal and I’d checked her out. Even in cammies you could tell she was very fit. Since she wore her clothes tight, her chest stood out and her ass stretched the material when she bent over. Which I was not watching when she put down her gear, it was just a coincidence that her butt was in my line of sight. Average height, she was about 5’4″ and I’d guess 110 pounds. Long black hair, and brown eyes, she wore glasses, which gave her that sexy nerdy vibe. It was hard not to stare because she was so beautiful but I didn’t want to creep her out.
Of course, my opinion of her drastically changed after she accused me of being a thief. Beautiful she may be, but psycho bitch didn’t begin to describe her.
Something about her smile while we were loading was unnerving. I’d swear she was planning my death. Therefore, I was a little surprised when we got to our base and she’d passed by me and said, “I may not have been as right as you in that incident.”
I studied her to see if she was joking and saw that she was dead serious. Okay, she was one of those. I’ve known girls like that, stubborn as hell and will burn down the world around them before saying they’re sorry or admitting they’re wrong.
By that standard, that was a five-star apology. I took it by nodding my head at her.
*****
Deployment:
Day 5
As soon as we got to the base, we were put in transit quarters with other Marines coming off and reporting in. Over the next few days Marines came by to grab the lower ranks, finally leaving just me and Ligero. Eventually an older Marine walked in, as he came close, I read his name and saw his rank, Sgt. Maj. Blake.
Without any hesitation he walked up to us.
“Follow me,” he said.
We grabbed our bags and quick stepped behind him. Bright afternoon light and the smell of the desert hit us as he opened the door. Once we got outside, we hurried to keep pace as he marched across the gravelled ground.
“So we had a small issue, some dumbass lost control of his vehicle and went crashing through one of our solo rooms, so we only have one room left for your rank.”
Taking us to a fenced separate compound on base, he walked to a small wooden building and opened the door while stepping inside a well-made room built for two people. There were beds on opposite sides, small dressers, two chairs and a center table, with a small refrigerator in each back corner. A couple of tan wall lockers stretched across the back wall.
“Gunny Solas, Ligero, one of you gets this room and one of you will have to bunk up with the other sergeants.”
Without hesitation, he pulled out a unit challenge coin, “Ligero, call it in the air.”
“Heads,” she said.
When it landed, he looked up at her, “Tails, Ligero, I’ll take you to the females berthing.”
He marched out of the room without another word and left Ligero with a confused expression. Seeing no recourse, she frowned and followed him out.
I was sure he’d done everything at hurricane speed to keep us off-balance and prevent any arguing about who should get their own room. Still, it was a relief to drop my bags and start stowing my gear.
I spent the next few hours unloading gear and storing it into drawers and a locker. After that I was hungry and noticed it was dinner time. Leaving the room, I found my way to the nearby chowhall and amid the bustle of the evening crowd grabbed a tray and loaded up on food.
Being deployed, the food was actually pretty good. They had a decent selection of entree’s and a respectable salad bar. I was happy to note they even had an olive bar and dessert section. My last deployment I’d gotten hooked on olive bars. With some Italian dressing, tomatoes, and some cubed pepper jack, they made an awesome side dish. It was also one of the higher vitamin C food available, so it was an easy way for me to get proper nutrition.
I kept it light and grabbed a couple of grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and some potato salad, a sweet tea, and a chocolate chip cookie.
The chowhall was a prefab, light aluminum building, with a dining room the size and design of a high school gym. It had standard white tile floors and wooden tables with bench seating. Scanning the area, I found an empty spot and settled down to eat.
Just as I took my first bite Ligero plopped down across from me.
She didn’t smile or nod but looked around and said, “I need to talk to you.”
I eyed her warily, “If this is about asking me to give up the room, the answer is going to be no.”
Her lips pursed and her eyes narrowed, “Of course you wouldn’t be a gentleman.”
Getting a little mad, “Don’t try that shit with me.”
She didn’t say anything but stared at me.
Ignoring her, I kept eating.
“Fine, what about sharing?”
I looked up, “What are you talking about?”
“Look, I’m married, we’re the same rank. There’s no reason we can’t room together.”
I scoffed, “You’re kidding right?”
Scowling she snapped, “No I’m not.”
“Jesus Christ,” I said.
“What? What’s the problem? Would you mind sharing with a male gunny?”
I sighed, “No, I guess not.”
I thought for a few seconds, then held up a hand to stall her comments, “Look, I get what you’re saying, and in a perfect world you’d be right. We should be able to be roommates, but this is the military and they take a pretty conservative view on that shit. There is no way Blake is going to be okay with this. And do you really want to have everybody talking about us once it gets out?”
“I could give a damn about everybody, and if I go to the commanding officer and talk to him, well, it’s on me at that point, right?”
I took another bite of sandwich and sighed.
“I assume you’re not going to rape me?” she asked.
I gave her my best “Are you serious” face.
“Exactly, I also assume you’re not a slob.”
I gave her my face again.
“Great, do you really care about sharing with a girl, or is it just me?”
Swallowing I said, “Not really thrilled with either option, but not your biggest fan at all.”
She matched my gaze, “Be that as it is, can you do me a solid and ignore your feelings and hook a fellow Marine up?”
I rolled my eyes, “Tell me honest, would you do it for me?”
She stayed quiet.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. We both know if I was asking this of you right now because I’d lost, you would be telling me to get lost! And that’s the best-case scenario.”
I ignored her and kept eating, after a few minutes she tried again.
“Fine, I’ll pay you.”
I scowled, “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I’ll pay you. I’ll give you…” she paused and thought for a few seconds, “$200 a month.”
I sighed and closed my eyes, “Just, just shut up please… Go get permission and you can stay there. NO MONEY.”
She nodded and without a word, got up and walked away.
I really didn’t want to do this. I thought it was a bad idea, and I know she wouldn’t return the favor if the roles were reversed. Still, she was making such a fuss I was sure she wouldn’t stop, and if I didn’t concede I might lose the room altogether. Better to deal with it on my terms than to have her back stab me. She was ridiculously hot, but she seemed to have a bitch personality with plenty to spare.
After dinner I went to explore the base. They had a good gym, recreational center, church and few pay to eat places like Burger King and a pizza place. Pretty decent compared to same of the bases I’ve been at. Now it was my home for the next year. After I wandered, I went back to the room and found her already moving her stuff in.
I’d left some gear on the left side bed as well as using my sheets and blankets to make the bed. When I got in my stuff was on the right.
“Hope you don’t mind. I have a thing about sleeping on that side of the room so I moved your stuff over there.”
I stood there for a minute fighting to stay calm. Eventually I unclenched my fists and relaxed my jaw. I had to keep reminding myself that I really didn’t care which side of the room I slept on and if she’d have asked, I would’ve moved. So in the end, the results would have been the same.
I moved to what I guessed was my side of the room now. She stayed facing away from me as she pulled clothes out of her gear bag.
“Also, since your stuff was in this side locker, I moved it to the other, hope you don’t mind.”
I looked over at her and was about to say something when she pulled a handful of her panties out of her bag. I saw cotton and silk in a variety of colors, black, blue, pink. One dropped on the floor and she picked it up. It was a red g-string that had to be the smallest thing I’ve ever seen. She looked toward me but I pretended to be setting up my nightstand.
When I looked back, she was no longer looking at me. With an economy of motion, she folded all her panties and put them away. Maybe this will be an interesting deployment I thought with a smile. Then I spotted the ring on her finger and my excitement cooled.
So far in life I had never had an affair, either being the cheater or the other person. One, I didn’t need the drama, and there was always drama. Two, I firmly believed in the golden rule, “Do unto others as you want them to do unto you.”
I believed that if most people adhered to this rule, the world would be a better place. With that in mind I put thoughts of Ligero firmly out of my mind.
*****
Deployment:
Day 30
It was a long day and night. I’d been out with a unit for more than 24-hours. I got back to my room and I was looking forward to dropping my gear, taking a shower, then hitting the rack. I opened my door and heard music playing from Ligero’s side of the room. She had a bluetooth speaker paired to her iPhone. There was no service so you couldn’t use them out here to make phone calls, but you could use the internet on them and send emails and take pics. Plus, most people kept songs downloaded to listen while they worked out or whatever.
Ligero had her back to me and with the music blaring she must not have heard me come in. She was holding her phone above her head but pointed down and the only thing she was wearing were black thong panties with little white ankle socks.
She had to have been taking a selfie for her husband. She had one hand covering her breasts and was smiling toward the camera. I stood transfixed by her beauty. Her body was well defined, she had a sculpted ass and I could see muscle definition in her arms and thighs. From this side angle I could see her tits were on the larger side of a C cup. While I watched, she kissed the air, then dropped the arm covering her tits. Her hardened nipples came into view from the side, not quite giving me a full look, just a side peek, still, they were small, light brown, and beautiful. I cleared my throat but she must not have heard me because she took another picture. This time moving the camera toward her backside to show her ass.
I cleared my throat louder and her head snapped around. She froze for a second and then hastily covered her boobs with her arm and shut her music down.
“What the hell Solas? What are you doing back already?”
“Mission ended early.”
I could see she was mad, her face was red as she snapped, “Why the hell didn’t you knock?”
“Why would I knock to my own room?”
She didn’t answer but glared at me as trudged in and dropped my gear.
“You could at least turn around,” she said as she turned away from me and grabbed a pair of tiny black workout shorts off her bed. She kept her back to me as she struggled to put them on and once she got them over her ass, she grabbed a black sport bra and quickly put it on before facing me.
She scowled when she noticed that I’d watched her the whole time with a small smile on my face.
“Jerk,” she said.
I smirked, “What did I do?”
She held up her hands in a “what” manner, “What, couldn’t be a gentleman and turn around?”
“Why would I turn around? I haven’t seen a hot girl in her underwear in months, and besides, what are you, in high school? You that worried about being seen?”
She glared at me, “Screw you.”
I rolled my eyes but we ignored each other after that. I dropped my gear and went to clean up and she left the room.
*****
Day 45
(Ligero)
One day I was working in my office and Solas happened to come in. My desk was in view of the door so I noticed him as soon as he entered. A flash of annoyance went through me, what did he want? Was something wrong? He looked around and noticed me, he gave me a quick heads up then walked around one of the other desks.
I looked over and saw Gunnery Sgt. Reed stand up. Reed controlled the legal section but we shared the same giant office since we had a lot of cross work between us. His unit was in another area of the base so he didn’t have to use our barracks. I got along with him well enough and since we were the same rank, we ate lunch together a few times a week as colleagues but I didn’t know they knew each other.
Reed was a tall mid-western blue-eyed farm boy with skin that was white but showed the freckles of lots of outdoor time. He was good natured with a quick sense of humor. Good looking with an easy smile he’d tested the waters with flirting but I’d made a point to emphasize my marriage. He hadn’t stopped flirting but it had changed to a goofy sort of thing and I didn’t feel any pressure from it. I’d even taken to some light banter back when he cracked jokes.
I watched as Reed and Solas saw each other. They got up and full hug embraced one another. After a few moments the tone of the hug changed and they wrestled against one another struggling back and forth. Solas gained the upper hand and lifted Reed of his feet.
“You’re gonna regret it. You’re gonna regret it,” Reed repeated as Solas pushed him around.
Reed moved his head and brought his lips toward Solas.
“I’m warning you,” Reed said bringing his lips forward.
Solas tilted his head back but Reed slowly moved till their lips were almost touching.