Together
Chapter 002
Copyright
2014 - 2015 Banzai Ben and Amazing Anastasia
Flashback – Jack and Ben
– A new mission
I couldn't
fucking believe it! We barely got back, Masha and I didn't even get the house
completely setup and the Old Man was sending us out on a new fucking mission –
no, mission wasn't the correct word, it was more like a mass fucking deployment.
Rather than taking a commercial flight, we were in a huge fucking jet that was
nothing but fucking row upon row of seats, five in the middle with an aisle on
each side and then two seats on each side. That's fucking right, each row sat
nine Marines and the flight was full! Hell, it was like being a sardine packed
in a can. Thank God Banzai and I sort of had a reputation (from Russia) and we
got to pick our seats. We naturally took one of the whole middle rows in the
back of the plane. We had the luxury of three extra seats because Banzai had
some sort of new rifle in a hard case that he refused to let out of his sight
so it occupied the middle seat while we stretched out in the other four seats.
He was so in love with his new rifle that I was surprised he didn't take it to
the head with him. Oh yeah, that was the other problem on this flight, not
enough heads for the number of Marines so the lines for the heads stretched
down the aisles.
Thank
God the flight was scheduled to be about fourteen hours with a short layover, then
a one hour flight to Baghdad and then another short hop of about 100 klicks. I
do have to say one thing, the Marines could certainly teach the airlines how to
board a plane since we were all on the plane in no time at all, the door was
shut and the flight was on its way. I tried to see out the window but some
other fucker was in the way. I missed the hell out of Masha...
I
could tell Jack missed the hell out of Masha but we barely had time to catch our
breath and were headed to Iraq. It made me realize once again that my dream was
more of a premonition. My time having Jack as my spotter was limited so I needed
to figure out what the hell to do when the time came and the old fart retired.
Thank God I got Jack and Masha a place off the base because it insulated them
from the constant harassment I got about our time in Russia. Marines are sometimes
a hard headed bunch and our trip to Russia, the women we were seen with on TV
and the medal I received from Putin rubbed many of them the wrong way.
Especially since many of them were in the sandbox fighting with the towelheads
during our time in Russia. I don't know how many times I'd been called a
'Ruskie' or a 'Commie' since we'd returned because I lost count – but I had
kicked a bunch of asses and taken many names over it and for the most part they
now left us alone. The great news was nobody wanted to sit beside us on this
flight so we had the whole middle back row to ourselves and my new rifle.
And
she was a real beauty: A Sako TRG rifle in .338 Lapua with a Nightforce NXS scope
(5.5x22x56). I barely had enough time to get her setup and sighted in with the
available ammo and made sure to buy as much ammo as I could because there was
no way, other than doing reloads, to get the ammo in Iraq. Hell, she was so new
Jack hadn't even seen her yet.
Jack
of course complained that I put the rifle in the middle seat until I shut him the
hell up by asking if he'd rather sit in the middle. The old fart was trying to
look out the window to hide the fact that he missed Masha but he finally looked
my way and asked, "So did the Old Man tell you anything about this mission?"
I
answered, "He sure as hell did - we're headed to Ramadi to take it back from
the towelheads."
Jack
looked at me and wanted confirmation, "Hell, isn't that in the Al-Anbar province
and didn't the Marines just fight a hell of a battle for Fallujah in the same
province while we were in Russia?"
I
nodded my head and answered, "That's right, it was some of the worse urban
fighting the Marines had seen since battle of Huế City in Vietnam."
Jack
whistled and being old as dirt he said, "I remember that battle. So we're heading
out of the frying pan into the fire."
I
scolded him for his lack of situational awareness, "Jack that analogy is fucked.
Russia certainly wasn't the frying pan for us, it was more like Club Med. Yeah,
more correctly it should be out of Club Med and into the fire."
A
Marine walked by on his way to the head and whispered an insult, "Fucking Commie
bastard."
I
reached my leg out and tripped the fucker. He fell into the rest of the Marines
in the line for the head and all hell started to break loose. Of course that attracted
the attention of one of the officers on the flight. He came back by us and I
was shocked when I saw who it was...
Flashback – Captain M – A new mission
I
couldn't fucking believe it, not only did the Old Man send my ass back to Thule
with the boney bitch, the fucker demoted me to Captain – yeah, fucking Captain.
A demotion to an officer in the Marines meant that any chance of advancement again
was most likely gone so I would be stuck a fucking Captain now for as long as I
was a Marine.
Thank
God this deployment came up so I could get the hell out of cold-assed Thule. I did
hate having to fly on this fucking bus but with the hit my career took, the days
of cushy arrangements were gone and I was now stuck with babysitting these fuckers.
There
was a hell of a commotion in the back of the bus and the boney bitch traveling with
us (that's right the Old fucking Man assigned her to be over me) ordered, "Captain,
go see what the hell is going on."
I
jumped up, headed to the back of the bus and God must have smiled on me: Sgt. Blaine
was in an altercation with several Marines. As I walked up, one of the Marines
noticed my approach and announced, "Ten hut."
They
all snapped to attention while Sgt. Blaine recognized me and looked like he was
going to crap his pants. I glared at him and hoped I could take advantage of the
situation, "Don't tell me, did Sgt. Blaine precipitate this mess?"
A
Corporal who had been fighting questioned, "Permission to speak?"
I
gave affirmation and he answered, "Sgt. Blaine tripped me as I was getting
in line for the head."
Sgt.
Blaine began to open his mouth and I ordered, "Sgt. I didn't give you permission
to speak."
Sgt.
Reynolds interrupted, "Captain M, I was watching the whole thing and the Corporal
must have two left feet because he tripped over his own damn feet."
I
glared at everyone and threatened, "I'm going to have my eyes on all of you
so unless you want to face 'office time' when we get to Iraq you had better stop
the fighting."
I
turned and left to plan my revenge against the two Sgts...
Flashback – Masha – At home
I
never dreamed that life with Jack could be so terrible! I guess I was naïve and
dreamed that all his missions would be like our time together in Moscow. And I terribly
misjudged what being a soldier's wife would entail. We had a very few days in
the new home, that luxury thanks once again to Ben's generosity, and now Jack
was 'deploying' and he couldn't even tell me where. I made a call to my 'company'
and discovered he was going to Ramadi in Iraq, one of the worst places that
they could send him.
I
had no idea what I would do here in America since I had no friends, now no husband
and there was no public transportation here as there was in Moscow. It was
almost like I was a prisoner in our wonderful house.
I
also didn't really know how poor Jack's financial position was! We were essentially
bankrupt. I didn't tell Jack but Ben gave me ten thousand dollars in cash right
before they left. He called it a 'wedding present' but I could tell he knew
that Jack didn't have any money and wanted to make sure I would have money
while Jack was gone.
Why,
oh why didn't I think about things more comprehensively before I married Jack...
Flashback – Jennifer – At home and wondering
What
in the fricken-fraken heck was happening to me? It seemed like ever since mother
had been home, I had stomach problems! I had gone between having terrible gas
and diarrhea to being constipated. I walked into the den where Daddy had
parked, I looked at him and started, "Daddy, I have something a little
embarrassing to ask you."
Daddy
looked at me and said, "Jennifer, there's really not much that you can ask
me that will embarrass me."
I
shook my head and replied, "Daddy, it's embarrassing for me, not for you.'
Daddy
embarrassed me some more when he commented with a grin, "As long as it's not
about any monthly issues it shouldn't embarrass you."
I
countered, "Daddy, I don't need to talk to you about that!" I held my
stomach with both hands and said, "Daddy, I am having stomach problems…"
Daddy
interrupted, "Hells bells! You too? I am either shitting like crazy or I can't
shit at all. I thought it was something I was doing or taking."
I
nodded my head, "Yes Daddy, I have the same problems. And they started when
mother began to cook for us."
He
motioned to me, I moved closer and he whispered, "Tomorrow, come to work with
me and we will both have a doctor check us. But this needs to be our secret."
I
felt better and said, "Thanks Daddy." Then I rushed off for the bathroom…
Flashback – Alexi – At 'home'
It
had been some time since I had been home. At first my 'parents' were happy I
was 'home' and things were different since they treated me like I was special.
Then ever so slowly, things morphed and became exactly like they were before,
except for one thing. I realized that the love that my 'parents', especially my
'mother', lavished on Chow Mein should have rightly been mine. This greatly
angered me so I retaliated by making Chow Mein's life a living hell.
However,
I was very careful about how I did this because I didn't want my 'parents' to
determine I was the cause. I observed Chow Mein and every time that she went to
use her litter box, I would take a spray bottle and squirt her. It only took a
couple of days until Chow Mein refused to use her litter box and began to make
a mess out of the house. 'Mother' was aghast, was certain that Chow Mein was
sick so they took her to the veterinarian who suggested that my 'parents' were
not cleaning the litter box often enough so now 'father' had to clean it daily,
which of course did not help.
Next
I attacked Chow Mein's food. When my 'parents' were not watching, I put
'father's' spicy hot sauce on the food. Chow Mein would now stand by her bowl
and yowl. 'Mother' was certain that Chow Mein didn't like her food so they kept
changing brands of food - of course without good results. When they would
switch to a new food, I would add laxative to it for a few days to exacerbate
the litter box issues, then I would switch back to the hot sauce.
The
most entertaining was when they left me alone at home with Chow Mein. I loved
to put tape on her feet and then chase her around the house with the spray
bottle. One time I even gave her a bath (she hated baths). She was still wet
when my 'parents' came home so I lied and told them she had diarrhea and got it
all over herself. Chow Mein finally started to yowl at the door whenever my
'parents' were leaving so they would take her with them in the car…
Flashback –Mira, Ira and Safia – In Japan
We had a most excellent
adventure traveling through Japan with Sensei Kwan. Each day had presented us
with new challenges and new techniques to learn. But now with much sadness the
time arrived for us to leave. Kostia's grasp was significant and even though we
were well hidden here, he finally found us and ordered our return.
We approached Master
Kwan who was instructing Safia and I informed him, "Sensei, it is with
weighty cardiac muscles we inform you that we must depart Japan this
evening."
Ira humbly bowed and
added, "Yes Sensei, unfortunately our handler has discerned our location
and we now must recompense the flautist."
The Sensei motioned to
Safia to desist her training. He walked to us, reached out his hands and
encompassed our cheeks, raised our craniums and said, "I have been blessed
to have two such eager and apt students. It is a shame that you have to leave
and return to the demon who tortures you."
Ira requested,
"Sensei, because of the demon we request that you continue to train
Safia."
Safia exploded…
I… I… I… cannot believe
it! My sisters are leaving me! I loudly complain, "What the hell! Don't I
get a choice in this?"
Sensei Kwan turned in my
direction and admonished me gently, "Safia, control the loudness of your
voice."
I begin to sob and
state, "But Sensei, my sisters are leaving so shouldn't I leave with
them?"
He smiled at me and
answered, "Young one, you do not understand because you cannot see the
blackness the demon has inflicted upon your sister's souls. They are wise to
shelter you because you would suffer more greatly than your sisters if you
returned with them. So Safia, you will continue here with me because you are
still a work in progress and have many things to learn, while your sisters'
training is complete."
I didn't like it one
bit, but I had learned the hard way (by way of many applied blows) that you did
not challenge the Sensei. I bowed and answered, "Sensei, I will obey you
until the time I become adept enough to defeat my sister's demon."
The Sensei said
something I did not understand, "Young Safia, you are not to be the one
that takes the life of the demon. I can see that it is another's job. Come now,
let us share one more meal with your sisters…"
Flashback – Todd – Back
I was back at work and
the first thing they did was give me a full medical workup, with special
emphasis on my injured throat. The tests were over and I sat in the office with
the doctor. He flipped through my chart, looked up at me, smiled and said,
"Todd, I have to say that for you, this is the best physical condition
that I've ever determined. Your time on that island must have done you
good."
I signed to the doctor,
"And what about my throat?"
My translator
translated, the doctor shook his head and continued, "Todd, I'm not going
to lie to you. The surgery on your throat was excellent. I know you said a
woman on the island performed it; well, she did a great job. However, you have
no vocal cords left and the only hope of speech is to learn to use an
electrolarynx - that's a device that you would hold against your neck. The
vibrations generated by the device would resonate inside your throat creating a
voice. In this manner you could use it to produce speech. The limitation is
that the device produces a single tone at a single volume. Your speech would be
understandable; however, it would be a robotic sounding, electronic
voice."
He handed the
electrolarynx device to me and showed me how to turn it on. I activated it,
placed it against my throat and tried to talk. What came out wasn't even close
to what I was trying to say.
The doctor shook his
head and said, "I was concerned about that. Because of the surgery on your
throat, you have lost most of the elasticity in your throat which allows it to
work with the electrolarynx. I still feel if you continue to practice you will
get better but if not we can try more surgery on your throat."
I thanked the doctor,
left his office, went back to my house, pulled out a bottle of whiskey and got
ripping drunk…
Flashback – Jack and Ben – A new mission
After Captain M left I
gave Banzai a ration of shit, "What the hell were you doing tripping that
Corporal? Captain M is just looking for a reason to put us both in the
brig."
Banzai glared at me and
replied, "Jack, you may not know it but our names are mud. He insulted us
so I did the closest thing to kicking his ass."
I was confused as hell
so I asked, "Banzai, I don't know what the hell you're talking about? I
thought we were famous for what we did in Russia?"
Banzai gave me his 'I
can't believe you said that' look and set me straight…
Jack had lead an
isolated as hell life since he has been back and he needed to get his eyes
opened. I replied, "Jack, you were living off the base with Masha and
didn't catch any of the shit that I did. We're not famous, were fucking INfamous!
While we were in Russia taking it easy, many of the rest of the Marines were in
Iraq fighting the second battle of Fallujah and most of them are pissed at us
because of what they saw."
Jack looked at me with
amazement on his face, then he snapped his fingers and answered, "Hell
Banzai I didn't know, but that does explain the bruises on your face." He
paused for a second then asked, "So how many fights have you been
in?"
I tried to remember, shook my
head and answered, "Hell Jack, I've lost count."
He turned away, I could tell
he was thinking, then he turned back around and answered, "I ran into a
situation like this in the past and I think we can fix this."
I smiled since this was one
of the benefits of having an old fart like Jack as my spotter. He'd been
through most of the shit before and had figured out ways to cope with it. I
leaned over and asked, "So what do we do to fix this…"
Flashback – Jennifer – At the doctors
It took like for-ever for me
to make poo in the little fricken cup they gave me! I didn't understand it,
this morning I couldn't stop making poo and now I couldn't make poo if my life
depended on it. The only thing I'd had since breakfast was a cup of coffee.
The doctor told us he would
have the results in a couple of days, I looked at Daddy and whispered,
"Daddy, I'm not sure I can stand this for two more days."
He whispered a reply, "I
don't know if I can either, let me see if I can do anything."
Daddy asked the doctor,
"We're both really uncomfortable, is there any way to speed this up?"
The doctor shook his head and
answered, "Sorry but the lab tests I'm running take time."
Daddy continued, "Is
there anything you can give us to take?"
The doctor looked at us and
answered, "Sorry, because your symptoms switch between diarrhea and
constipation I don't dare give you anything because it might make either
symptom worse. You're just going to have to hang in there. Now if there are no
further questions I do have some other patients to see."
Daddy answered, "I can't
think of anything else." He looked at me and continued, "What about
you Jennifer, do you have any questions?"
I replied, "No I guess
we're going to have to live with this."
The doctor left, Daddy looked
at me and complained, "Hang in there my ass! Jennifer we're going to stop
eating at home until the test results come back. How about we go and get some
lunch?"
I hugged Daddy and answered,
"Thank you Daddy for doing this but aren't you afraid of what it will do to
mother if we don't eat her cooking?"
Daddy smiled and answered,
"Not if we include her and take her to some of her favorite
restaurants."
I smiled because sometimes
Daddy was a genius…
Flashback – Alexi – At 'home'
Chow Mein was hiding somewhere,
we were eating breakfast and 'father' questioned, "I cannot determine the
nature of the problems with Chow Mein."
'Mother' agreed, "Yes,
lately she is acting crazy."
'Mother's' statement gave me
an idea so I presented my most innocent facial expression and simply said,
"Perhaps Chow Mein contracted my madness and needs to go to the
psychologist?"
'Mother' and 'father' looked
at each other, I could tell they were thinking, and 'father' suggested,
"Perhaps Alexi is correct."
'Mother' added, "Yes,
that is an inspired idea, thank you Alexi."
She left the table and
ordered, "Father, find an animal psychologist for Chow Mein."
Once she was gone I
instituted another of my new schemes, I leaned over and whispered to 'father',
"'Father' why do you need to be the one to find the animal psychologist
for 'mother's' cat?"
He gave me a surprised look
and answered, "Alexi, because she asked me."
I continued, "'Father'
do you always do whatever 'mother' asks?"
'Father' blushed and replied,
"Alexi, do not be silly!"
I gave him my most innocent
smile and further inflamed the situation, "If you say so 'father' however
that is not what I have observed…"
Flashback –Mira and Ira – headed back to Kazakhstan
It
was highly obvious that Kostia was irate with us as evidenced by the mode of
transportation which he arranged. I hugged Ira tightly to conserve what little
body heat we generated as we both uncontrollably trembled from the cold. I
yelled to Ira over the noise of the airplane engines, "I do believe Kostia
desires us to expire."
Ira's
dentitions chattered as she concurred, "Yes Mira, I cannot believe we are
in this flying pullet coop. Occulate that many of the pullets have succumbed to
this intemperate journey."
Ira's
statement gives me an idea so I presented it, "Ira, we should use the
pullets to help prevent our eventual demise."
Ira
concurred, "As much as I dislike the odor of pullets, I dislike personal
expiration greater."
We
gathered the expired pullets to use them and their feathers to prevent our
expiration…
Flashback – Todd – Back
I woke up in my bed with a
hell of a headache and the sound of ringing in my ears. I finally determined it
was my telephone so I walked over to the phone, ripped it off the wall, opened my
front door and threw it out on the lawn. Then I climbed back into bed and my
mobile phone chimed from an arriving e-mail.
I debated about performing
the same task with my mobile phone, but decided to look at the e-mail. I was
glad I didn't destroy the phone because the e-mail interested me.
I climbed out of bed, got
into the shower, turned up the hot water and tried to flush out the results of
last night’s debauchery. I finally started to feel semi-human again as the hot
water was running out. I toweled off, chucked my dirty cloths into the hamper
then I went into the kitchen and fired up the coffee maker and threw a couple
eggs into a pan to boil. I went back to my bedroom, put on a nice light blue
dress shirt, dark gray slacks, took a look at my dress shoes and decided to
polish them. It took about ten minutes but they looked great. I went back to
the kitchen, had a couple cups of coffee and finished the eggs right as my
doorbell rang.
I answered the door, my
interpreter was there and asked (in ASL), "Are you ready to head to the
company?"
I signed, "Sure, why the
hell not?"
I followed her toward the
waiting car while I admired the sway off her ass; if I was lucky, she just
might get lucky…