Soldier's Story: Chapter 6

“I’ll be right back and don’t say or do anything until I get back” Dr. Collins says to Commander Stone almost as if ordering him not to go on. As Commander Stone and I are in the room I couldn’t help but ask him one question “Does he know?” I ask taking my hand off of my mouth. “No he doesn’t and I prefer that it stays that way” Commander Stone says while closing the folder. “This isn’t about Mohammed and me is it sir………this is about me and Mark….. your son” I say almost on the verge at yelling at him. Commander Stone slaps his big hand on the table making a loud thud; with that I sit way back on my chair and look at Commander Stone all nervous. “My son was kept from me. His mother didn’t want anything to do with me and when she died I lost my son. I looked for Mark everywhere every day until I saw his name on the Marine recruitment list.

After that I looked after my son and he was a force to be reckon with; Mark served his country proud and without fear. But then you come along and mess with him; you come along and he isn’t the soldier he was before he met you.” Commander Stone words hit me like a ton of bricks. “I love your son sir I…” I say “No this ends now…you and my son can’t be together. I don’t mind my son been gay but what I do mind is that he falls for a civilian…a civilian that doesn’t know the first thing about war” Commander Stone begins to yell at me. “Sir I….” I try to defend myself but Commander Stone cuts into me “End it Davis or else” Commander Stone leans forward. “Or else what?” I say no longer holding respect for the most powerful man on base. Commander Stone opens the folder again and flips through some pages “Or else Jose the gentle giant will go to the pit” Commander Stone glances at me as he says this. My face is still inside I am shaking and nervous as hell but outside I am still. The pit is what the soldiers call a specific place out on the desert; the pit is basically the frontlines of the war. It’s a good day at the pit when one or two soldiers die but that rarely happens.

There are more deaths on the pit than anywhere else on this country it’s truly a lawless area where anything goes. “And if you haven’t ended with my son then I will send Jennifer” Commander Stone continues my face then softens a little “And if the relationship hasn’t ended by a week I will send….Alan” tears begin to start coming down my face “YOU CAN’T DO THAT” I say screaming at him while standing up. “Yes I can because they are soldiers and they will go wherever I tell them to….you don’t have a choice in this…..unless…” Commander Stone stops and a wicked smile comes across his face. “Unless what?” I say trying to calm myself down. “Unless you go to the pit….if you can survive the pit for about….two weeks then I will step aside and you can continue your relationship with Mark” Commander Stone says while laying back onto the chair awaiting my answer. “If you really love my son then you will go to the pit and stay there for two weeks” Commander Stone reassures me.

Commander Stone gets up and walks to the door “A humvee will come by at around eight in the morning…it’s destination is the pit….. I suggest you get on it” Commander Stone says and walks out of the room as if he has won a major battle. I am left there with a choice to make tears start to come down my face because I know what I must do. I love Mark and I will do anything for him; if this is my test as a boyfriend then I will do it because I can’t live without Mark in my life. After a while I get up and head out of the hospital my mind going through every possible scenario to get out of this deal and still be with Mark. Nothing comes to mind; all I can think about is how am I going to tell the others that I am going to the pit because the man they respect and love is Mark’s father. I can’t tell anyone and if I did Commander Stone would surely send Jose, Jennifer and Alan to the pit.

I walk out of the hospital very slowly almost as if I am walking to death row; to tell you the truth it is just like that. The pit is known to break even the toughest of soldiers; the pit is hell on earth. “There you are been looking everywhere for you” a familiar manly voice says to me. I turn and see Cory his dark green eyes sparkle as he is walking towards me. “Pearson….what are you doing here?” I ask with a low voice. “I don’t leave until tomorrow……and I am a person who likes to repay their debts” Cory says with his sexy smile. “You don’t owe me anything Pearson is fine” I say and start to walk away. Cory then steps in front of me “Actually I do” he says. Cory I think is the type of person that when he wants something he goes out and gets it and would probably win at getting whatever he laid his eyes on. “Look Pearson I saved your life in the ER and you saved mine with Mohammed we are even” I say “True but then again you told Dr. Collins to clear me for duty and now I am in debt with you once more” Cory says with his sexy smile.

I had to admit I would have said no to him I would have yelled at him and said to leave me the hell alone; it would be the right thing to do but instead I said “ I am going down to the shooting range want to come?” Cory puts on his sexy smile and nods his head. As we are walking towards the shooting range I couldn’t help but notice that Cory was walking a little too close to me. But I really didn’t think anything of it seeing that I had a lot on my mind. I pick up a small handgun and Cory picks up a rifle; he shoots first at a metal man in the distance and forms a smiley face with the bullets. He then glances over at me as if showing off his skills to me. I then smirk and shoot at the head of my metal man all bullets land at the side of the head almost missing the head but I still hit the man. “You’re to tense when you shoot” Cory says to me as he puts down his gun and walks over to me.

“Here you have to move your feet a little more apart and your gun has to be align with your eyes” Cory says to me as he puts his left hand on my mid back and his right hand under both of my hands while holding my gun. His face comes a little closer to mine not enough to touch me but very close; so close that I could feel his body heat. “Perfect now shoot” Cory says without moving both of his hands that are on me. I then shoot about three bullets and all three land in the middle of the metal man’s head. “Badass” Cory says while he smiles almost as if he’s impressed that I could shoot a gun. “Thanks” I say and just walk away; don’t get me wrong Cory is a hot soldier but I already have a hot soldier. I may have a hot soldier Commander Stone’s deal goes through my head again; it’s either me or the people I love that have to go to the pit tomorrow. I may die on the pit but that is no excuse to betray Mark’s trust he has on me. “You all right?” Cory asks me as I feel his hand at the back of my neck. “Fine” I say and start to walk away “So how about I buy you a drink?” Cory says and I stop dead in my tracks. I turn around “That would be good” I say and once again I am puzzled as to why I am lingering on with Cory when I should be with Mark.

As we get to one of the hangers Cory speaks to one of the soldiers quietly; the soldier disappears for a while and then comes back with a bottle of whiskey. Cory then motions me to follow him we go into a small area where it overlooks all of the runways on base. We would see all of the plane leave and arrive on base and I have to admit it’s pretty cool to watch. We both started drinking and we both started to get a little buzz; thank god is all I can say because I needed this more than anything right now. As our buzz went on I learned a bit about Cory; he comes from a wealthy family and is the only child. Cory was sent to military school when his parents found out that he was messing around with the neighbor’s son. Usually I would have been shocked to hear that Cory likes guys but my buzz prevented me from been surprised. “I bet you had a lot of soldiers lining up for you” I say kind of slurring my words.

“Yeah they were but I found one person who I really liked the most” Cory says as he turns to me and scoots a little closer to me. “Yeah who is that” I say not paying attention to Cory’s body language. Cory then puts his hand on my chin and turns my head towards him; Cory then leans in for a kiss. “Whoa” I almost scream at him as I get up and take a few steps back. “See you can’t do that to me I am already with someone…..and…you….you….you can’t do that to me” I say trying to find the right words to say. “Look I am sure you’re a nice guy and you are extremely good looking but you and me can’t happen” I say kind of trying to hold my balance. Cory looks down and thinks for a minute; he then stands up and looks at me with his dark green eyes. “Well then I guess I’ll have to fight harder for you” Cory says with his sexy smile. “What can I say I am a good catch and I know for a fact that you’re interested in me” Cory says taking a few steps towards me. I look at him weird and shake my head I open my mouth to say something “He’s not interested in you” Mark says with a serious tone. Mark was standing behind us; my buzz quickly fades away as I can see that Mark is furious. Cory then begins to laugh “Markey is the one you’re seeing?.....hahahaha…..this should be more easier than I thought” Cory says taking another drink of the whiskey. Mark was about to hit him but I stop him “Come on let’s go Mark” I say worried that they would get in a fight right here. I try to push Mark away but he holds his ground giving Cory a cold hard stare.

As we head back to the room Mark didn’t say anything; all I could hear was his heavy breathing. It’s not like I did anything wrong with Cory I just had a drink with him. As we enter my room it was dark and alone Alan must be over at Jennifer’s room. Hopefully they are having a better time than we are; “How could you do this to me” Mark says as he slams the door shut. “I didn’t do anything Mark” I say in whisper. “HOW COULD YOU FUCKING DO THIS TO ME…..I TRUSTED YOU” Mark begins to scream at me. “I didn’t do anything Mark” I say again but louder this time. “Do you know that Cory Pearson is my enemy here….he thinks he is better than all of the soldiers here…he is the one person that I don’t like in this entire base and you had to be friends with him what the fuck Adrian” Mark says as he gets closer to me.

The next thing I know I am up against the wall Mark is screaming at me but he didn’t touch me or anything just his body was in front of mine not touching but pretty close. “WHAT DID YOU DO?” Mark screams at me. He asks me this over and over again while he is hitting the wall next to me; I couldn’t do anything except cry. “NOTHING ALL RIGHT I DIDN’T DO ANYTHING WITH HIM WHY WONT YOU BELIEVE ME” I scream at him as tears begin to come down my face. Mark just looks at me while his breathing gets louder and louder. I cry harder and press my body against the wall; Mark’s face softens a little he was about to say something “Get out Mark” I say to him in between my crying. It wasn’t a get out we will talk about it tomorrow; it was a get out that meant we are breaking up. I cry harder and say the same thing one more time. Mark’s face softens and places both of his hands on my wet cheeks “No please don’t say that to me I am sorry I just thought that you and Cory….please don’t say that” Mark’s tone softens. “I am sorry please forgive me” Mark says with a shaky voice. “Get out Mark” I say again and push his hands away from my cheeks but when I do he quickly replaces them where they were.

“No please Adrian don’t say that just tell me what you want to hear and I’ll say it….please don’t make me go” Mark says with a gently and shaky voice. I push Mark away from me “GET OUT” I scream to him while more tears run down my cheeks. He shakes his head and comes closer to me I push him away but Mark is too strong for me. He has me in a tight hug “Please baby don’t make me go I love you I am sorry…..I will never yell at you again I promise please Adrian” Mark says with a gentle tone but yet I could tell that he was hurting inside. I somehow manage to push him away and walk to the other side of the room giving my back to Mark. I just couldn’t stop crying; I then hear Mark clear his throat and heads for the door slowly. I hear the door open and I could feel Mark’s eyes on me; I begin to cry more and then I hear the door close. I cry louder and louder I sit in my bed and hate my life; I had to break up with Mark. If I didn’t break up with Mark he would have followed me to the pit or he would have talked me out of it and I would have to see the people I care about leave for the pit. This is how it’s suppose to be I am doing this for Mark I am doing this because I love him.

I get up early in the morning pack my things into a large green bag and head for the hospital. To my relief Mark wasn’t anywhere around; it’s good that I didn’t see him because this would have made this harder than it already was. It’s good that I didn’t see Jennifer, Alan or Jose because I just couldn’t face them and I am sure they will find out where I was when I come back. I will come back and I will prove to Commander Stone that I would go to hell and back for Mark. I get to the hospital to get some medical supplies for the pit; I was nearly out of the hospital when I run into Jennifer. “Hey where are you going?” she asks me with a smile. “Doesn’t matter” I say to her and start to walk to the lobby. Jennifer then stands in front of me “Adrian where are you going?” Jennifer asks me with a serious tone. I just couldn’t tell her lies she would know if I was lying and so I just gave in. “The pit” I say and her eyes widen with fear. I then start to walk again and she places both of her hands on my shoulder stopping me from walking “NO you are not going there do you hear me” she says with fear in her tone. “I have to” I say and try to walk forward but she stops me once again. “NO I am not letting you go get yourself killed Adrian why in the hell do you want to go to the pit?” she asks me with a shaky voice.

“The less you know the better Jennifer” I say not looking at her in the eyes. “I am not letting you go okay you are not going there okay” she says with tears starting to fill her eyes. She then gets a page to go to the ER but she ignores it; “Go my ride doesn’t leave in about an hour” I say still not looking at her and to my surprise she believes me. “Just stay here okay don’t you dare move Adrian don’t you fucking dare move” she says while wiping her eyes. She then runs to where the ER is and a tear begins to come down my cheek; I quickly wipe it away and head for the humvee. In reality the humvee leaves in about five minutes I just didn’t want Jennifer to stop me from going. The humvee is unmistakable bullet holes cover almost all of the humvee but it still works. I go around to the passenger’s side on the back I was about to open the door when I look behind me and see that Commander Stone is there with his arms at his waist. I guess he wanted to see if I would really go to the pit; I then open the door.

As I turn back and face the seat of the humbee at the corner of my eye I see a figure that I know all too well. I turn and see Mark he is with George Smith another mechanic here on base; Mark’s eyes widen as he sees me next to the humvee. Mark begins to walk towards me but he is a good distance away; I then get on the humvee and close the door. The humvee takes off and I put my head on the window; the side mirror shows Mark running like hell trying to catch the humvee. But the vehicle is too fast for him and I see Mark stop and run to the hanger where Commander Stone is. I am sure Mark was getting a vehicle himself so he can stop this one from taking me to the pit; but Commander Stone was in that hanger and so I am pretty sure he will stop Mark from getting into a vehicle. I was on the verge of crying I really didn’t care what the other three soldiers in the vehicle though I just wanted to cry.

I was about to cry when “So I don’t get a hello from you” Cory says. I turn and see that Cory is here in the humvee with me; I smile full of relief. This is good at least I’ll have a familiar face in the pit; “what are you doing here?” I ask Cory trying not to sound like I was on the verge of crying. “Well if you remember when we first met in the ER I came from the pit” Cory says with that sexy smile across his face. We were out in the desert almost half way there; I have to admit I am glad Cory was here with me. I was about to say something when a bomb goes off next to the humvee that rolls us a couple of time and we end up upside down.

The soldiers that where in the front get off but they quickly get shot and die on the dirt road. As for Cory he is unconscious and I am on the verge of blacking out myself. The next thing I know I am being pulled out of the humvee; at first I thought it was back up but when I hear the men speaking in their language I start to worry. I didn’t really have time to worry because seconds before I blacked out I could feel my captures dragging me out into the desert where I am sure to die.

Chapter 7 coming soon…..