Chapter 6

It was 1700 hours on Friday, and the 2^nd Platoon of Bravo Company was standing formation in the grassy area in front of the barracks. Sergeant First Class Edwards called the platoon to attention.

“Fall in,” he said, and thirty Rangers snapped to attention.

When we were formed up Edwards put us at ease and went through his end of week notes. He reminded Sergeant Granger, a Fire Team Leader in the 2nd Squad, that he had Charge of Quarters Sunday. He was about to make another announcement when he was distracted by something to his left. We all followed where he was looking as a bright yellow Corvette convertible cruised into the parking lot. The car wheeled into a parking space, the door opened, and Mikayla Delong eased out of the driver’s seat.

She was wearing skinny jeans that hugged her butt, ankle boots with a two-inch heel, and a blue silk blouse strategically unbuttoned enough to show some serious cleavage. Today her hair was in a blonde ponytail, and she wore oversized Ray Ban aviator sunglasses. She leaned against the car as Edwards finished his business and dismissed us. As soon as the formation broke up. I trotted over to where she was standing, and she flung herself against me.

“I am so happy to see you!” she yelped.

Then she laid a lip lock on me that made me lightheaded. When she let me go and stood back, half my squad was standing behind me. Mikayla hung onto my arm as I introduced her.

“Mickie, these are my friends and squad mates, this is, JP – my Ranger Buddy – Vic Torres, and Brad Kim. Guys, my friend Mickie.”

“His girlfriend, Mickie,” she corrected.

We all chatted for a few minutes before JP chivvied the other guys back into the barracks.

When we were alone, I said, “Wow, you sure know how to make an entrance.”

“Was it too much?” she asked.

“No, it was perfect,” I replied.

Yeah, I had asked Mikayla to make a splashy entrance to impress my bros, but how she did it was all her. You gotta love a woman that would do that for you.

“Oh, and ‘Mickie?’ Seriously, that’s who I am to you now?”

I blushed.

“It’s the best I could do spur of the moment. I didn’t figure you wanted to use either of your other names,” I said.

“It’s okay, Johnny. I kinda like it. It’s a nickname your girlfriend from back home would have,” she replied.

“That’s how I see you. You are my girlfriend from back home,” I replied.

I must have said the right thing because she laid another blistering kiss on me. I had a serious hard on when she let me go. She giggled at my plight and sent me into the barracks to shower, put on civies and grab my go bag. Twenty minutes later we were headed to Savannah and her river view suite at the Hilton. I politely offered to take her to dinner, but she had other plans.

“I have a hot meal for you right here,” she said, and her husky voice made me shiver.

She won the ‘get naked’ race only because one tennis shoe string was knotted up. We were two physically fit young people in our sexual prime who had been celibate for months. We were as needy as chinchillas in heat. She yelped when I threw her onto the bed and then moaned when I buried my face between her satiny thighs.

I was surprised when she pushed my head away until she said, “Me too”. I let her up and took her place and she gracefully spun around until we were soixante-neuf. Mikayla was tall enough that we could make it work.

I’d like to say that I made her work for it, but truth be told I probably lasted fewer than two minutes. My saving grace was that Mikayla lasted only a couple of minutes longer. Once we took the edge off, we got down to some seriously athletic shagging. Mikayla was limber, strong and she had incredible stamina. I was happy to be the one with whom she displayed her talents. An hour after we started, we fell back onto the king-sized bed gasping for breath. It was as wild a mating as anything ever featured in National Geographic. Mikayla recovered first and sat up in bed gloriously naked.

“That will hold me until after you feed me. But, I hope you took your vitamins this morning, Big Boy; because I have plans for you, later tonight,” she said.

After a soapy and slippery shower together, we went out scouting for food. We had dinner at an excellent waterfront restaurant. Mikayla had some shrimp dish (how can a ‘shrimp’ be ‘jumbo?’). I had a ribeye the size of a garbage can lid. She teased me about the amount I ate as we strolled along the river front. I just shrugged.

“I’m just catching up, because I’m still ten pounds lighter than before Ranger School,” I explained.

We walked for half an hour before going back to the room for round two. Mikayla wasn’t lying even a little bit about having plans for me. She undressed me and pushed me back on the bed and then she stood at the foot of the bed and put on a show for me. She didn’t prance around like a stripper, instead she made sure I was looking at her as she removed each item. And she talked as she disrobed.

“I’ve been saving myself for you Johnny,” she said as her blouse hit the floor. “I even turned down a handsome major movie star because I knew he couldn’t possibly make me feel as good as you do.”

The skirt she was wearing hit the floor and she stood arms akimbo wearing a royal blue set of Victoria’s finest. Next, she did that Houdini thing by twisting her arms behind her and doffing her bra. When the lacy garment fell down her arms her enhanced breasts stood proud with only a small amount of sag.

“I know you have other women in your life, Johnny, and I’m okay with that. I don’t have time for a serious relationship, anyway. If you agree to spend some occasional quality time with me, I’ll continue saving it for you. In return I want you to promise me you’ll keep being discrete. Okay?”

I nodded. It was very okay!

She smiled and hooked her fingers into the waistband of her panties and slid them down her long slender legs.

“In that case I guess I won’t need these,” she said, sounding sexy as hell.

The next morning, we slept in until nine (yes, I woke at six, then turned over and snuggled Mikayla as I went back to sleep) and then we did the tourist thing in Savannah. We took this hop-on hop-off trolley that allowed us to visit sites along the tour route. The Historic District is made up of twenty or so square parks. We walked through five of them before hitting the Mother Lode, yep, there was a Pulaski Memorial Park. Of course, I knew who General Pulaski was from Mister Goshen’s American History class at good old Palmdale High. What I didn’t know was that there was this big-assed monument to him in Savannah. I couldn’t wait to tell Papa!

We were back at the Hilton by 1530. Mikayla let me nap for forty-five minutes and by 1700 we were dressed and out the door. She looked casually fabulous in a little daisy print blue sun dress; I looked like her big goofy hay seed cousin in my faded jeans and polo shirt. We walked down to the river and queued up to get on a riverboat. I had bought tickets earlier for what was advertised as a romantic dinner cruise up the Savannah River.

The cruise wasn’t bad at all, mainly because of the company I was keeping I reckon. We chatted through the grilled chicken dinner about inconsequential things, and it was surprisingly fun and romantically intimate at the same time. After the meal we took a promenade around the third deck. Mikayla snuggled against me as we stood on the fantail above the paddle wheel to watch the waxing moon rise between the cable towers of the Talmadge Bridge. The moon light turned the water glittery noctilucous. We capped off the perfect night by making achingly sweet love.

We ate breakfast the next morning at this quirky retro diner we’d passed by yesterday. It had chrome skirted barstools with red vinyl seats at a long lunch counter, with a row of booths having the same red vynyl covered seats. The counter and booth tables had white Formica tops, and the floor was black and white checkerboard. Sort of a fifty’s throwback, I guess. I was less impressed by the décor than I was by the biscuits and sausage gravy that came as a side to my bacon, eggs, and home fries. I finished off my lumber jack breakfast while Mikayla nibbled on a muffin and fruit cup.

“If you can cook like this, marriage is in our future,” I said.

“If you propose to me, I’ll hire the cook from here right now,” she shot back.

Mikayla wouldn’t tell me where she was taking me after we ate breakfast. She acted all mysterious as if it were a state secret. When she didn’t tell me the first time I asked, I shrugged and didn’t mention it again. So naturally, that irritated her to no end.

“Aren’t you even a little curious?” she asked, her aggravation obvious in her voice.

“Nope,” I answered.

She reached across the console and pinched the inside of my thigh. I was wearing shorts and she had talons instead of fingers.

“Ouch,” I complained as I rubbed my leg, “I’ll get you for that.”

“In your dreams!” she growled.

All this happened a minute before she turned off the highway and crossed a bridge just past a sign that read ‘Fort Pulaski National Monument.’ I loved touring the old Civil War fort, but I was ashamed that I didn’t even know the fort existed until Mikayla pulled up to it. I wondered if anyone else in my family knew about it. We spent an hour exploring the place. I was agog that the walls were seven feet thick and made from bricks. There were twenty-five million hand laid bricks in the fortifications, all laid by the men stationed there. I’m glad I wasn’t a soldier back then.

We had a late lunch at this roadside barbeque joint. While scarfing down pulled pork and sweet coleslaw, I brought up my situation with the Cavanaughs, what with Donna Cavanaugh acting all fantod. Turns out Mikayla knew more about what was going on than I did. Elaine and Mikayla were second cousins and although they weren’t close, they knew each other. Elaine had reached out to her cousin after Mikayla and I started dating.

“Elaine called me as soon as her mother forbade her from seeing you. Donna has Elaine and Ellen under her thumb because she controls the purse strings, and it would be hell to pay if any of us helped them. Elaine says she has a plan, but she has to lay low until they start at the University of Florida next month. Ellen doesn’t seem to be as rebellious as her sister,” Mikayla said.

Mikayla proposed to act as intermediary between the twins and me. Which was more than special of her if you think about it. After lunch we went back to the Hilton for some farewell sex.

While we were recovering from some sweet lovemaking, I asked Mikayla to be my date to the Battalion Dining Out. She asked for the particulars, and I filled her in.

“It’s a formal dinner with a reception line, toasts, and speeches but there is dancing after all the military stuff. Sorta like a prom in uniform I guess,” I explained.

She signed on immediately, “I was in a boarding school in Switzerland and didn’t get to go to a prom, so I’d love to go with you, Johnny.”

After she agreed to go, I asked her if she had some friends who might want to go with JP, Vic, and Brad. She thought for a few moments, then said she might have some friends who would enjoy it.

“I’ll wager it will be a new experience for them and we can make it a girls’ getaway weekend,” she said.

Of course, that made me think about how much it would cost for them to come down for a weekend from New York City. Luckily, I had money sitting unused in my college fund, and from where I stood, this was going to be an educational endeavor.

“I’ll send you some money to cover everyone’s expenses. Just let me know how much you’ll need,” I volunteered.

Mikayla smiled and kissed me on the cheek.

“You are too sweet, Johnny,” she said.

Mikayla took me back to the barracks at 1800 hrs. She pulled right up to the entrance sidewalk and climbed out of the car when I did. A bunch of guys returning from the chow hall stopped to gawk as she laid another sizzling kiss on me.

“You are the greatest, Johnny Pulaski. I’ll see you soon, okay?” she said loud enough for the peanut gallery to hear.

I waved as she roared off. I missed her already.

Bravo Company spent the rest of July setting up for the ROTC Ranger Challenge at Fort Stewart. The Sixth ROTC Brigade oversaw ROTC programs in the Southeast and was headquartered at Hunter Field, so who would be better to test them on Ranger skills? The Ranger Challenge was touted as the varsity sport of college ROTC. I didn’t know about that, but I did know the cadets were motivated and mostly well trained for the events.

The two-day competition was conducted during the first week of August. JP and I were lane graders on the hand grenade assault course. It was a fun assignment because I got to shoot at the cadets with a paintball gun while they tried to navigate the course. I have to admit that me and my Ranger Buddy had fun shooting at the future Second Lieutenants, especially since we tried to hit them in the ass.

After our two weeks of easy duty supporting the ROTC Brigade our training tempo picked up. We spent two days on the rifle range battlesight zeroing our M4 carbines and requalifying. Weapons qualifying was an annual requirement. It was also a prerequisite before deployment, so the old hands knew something was up. JP was privy to the rumors floating around. How he got his information was top secret, but it seemed to be reliable.

“Word has us and Delta Company rotating to Iraq to replace two companies from the Third Battalion,” he explained.

Elaine finally contacted me on the third Friday of August. When I turned on my phone at the end of the duty day, I had a missed call from an unknown number and a voicemail. I was elated when I got her message and called her right back. She answered on the first ring.

“Johnny,” she squealed, “I’ve missed you so much!”

“I missed you like crazy too, Lainie. Did you mother finally let up on you?”

“Not even, but I’m up in Gainesville at UF (University of Florida) now, so I’m out of her clutches. The first thing I did was go to the student store and get a new cell phone of my own.”

We talked for half an hour as we brought each other up to date on our lives for the past eight months. Elaine was a Junior at UF on an academic full ride scholarship. Because all her expenses were covered by her scholarship, she could use her college fund for other things like her new cell service.

“I now have access to the college fund my grandfather started for me, and in two and a half years I can tap my trust fund. My parents have seen the last of me,” she avowed.

I wasn’t crazy about that idea, but I wasn’t going to try to talk her out of it on the phone. So I told her I understood how she felt and left it at that.

“What about Ellen?” I asked.

“She took all this better than me,” Elaine admitted. “She’s already been rushed by my mother’s sorority. She’s getting special consideration because she is a legacy candidate. She will get in if for no other reason than the boatload of money mom donated to them. Plus, she’s excited about living with all those attractive women.”

By the time I hit the red end call symbol on my cell phone, I was wrapped in a towel ready for the showers. My go bag was already packed so in fifteen minutes I was headed towards Gainesville. I made the two-hundred-mile trip in three and a half hours. It was a few minutes after 2100 when I pulled up to the address she gave me. Her dorm room was on the seventh floor of a thirteen-story building. I couldn’t believe the size of the monstrosity. I parked, got out, and called her new cell number. I told her I was there, and she came running out the door.

I will admit that I was misty eyed seeing my honey again. I had missed everything about her during our forced separation. She flew into my arms and hugged me fiercely. She was crying, her tears wetting the front of my shirt. I stroked her fiery red hair and flooded her with the love I felt for her.

“I was worried you would forget about me,” she said.

With her face buried against my chest, I barely heard her. I pulled her back so I could look into her eyes. Her tears made her uniquely blue peepers sparkled in the glow of the streetlights.

“Look at me, Lainie! Open yourself up to how I feel about you,” I said.

She nodded, so I took her hand in mine and sent her all the love and longing she brought out in me.

She sighed and snuggled back against me.

“It’s been so long since I’ve felt that, Johnny. I almost forgot how good it feels.”

We reluctantly let each other go so Elaine could duck back into the dorm and grab her backpack. Once she was back in my truck, we motored South on US 441.

“That is some dormitory. How many people live there?” I asked.

“It’s called Beaty Towers, Baby, and about seven hundred fifty of us live there. It’s a pretty famous place. Legend has it that a student in the 1960s who was high on LSD thought she could fly so she stepped out of a thirteenth-floor window. Tom Petty wrote the song ’American Girl’ about it,” she explained.