Chapter 30

Flashback –Ben and Jack – The trip to hell ... Ramadi

The Corporal took us to our room and I was shocked that we had a real room, not a cot in the barracks! I made a mental note to thank Colonel Maggie when I got the chance. We walked into the room and I saw the cases of ammo I brought for my new rifle. As we stowed our footlockers I asked, "Corporal, where are the showers?"

He replied, "Sirs, if you get your towels and change of clothes I will show you where the showers are."

Jack must have been feeling better because he complained, "Don't call us Sirs! We work for a living."

The Corporal stuttered, "Sorry Sir ... Sgts."

I blew it off with an insult, "Don't worry about it - my spotter Jack is a little cranky when he doesn't get his nap."

Jack swore, "Banzai, you sorry assed young pup. Keep it up and I will kick your ass."

The Corporal laughed and I countered, "See what I mean?"

Thank God Jack only grumbled under his breath this time.

We popped our footlockers, I grabbed a few critical items and asked, "Corporal, will you help me with this?"

We went to the door and the Corporal helped me install a huge hasp set on the door and wall. On my way back to the footlocker Jack complained, "It's about time and I sure hope you have more than one key for that fucking padlock."

I could tell from Jack's attitude that he was hurting so I looked at the Corporal and asked, "How about coming back in a few minutes to take us to the showers."

The Corporal left the room, I glared at Jack and he said...

Banzai got rid of the Corporal and as soon as he left I looked at Banzai as he glared at me and I said, "Sorry Banzai, but my back really hurts right now."

His glare turned to a smile and he replied, "Well, with the disc damage it's not going to get much better, so what are we going to do about it?"

I swore, "The hell if I know!"

Banzai suggested, "Okay, how about we get you a pain pill, a hot shower and then I will teach you to do some mild stretches for your back."

I glared at Banzai and complained, "Don't tell me you're going to have me doing the same shit that I see you doing all the time. Hell, you look like a dog every time you get up from sitting."

I felt a little bad when Banzai didn't even retaliate but smiled and answered, "That's right Jack, I've been fighting you for years to begin to do some stretching and by God you're going to do it now."

I defensively argued, "And what if I refuse to listen to you?"

Banzai gave me one of his patented shit eating grins and answered, "Then I tell Colonel Maggie what happened in Baghdad with Captain M and the MRI technician and tell her how bad your pain has been. She will send your ass back to Baghdad for another MRI, they will discover the truth this time and you will get a medical discharge."

Hell, Banzai had me over a barrel! Then I came up with an idea: I could probably do a half-assed job at the fucking stretches and keep him happy so I relented, "Damn it Banzai, you have me over a barrel and know it so I guess I don't have a choice."

Banzai then shot down my plan when he laughed and said, "Jack, that was too fucking easy and I've known you too long. So don't think you're going to get by doing some half-assed job. You're going to either work your ass off on this or you're going back to Baghdad."

I decided to play 'my ace in the hole' so I slapped it on the table, "What about the fucking Syrian sniper Mustafa? Don't tell me you'd go up against him with a new spotter?"

Banzai laughed and then trumped my 'ace in the hole', "Good try Jack, but your health is more important to me than having to break in a new spotter."

He handed me two pills and said, "The smaller of the two is a pain pill and the larger is a muscle relaxant. Take them both and then let's go get a shower. I have about a month of stink to get off of me."

I took the pills, swallowed them without water and added a normal for me insult, "Hell, I would say it's more like two months of stink!"

The Corporal knocked on the door to let us know he was back. We left the room after Banzai put a big assed lock on the hasp he installed on the door. He handed me a key and said, "I only have the two keys so don't fucking lose this."

I sarcastically mimicked, "Don't fucking lose this – when the hell have I lost anything you've given me?"

Banzai laughed and replied...

Hell, Jack had a bad as hell habit of losing everything! He'd lost countless keys for the rooms we'd had in the past, even more keys for the locks on his footlockers (I was tired of picking the footlocker locks so I now had a spare set of keys for his footlocker). He didn't know it but I had ten extra keys for the room and hoped like hell they'd last until the deployment was over - hell he'd lose his head if it wasn't attached. I didn't want to get into it with Jack because I knew it would only make his pain worse so I simply answered, "Jack, don't get me started on this or we will never get a shower."

The Corporal asked, "Sgts., do you mind if I ask you some questions?"

Jack snapped at the Corporal, "Wasn't that just a question?"

I replied, "Again, ignore my spotter. Sure, what are your questions?"

The Corporal asked, "Are you two worried about the bounty on your heads?"

Surprised, I asked, "What bounty?"

Jack interrupted, "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the towelheads knew we were coming and put a bounty on our heads."

The Corporal gave further information, "That's right, it's ten-thousand US dollars for Sgt. Blaine and five-thousand US dollars for Sgt. Reynolds."

Jack laughed (which meant the pain pill was starting to work so he felt better) and said, "Well, that shows you how fucking little the stupid towelheads know. My bounty should have been just as high as Banzai's."

I ignored Jack's comment and answered, "Hell, it's not the first time this has happened and it sure won't be the last. No Corporal, we're used to it."

The Corporal asked as we arrived at the showers, "Would you two mind telling me what sniper school was like?"

I replied, "Corporal, to answer that question would take days. So, after we finish our shower, why don't we describe some of it over lunch. Then we can tell you more when we are back at the base."

The Corporal provided more greatly appreciated information, "From the scuttlebutt I've heard, you two aren't going to be spending much time at the base."

We took off our filthy BDUs, jumped into the showers and they felt great! This was especially true since if the Corporal was correct, they might be the last showers we have for a while...

Flashback – Masha – child care

The trip to meet Louise at the market took longer than I calculated so I rushed home while I kept looking over my shoulder in fear of encountering the police car. I arrived home and knew I would have to rush to make dinner for Louise and me. Thank God the walk had tired Linda out and she wanted a nap. I took her to her room, laid her on a blanket on the floor and rushed to the kitchen to make our dinner.

I whipped up a big pot of borscht for dinner, left it on the stove to simmer while I went to check on Linda. She was still asleep and I wasn't sure what her normal sleep schedule was so I decided to wake her up. When I awakened her, I realized I might have made a mistake since she woke up very cranky and began to immediately cry! I picked her up and began to bounce her in the way she normally liked but it only served to make her crankier.

Finally she settled down then I remembered the borscht! I ran into the kitchen, still holding Linda and checked the stove. Thank God the borscht didn't burn. I tasted it, added a little more salt, lemon juice and dill, tasted it again and it was perfect.

The doorbell rang so I ran to the front door and was surprised when I saw it was Louise. Then I checked my watch and realized the whole afternoon was gone and Louise's work was over for the day.