Chapter 98

Flashback – Masha – Another day with Tina

After having a terrible day with Tina, then slapping Brenda because of the insult she delivered to Louise, I had reached my limit for the day so I sat on the floor and began to cry. Gwen (who had come in the room and asked if my problems with Brenda were over) and Louise began to comfort me.

Louise asked, “Auntie Masha what’s wrong?”

I sputtered, “I ... I ... I failed. Tina defeated me today.”

Louise replied, “Auntie Masha you didn’t fail, Tina is a terrible, spoiled child.”

Gwen added, “That’s right. She always bullies the other children and Brenda thought it was cute so she did nothing to stop the bad behavior.”

Louise added even more information, “Boy, that’s the truth! And I’m amazed you lasted as long as you did with her.”

I sob some more and confess, “Louise, I’m sorry for what Brenda said to you. And she did it in our house!”

Louise laughed and said, “Auntie Masha it’s nothing I haven’t heard before so don’t worry about it.”

Gwen offered, “Masha, you’ve had a terrible day, let me buy the pizza for tonight.”

Linda ran into the room and yelled, “Mama! Mama! Mama!” Then she performed a somersault on the floor. It was so funny I began to giggle.

Louise handed Linda to me and said, “Linda, Auntie Masha needs some loves.”

Linda begins to kiss me, it tickled and I giggled some more.

Louise said, “Come on Auntie Masha we’re hungry.”

I stand up with Linda, we walk into the kitchen and Gwen reaffirmed, “I will order the pizza, what would you like for toppings?”

Louise declared, “Anything but anchovies.”

I teased, “But anchovies are my favorite topping.”

Gwen shocked me and said, “Okay, half with anchovies for Masha and half without.”

I quickly confessed, “I was teasing about the anchovies, how about the ham and pineapple as we had the one time.”

Louise gasped, pretended to be shocked and teased, “Auntie Masha wants fruit on her pizza after telling Tina she shouldn’t have fruit.”

Gwen called in the order for the pizza.

I laughed and added, “I need to confess, Tina’s diaper was so evil tonight because I fed her all the baby food fruit which was left. I was just so tired of her constant complaining. She ate it like this.” I mimed Tina using a spoon and her free hand to shovel the mixture to her mouth.

Gwen and Louise laughed and Gwen said, “Like mother like daughter! I’ve seen Brenda almost shovel food in her gaping maw.”

That was news to me so I asked, “But she never seemed to eat much here.”

Louise said, “Auntie Masha she was just trying to avoid being embarrassed.”

Gwen added, “That’s right. You wouldn’t believe how much she complained at work about how she was always hungry after she left here. She would stop by a fast food place on the way home and get more food to eat.”

I blinked and said, “That SUKA! No wonder she was so fat!”

Louise asked, “Masha, what’s a suka?”

I blushed and explained, “It’s Russian for bitch.”

Gwen and Louise laughed and Louise commented, “Suka ... hmmm I sort of like that word.”

Gwen suggested, “We could call Brenda that at work.”

Louise shot down the idea, “Gwen, Brenda’s really good on the computer so she would put that into a translator and figure it out. Then of course she would run to Michael and tattle on us.”

I asked, “Will we have any problems with Michael concerning Brenda?”

Louise said, “Not at all. To be truthful Auntie Masha, he’s sort of afraid of you.”

I was shocked and replied, “Why would he be afraid of me?”

Gwen laughed and explained, “Masha, you did destroy that teenage gang and then shot and killed the gang leader right here in your house. Besides, Michael is sort of a coward.”

Louise added, “Yeah, since you’ve been here, he’s changed for the better. Especially after he found out I was moving in here with you.”

I asked, “What sort of changes for the better?”

Louise said, “Well, before you showed up and we became friends, he sort of bothered me about dating him.”

Gwen added more information, “Louise you’re right, he hasn’t asked me on a date since...”

She paused, began to think and Louise finished, “ ... since we’ve become friends with Masha.”

Gwen nodded her head and affirmed, “Yeah, that’s right. Thank you Masha.”

Louise added, “Gwen, you should have seen his eyes the other day when he saw me pretending to do Taebo back in the store room. They about popped out of his head.”

Gwen laughed and then asked, “Masha, can Taebo be used in a fight?”

I replied, “Not really, but if you wanted to learn real martial arts I could teach you Krav Maga.”

Gwen asked, “Is Kraven Magoo any good?”

I giggled and said, “It’s Krav Maga and it’s the martial art which the IDF uses.”

Louise asked, “What’s the IDF?”

I had forgotten that neither of them had my training so I said, “IDF is Israeli Defense Force and Krav Maga is designed to counter attack your enemy.”

Louise piped up, “I’m game, how about you Gwen?”

Gwen replied, “You can count on me being at every class.”

The doorbell rang, Louise checked and announced, “The pizza’s here.”

Gwen went to the door, paid for the pizza and asked, “Are we having wine with this?”

I replied, “No, because we start your Krav Maga training tonight.”

Louise clapped her hands, which excited Linda so she began to clap and said, “Great, I will gladly forgo wine to learn a real martial art from my bad-assed Auntie Masha.”

Flashback – Ben – Still at the hospital

Since it was going to take an hour for the Stryker and air support to arrive, I decided to call Jack back to see what the old fucker wanted now. I also kicked the radio operator out of the room since I had learned he told every-fucking-one that I was leaving and now all the men were upset as hell.

He finally came back to the radio and said, “Banzai, I’m sorry as hell for getting so upset earlier. I didn’t think...”

I interrupted, “ ... That’s right you didn’t think. Jack, you might not know it but I have no fucking idea what in the hell I’m doing most of the time here. George gives me zero feedback on how I’m doing. The few words you said to me earlier were the only support I’ve received since becoming the fucking first sergeant.”

Jack paused and said, “Banzai, I will make sure Colonel Maggie kicks George in the ass and tells him to start letting you know how well you’re doing. Now you can forget about me leaving, I’ve decided to stay as long as you reenlist.”

I paused to think about the offer and Jack asked, “Banzai, are you still there?”

I replied, “Yeah Jack, I’m still here. I’m thinking about things.”

The CIA agent walked into the room and announced, “The Stryker is here.”

I told Jack, “Listen, we’re taking a Stryker to the bomb makers building to see if anything is left after we shelled the hell out of the building.”

Jack asked, “Who the hell is this we?”

I laughed and said, “Me and the CIA agents of course. We’ve become good friends. I’ll give you a call when or if I decide anything.”

I put down the mike, called the radio operator back into the room and left with the CIA agents.

I met George and suggested, “Sir, we could use a little distraction while were getting into the Stryker. How about getting the snipers on the roof to dust things up some?”

George said, “No problem.”

He called a Corporal over and relayed the order. Once the firing on the roof started we dashed to the waiting Stryker.”

Flashback – Jack – Reporting to Colonel Maggie

I almost laughed when Banzai said he was good friends with the CIA agents. It was amazing what that pallet of coffee did. I needed to make sure I remembered that.

Well, at least I was going to Colonel Maggie’s office with some ammo this time. I couldn’t believe the fucking Butter fucking Bar wasn’t relaying Colonel Maggie’s praise to Banzai. I was going to burn his ass for being an idiot. It’s no wonder being called a “Butterbar” isn’t considered a compliment

I walked into the aide’s office and asked, “Is she in a better mood now?”

He said, “Yeah, I guess the CIA agents got a shitload of info out of the bomber. They relayed it back to HQ so she’s looking good to her bosses.”

I asked, “Please announce me.”

He called Colonel Maggie, then nodded at me. I walked in her office and she asked, “Well Sgt. Reynolds, is Sgt. Blaine ready to reenlist?”

I glared at her as much as I dared to and said, “He said he would think about it. But after hearing how that fucking Lieutenant’s been treating him, I think I might suggest that he doesn’t reenlist.”

I could tell I shocked Colonel Maggie when she demanded, “Are you telling me that the Lieutenant hasn’t relayed to Sgt. Blaine the hell of a job he’s doing?”

I replied, “That’s right. In fact Sir, I think the Lieutenant has become a glory hound. Especially after hearing about how the CIA agents broke the bomber. Hell, Banzai’s headed out with them right now on a mission and I’ll be surprised if they don’t offer him a job.”

Colonel Maggie shook her head and said, “Sgt. Reynolds, I had no idea this was going on. I’ve made sure to tell the Lieutenant how great a job he’s doing and how instrumental Sgt. Blaine has been to his success. I just assumed the Lieutenant was telling Sgt. Blaine.”