Chapter 2

Dad’s next assignment was a lot better, at least as far as the weather Ft. Benning, GA. But for me it was different, I had hit a growth spurt. I grew up but didn’t fill out much, my sister Sarah took after Mom and was short and curvy. I took after Dad at thirteen years old, I was already 5’ 9” tall and weighed 155 pounds. At least it was all muscle from my years of Martial arts training.

We did find out something we hadn’t known about Dad when he got assigned here, at least Sarah and I didn’t know it. Apparently, Dad had gone to Ranger and airborne school as well as the one for MP’s. A damaged knee was what got him reassigned as a regular MP from his first post with the 82nd Airborne. He was actually back at Benning for a refresher course for the Ranger school, after that he was going to be a DI for the ranger school.

Once again, I would be starting a new school in the middle of the year, at least this time we had on base housing so we didn’t have to live in a motel. Sarah and I were happy but sad at the same time, since we got a three bedroom house for the first time in our lives we wouldn’t be sharing a room. Mom liked that idea because Sarah would be graduating and heading to college in just over a year, which would give us time to adapt to sleeping in a room alone.

I found out school was going to be different here, in Ayer junior high was seventh through ninth grades then you moved to the high school. In Columbus, GA ninth to twelfth all go to the high school. So I was going from being one of the upperclassmen at my old school to being at the bottom of the totem pole at this new one.

At least at this school I could take AP classes, so maybe I wouldn’t be so far ahead of everyone. I had been doing Sarah’s homework, no, not for her but along with her in Ayer so I had actually been doing a high school juniors work according to what they had assigned Sarah. Sarah had just gone along with it and turned in her assignments even though she was ahead of the rest of her class. I couldn’t do that when I was in school to learn so I had continued learning two years ahead of my class.

When Mom took us to register for school, Sarah got a rude surprise that she was actually behind on classes. I found I was still ahead of classes just not nearly as far as I had been, I was only about a year ahead here. I wasn’t able to get AP classes until the 10th grade, but I was able to get into some advanced classes that were prep for the AP classes. We were told to stop by the office to get our class schedule, we also got a student handbook with a school map in it.

I had trouble sleeping that night, I was so used to hearing Sarah’s snore, she says she doesn’t snore but she does. She does this funny little grunting sound. I was kinda tired when I got up the next morning, luckily unlike Sarah I could get ready quick in the mornings. I normally just threw on whatever I decided to wear for the day. Today I was wearing a t-shirt and jeans with my bomber jacket.

Getting off the bus I went by the office and picked up my schedule. Looking at my schedule I was lucky in one regard, my PE class was last period. However my first class was Biology II, with Mr. Cooper. Walking down the hall to get to my class I realized I was taller than 80% of the people I could see. Stepping into the classroom I could tell from the fact that it had big tables with 2 stools at each one I was going to have a partner for this class. I waited by the door, because I imagine that the teacher had assigned seats. Since classes had been going for about 2 weeks already.

The man sitting at a desk in the front of the room finally noticed me and waved me over. I walked over to him. “I’m Susan Smith, If I found the right room you would be Sensei Cooper and this is Biology II,” I said.

“Well I’m Coach Cooper not Sensei, but other than that you got it right. However I didn’t get a notice about a Susan Smith being assigned to my class,” He looked at a note on his desk, “I have a note for a Johnathan Smith though,” he said.

“I’m Johnathan Susan Smith, but I go by Susan,” I told him.

“Okay then I think I’ll pair you with wonder woman, I might as well keep the odd name bunch together,” he said, before pointing me to a desk in the middle of the room.

Walking over I couldn’t help but notice that the girl already at the desk, had an abundance of cleavage. “Hello, it looks like I’m your new lab partner, Susan Smith,” I said.

She stared at me a moment before giggling, “Sorry, I’m not laughing at you. Coach has a weird sense of humor, I’m Linda Carter Jones, or Wonder Woman to most of the people in this school, which makes us Smith and Jones like the TV show,” she said.

I understood what Coach Cooper meant by strange names now. “Well Coach said he was going to put the strange name bunch together, so you might as well know my full name is Johnathan Susan Smith,” I said.

Linda just stared at me for a moment and started to speak, but Coach called the class to order and started teaching, so she wasn’t able to say whatever she had started to say. Half way through class she slipped me a note. It asked are you a boy or a girl, I put a check mark on the girl and passed it back to her. She got a relieved look on her face before smiling at me.

As we walked out at the end of class she explained herself, “I was afraid if you were a guy, that coach Cooper was pairing me with another dumb jock so I could get him through Biology,” she said.

I realized about that time that my braid was inside my jacket, which helped explain her confusion. With it inside my jacket it looked like I had short slicked back hair. Reaching over my shoulder I pulled it out, my hair when I braid it comes down to just above my butt. Linda looked at it before nodding her head, “I wish my hair would grow that long mine always breaks and splits. Okay I’ll see you at lunch if we don’t have any classes together before then,” she said, before heading to her next class.

My second period class was the only one I had other than PE, that wasn’t a prep class. English was the only class I ever had a problem with, because I sometimes still find myself thinking in Japanese and having to translate that to English for classes wasn’t easy. I managed to muddle through the class but was very glad when it ended. I discovered when I got to third period, that my English class was the only one me and Linda didn’t have together. She was also getting set up to take AP classes next year.

I came very close to getting in a fight at lunch. As Linda and I walked in together, An older boy behind us in line said, “Oh look, it’s Wonder Woman and her new sidekick Jonathan the Sissy boy.”

I started to reach for him when a hand landed on my shoulder, I turned and had to look up at the mountain that had my shoulder. “Don’t get in trouble your first day here, I’ll take Jake here and have a discussion about how to talk to a Lady,” he said before grabbing Jake by the back of his neck and walking him away from us.

Turning to Linda I asked, “Who the hell was that?”

“Well Jake is a rich jock that thinks his shit doesn’t stink. The big guy is Jethro, he is even richer than Jake but is a nice guy.” She said.

I later found out that Jethro is 7’ 2” tall and weighs a whopping 375 pounds. All I knew at that time was that he was the biggest person I had ever seen. Linda took me to a table where some people were already sitting, “Everyone listen up, this is Susan Smith her Dad just transferred here, so she is an Army brat just like us,” she said as my introduction to the most fun group of people I would ever meet.

There was Amy, her Dad was a supply Sgt., Tom, his Dad ran one of the rifle ranges, Miguel, whose Dad was in charge of the confidence course, and of course Linda whose Dad was a DI just like mine but at the jump school. Linda’s Mom was the one I really couldn’t wait to meet. She was from Israel and taught a form of Martial Arts I had never heard of before called Krav Maga.

“We hang out together after school if you want to join us,” Amy said.

“Yea we normally meet at the PX after we get home and decide what to do from there,” Tom added.

“I’m not sure I’ll be able to go today, but I’ll ask my mom when I get home,” I said.

About that time Sarah walked over to us with her tray. “Everyone this is my sister Sarah, Sarah this is everyone,” I said. We all had a fun time talking for the rest of our lunch break, when it was over Linda and I headed to our next class.

My next two classes were World History, followed by Algebra II. I had fun in them because of Linda, but also I had good teachers who made it fun to learn. After those classes I was ready to work my body instead of my mind so I was very ready for PE.

Linda and I walked into the locker room, and girls ran away screaming while trying to hide. I just stood there wondering what the hell was happening, until I heard an angry voice say right before I was grabbed from behind, “Young man you need to leave and go to the principal’s office right now!”

Turning I used my arm to break their hold on my shoulder, I used my movement to catch the same arm and use a shoulder throw to get them away from me. “I AM NOT A YOUNG MAN!” I shouted. Before looking at the person I had thrown, Shit it seemed I had thrown and looked like I hurt the teacher.

“Linda run to the office and get help while I check on the teacher,” I said.

Linda took off, while I knelt beside the teacher. “I think all you have wrong with you is a dislocated shoulder but we need to get you checked out anyway just to be safe,” I said to her.

She looked at me with a strange expression before she said, “I’m sorry for calling you a young man but I heard the girls screaming about a boy in the locker room and when I stepped out of my office I saw you with your short hair, and size I mistakenly thought it was you.”

I had stuck my braid back inside my jacket to walk to the gym, since we had to go outside to get there and it was raining. I hadn’t had a chance to take off my jacket before the excitement started so I reached back and pulled it out.

“Sorry about that but I didn’t want a wet braid to start class with so I covered it up, also I think that the rumours over my name might have caused all of this,” I said.

Looking around I could see the girls still trying to hide, “Despite my first name being Johnathan, I am a girl not a ‘Sissy boy’ trying to pretend to be a girl, I know in Georgia you have all heard the Johnny Cash song A Boy Named Sue, well I’m The Girl Named Johnathan.” I said. That seemed to do the trick as I heard giggles before the girls started to come out.

The Assistant Principal finally arrived with the school nurse and Linda. The Principal was a man while the Assistant was female. “What is going on here? All Linda said was the teacher was hurt in the locker room,” the Assistant Principal asked.

Before I could say anything the teacher spoke up, “What happened here, was a series of mistakes caused by the school rumour mill. Apparently rumour has it that Johnathan here is actually a boy trying to pass himself off as a girl, which let the girls in the locker room start yelling about a boy in here when she walked in. She had her hair tucked inside her jacket to keep it dry while outside coming here, so when I stepped out of my office I saw her size and what looked like short hair. I grabbed her shoulder to get her outta here and called her a young man. Next thing I know I’m laying here in pain listening to her shout that she is not a young man,” she said.

The Principal said, “Okay Mrs. Deadman the nurse is going to check you out and from the looks of it call you an ambulance. As for you Miss Johnathan you can join me in my office.”

I followed the Principal toward her Office when she noticed Linda walking beside me. “Miss Jones, aren’t you supposed to be in class, why are you following us?” She asked.

“Because Mrs. Graham I thought you might like an eyewitness account of what happened, as well as some of the things that have happened today to make Susan react the way she did.” Linda said.

Mrs. Graham nodded her head and kept walking. I smiled at Linda, and kept following her. Once we got to the office Mrs. Graham ran into a snag. I didn’t have a home phone yet, the only number they had for me was my dad’s unit. Since it was a training unit he couldn’t accept calls unless it was a family emergency, I guess me sending a teacher to the ER counted as one since she called them.

“Can you page my sister? So she knows to catch a ride with Dad and not the bus.” I asked Mrs. Graham.

She did that and while we all sat around waiting for my parents. Linda called her Mom and told her what was going on. Linda’s Mom was actually the first to show up, she was a surprise. Her and Linda looked about as much alike as me and Sarah. Linda had what my dad would call curves for days, her mom made me look curvy.

“Hi Mom, this is my new friend, Susan Smith, Susan this is my mom Ruth,” Linda said.

I stood up and bowed to her, “Hello Sensei Ruth, Linda has told me about you.”

She returned my bow, “What martial arts have you studied and what belts do you have, Susan?” she asked me.

“I have a black belt in Karate, and Judo. I am also 7th Dan in Aikido which makes me the highest ranking person currently in the US. I have also studied Kendo but it currently doesn’t have a belt system. I have been learning Martial Arts since I was 6 years old.” I said.

Ruth seemed surprised by my list, while Mrs. Graham looked shocked. Mom and Dad arrived about ten minutes after that.

Mrs. Graham stood up when they walked in, “Mr.and Mrs. Smith, I’m Assistant Principal Graham, We have a problem involving your daughter I’m not sure how to handle.”

“What kind of situation are we talking about,” my Dad asked.

“Your daughter sent her PE teacher to the ER, but apparently it was accidental. I’m just not sure what to do about it.” Mrs. Graham said.

“Mrs. Graham, I think you need to know that Susan has been getting called a Sissy Boy and other things all day and there are rumours about her being a guy trying to pass as a girl going around. When Mrs. Deadman grabbed her and called her a young man, Susan spun around and Mrs. Deadman went flying,” Linda spoke up.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone, I think she just landed wrong. But after all the comments I have heard today, when someone grabbed me from behind and called me a young man I just reacted.” I said.

It took a while but the final decision was I got suspended for three days and was grounded for two weeks. A couple of good things came out of it though, I had Linda and her gang for friends and her mom Ruth agreed to teach me Krav Maga if I would teach her Aikido. Ruth and I agreed to meet four times a week, two for her to teach me, and two for me to teach her.

It was a long two weeks, no hanging out with friends, not that I had done that much before, me and the yankees in MA hadn’t gotten along all that well. But this was also back when we only had three TV stations and the internet had never been heard of, made for a lot of sitting in my room doing nothing. I spent the time after Mom called Sensei Rika and had her talk to me, finding my center again. I’m not sure when I lost it but realized after the fact that I had. Mom says it is just teenage hormones and laughs saying it will only get worse before it gets better.

School settled down by the time I came back, everyone made a point of being polite to me. When it came time for PE I made an apology to Mrs. Deadman, her and the girls all stopped and looked at me when I got undressed. I understood why, after all I’m 6” taller than most of them and I am all muscle from my years of training. Linda was the only one that didn’t look but then again she had seen what Martial Arts can do for a woman’s body.

My two weeks of ‘prison’ was finally over, Linda told me to meet the gang at the PX and to make sure to bring my mom. I walked into the house to drop off my books after school, “Hey Mom, I’m home are you ready to head to the PX with me?” I asked.

“I’m ready though I don’t know why your friends want me there,” she said, while grabbing her car keys.

It was a weird sight when we arrived at the PX, everyone in the group was wearing BDU’s. Linda was holding a large bag, which she handed to me as I walked up. I looked inside and saw a set of BDU’s, I looked back at Linda.

“Those were issued to your dad, for you to use when you’re with us. The reason we needed your mom here was we can’t get boots or t-shirts issued so we have to buy them from the PX,” Linda said.

Mom said, “What are you planning on doing that you need BDU’s and combat boots for.”

Tom said, “We wear them to use the various ranges our dads are in charge of, today since Susan has to get boots we were going to make a short day of it and just run the confidence course.”

“During the winter when it gets dark so early, we normally do short outdoor stuff or work on classroom stuff like weapons maintenance, oral exam’s of field manuals, things like that,” Amy said.

Mom looked surprised but said, “Okay let’s get you some boots and t-shirts, but other than what you have planned for today, I’ll have to clear it with your dad.” I wanted regular combat boots but Mom wanted me to get jump boots instead.

I had fun on the course with the gang, it was interesting watching Linda try and run the course. At 13 she already had large C cups, we all teased her about making sure she didn’t give herself a black eye. She took it all in stride, she even shook her boobs in Tom’s face right before she hit him with a leg sweep. We all got a laugh from that including Tom.

I was tired and muddy but happy when I got back home, Mom made me get cleaned up before I touched anything in the house. Dad got home while I was in the shower, I could hear him and Mom talking but not what they were saying.

I got dressed and headed to the kitchen to help Mom finish getting supper ready. Dad was sitting at the kitchen table, “Your Mom and I have decided that you can go with Linda and the group. However I want to know the night before what y’all are doing the next day, and if I say you can’t go for that then you don’t go.” he said, watching me stir gravy.

“Tomorrow, We are supposed to work on two things: range safety and firing, field stripping and cleaning the new Beretta M9 and the M1911A1,” I told him.

Dad asked, “What range are you going to be using and what time?”

“I need to call Linda and find out,” I said.

I made the call and let Dad know the details, he approved my going. When the bunch of us arrived at the range I wasn’t really surprised to see Dad there. He had come to watch the safety part of our briefing, I think he was as surprised as I was to see a Captain there giving it.

“I’m Captain Stone, I want to welcome you all to the Ranger School class 11-22-89, while everyone of your names is listed as being in that class. If I ever see one of you wearing a Ranger tab I will personally kick your butt all the way to Leavenworth. It is just a way to be able to supply you all with training aides and ammo for these classes,” he said.

I didn’t know it then but my name being on a list for a ranger class would have a profound effect on my future, at the time I just thought it was cool. Over the next three years, I learned to use and maintain several different weapons, including the M16A4, M4 SOPMOD, and the CAR-15 with M203 grenade launcher.

We also did jump school right up to the actual jumping out of airplanes, Dad wouldn’t allow me to do that part. But I did get to do the drop towers, that was fun but scary. During our summer breaks we marched, bivouacked, and trained just like real rangers.

My sister met a young green beret. He was on Benning as an instructor at the Airborne school. I met him when the gang went through his class, and since he was a tribal member alone away from home, I invited him to our house for supper. Samuel and Sarah hit it off very well so well in fact they got married as soon as she graduated from High School.

I actually managed to get into my college of choice, Linda’s Dad had transferred out last year. But we had kept in touch and now we were both going to Stanford for college.