Chapter 2

Toni sat sideways on the bus that would take them to the recruit depot, where they would begin their training to become Marines. Toni was excited and scared at the next part of her life, but as she looked at both Jason and Zainal, she knew she had made the right choice. They had been shocked when she showed up with a diploma in hand and handed it over to their recruiter. She had gone into overdrive and had gotten her diploma earlier, and it had only been possible because she had secretly been working on it for the past six months. Ever since the day Zainal had asked them if they ever thought of the military after high school. She knew it wasn’t a random question; and so, she had worked diligently to graduate and join up with her boyfriend and her friend. She had asked the Recruiter, Staff Sargeant Emirl, if she could be part of the buddy program if she completed her schooling alongside her friends, and he had assured her she would be.

As she sat and looked at Zainal, she couldn’t help but wonder what it was that had bonded both Jason and her to him so strongly. She just knew that it was right that they follow him into the military. She had heard Zainal explain to Cassie that it was a calling and he wasn’t off on labeling it that way. It was a mission that she felt resonated with something deep inside her. Either way she couldn’t help but smile that Zainal had been able to calm Cassie down and she had shown up to see them off.

It had been emotional, her parents along with Jason’s parents had been there at Cassandra’s house, and the mothers as a group had been more than difficult to say good bye to. It was the first time Toni had ever seen tears in Zainal’s eyes. That had to be what had shocked Cassie so much into realizing that it was real, and that nothing could change his decision.

After watching Cassandra hug, him so tightly, Cassie had jumped into Zainal’s arms and wrapped her arms and legs around him, telling him in a loud commanding voice, “I will join you eventually. You are mine and I am yours. In this lifetime and the next Zainal Lyon!” and then she let go and walked over to Cassandra’s side. She watched her friends get into the recruiters’ car and drive away.

“So, you talk to your mom more about your dad?” Toni asked softly.

Zainal turned to look at Toni. “Yes and no, we talked about him but nothing new. She just told me how they met and fell in love. She also told me about my grandparents ... her parents.”

Toni’s eyes grew in surprise. It hadn’t been a secret that Cassandra’s parents had disowned her when she ‘came back’ pregnant. It was the fact that they had refused all contact with Cassandra and Zainal that had shocked their small town. Toni herself respected and admired Cassandra greatly. To have been able to support herself, and her son, all on her own for all these years was something to be admired in Toni’s eyes. But what her parents had done had been despicable. Worse was, that they shouldn’t have had to struggle as much as they did. Cassandra’s parents had money, nothing great but more than enough to ensure her daughter and her son were taken care of at a reasonable level. Did they do that? No. They instead kicked Cassandra out and called in favors to other businesses in the area to refuse to hire her. They went out of their way to blacklist her everywhere in town. Still, Cassandra had persevered and she had given her son a future.

“I think there is more to find out about them, but I don’t think I want to yet.” Zainal continued. “Let’s focus on bootcamp for the next three months and then when we have the time, we can focus on them.”

“Sounds like a plan to me” Jason said from Zainal’s other side.

Toni shook her head. It always amazed her how similar they both were. Both of them were tall, lean and athletically built, even their eyes were exceptionally similar in that they are dark and mysterious. Jason had the bluest eyes she had ever seen on a person, so strong and deep as if staring into the depths of the ocean. In comparison, Zainal had green eyes that seemed like dark emeralds that read your very soul. The clear difference between the two could be seen in their hair. Zainal had short, lightly spiked hair with an interesting effect where you could see his hair was black as charcoal, but the tips of his hair were white as snow. Jason’s hair was styled with that surfer boy look, but in terms of color it had almost the opposite effect, with his hair appearing white, and the strands turned red half way, as if it was on fire. For all their similarities, they had different personalities that complemented each other well. Like different sides to the same coin; Zainal was the clear leader, while Jason was there to keep Zainal from becoming too serious.

“So boys, I get to be leader first?” she asked with a smile.

Zainal laughed. “Hell yes!”

“Ah shit!!!” Jason whispered to himself.

At that moment, the bus came to a stop and an extremely fit man, wearing a smokey bear hat and a well pressed uniform, came storming into the bus. “GET OFF MY BUS MAGGOTS! OFF! OFF! OFF!” he yelled.

Zainal, Jason and Toni had been warned about this, and all three immediately jumped up and raced down the aisle once the man had passed them. They saw yellow foot prints in a row and Zainal went to the second one, pulling Jason to the third and pushing Toni to the first set. “Your time begins now.” he whispered to her.

As the rest of the people got off the bus, they all just congregated around the entrance, completely ignoring the foot prints and the three other uniformed people standing in front of the yellow prints that formed into a military formation.

“GET ON MY STEPS NOW MAGGOTS!!! THREE OUT OF 75 PEOPLE WERE PREPARED FOR THE FIRST STEP DONT DISSAPOINT ME! GET ON THE STEPS!!!” One of the men yelled out.

Zainal noticed that there were two men and two female uniformed personnel if he included the man that was just now exciting the bus.

Once everyone had lined up on the steps, creating four rows of around 17 people per row, the man continued. “I AM SENIOR DRILL INSTRUCTOR STAFF SERGEANT GRIM. YOU WILL ADDRESS ME AS SENIOR DRILL INSTRUCTOR STAFF SERGEANT GRIM WHEN ASKING A QUESTION. YOU WILL ANSWER QUESTIONS POSED TO YOU FROM ANY DRILL INSTRUCTOR TO MY LEFT OR RIGHT OR MYSELF, WITH SIR YES SIR! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?”

Even though the other drill instructors were tall and imposing in their military bearing, the middle and clearly the leader of the group was in another level. Not only tall, but his physique was impressive to the three friends who stood before him. Toni could see how Zainal possessed the same leadership potential that the Senior Drill Instructor clearly had in abundance. Something in Toni almost called out for her to show her deference to the man, but with Zainal standing next to her it was well tempered.

A mismatch of voices, some strong like Jason, Zainal, and Toni’s, others weak and unsure called out in a rag-tag type of manner. “SIR YES SIR!”, “yeah”, “yes sir” and “ah what?” could be heard.

“I SAID DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” Senior Drill Instructor Staff Sergeant Grim asked again, his voice going into a deep menacing tone without losing an ounce of its volume.

Now more quickly and slightly better organized, “SIR YES SIR!” with a few, maybe two or three individual, “Yes Sir.”

“ONE MORE TIME, AND LET THIS BE THE LAST TIME I REPEAT MYSELF; DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” Grim asked. He had immediately noticed the three young recruits who had exited the bus first and had gone to the very obvious yellow foot prints. Either someone had coached them or they had naturally understood what to do. Either way they were a group to keep an eye on.

“SIR YES SIR!” came out of the assembled recruits in a firm manner, as only new recruits could when freshly off the bus.

“GOOD LET THAT BE THE LAST TIME YOU MAKE ME REPEAT MYSELF. DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK. NOW TO MY LEFT AND MY RIGHT ARE MY FELLOW DRILL INSTRUCTORS. YOU ADDRESS THEM AS YOU WOULD ME, ONLY WITHOUT THE SENIOR PART OF SAID INSTRUCTIONS. YOU OBEY THEM AS IF THEY ARE NEXT UNTO GOD BECAUSE AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED, THEY ARE!” Grim looked over the group. It was a small platoon, but they still had to get two more bus loads from the other receiving areas. “WE WILL BE PROCEEDING TO RETRIEVE THE REST OF YOUR PLATOON. WE WILL BE MARCHING THERE, AND AS WE MARCH, MY FELLOW DRILL INSTRUCTORS WILL BE CORRECTING AND PERFECTING HOW YOU ARE TO MARCH WHILE HERE AT MY DEPOT.” Grim turned to his left and nodded at his fellow drill instructor, “The platoon is yours Drill Instructor Staff Sargeant Busto” Grim called out in a less intense tone.

The rest of the day saw the recruits going through processing. They were weighed, measured, and stripped of all belongings, except for religious items or marriage rings, the they were given uniforms and other military equipment to resemble the full load a Marine would normally have during deployment, minus actual live rounds or a live weapon. During this process the drill instructors kept going around the recruits correcting everything from how they stood to how they sat. No arms in pockets when standing outside. No slouching in your seats. No leaning on your arms while at a table. Telling them little tidbits of what a Marine was. Marines don’t whistle. Marines don’t get tired and sit down outside. Marines endured. Marines stood straight. Marines looked forward. Marines were first to arrive. Marines were last to leave. Marines survived.