Chapter 32

Monday didn’t start off that hot.

Changing after PT I went to go eat when there was a visit from Sgt Le Pesant. It seemed my presence was demanded at Gunny Ortega’s office. This couldn’t be good.

I made my way to the Mess Hall, as I didn’t think eating first would get me in any more trouble than I already was.

As I walked into the Company Offices, I saw Pvt Watson sitting at the front desk. Seeing me, he made a call. Seconds later I was told Gunny Ortega was waiting for me. This was probably going to turn into a shit show.

As I announced myself at the door, it began.

“Get in here Badzinski.”

I entered and reported as if nothing was wrong. From his facial expressions, I could see that something wasn’t sitting well with him. He made me wait for what seemed like an eternity before he decided to say something.

“So, what the hell took you so long getting here?”

“I was informed that I was to report to your office Gunny though it did not come across as an urgent request. I got chow before coming as I figured it would be better than interrupting and asking to get chow if this turned out to be an all morning thing.”

He looked at me, and I could almost see the gears turning, wondering if I was bullshitting him or not. I don’t think he had made up his mind one way or the other before reading me the riot act.

“Because of you, I got ambushed this morning. As soon as I got in this morning, I had a visitor. Chief Hospital Corpsman Agatep- Montederamos was waiting for me.”

He went on to explain how HMC Agatep-Montederamos had been sent by Lieutenant Vaikar, a doctor at the Naval Health Clinic. Doc Temirov had gone to the Clinic Friday and informed the Doctor of my situation. Lieutenant Vaikar thought it had the potential for serious injury. She then sent HMC Agatep- Montederamos to get something worked out.

Seemed the final outcome was I only had to attend PT on Monday’s and Fridays, and had to go get a physical to see if I’d already done any damage to myself. I was also required to have another physical right before the tournament.

I could see that Gunny Ortega was getting madder as he continued on as they also reduced the amount of time that I could be trained by an hour each day. There seemed to be a vein that was starting to pop out on his forehead.

“I truly believe at this point that you were stationed here to be the bane of my existence. I honestly wish that we had never crossed paths.”

That was a big vote of confidence. I didn’t think this could get any worse, but it did.

“Care to explain about your training on Saturdays?”

Well, I didn’t think anything I could say would make this worse, but I guess I’d try.

“Permission to speak freely?”

“Granted, now get on with it.”

“I found a boxing trainer that was willing to take me on. He’s already evaluated me and is putting together a training program that’s tailor made for my fighting style. On top of that he’s got a proven track record with several fighters bringing home well-respected titles.”

Was that a low blow, probably, though maybe he’d reevaluate how he was training people and make a change. There was no way that I’d hold my breath while waiting for that to happen. His face flushed red with anger and embarrassment. Then a scowl covered his visage.

“Just remember we reap what we sow.”

If that statement was true, then when was he going to get his? He let that sink in, then the scowl was replaced with a predatory grin.

“You’re going to get everything you wanted and more. Just remember that when you lose, I’m going to own your ass for as long as you’re stationed here.”

I seemed to keep putting myself into these spots. Up until now I’d escaped unscathed by the skin of my teeth. It was going to take a laser focus and a shit ton of luck not to get fucked over this time.

Gunny Ortega then laid out another thing to my new schedule. On training days I’d join him in the initial cardio session, then I’d be released to train on my own. Without anything else being said, I was dismissed to go get my physical done.

There was a parting shot as I walked out the door. “Just remember you brought this all on yourself.”

Guess I’d just have to win the whole damn thing. No half measures, it was all out war at this point.

As I was walking out of the Company Office, I stumbled into Gunny Owens. I just looked at him, knowing this was probably purposeful.

“I’m guessing this wasn’t a coincidence that I ran into you?”

“Nope. So, walk with me and tell me what Gunny Ortega said to you.”

I started to explain what went on as we walked to the Platoon Offices. As we made it to his office, I was told to take a seat. This was becoming slightly ominous as he shut the door before sitting at his desk.

He made a phone call, and I was only able to hear his side of the conversation.

“This is Gunnery Sergeant Owens. Can I please be connected with Chief Hospital Corpsman Agatep-Montederamos?”

“Yes, I’ll hold.”

He looked at me.

“You know that you made an enemy for the life of Gunny Ortega today, even if you do win the tournament?”

As I was about to respond he held his hand up to stop me.

“How are you doing today? Ginger.”

“Me too.”

“Alright. I’ve got a Lance Corporal Badzinski in my office that’s supposed to be getting a physical today. The problem is that he doesn’t know when he needs to be there.”

“Got it. I’ll send him over as soon as I’m done with him.”

“Uh-huh. You have a good day too.” Hanging up the phone, he looked at me again.

“As soon as we’re done here, head over to the clinic.”

“Aye, Aye Gunny.”

“Now let’s talk about your new relationship with Gunny Ortega.”

“I screwed up, didn’t I?”

“Yes and no. You stood up for yourself and that’s good. Gunny Ortega is a ‘my-way-or-the-highway’ type person. That’s bad for you as he’s going to take all this as a personal attack on him. You’re going to need to pay attention anytime you’re around him as he will now do anything to undercut and undermine anything you do. Any minor issue will be blown completely out of proportion. Just be extremely mindful around him.”

This was just great. I had to try and prepare for the tournament. On top of which, I now had to watch out for a self-centered, ego maniacal Staff NCO.

Leaving the Platoon Offices, I hit the Mess Hall again, as no telling how long this physical was going to take. After finishing chow, I walked to the clinic and headed straight for the front desk.

“I’m Lance Corporal Badzinski. I was told to report for a physical.”

“You’re the one Master Chief Wyse told me to be on the lookout for coming. Sit down and I’ll get you processed in.”

About fifteen minutes later a short female Corpsman came out and called my name. She introduced herself as Chief Agatep- Montederamos.

Following her to an exam room, the whole thing started with my vitals getting checked. My blood pressure and heart rate were really good. When that was done, she took several blood samples which seemed odd to me.

She left and told me the doctor would be in soon. I sat there pining for a smart phone, to be able to relieve the boredom of waiting by reading great stories on StoriesOnline like I would do in the first go around. That or playing games would be great.

I lost track of the time as I stared at the wall waiting for the doctor. When she came in I was surprised. Lieutenant Vaikar was in her late twenties to early thirties and appeared to be of Indian descent. I’d been expecting either an old white guy or someone of Asian descent.

“Good afternoon, Lance Corporal.”

“Afternoon ma’am.”

“It seems Corpsman Temirov is concerned that you are pushing your body way too hard and seems to think that sooner rather than later you’re going to do some serious damage to yourself.”

“Yes ma’am. That’s kinda the impression I got as well.”

“So, can you explain in your own words what a week is like for you? I’m mostly interested in your Marine Corps training right now.”

I then explained what our normal week was like and included the new boxing training. Then I explained that I did more than that to train. I also told her about my occasional ice baths and desire to start getting massages.

“Well, Corpsman Temirov was right to bring this to our attention. You are pushing yourself too hard. I have the feeling if you’d have continued that way, an injury wouldn’t be far away.” There was a look of concern on her face.

“So where are the areas that are hurting the most right now?”

I told her about general soreness, and she asked a couple of questions then began talking to me as she poked and prodded.

“So, my field of medicine is orthopedics, which means you should be thankful that Corpsman Temirov sought me out.”

There were a few points where I winced when getting poked and prodded. I could guess from the doctors’ facial expressions that there was an issue.

“So, Lance Corporal. I don’t think you have any major issues yet. You’ve got some strains, that’s the places where you winced when I pressed on them. Another point of concern is your shoulder. I could feel something as I manipulated it.”

That wasn’t good. If I wasn’t able to compete in the tournament Gunny Ortega was going to try and bury me. He would be all over me as long as I was in his chain of command. I hope Doctor Vaikar can help keep me in shape for the tournament.

“So, here’s what’s going to happen. You’re not doing anything strenuous this week. You can run and do cardio but that’s it. You can spend an hour with Gunny Ortega for an hour doing cardio.”

She then gave me a prescription for Naproxen, which was basically Aleve. She thought the ice baths were a good idea, and I should be doing them more often. She let me know that she might have a solution about the massages, and she’d let me know in a few days.

Once everything was said and done, I was on my way to see Gunny Owens again. I was sure there was going to be some pushback about all that was being changed with how things were going to work.

Making my way to the Company Headquarters, I had to wait a half hour to see Gunny Owens.

Finally, I was sent back to his office. He was on the phone as he motioned me into a chair. Again, I could only hear his side of the conversation. It was pretty much “Yes sir”, “I understand sir”, and “I’ll get it done sir”.

As soon as he hung up the phone, I saw a look of exhaustion on his face.

“Do you know who that was on the phone just now?”

“I don’t Gunny, but I’m guessing you’re going to tell me.”

“The smart guy act isn’t endearing.” Well, he wasn’t happy. I really needed to keep my mouth shut at key moments. Sometimes I was my own worst enemy and tended to be an idiot.

“That was the Regimental Commander. Care to take a guess as to what he wanted?”

“No.”

“Smart answer.”

I sat there waiting.

“Seems he is deadly serious about leaving command on top in this year’s tournament. I have been on the phone with him for the last twenty minutes or so. He knew about your visit to the clinic and the results of your physical before I did.”

It seemed logical that the Regimental Commander would have eyes and ears everywhere. From everything I’d heard about him, he was harsh but fair. You screw up and he’d drop the hammer on you; though the general consensus was that he didn’t just do it to do it.

“He has decided to task me with being your minder for the remaining time before the tournament. You’re not going to bring me down by not performing and you’re going to make Gunny Ortega look bad by you winning. The Colonel knows that he had been training everyone to his own image regardless.”

“I have two alternate goals in mind. The first is you win, and I should be able to shield you from most of Gunny Ortega’s bullshit. The second is you lose, then you’ll have a mountain of shit dropped on you not only from Gunny Ortega but from me as well. Report back here during PT in the morning and we’ll discuss this even more.”

Walking out of his office, I could only wonder how this had gone as far as it had. I was up a shits creek with no paddle. I was going to have to take this shit as if it was my new job for the next few months.

I caught a bunch of shit when I caught up with Sgt Le Pesant.

“Nice of the Charlie Company prima donna to join us lowly peons.”

“Really?”

“We wouldn’t want you reporting us up the chain for bothering you.”

He then got everyone to join in on giving me shit.

After dinner, Norbert and Mutellip were giving me the third degree in the barracks. The scuttlebutt (rumor mill) was running rampant. The range of shit the platoon was coming up with was absurd and there were a few that just had me laughing.

Norbert’s was that I was at medical because I had cancer and a year to live. Mutellip thought I was getting kicked out of the Marine Corps for attacking Gunny Ortega. Finally, a guy from First Squad thought they were going to make me an officer.

I went to sleep amused at all the weird shit young Marines could come up to occupy themselves.

I was waiting in the Platoon Offices just after they opened. Gunny Owens came strolling in around 0830 and motioned for me to follow him to his office. I was gestured to a chair.

“So, I actually got called to go see the Colonel after you left my office. Doctor Vaikar and Captain Kalkhande from the clinic were also there. So, here’s how this is going to work. Starting next week, you’ll do PT like normal. On Tuesday and Thursday, you’ll spend an hour with Gunny Ortega so he can see how you’re progressing and run you through a couple of drills. Beyond that you’re on your own.”

He then leaned forward, staring intensely at me.

“Don’t fuck this up. As far as the Colonel is concerned, I’m now responsible for you. So, if you fuck this up, I’m going to make your life a living hell.”

“I read you loud and clear Gunny. There is one thing that I needed to discuss with you.”

I then explained the whole story about what was going to happen on Saturday. He was listening intently with a variety of expressions playing across his face. He sat there with his hands clasped together on his desk after I finished. Finally, he said something.

“So let me get this straight. You had a knife fight with a wild boar and then the Samoans you were with made you a part of their family. Some of them don’t like that fact and were in essence bullying you. Your natural response was to demand a ‘trial by combat’ to satisfy your urges of stupidity.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it in its simplest form.”

“Well, if anybody else had told me that, I’d have laughed it in their face. For some reason, it seems to fit your weird life.”

“I know you’ve seen the tattoos; would you like to see the scars?”

“Nope, I believe you. About your weekend activity ... Don’t let yourself get hurt and forget you told me about it. Though do me a favor, don’t tell anyone on base about it. If you do get marked up, tell them it was in a drunken brawl. Now, get out of my sight.”

“Aye Gunny. You want an AAR (After Action Report) on what happens?”

“Hell, yeah. You need to be in my office first thing after PT on Monday”

I was so preoccupied with the events of the weekend that I didn’t even notice the Halloween decorations that people had put up.

Judo class was good, as I was learning again, and things were progressing forward. Getting back to the barracks, I realized I’d been neglecting my meditation time.

Changing into my PT gear, I went out to the baseball field. Sitting in the outfield, I started to center myself and meditate. It had been too long since I’d centered myself and cleared my thoughts. When I finally stood up, I’d been there for about forty minutes. My thought process had a lot more clarity, and I could see the different avenues to deal with some things. I took the time to practice the moves that Sameulu had shown me.

Once I finished, I got to use one of the new perks that the Colonel afforded me. They were allowing me to get ice from one of the ice makers in the Mess Hall. Putting the stock tank on the tailgate of the Volvo I went to the Mess Hall. Using a five-gallon bucket, I filled the tank halfway with ice. Once back I went through the ice bath process the doctor gave me. It was slightly different that the one I’d done.

I took a hot shower after and called it a day.

The next two days went by slow as hell, which is normally the way things go. When you’re anticipating something, time seems to drag.

My classes went by as normal, although Ms. Miwako was more than happy where I was in the learning process.

As I fell asleep Thursday night, I knew the next two days were going to take a lot out of me. Both physically and mentally.

During my Duty period nothing of note really happened. After grabbing dinner, I drove over to Koa Boxing as some things needed to be sorted out. Spotting Ronnie as I walked in, I headed in that direction.

“Barnim, what are you doing here? Your first session is tomorrow.”

“Well Ronnie, it seems we have a couple of issues to work out.”

“And just what do we have to work out?”

“Let’s see. The fact that you are trying to use me to erase some sort of debt that you have with the Alovili Aiga.”

I could tell that I’d caught him completely off guard with that. He stood there sputtering for a minute.

“Let me explain...”

“No, this is how it’s going to work. You come up with a fair price for training three hours on Friday and Saturday from noon till three. It’s either that or I find another gym to train at. You get nothing if that happens. I don’t care what debt you have to the Alovili Aiga, I’m not your ticket to clear it.”

“I wasn’t...”

“You what, weren’t going to take advantage of the situation. Cut the shit Ronnie. We both know you sure as hell were. Had I not known, you’d have got your way. I know now, and that’s not going to happen.”

“I had no intention of using you.”

“Ronnie, quit while you’re behind. You sure as hell had every intention to use me. That’s not happening anymore, so let’s move forward.”

I could see that he was skeptical of this and wanted to say something. That wasn’t going to be productive, so I continued the conversation forward.

“As you most likely know, there is a gathering of the Alovili Aiga tomorrow. I am required to attend. That means our first session will be next Friday. You need to have a price for me when I show up.”

To maintain control of the situation, I just turned and walked out. I drove to the house, and during the drive remembered two other things I needed to take care of this weekend. Sameulu was cleaning up for the day when I walked into the shop.

“So, you ready for tomorrow?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Well, just know this, you’ve getting a crash course in Fa’a Samoa1.”

“Huh?”

“Fa’a Samoa literally means the Samoan Way. It’s what our culture and lives are guided by.” It seemed that all my Aigas (families) had a deep and rich culture. He then placed what looked to be a damp towel on the bench. Once unrolled, it looked like a bunch of leaves tied together. Turns out it was the outfit I’d wear tomorrow for the ceremony before the fight.

We then checked it for a proper fit, then adjustments were made. He then pulled out a large wooden box; it was pretty-dark colored wood. Opening it up, there on what looked like emerald, green velvet was the Anava, the war club. It had been given a coat of oil or stain and had a dull sheen to it. Taking a closer look at the box and the Anava, both had the Alovili Turtle identical to my tattoo carved into them.

Sameulu explained that the box was made from Mahogany. The wood it turned out came from a Teak and Mahogany plantation in Samoa that the Alovili Aiga was the majority owner in. The Gouveia family solely used wood from the plantation for their musical instruments. It was another way the Gouveia’s and Alovili were bound together.

He made me practice for an hour before he was satisfied and then I wiped down the Anava. We talked while I was doing that. I got him to agree to set up a meeting for me with Lalo, though he was hesitant to do it. Then he wanted to argue when I said I’d drive myself tomorrow as I had a couple of errands to take care of first.

Getting up to go hit the rack, Sameulu let me know that I’d have to be at his house by 0900. As I lay down, all manner of shit was going through my head.

It ran the gamut of stuff. How I’d gotten into this position with both guns. Who was going to be my opponent tomorrow? Exactly where I saw my relationship with Kiku going. It was almost as if everything came rushing in like a tidal wave. As I drifted to sleep, I realized I could only deal with things as they arose. Constantly worrying about stuff would only stress me out.

As I got out of bed, I started mentally creating a checklist of what I needed to take care of. Half an hour later I was knocking on the back door of Sameulu’s house. Jacinta had two big plates of Loco Moco sitting on the table. She looked at me and laughed.