The Story Begins (27 page)

“A deserving one, sir,” Mitchell said, the offer, or coercion, still holding forth.

Jaden grinned. “Thanks… but still, even though the setting of the occasion is more personal and informal than one governed by a rank structure I’d feel better if the rules still applied. Fellas, go ahead and help yourselves, there’s plenty for everybody.”

No one moved.

Then Specialist Herman, a herculean figure, stepped forth from the group and placed himself square before the lieutenant. “Would you mind looking around you, sir,” he entreated.

Jaden obliged. Other than all eyes being transfixed on him, he wasn’t certain what Herman meant to convey.

The specialist spoke again. “There isn’t a single soldier in the company that… ,” Herman paused, “…actually, I don’t think there is a single soldier on this entire installation that would not take a bullet for you. I believe I can say that with all certainty because soldiers talk about their leaders and every other platoon on this post wishes that they had you for a PL. No one here has ever had anyone in the army look out for them as much as you do. If we were all starving and there was no more than a morsel of food left, every one of us would rather you have it. So, with all due respect, you are now in our neck of the woods and what we say is what goes around here. And if we say that you
will
eat before any of us,” he said menacingly, “then that is what you
will
do, sir.”

“Okay, let’s be sensible about this,” Jaden said affably. “If you want to serve me the plate, I’m cool, dude. Who am I to go against the wishes of a mob of soldiers whose voice just happens to be 250 pounds of muscle? I’m cool, man. It’s all good. It really is,” he said, enacting the disengaging role of the make-believe affray. Accepting the plate he then thanked them all.

Jaden was aware that he was popular among the soldiers but had never realized until now just how much he meant to them.

When Herman had placed himself before the lieutenant, Cassandra, not knowing what to anticipate, had become tense. She had nervously held onto Phil’s arm. Sensing her apprehension he assured her that all was in order, that she needn’t be concerned by the display. Though she had remained uncertain, she did decide she’d trust Phil’s words. After witnessing the reverence with which the soldiers treated Jaden, she couldn’t help but be in awe of him.

“Did that big guy really mean what he was saying?” she asked Phil while they ate.

“Every word of it,” Phil answered.

“Wow!” she exclaimed, very much amazed by their deference. “What does he do that makes you guys like, if not love, him so much?”

“It’s just the kind of person he is. He really cares about us. He doesn’t just say it but lives it, shows it… you know. He is a soldier’s soldier. He’s one of the coolest people I’ve ever met. There’s just something about him. I can’t explain it but I know that he’s a really good guy.”

Taking a bite out of her steak sandwich, Cassandra watched Jaden ungraciously tear away at the steak in his hand, very much reminiscent of a hyena, or any predator, indulging in a fresh kill, she thought. She noticed that all of the other soldiers ate in similar fashion to their pack leader. Jaden was certainly right; there wasn’t anything that she could have possibly done that could have embarrassed her in present company. Her eyes wandered back over to Jaden. She smiled as she watched him eat in so unsophisticated a manner and mused as to what it was about him that the guys liked, or loved, so much.

*

Lydia
had just finished brushing her teeth and was on her way out of the bathroom when she heard a key being inserted in the door lock. She looked through the peephole. It was Cassandra. Unfastening the door chain, she let her in. “Hey!” she said as they greeted each other with kisses.

“Thank goodness I got here when I did,” Cassandra said, seeing Lydia in her nightgown. “I’d hate to have woken you up to get in.”

“Out a little too late, I see,” Lydia teased. They walked to the bedroom and plopped onto the bed. “Did you let Mom and Dad know that you’d be here?” Lydia asked.

“Yeah, I did – well, I asked Tom to let them know, which, now that I think about it, might have been a bad idea.”

“Yep, sweetie, that was a bad idea,” agreed Lydia. “He’s probably forgotten and will remember only after Mom and Dad start worrying.”

“I’ll send Mom a message,” Cassandra said.

“Good idea. So how was the barbecue?” Lydia asked while stifling a yawn.

“It was great. I got to meet more of Phil’s friends. They taught me how to play a card game called Spades, there was a lot of story-telling of places they’ve been and things they’ve done while in the army. The food was amazingly delicious. I guess in addition to knowing how to kill people with no more than a bird feather, some of those infantry guys are pretty good cooks.” They laughed. “Jaden was there.”

“Was he?” Lydia asked, her interest piqued.

“Yes, he was. Unfortunately he can’t make it on Friday. Guess where he’s going?”

“Tell me,” Lydia asked, not sure why that would interest her.

“Spain,” announced Cassandra.

“No! Is he, really?”

“To Barcelona.”

“I’m so jealous. I wish it were me that was going,” Lydia pined.

“He says he plans on doing a lot of traveling while here and that maybe the next time, the both of you can travel together.”

“You mentioned the family in Spain?” asked Lydia.

“Yes, I did.” Cassandra rolled over onto her tummy. “You know, there seems to be something different about Jaden; something very, very different, actually. You should have seen it!”

“Seen what?” asked Lydia, pulling herself farther up the bed then resting against the headboard.

Cassandra recounted what had occurred at the barbeque and concluded by saying, “It was like they were all enthralled, spellbound, mesmerized, pick a choice of synonyms. And based on how Phil tells it, a lot of the soldiers on Coleman Barracks – most of whom, by the way, actually have nothing to do with Jaden – not only know of him but apparently they’d all happily follow him into harm’s way. Honestly, I think that I too was beginning to fall under whatever it is about him that makes people just really like him.”

“Maybe he’s just a charming person, sweetie,” suggested Lydia. “When we were together at the Wasserturm, he was pleasant, kind, and sweet. How could one not like anyone like that?”

Cassandra believed there was more to it. “This was different. It wasn’t even anything that he said or did while I was there; just his very presence was, or seemed to be… I don’t know how to word what I’m trying to say. There’s just something about him. Phil was telling me that as far as he knows, there is only one person, whom he referred to as an ass, that can’t stand Jaden. But other than that one individual, everyone else regards him with such high esteem.”

“Who is it that doesn’t like him?” Lydia asked.

“It’s another lieutenant in the same unit,” informed Cassandra.

“Did he say why?”

“Because, whereas the soldiers have great respect and admiration for Jaden, they despise the other lieutenant,” Cassandra explained while trying to remember the spiteful lieutenant’s name. Then it came to her. “Krappa! That’s it! Krappa is his name. Apparently he resents the bond Jaden shares with not only Jaden’s own soldiers but also that of Krappa’s. Krappa hates the level of respect given Jaden by what sounds like all of the soldiers in Mannheim. Though I think that’s petty and immature of whoever Krappa is, I do think that it’s kind of unusual to share a bond with people that don’t even know you.”

Lydia agreed. “As much as I think that he’s a nice person, I have to admit that I do agree with you; there does seem to be something unusual about him. The very instant he directed his attention to me, I felt as if I’d known him all of my life. I feel kind of… I don’t know… maybe drawn to him.”

“First it was curiosity but now it sounds like somebody might have a crush,” Cassandra teased.

“No, silly, feeling drawn to someone could be for any number of reasons, none of which need necessarily be romantic in nature.” Lydia yawned again. It was contagious as Cassandra did the same.

“Just teasing, which reminds me; because men aren’t exactly one of God’s brightest of creations, I had to clarify to Jaden the totally wrong impression Phil had given him because of all the questions you had asked him.

Lydia smiled. “Thank you.”

Cassandra got up. “I’m going to go take a shower.”

“Okay. I’ll probably be asleep by the time that you’re done. Goodnight,” Lydia wished.

“Goodnight.”

26

Hypocrisy

Jaden’s cell phone
rang. Picking it up off his desk he looked at the Caller ID. It read ‘Unknown.’ “Unknown! This is the first time this has happened… hello?” It was Dave. Jaden could scarcely believe it. Dave had been deployed to Iraq for the better part of eight months now and this was the first time they had had any contact. “It took you long enough. What was the hold up?” Jaden asked, much relieved to hear from Dave.

“It’s been crazy over here,” Dave answered. “If you’re keeping up with current events, you’ll know what I’m talking about. It’s just really insane in my neck of the woods right now.”

“Yeah, I’m tracking,” Jaden remarked, wondering exactly how the world had gotten to such a state of disrepair before continuing. “Assuming that it’ll ever get any better, it’s definitely going to get a lot worse first based on what I’ve been reading and seeing on TV.”

“You’ve been good?” Dave asked, inquiring as to Jaden’s wellbeing.

“Given the hell that you’re going through, I’m sure that my worst day here would still trump your best day there. So I can’t complain.”

“Damn straight, LT, you can’t complain!” Dave quipped. “But you know, with more troops coming in, my brigade’s operational tempo has lessened to a degree, meaning less missions for my battalion, at least for now. The incoming troops haven’t made a difference just yet but at least we get to have more breaks in the patrol cycles while we keep working towards getting this mess sorted out. Being out there exposed to sniper fire on a daily basis is nerve-racking.”

“How you holding up?” Jaden asked.

“Taking it a day at a time. You have to. If not, this stuff can kill you in more ways than how one would expect to go out in a combat zone.”

“PTSD, huh?” Jaden said.

“Yeah! It’s crazy! We’ve had a couple of soldiers sent back so far. The anxiety associated with going out there every day wondering if a bullet has your name on it is hell.”

“Any word yet on how long you’ll be there?”

“No, and it doesn’t even matter.”

Jaden wasn’t sure what that meant. “Come again?”

“We’ll probably be losing a lot more soldiers if this proves true; rumor has it that from here, some of us will be headed directly to Afghanistan. No break in between.”

“What!” Jaden shouted, unable to accept what he had just heard. “From one combat zone to another without a break – what the hell!”

“Morale has been incredibly low already and just when we thought it couldn’t get any lower, certain people in the know dropped that bomb on us – nothing official has been announced though. Like I said, it’s crazy. Anyways, so what have you been doing since I left? Done any traveling outside of Germany, met new people, etcetera?”

“I’ve been to Spain but that’s about it so far. I used to hang out a lot with my troops but not so much anymore. I’m just a homebody, not really doing much of anything.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me! Hanging out with your troops? What the heck, man! How lame is that?” asked Dave.

“Dude, just not motivated to do much.”

“Jaden, don’t tell me that you came all the way to Europe just to hang out with soldiers. You could have done that back in the States, for shit’s’ sake! How boring do you want to be? Get out there and meet people and do stuff. I’ve got to hurry up and get back and rescue you from your humdrum existence. Have you at least met your wife yet?” Dave asked randomly.

Jaden laughed. “My wife! What the hell are you talking about, my wife?”

“Dude, you need to date. Hopefully that will help jumpstart your life. It’s impossible that of all the beautiful women in Mannheim, you haven’t found one yet.”

“You know, now that you bring this up, there is this one girl that’s got my attention.”

Dave was thrilled to hear that. “That’s what I was hoping to hear!”

“Don’t get excited. You’re not listening. I said “got my attention,” not caught my eye. In my mind there’s a difference so it’s nothing like that. As a matter of fact, I’ve seen her only once and that was a while back. We just happen to know the same person, a mutual friend; a friend of hers is dating one of my soldiers. Anyway, I wouldn’t mind getting to know her some more. There’s something about her that I’m drawn to and I’d like to figure out what exactly it is.”

“That’s a start,” Dave told him. “You know, your reluctance convinces me all the more that as defiant as you are, it will, in fact, happen; and when it does, you’ll fall hard. Life is just funny like that. And you know what else?”

“What’s that, o’ great and wise prophet? What profound prophetic words are you to impart, mighty sage?” Jaden joshed.

“Shut up! Anyway, when it does happen, you’ll wonder just how you could ever have been so closed-minded to the point of damn near missing out on the best thing in your life.”

“Dude, do you know something that I don’t, because it sure as hell sounds like it?” Jaden queried.

“Hey, like I said, life is funny like that. You never know where the day is going to take you. Suffice it to say that it has happened often enough that when you try to get away from something, somehow you find yourself smack in the middle of it without any idea of just how you got there.”

“I’ll give you that,” Jaden agreed. “Life can be strange like that. I was the only one in my graduating class that was assigned an Army branch that was nowhere on my wish list when everyone else got one of their top two.”

“As random as the madness seems, the universe does seem to have some twisted sense of balance. You might not have wanted the infantry but keep in mind where you ended up – in good old Mannheim and not some desolate and remote post where the most happening thing is actually looking forward to going to work,” Dave reminded him.

“Understood! I could just as easily have ended up in an infantry unit like yours, commanded by lonely assholes who actually believe
real
infantrymen have no need for family and exist solely to fight and perpetually conduct exercises if there isn’t a war going on somewhere.” A beep came over the phone. “What was that?” Jaden asked.

“I’ve got a minute left on the card,” Dave warned.

“All right then, stay safe. Keep your head down.”

“Roger that, Lieutenant. Make sure you do the same when it’s your turn to come out here.”

“Wilco.”

“Out here.” Dave hung up.

THAT
AFTERNOON: Jaden and some of his soldiers were spending their lunch hour in the company area, hanging out, when Lieutenant Krappa pulled into the far end of the parking lot. It was an unspoken rule that treading across the lawn was not allowed and, for the most part, the soldiers did abide by the rule though there were times when, if it was believed no one was watching, soldiers did dart across the shortcut rather than walk the longer paved paths en route to the different company buildings.

Unaware of Jaden and the other troops seated on the steps of the building opposite headquarters but hidden behind a row of parked cars, Lieutenant Krappa decided to cut through the lawn.

“So much for leading by example,” remarked Jaden.

“That’s nothing new, sir. He’s Lieutenant Krappa. He’s above reproach. At least that’s what he thinks,” Sergeant Phil said.

A
COUPLE OF DAYS LATER: While seated in the same place at the same time with more or less the same group as before, Jaden and his troops noticed one of Krappa’s soldiers furtively look around before deciding to cut through the grass. The lot of them laughed.

“That’s every one of us,” Jaden said. “I guess it just might be human nature to always want to take the easy way.”

The soldier was about half way through when Krappa walked out of headquarters. The pair made eye contact. The soldier knew trouble now came his way.

“Drop!” shouted Krappa as the doors closed behind him.

“I’m sorry-” the soldier started to say.

Krappa cut him off. “Front leaning rest position, move, soldier!” the Lieutenant barked.

The soldier lowered himself, assuming the push-up position with arms fully extended.

Jaden leapt to his feet and raced over to them. His soldiers followed suit. Standing beside the soldier being punished and looking Lieutenant Krappa in the eye, Jaden calmly said to the soldier, “Get up, Specialist McFarlane.”

Krappa frowned. The soldier remained as he was. “How dare you attempt to undermine my authority, especially with my own troops,” Krappa growled.

“I am not attempting to, I
am
undermining your authority,” Jaden said, still very calm. Then squatting beside the soldier, Jaden repeated himself. “Get up.”

Though calm in demeanor and speech, there was an authority in Jaden’s voice that McFarlane couldn’t help but obey. He stood up.

Krappa was fuming. “Soldier, you are disobeying a direct order – a lawful order!” Krappa shouted.

“The soldier has a rank and a name. It’s Specialist McFarlane! You fuck face!” Jaden said with raised voice. “And the so-called lawful order is far from one if only because nowhere is it written that we absolutely cannot walk across the grass, not to mention the circumstances under which it was issued.”

“Circumstances? What the hell are you talking about, Lieutenant?” demanded Krappa.

“Gentlemen!” said Jaden, “who here saw this same lieutenant cut across the grass a couple of days ago?”

Those that had been present all attested to it.

Krappa stormed off back into the building, livid.

LATER
that day just as Jaden was on his way out of his office to see Sergeant Phil, his desk phone rang. “Hello!”

“Lieutenant Ramiel?” It was Krappa.

“What do you want, Lieutenant Krappa?” Jaden asked coldly.

“We need to talk,” said his fellow Lieutenant. “Would you mind coming up to my office?”

“Since I’m headed to the building anyway, sure, why not,” Jaden said then hung up the phone without regard for the guy on the other end.

Walking past Phil’s office, he told the sergeant that he’d be back to talk to him. Jaden climbed up the stairs, made a right, walked past Krappa’s office to that of the Commander’s. Captain Peterson wasn’t in. Good, thought Jaden. He backtracked to Krappa’s office and stepped in.

“Thanks for-” Krappa started to say before he was abruptly cut off.

“Listen, Krappa,” said Jaden, leaning over Krappa’s desk, resting his hands on it, “I can guarantee you that what happened today is bound to repeat itself again and again if you think that you are above the rules and can simply mistreat people as you please. I don’t care how well you know Pooper or Paitou but I’ll be damned if I’m going to idly stand by and watch you humiliate the troops for no reason at all, especially for perpetrations that you are just as guilty off. If the grass is off-limits to one, it’s off-limits to all.”

Lieutenant Krappa stared at him momentarily lost for words. He finally said, “Your relationship with the troops is too close. You are superior to them and should carry yourself accordingly, associating with them only when necessary” Krappa said. “I was discussing it with Lieutenant Colonel Poopko and she is just as concerned about your relationship with them as I am.”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing! Are you fucking insane, guy? Status does not make you better. What is this? Are you of the gentry… no I’m sorry… nobility rather, and they of the peasantry, you bourgeois fuck? If Pooped-ass really feels so terribly about the dignity and respect with which I treat every soldier, why does she not come down here and personally address me; better yet, not just me but the entire company – even better yet still, the entire installation. I can guarantee you that if she were to see how not just my guys but every other soldier on Coleman Barracks looks up to me, not to mention across Mannheim, she’d be blown away…” He paused for a moment then continued. “Then again, maybe not. After all, rather than be impressed, you’re green with envy so Poop-slinger just might feel the same way. We all know that birds of a feather do flock together. Perhaps to say people of a similar name are of the same shitty character would better suit you and dump-master Pooper,” Jaden said, mocking Krappa’s name.

“Where do freaks like you come from? What the hell kind of names are those, anyway? Jesus Christ! Are you all from some cult that believes that the only way to make it into heaven is to have names that’ll give you hell on earth? No wonder you get along famously with them. Only you could get along with characters that even the devil would likely cower from. If by some serious misjudgment of character, Poop-maker and Paitou were to end up in heaven after kicking the bucket, God Almighty himself would seek refuge in hell.” Jaden then held his head in his hands as though trying to prevent it from exploding. “Isn’t it obvious that something is very wrong with you?” he asked, confounded that Krappa seemed to be oblivious to this. “You and I are the only two lieutenants in the company, one is loved and the other is despised, hated. It cannot be any more transparent that you are seriously fucked up, dude! Don’t take what I’m about to say as a threat in any way, shape, or form because your existence is too paltry to be of any significance to me…” he paused, lowered his hands then looked Krappa dead in the eye and said, “…we are in a state of war; sooner or later we’ll get the call to move out. Don’t be the ass whose soldiers end up fragging.”

Krappa was appalled. “Lieutenant Ramiel, do you comprehend the gravity of what you just said?” he asked, standing up. “I will be sure to inform the battalion commander that you and your soldiers are plotting against my life. You will be relieved of your post and stripped of your commission.”

“I find it interesting that you would bypass the company commander and go straight to Pooper,” Jaden retorted. “I wonder why that is?” he said, looking at Krappa while smiling wryly. “Could it be because maybe the company commander knows your true colors? He may have even already offered you the same advice… hmmm, I wonder. I really do. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if he has. Plotting against your life? Dude, it was just some advice. If there are any plotting against your life, the best way for you to go about finding the culprit instigating it all is to look in the mirror,
Krappa
!” Jaden then walked out of the lieutenant’s office.