Sad eye with tear (Photo: galleryhip.com)
Before you start, make sure you read the preceding parts first!!
Read Waste Not (Part 1) - On the Street here.
Read Waste Not (Part 1) - On the Street here.
Part 4 - On the Move
Jeannie and Joe huddled
around the lamp and shared the bags of food with Carson and Sean and swapped
stories. Jeannie downed some slugs of bourbon and then went to have a shower. Carson
and Joe sat down at the chess table and began to play. Jeannie came back, her
hair wrapped in a towel and watched for a while. When they finished Carson
smiled with satisfaction while Joe frowned with frustration and flopped back
down on the sofa. Jeannie curled up next to Joe and nodded her head in time
with the music.
“Tired?” he whispered.
“Not yet.”
He stared at the teddy
bear, still lying askew on the floor, barely visible now in the shadows as the
lamp dimmed and the dark shed walls closed in around them.
He remembered the town in
Iraq. Friendlies. His squad was patrolling the market. Some kids were running
in and out of the stalls, clutching toys, smiling, laughing - no idea what was
going on around them. A couple of hours later the whole place went up. They
went back and saw toys and clothes and bodies blown to smithereens. He found one
little leg with a tiny shoe still on it. Poor kids. No one deserves that.
The sounds of an argument
rose from the far corner. Blake and Freyja at it again.
Bang.
Joe recoiled. “Get down!”
he screamed. “Incoming!”
Jeannie put her arms
around him. “It’s ok, just Freyja
throwing something. You know what those two are like.”
He whimpered and curled
into her. Carson raised his head and shouted into the darkness. “You two, keep
it down over there.”
Joe’s shaking slowly
subsided.
Sean held out the bottle
of bourbon. “Have some more moonshine Joe. Chill out.”
Jeannie shook her head
at him and waved the bottle away. “Come on, let’s get you to bed.”
She put one arm on his
shoulder and the other arm around his waist, then shepherded him to their room.
She flicked on the flashlight and helped him undress. He crawled into his
sleeping bag. She then slipped into her sleeping bag beside him.
He rolled toward her and
snuggled close as her arm enclosed him. His heartbeat still pounded in his
chest. The scent of her shampoo filled his head with faded memories and he
slowly relaxed..
She whispered softly in
the darkness. “Ruck up soldier. There’s no Ali Baba here, no bombs. Everything
is going to be ok.”
He pressed his head
close in against her chest. She ran her hand through his hair. “Get some sleep.
Next week I'll make a booking for you see the VA Wizard for some more
counselling ok?”
He lifted his head
slightly. “Don’t wanna see the shrink. Too much bad shit comes out.”
“Shhhh. It takes a while
but it will help. You gotta keep at it.”
He snuggled into her
again. She kissed him on the forehead. His hand reached across and held her.
Then his head rose and he kissed her neck, then he reached under her t-shirt,
feeling for the soft round warmth of her breast.
She removed his hand and
wrapped him tightly in her arms. “Sleep now Joe.”
He began to sob into her
shoulder. “I couldn’t make it without you Jeannie.”
“Shhhhh. It's ok.
Everything will be ok.”
She clamped her eyes
shut as silent tears welled up, then ran as rivulets down the deep red burn
scars on her cheek.
********
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