Semper Fi (7 page)

Before Jim could interject, Cal answered. “I’m sure your mom’s cooking was really good. Say, how was school today?”

Sophie peered at him suspiciously before hitching her shoulders. “Okay.”

“Just okay? You told me you got an A on your math test.” Jim smiled at her encouragingly.

“Wow, that’s great! I sure never got an A in math,” Cal said.

“Why? Are you stupid?”

Jim dropped his fork with a clatter. “Sophie Elizabeth Bennett. Apologize to Uncle Cal.”

“I was just asking a question,” she muttered.

Exhaling heavily through his nose, Jim counted to three in his head. “I’m going to take my belt off in a minute. You apologize. Now.”

Tears shone in Sophie’s eyes. “I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

“Now put your plate on the counter, go to your room, and get ready for bed.”

Her wooden chair scraping on the linoleum, Sophie did as she was told, her little footsteps quick on the stairs as she raced to her room. Adam, aware that something was wrong, sat on his padded chair with wide eyes, mashed potatoes dribbling down his chin.

Jim reached over and swiped at Adam’s face with his napkin, giving his son a smile. “It’s okay.”

“She’s just acting out, Jim. Don’t worry—I can take it.” Cal chuckled awkwardly. “Not many women I can’t win over in the end.”

“It’s not okay. Lord in heaven, I barely know my own daughter. She’d have never acted like this before…” Jim trailed off. Ann was gone, and there was no bringing her back. He was on his own.

“She lost her mother. Just give her some time. She’ll come around.” Cal patted Jim’s shoulder.

No, he wasn’t on his own, and Jim felt a wave of profound gratitude. “I’m sure you’re right. Although in the meantime she won’t be speaking to you or anyone else with that kind of sass. You’ll tell me if she does when I’m not around, all right?”

Cal raised an eyebrow. “So you can take your belt to her? I have to say, I can’t picture mild-mannered Jim Bennett worked up into such a rage.”

“Well, the truth is I’ve only spanked her twice and never used my belt. But she’s trying my patience and I don’t want to spoil her. My father wouldn’t hesitate when I was misbehaving. Didn’t yours ever punish you?”

“Oh, he punished me. But his weapon of choice was a highly effective combination of concise verbal denunciation followed by a prolonged shunning that would make the Amish weep. But my nannies were damn skilled with the belt, let me tell you.” Cal glanced at Adam, who was occupied with licking gravy from his fingers. “Darn skilled, I should say.”

Jim smiled. “Good thing you didn’t pick up the rest of the bad language we heard in the Corps.” His smile faded and he pushed his plate away.

“Go talk to her.”

“I have to get Adam cleaned up after he finishes his dinner.”

“I’ve got it covered. Adam and I are old friends by now. Right, pal?” Cal ruffled Adam’s hair, garnering a grin.

“If you’re sure?”

“I insist.” Cal took Adam’s spoon and scooped up a bite of potatoes.

They were both laughing as Jim went upstairs, and he felt a bloom of warmth in his chest.

The door to Sophie’s dark room stood ajar. Inside, she was curled toward the wall on her bed, the blankets pulled up tightly. Jim could tell from the way she was breathing that she was awake. He sat on the side of the bed and caressed her dark curls. “I know things haven’t been easy for you.”

She sniffled.

“A lot of things have changed, sweetheart. It’s hard for everyone.”

Sophie turned over. “I want Mommy to come back.”

Her tear-stained face and sorrowful expression was like a stab in the gut. Jim swallowed thickly. “I know, baby. But she’s in heaven now. And there’s nothing we can do to change that. Your grandmother died when I was only a boy. I know it’s hard. We just have to do the best we can without her.”

“I’m trying.”

“I know you are. But you’re being very rude to Uncle Cal. He came here to help us, and I want you to treat him nicely. He hasn’t done anything wrong.”

She pouted. “I don’t like him.”

“Why not?” The last person Jim knew who had disliked Cal this much was cranky old DI Tyrell. “Hasn’t he been nice to you since he arrived? Didn’t he bring you a pretty dolly?”

“I don’t want it.” She huffed, eyes skittering over to the corner of the room where the doll laid face down as if being punished.

“Uncle Cal just wants to be your friend. And I know for a fact that he’s a darn good friend to have. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him. So try and be nice. At the very least, you’re going to be polite.”

Sophie’s brow furrowed as she tensed. “Why wouldn’t you be here?”

Images swam behind his eyes, and for a moment Jim could taste the blood in his mouth and smell the burning flesh. He swallowed hard. “It doesn’t matter now. All that matters is that we’re all here together, and we need to get along. Will you promise to be a good girl?”

Nodding, her eyes filled again. “I’m sorry, Daddy. Please don’t be mad at me.” She sat up and threw her little arms around him.

“I’m not mad anymore. I know you miss Mommy a lot. I miss her too.”

Sophie’s reply was muffled. “Do you?”

Jim’s heart skipped a beat. “Of course I do. Why would you ask that?”

“Because.”

“Because why? Come on, look at me. It’s okay. I want you to tell me.”

“Because you and Mommy never seemed to like each other very much.”

Jim focused on speaking evenly. “Why would you think that? We didn’t argue.”

“But you hardly ever smiled at each other. Not the way you smile at me, or Adam. Or
him.
”

“Sophie, your mother and I loved each other very much.” It was the truth. He had loved her, even if he hadn’t loved her enough. “Now go to sleep.”

“You’ll always love me, won’t you? Even if I’m bad?”

His chest constricted and Jim held her close, rocking her gently. “Always.”

“Hit the deck and give me fifty!”

The recruits scrambled, heavy packs and rifles cumbersome as they dropped to the ground and started push-ups that Tyrell counted off. Cal had learned that in the Marines, the surface on which you were standing was “the deck,” whether it was wood, tile, grass or dirt.

In this case, the deck was a muddy expanse of field on the way to the rifle range. They’d been marching for miles and this was the third time they’d been ordered to do push-ups. Cal’s muscles protested, burning hotly as he heaved himself up and down. At forty-one, he saw Jim’s hand slip on the mucky ground from the corner of his eye.

Tyrell pounced immediately, veins bulging in his neck as he loomed over Jim, screaming. “Did I say you could stop? You wanna nap, recruit?”

“No, sir,” Jim ground out as he got his arm beneath him again and pressed up.

“What was that? I didn’t hear you! I’ll give you a nap!” Without warning, Tyrell’s boot clomped down on Jim’s back, shoving him to the ground. “Did I tell y’all to stop? Sound off!”

His blood boiling, the adrenaline got Cal through the rest of the push-ups. Jim struggled through them with the added weight of Tyrell’s boot, his arms shaking. Cal bit his tongue, glaring up at Tyrell and quite sure he’d never hated anyone else this much in his life.

When they reached fifty, the men staggered to their feet. Cal kept his eyes on the helmet of the man in front of him, but a moment later felt Tyrell’s stale breath on his cheek. “Got something to say, recruit?”

As he took a breath before giving the required response, another thought flickered through Cal’s mind and barged out of his mouth. “Yes, sir.”

The tension hung thick in the moist winter air. Tyrell stood still as a statue. “Don’t keep us waiting, recruit.”

“Permission to do another fifty, sir.”

For a delicious moment, DI Tyrell was speechless.

Then, nostrils flaring, he screamed, “What are you waiting for, Cunningham? Hit the deck!”

As he pumped out the push-ups, Cal felt strangely light, a second wind giving him energy. The other recruits counted out the repetitions, hiding their smiles, while Tyrell could do nothing but watch.

When Cal was finished, he hopped to his feet and saluted Tyrell with a sharp snap of his wrist.

Tyrell pivoted on his heel. “Forrward march!”

Jim gave him a quick smile before whispering, “You know he’ll make you pay for that.”

Shrugging, Cal winked before turning his eyes front. One more black mark wouldn’t kill him. He marched on, savoring his tiny victory.

The rifle range was a flat, rather barren area of grass and sand dunes beyond a small woodland. To Cal, it felt even more desolate than the rest of Parris Island, and that was saying something.

Along with a handful of one and two-story buildings, tents were set up row upon row. Their sea bags, top-loading canvas sacks that closed with a drawstring, waited for them. Considering how cold and wet they were liable to get during the time they’d spend at the range, Cal was relieved to have some extra gear.

He was doubly relieved that he and Jim had been assigned to the same six-man tent, thankful that “Bennett” and “Cunningham” were close to each other in an alphabetical list of the platoon. Leading the way, he pushed back the flap of their tent and stooped to enter. The sun was setting, and in the gloom he squinted.

“I thought tents were supposed to have floors.”

Jim ducked in behind him, shoulders hunched, neither of them quite able to stand upright even in the center. “I guess it depends on the tent.”

“Think I should ask Tyrell for another?”

A recruit followed them in, chuckling. “I’d pay you to ask the son of a bitch. Of course he’d make you sleep outside for the next two weeks.”

“I have a bad feeling that this tent and ‘outside’ are not as far removed as we’d like them to be, boys.” Cal dropped his sea bag on one side of the tent, his shoulders sighing in relief as he slipped the pack off his back as well.

Jim dropped his stuff beside Cal’s, and the rest of the men marked their space. Not that there was much to go around. Soon they were called to the mess hall for chow, which they gobbled down. It was the same old slop, and Cal forbid himself to imagine what gourmet delicacies his parents and sister were eating at home.

In the tent at the end of the evening, Cal tried to make himself as comfortable as possible on the cold earth, spreading his rain poncho beneath him. “At least today we actually marched somewhere. Although I can’t help but feel that we took the long way around this island.”

Jim snorted. “Yeah, I got that feeling too. But it’ll be nice to actually use our rifles instead of just lugging them around, so I’m glad we’re here.”

Heads cushioned by their sea bags, Cal, Jim and the others settled in, rough blankets pulled up tightly to their chins. Despite his discomfort, Cal quickly dropped off into a deep sleep.

It was likely a couple of hours later when he woke, shivering from head to toe in the bitter cold. When the sun shone in South Carolina, even in the winter it never got too chilly. But under gray skies and rain, it could be a different story.

The cold leeched up from the ground, taking away every ounce of body heat and leaving Cal rigid, curled into the fetal position with knees to chest. In the darkness, he could hear Jim’s teeth chattering.

Inching closer, Cal gritted his own teeth. “Christ, I thought the south was supposed to be warm.”

Shuddering, Jim whispered back over his shoulder. “Feels colder than the barn in the dead of winter when I’m up early milking the cow. I’d have some gloves and a hat on, that’s for sure. These uniforms don’t quite cut it.”

“Not quite.” Cal shimmied closer. “Maybe we can share our blankets. Two’s better than one.”

In the murk, he could make out Jim’s nod, and they edged toward each other, spreading their blankets. A warning bell sounded in Cal’s mind as he pressed against Jim’s back. Even through the layers of their uniforms and jackets, Cal already felt ten degrees warmer inside and out.

His mouth was inches from the back of Jim’s neck, his senses filled with his friend’s scent. The urge to close the final gap between them and press his lips to Jim’s fair skin was overwhelming. The other recruits were shivering together in their corners of the tent, and in the dark, shapes had to be close to even be visible. No one would see.

It had been a happy circumstance that Cal had stumbled into Jim on the train, and with each passing day, he’d dreaded the end of boot camp and their likely separation. Who knew where they’d end up? Odds were one or both of them would die on the other side of the world.

At the thought of Jim cut down, Cal reflexively drew him closer, throwing his arm over Jim’s waist. He waited for a protest, but Jim made no sound or movement. Spooned up behind him, desire heated Cal’s veins, and he clenched his jaw, willing his body not to react. He didn’t think Jim would take kindly to an erection nudging against him.

Soon Jim breathed deeply and evenly, and Cal allowed himself to creep just a bit closer before he faded away.

Reveille blared all too soon, as unwelcome as ever, but even more so because he wanted to stay curled up with Jim all day. But Jim scooted to his feet, instantly awake in a way Cal envied. Jim reached down. “Come on—up and at ’em.”