The Story Begins (12 page)

11

The Confrontation

Jaden had often
heard that people from the South were generally more racist than those in any other part of the country; however, it wasn’t anything he had ever given any serious thought to until he arrived at Fort Benning, Georgia, that is.

Growing up amongst, and always been surrounded by, individuals he considered open-minded and progressive thinkers, coupled with his lack of faith in humanity, immediately set him at odds with certain Caucasian fellow lieutenants in his platoon. These particular lieutenants were Southerners who actually made very little effort to disguise their feelings for anyone not of their persuasion, especially minorities in any kind of an authoritative position. It irked them that non-Caucasian lieutenants could issue orders, and not always be on the receiving end of them.

His friends Tony and Donny were Caucasian, Kirk was of African descent, and Dave was Hispanic; all four also happened to have Southern roots. They often advised him that if ever there was a futile effort or endeavor, it was in trying to fight such ignorance. Jaden, however, was not one to let slights, insinuations, or stereotypes go unchecked, and he often taunted those lieutenants openly, referring to them as inbred, racist Southern individuals whose lack of intelligence made them ineligible for any occupation outside of the military.

His favorite target, though, was Lieutenant Johnson, whose acumen Jaden had once compared to that of dirt after the lieutenant had been reprimanded by their instructor, Captain Martin, for resting against the muzzle of a loaded M4 during a field exercise; and as though that were not a bad enough idea, the weapon’s safety mechanism wasn’t even engaged. The comparison had made the insulted lieutenant livid; however, because Jaden was only too eager to rearrange the former’s face, Johnson decided that he’d exercise prudence rather than get involved in a confrontation.

*

HOW
IT STARTED: The animosity between the lieutenants had begun when Lieutenant Johnson had made his sentiments about minorities known the very first time the platoon had gathered for formation on the class’s start date.

While the platoon was waiting for Captain Martin to come out and address them, a Hispanic lieutenant, standing beside Johnson, had tried to introduce himself, only to be told by Johnson that unless communication was necessary between them, he didn’t care to be addressed by “minorities.”

Lieutenant Cruz, the slighted lieutenant, was willing to let it go and simply turned away. Jaden, however, who had been standing directly behind Cruz, believed his ears had deceived him. Lieutenant Johnson had uttered those words openly in the presence of all as though it were quite normal and accepted language. Jaden wondered if Johnson were emboldened by the fact that the platoon was predominantly Caucasian, with more than a few of them hailing from the South. Perhaps they also shared similar sentiments.

There were only four minority lieutenants in his platoon; Kirk, Dave, Cruz and himself. He speculated as to whether it were possible that this was the very first time that Johnson had seen minorities, other than probably on television. Maybe the lieutenant thought that such talk was still acceptable in the real world. Whatever the reason Jaden didn’t care and decided that if Johnson could be that bold, he could be even more so.

Breaking formation Jaden stepped through the second rank between Johnson and Cruz, shoving the former as he did so. He then positioned himself in front of his fellow lieutenant and said, “They say the army has always been a haven for stupidity, which I always believed was a stereotype, that is, until now as I make acquaintance with your breed of creature.”

Johnson was scowling at him.

Jaden wasn’t the least bit fazed. “You know, you’re probably an officer only because you happen to have a college degree, probably in raccoon hunting,” he had said to Johnson. “Keep your racist garbage to yourself and fellow ignorant fucks. I hope we are clear on that,” he had finished saying, quite calmly.

“Are you going to make me?” Johnson had asked indignantly.

“I’d be only too happy to oblige.”

Because Jaden’s demeanor was always calm, it was impossible to predict what happened next, and by the time Dave, who had been standing in the fourth and final rank, or anyone else for that matter, figured what was coming, it had been way past late. As fast as lightning, Jaden had imprinted four fingers and a thumb onto Johnson’s left cheek, sending the unsuspecting lieutenant reeling backwards to fall into the lieutenant standing directly behind him.

The platoon gasped. The assault was wholly unexpected.

As Johnson regained his footing, he tried to lunge forward but was held back by the guy he had almost knocked over.

“Come on!” Jaden taunted as Johnson futilely struggled to break free. “I suppose you can safely assume that you did not make a very good first impression, Johnson,” he said then with a smile.

Johnson was still struggling with the others who’d jumped in, trying to help restrain him.

“Always keep in mind that if I’d smack the breath of God out of you upon our very first encounter, when I say that I am capable of doing a lot worse to you, it would be prudent of you to take my word for it,” Jaden had warned before casually walking back to his spot in the regrouping formation.

*

SEVERAL
WEEKS LATER: “Lieutenant Ramiel, you have Charge of Quarters tomorrow night,” Lieutenant Johnson said, looking at a list while the platoon waited to be dismissed after having spent the day in the field simulating Search and Destroy exercises.

“I just had that last week and I know that the duty roster hasn’t rotated through the entire platoon yet. Let me see the roster,” Jaden said coolly.

“No, you won’t. I’m the acting platoon leader and I’m telling you that you have it and that’s all there is to it.”

“I don’t think so, Johnson,” said Jaden very calmly.

“It’s Lieutenant Johnson,” the Lieutenant snapped.

“Shut the hell up, dude!” Jaden said, cool as a breeze. Because his demeanor never changed, making it impossible to predict what he had in mind, Donny, leaving his weapon in Dave’s care, hopped to his feet and placed himself in front of him. Knowing Jaden, he’d rather he take no chances.

“What the hell did you say, ni-?” Lieutenant Johnson caught himself just in time. There were too many witnesses for the epithet that lingered on the lieutenant’s tongue; repercussions from the chain of command would have been swift.

Jaden walked around Donny over to Johnson, stood a hair’s breath away from his face and, though his fist was clenched, he calmly looked Johnson in the eyes.

Donny didn’t move from where he stood. He couldn’t; he remained there like one petrified. He had gotten up to prevent anything from happening yet though he tried, he was simply unable to move. No one stirred, not for lack of want; rather it was as though a spell had been cast upon them, locking them all in place, all but Jaden and Johnson.

“Finish it!” Jaden challenged.

As it so happened, before the platoon had started out early that morning, Jaden had overheard Lieutenant Johnson talking to some of his buddies concerning his wife, and had mentioned that she was a few weeks pregnant. Jaden had no compunction about bringing her into the matter. And, unlike Lieutenant Johnson, Jaden didn’t care who might be around to hear what he was about to say, regardless of how terrible or horrible it was going to sound.

“Go ahead and finish it, you yellowbellied son of a bitch! I swear to whatever God you worship that I will rip out your wife’s guts and feed you her unborn fetus.” As conflicted and faithless in humanity as Jaden was, even he did not mean those words; they were spoken with the intent of eliciting fear.

His peers were none the wiser, however, and gasped in disbelief.

No sooner had Jaden finished saying that than Lieutenant Johnson suddenly went pale and collapsed to the ground.

Everyone tried to rush over yet they still could not move; for a few seconds longer, they all remained still. And in that time, their facial expressions seemed to speak of something that was not quite right; if ever there was a time to intervene this was it yet why could no one move?

Suddenly they all found that they could move. As some of the lieutenants rushed over to Johnson’s side, Jaden squatted over him, looked into his rolled back eyes and then brought his own face towards that of Johnson’s. While one of the collapsed lieutenant’s friends was holding him in his arms and yelling for an ambulance to be called, Jaden moved in even closer to the lieutenant’s face, ignoring the aiding lieutenant’s plea for space.

Jaden’s voice was low and menacing. “If you were to die, you racist redneck piece of shit, it would be good riddance. Bon voyage… I do sincerely hope that you do die.” He rose, glared at Johnson a while longer then walked away. Those words he did mean.

THE
following day as Jaden and his friends set about cleaning their gear after another day in the field, Jaden heard someone call out for him. Turning around he saw that it was one of Lieutenant Johnson’s friends. Given the direction from which he walked towards Jaden, it appeared that he had come from Building 76 where Captain Martin had his office.

“Another bird of the same feather!” Jaden said when the lieutenant was in earshot.

“Unless you’re here to tell me that Johnson is dead, I highly recommend that you shut the hell up and turn back around because I’d just as eagerly break your face at the slightest provocation as I was about to do your friend’s… and when I’m done with the rearranging of your face, believe you me when I say that it will be far from the image in which God created you.”

Because of his ever calm demeanor, unpredictability, and the extreme things he said, some of his fellow lieutenants often wondered if he truly was psychotic. And Lieutenant Farrell, who now bore a message, was one.

“Calm down, dude!” Dave urged. “Hear him out; you don’t know what he has to say.” “Captain Martin wants to see you,” the Lieutenant said, his face betraying obvious fear. The lieutenant wished he wasn’t the one sent to fetch Jaden for a number of reasons, none of which was a greater cause of dread than the fact that he was one of Johnson’s closer friends.

“Of course he wants to see me. And I’m quite sure it concerns yesterday’s incident.”

“I don’t know,” the Lieutenant said.

“Of course you don’t,” Jaden retorted cynically. “You’ve delivered the message, now get lost.”

Farrell was only too happy to oblige.

CAPTAIN
Martin was very much an amicable fellow who believed in giving the lieutenants full range to run the platoon as they saw appropriate, provided they applied the theoretical principles he instructed in the classroom in how missions were planned and executed. This was the very first time that he had called anyone into his office for a talk so Jaden knew that it couldn’t be a good thing, but he was prepared.

Jaden knocked on his door.

“Enter!”

Jaden closed the door behind him at the request of the captain. He noticed that a Bible lay on the captain’s desk. The captain motioned for him to take a seat.

“Lieutenant Ramiel, I hear that you aren’t getting along with some of your fellow lieutenants,” the Captain said.

“Obviously not! Why else would I be in your office, sir?” the Lieutenant quipped.

“What exactly is the problem between you and, well, most of the other lieutenants in the platoon?”

“Oh, that’s easy, sir. Simply put, I’m black and educated and they are white, ignorant Southern fucks who still believe in that ludicrous “The South shall rise again” bullshit!” he explained. He then threw in a disclaimer. “Though I use Southern in broad and general terms, I don’t mean to insinuate that all white Southern folk are racist. Two of my buddies are white Southerners.”

“Is it true that you wished Lieutenant Johnson dead?”

“Yeah,” the Lieutenant said nonchalantly.

“Is it true that you said that you’d take out his wife’s guts and feed him her fetus?”

“Almost verbatim, sir” he said, even more disinterestedly.

“Did you really mean what you said?” Captain Martin asked, looking at the lieutenant incredulously.

“Are you thinking that it might have been something I said in the heat of the moment?” Jaden inquired.

“Yes. Oftentimes people say things without really thinking them through, especially when emotions begin to run high.”

Jaden then lied. “To allay any doubts you might have, please let me make it perfectly clear that I did mean everything that I said.”

The Captain looked aghast. He had been expecting Jaden to feel contrite, or at least deny it.

“Sir,” the Lieutenant continued, “if Johnson were to drop dead and his wife lose the baby, and maybe even die herself as a direct result of a broken heart because Johnson found himself navigating his way to hell, I’d go back to my quarters, watch TV then go to bed at my usual time and wake up feeling refreshed and rejuvenated like any other day.”

“Jesus Christ!” the Captain exclaimed. “Are you insane?” He was having difficulty accepting that what he heard was, in fact, coming out of the lieutenant’s mouth. “Do you realize what you’re saying? This could be grounds for a medical dismissal from the Service. I could refer you to Mental Health for this,” Captain Martin said, still struggling to accept that Jaden had just so cavalierly uttered such horrid words.

“Insane? No! Ruthlessly practical? Perhaps. Sir, let me put it to you this way; it’s no secret that Johnson is racist, neither is it a secret that most of his buddies are as well. They are just more tactful and discrete about it, or so they believe. Johnson being what he is, and mind you I realize that there need not necessarily be any correlation in what I’m about to say, nonetheless, there’s a very, very good chance that one who socializes with such a person so much so as to fall in love and marry him is probably just as bad, if not worse; i.e. his wife. As such, it also stands to reason that any children they may have would probably be instilled with the same irrational hate. So, as far as I’m concerned, if they were all to die, it would be a good thing for humanity. So my wish is actually very humane as it is actually in the interest of the greater good,” he said derisively. “I realize that there are many nuances that could be argued and we could argue back and forth about this but my stance is such. Why should I feel any remorse or regret when Johnson would have no qualms about lynching a black man?” Jaden asked. “I’m an eye for an eye type of guy. Would you have killed or aborted Hitler, Stalin, etcetera, as babies if you knew what they’d grow up to do?”