Trouble Triangle (Tyler's Trouble Trilogy) (7 page)

"Apology totally accepted." She took my hand and stood up. "Now that we have all life's little problems sorted out, why don't we go to the bedroom?"

I rose to my feet, looked into her eyes for a moment, and kissed her. "Hey, I know a little game we can play. Why don't you grab your glasses and meet me in there."

#

She dropped me off at my barracks the following morning. Mark had just climbed out of bed and stood there stretching when I walked in.

"Where've you been?" he asked. "I thought you were going to dump Holly and come back. I expected you about five-thirty yesterday."

"I
kinda
had a sleepover with Miss Knight."

"You're unbelievable." He shook his head. "I mean, I've never seen anybody so ruled by his dick. I think you got some kind of illness. You need to see a shrink."

"It's not like that. I need her for a while."

He collected his gear to go to the shower room down the hall. "You need her? They got magazines for those kind of needs." He laughed.

"I can trust you, right?"

He nodded.

"Holly told me they're about to kick me out for lying on my enlistment papers. She's going to doctor up some forms to make it look like a big mistake. She's really joining me in the deep end of the shit. We both stay or both go."

"Wow. That's some girlfriend you got there, Chambers. You got her just in the dick of time. But it sounds to me like this 'relationship'," he used his fingers to make air quotes, "is based on blackmail. I hope you know what you're doing, 'cause it sounds pretty fucked up to me."

"I just hope she can pull it off."

#

Several weeks had gone by since the investigation had begun. Holly kept me posted on how the cover-up was progressing. The process left me in a nervous state, not knowing my future. Holly used the situation to her advantage. She clicked her fingers and I came
running like a faithful beagle.

I sat by myself at a table in the back of the mess hall, wondering how many more Navy meals I'd be having. Holly's idea sounded pretty crazy, and why would she risk her entire military career for a guy she barely met? Still, I wasn't in a position to question. My only position was one of prayer.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Debbie." I hadn't seen her since her little tantrum and I was surprised how glad I was to see her again. I stood up and pointed my hand toward the chair opposite me. "Please." We both sat down.

"I may have been a bit of a bitch to you and
outta
line when I saw you after your date with Holly." She stared down at her corned beef. "I mean, she dumped me, so it's not your fault. I shouldn't have acted like I did. Sorry."

"You don't need to apologize. I should've realized and been more sensitive." I took a drink of milk.

She looked up. "I still see you two around the base together. You change your mind about dumping her?"

"It got a bit complicated." I thought it best to choose my words carefully. I could be dealing with a woman scorned. She might seek revenge if I told her everything. "No, me and Holly, we're cool. I thought I'd try this relationship thing. Beats trying to have to pick up women every time I get a
stiffy
."

"Too bad." Debbie dropped her head and looked at her tray. She pushed the baked beans around on her plate with her fork. "I caught my girlfriend cheating on me with some bull dyke with tattooed forearms. Lying bitch. So, it's not just guys who can't keep it in their pants." She lowered her voice to just above a whisper. "I'm starting to question my sexuality."

"Wow, Debbie. I don't know what to say." I wanted to say something meaningful, or enlightening, but words failed me. I spooned in a mouthful of corn.

She stabbed at her cauliflower. "I was hoping maybe we could have sex to help me decide."

I spit food out all over the table. "What'd you say?"

"Judging by the spray of corn, I think you heard me." She brushed some kernels off her arm. "I'm serious. I really am doubting who, or what I am at the moment. Somehow, I trust you. We were so close until I threw my little hissy fit. And I think you could deal with it just for what it is. A fuck, and not expect anything more than that out of it."

"You're serious, aren't you?"

"Deadly."

The following night I showed up at Holly's apartment as commanded. After she fixed us a drink, we sat on her couch. A stack of papers lay on the coffee table in front of us.

"Boy, you don't do things by halves, do
ya
?" She picked up one of the papers and
put on her glasses.

I steeled myself against the arousal issue of her wearing glasses and stayed focused on the matter at hand.

"This is the letter I got back from the Fort Wayne recruitment office," she continued. "Basically, it says that your recruiter got kicked out for letting people like you in."

I swallowed hard. He did warn me not to take any postings that would require a high security clearance. When he told me not to accept orders for submarine duty, I thought he meant not riding them. I didn't know he meant not fixing them either. The extra checks uncovered my deception. Well, his actually. Painful twinges stabbed at me nonetheless. Guilt or sadness, I wasn't sure. The man who kept me out of jail paid a
heavy price for my delinquency.

"Anyway, I made a copy of the letterhead and retyped what we want it to say." She grabbed another paper off the table. "This is what Lieutenant Johnson will see. It says that your recruiter has since decided to leave the Navy and is unavailable to shed any further light on the situation."

I reached over and touched her arm. "Holly, can I just say thanks for what you're doing."

"We haven't pulled it off yet, but this is what girlfriends do." She patted my leg. "Anyway, I put in here that the original form got mistyped, and this
IP2601
," she grabbed another paper off the stack, "should have been enclosed but got left out. Sign it and date it, January 15, 1982. Then I'll forge Lawson's signature."

I signed the form as instructed and watched as Holly did a replication of Lawson's autograph.

"There. That should do it," she said. "I'll give it to Lieutenant Johnson in the morning and say I just got everything back."

"Will he still want to see me?"

"No, he like totally trusts me. If I say everything's okay, he'll believe me."

Despite Holly's reassurance, my heart pounded hard and my palms sweated. She really was going out on a limb for me, and I appreciated it. I needed to make a go of this. She showed a daring yet caring side that not many people would have offered me.

Holly readjusted her glasses, sliding them down to the tip of her nose. She looked at me over the top of the lenses. "Now, get in that bedroom. You've been a naughty little boy and I'm going to have to teach you a lesson."

I stood and headed for the bedroom. "Yes, Miss Knight."

#

"Fireman Chambers," the shop supervisor, Petty Officer Watkins, called out across the shop. I walked over to stand in front of him. His red beard molded around his jaw, and with the absence of a moustache, he resembled a leprechaun. "Just got word the division officer wants to see you. Go report to him now."

"Aye, aye," I replied.

Holy shit. This was not good. Holly said he wouldn't want to see me. Damn it.

I walked over to the division office with feet like concrete blocks. His office was the same place as Holly's and I imagined this was my march to death row. I reported in to Holly. Her face had a panicked look about it. Probably not much different from mine.

"What's this all about?" I whispered.

"Like, I don't know," she whispered back. "I gave him the papers yesterday and told him everything looked to be in order. He looked them over and just said 'okay.' I'm as much in the dark as you."

I had the urge to pace but wanted to appear more composed. I sat down in one of the three gray metal chairs pushed against the wall. My mind searched for that suitable lie that would make all this go away. The problem was, I didn't know what the question would be.

The door opened from Lieutenant Johnson's office. The assistant division officer, Master Chief Steele, stood at the opening resembling a Sherman tank. His hair was a mixture of black and gray short curls, broad shoulders and tattoos on both forearms. His piercing eyes looked like the long barrel of the tank, with me in the cross-hairs.

"Fireman Chambers," he bellowed, "enter."

My legs shook as I stood, and my head spun. In my dizzy state, I cast a glance toward Holly. She had her eyes firmly fixed on her desktop.

I entered his office with Master Chief close behind me. I felt like convict 24701 facing the warden and prison guard in some Burt Reynolds movie. I looked at Master Chief Steele. He wasn't smiling. Lieutenant Johnson sat behind his desk in a tan leather chair. He ran a hand through his blond hair, his face solemn. I stood at attention in the middle of the room.

"At ease," he instructed.

I chose to stand at parade rest, arms at forty-five degree angles with the back of my hands placed in the small of my back, and legs spread just slightly more than shoulder width apart. It was a more formal position than 'at ease', meaning I could have stood any way I wanted. I wanted to appear to be on my best military behavior.

"Fireman Chambers," he began, "you're probably wondering why I called you into my office today."

Please, God. Let him have a heart attack.

Lieutenant Johnson appeared to be healthy, so my wishing him to drop dead didn't seem likely. He looked like he spent at least three days a week at the gym. He leaned forward and rested on his toned and tanned forearms on the imitation oak desk, his hands clasped together. Master Chief Steele stood in the corner, arms behind his back, his mouth half-way between a smirk and a snarl.

"Fireman Chambers," the Lieutenant started, "there was a discrepancy in your record. It had been documented that you had been arrested twice prior to your enlistment. However, further investigation revealed that you had, in fact, been arrested four times." Lieutenant Johnson paused. His raised eyebrows suggesting he expected me to answer.

I snapped to attention, bar the fact I looked him directly in the eyes. "Yes, sir. That is correct. I am ashamed of my past. However, I am unable to change that. My only desire now is t
o serve my country with pride."

I hoped Holly got those papers right. I returned my stance to parade rest.

"Admirable." He stood up, all five feet eight inches of him. "Petty Officer Knight has been able to retrieve the missing paperwork. However, the new documentation shows that you were arrested for possession of marijuana."

I snapped back to attention. "Sir, a youthful indulgence which shames me. My prayers always include a thank you to God for giving me the opportunity to serve in the United States Navy." I returned to parade rest.

Lieutenant Johnson looked at Master Chief Steele. The corners of their mouths turned up in unison. I caught a glimpse of Master Chief rolling his eyes. Uh, oh. A cow pat too far. They could see I was full of it. I needed to tone it down. My upper lip sweated. I rolled my lips together, trying to clear any visible moisture.

"For your sake, I hope that's all it was, and we're about to find out." He drummed his desk. "The Navy has spent considerable time and money training you. What you've done prior to your enlistment is of little concern to me." He walked around from behind his desk, stood in front of it and leaned his butt against the edge. His hands dropped by his sides, gripping the lip of the desk behind him. "However, anything and everything you have done since you swore your oath to uphold the Constitution of United States is of great concern to me. And I'm not having any potheads in my division."

I stood motionless except for the odd bead of swe
at escaping from various pores.

"I am ordering a urinalysis. Master Chief Steele will take you to the head and watch you fill the bottle. It's standard procedure to have a witness just in case you had any ideas ab
out tampering with the sample."

Master Chief produced a plastic bottle from behind his back and shook it back and forth, wearing a big shit-eating grin.

Snapping back
to attention, "Aye, aye, sir."

"Dismissed. Master Chief, escort Fireman Chambers to the head and watch him fill his patriotic duty.”

Master Chief pointed his hand toward the door. "Yes, sir, Lieutenan
t. Come on, Chambers, move it."

I did an about-face and left with Master Chief right behind me. As we walked past Holly's desk, she gave me the 'Well?' eyes. I winked and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Master Chief marched me over to the barracks. We went into an office on the first floor where I signed in. I filled out a label that would identify the piss of Tyler Chambers for inspection of foreign substances once slapped on the bottle of my urine.

Master Chief followed me into the head. A single toilet stood in the middle of the room with no cubicle. Hints of bleach permeated the atmosphere. I took the three steps to get to the toilet. The door shut behind me, and Master Chief bolted it. Hearing the door slam and bolt, the same cold shiver went through me as it had during my last visit to the county
jail.