Page 77 of Fight Or Flight

“It is,” she interrupts.

Straight shooter, I like it.

She draws in a deep breath before continuing, “Look, I respect your decision, Eric. I think joining the Army is one of the most admirable things a person can do so long as their reasons are right.” She pauses and I bite the inside of my cheek as she chooses her next words carefully. “I just want you to know that you’re doing this for you because, Eric, you don’t owe anyone anything. You don’t have to honor anyone but yourself.”

I shake my head.

“That’s not true. When the bane of your existence is based on another man’s sacrifice, you live to honor that man and that’s not something you can understand unless you’ve experienced it. I’m not joining the Army because I have some sort of death wish, Brooklyn, I’m doing it because I believe in everything it stands for. If I can make a difference in the world by protecting the people I love most and the country that I respect, then I’ve found my purpose. Your dad died so I could live. I’ve got to make my life count for something and now there are two ways I can do that. The first is the Army.”

“What’s the second?”

“You,” I reply. “Serving my country is a great honor, but being your guy is the greatest of all.”

That’s a fact.

At first, I may have confused her presence in my life as an obligation, but that’s not the case. She wasn’t sent to me because I owed her father my life. She was sent as a gift and gifts are meant to be cherished. They’re meant to be sacred.

Suddenly, she lunges for me, taking my face in her hands as she smacks her lips to mine. Whoa.

She peppers kisses across my lips and just when I’m about to respond and take her on my lap; she inches away.

C’mon!

Holding my face in the palm of her hands, she smiles so brightly at me.

“You’re my guy,” she marvels.

“I thought we established that already,” I tease, winking at her. “I’ve been your guy since I took your mom’s bumper off, Brooklyn.”

That declaration earns me another kiss, but as I go to slide my tongue into her mouth, I learn Brooklyn means business when it comes to discussing things. She tears her mouth from mine and starts asking me about basic training and why I’m going to be away for fourteen weeks when Google told her it’s only ten weeks long. I explain that there are exceptions and after basic combat training one must complete Advanced Individual Training, both are combined when you’re specializing in infantry like I am.

She asks where I’ll be stationed for basic training and I tell her Fort Benning, Georgia. Then she whips out her phone and Googles how far that is from here by plane, train, and car. It’s cute as fuck and at the risk of sounding like a pussy again, my heart fucking swells. It damn near explodes.

The more we talk, the more I realize how much I’ve been keeping bottled up and how good it feels to finally share my plans with someone. There is no judgment, only concern—especially when I explain that an indirect fire infantryman is a member of the mortar squad and that I’ll be trained to set, load, and fire three types of mortars. Her eyes went as big as saucers and she reached for the bag of chips.

My little hurricane is an emotional eater, just like me.

As much as I didn’t want to scare her, I wanted to be completely honest with her. Nothing great is built on lies, and I had this feeling in the pit of my stomach that tonight we were laying the foundation to something great. So, she kept shoving chips into her mouth as I revealed I’d be locating and neutralizing land mines too.

She nearly choked at that. My bad.

After she was fully aware of what I was signing up for, we went over the logistics of everything. I told her I wouldn’t be able to call her every day, but on Sunday’s she needed to keep her phone glued to her hip.

She asks about my graduation and I reveal to her that my parents would likely receive a letter with all the details, but they usually hold the ceremony on the Thursday or Friday of the soldier’s last week of training. When a soldier specializes in infantry there is also a Turning Blue Ceremony that takes place the day before graduation.

Then I tell her about Family Day, which will be around the halfway mark of my training. That’s the only time I’ll get to have visitors but there are strict rules surrounding it. I’ll be able to leave the base, but I can only travel within a twenty-five mile radius. With any luck, we’ll be long past the petting stages and she and I will get a hotel room close to Fort Benning. I won’t be allowed to spend the night with her. In fact, I’ll be punished if I’m not back to base by curfew. Still, a few hours locked in a hotel room with my favorite girl—that would be fucking fantastic.

Something to look forward to for sure.

Next, we speak about what happens after I graduate and how I will have three days leave before I report to my base. That’s when we both kind of got quiet. Single soldiers live in the barracks and while they’re allowed to leave the base, we have no idea where I’ll wind up. That’s where things will get tricky, but where there’s a will there’s a way.

And your boy Eric’s got a lot of will.

A shit ton, actually.

Wait and you’ll see.

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