I look up. It’s the girl from the café. Oh my god, what do I fucking do? I rise to stand with here, I try to talk, but nothing happens. Finally I can, “Yeah, yeah I do, yeah here, use this one.” I hand her the ancient I was messing with.
“Thanks,” she gives me that heart stopping smile. “Do you have a lighter too?”
“Yeah I do, kina, hold on,” I fumble around in my pockets looking for another match—where the fuck are you! I find it and strike it against a piece of tape on my boot side containing sprinkled on phosphorous from a broken shell—a trick Isaac showed me. “Yeah, here you go.”
She looks amused at my display, and lights the ancient, leaning against the stair railing close to me. “You sure like that word a lot.”
“What word?”
“Yeah, you used it like four times already,” she lets loose a slight giggle at me.
“Oh yeah, I uh, like it I guess.”
I am a fucking idiot.
“So were you ever going to get a drink?”
She knows! God I am this world’s biggest loser. “Well, I decided she was too hot out today.”
Shit I meant It, the coffee!
She laughs more. “Too hot? Which girl?” She teasingly looks back at the café with her hands above her eyes in the shape of binoculars.
How do I save this? Take a chance Peter—do it.
“Hold on, let me help you look so I can point her out.” She looks back at me in surprise and I get closer to her, mimicking her with my hands above my eyes too. “Huh, she’s not at the café, wait a minute,” I turn to her, “She’s right in front of me. The gorgeous lady I couldn’t stop staring at.”
“Oh, you are a sweet one. What’s your name marine?”
“Peter,” I look at her arm badge, it’s the Peace Core. “And you’re Ms. Anderson?”
“Alison is my first name, nice to meet you.” She takes a drag, tosses it on the ground and steps it out. “I don’t actually like them, I was just thinking of a way to start a conversation,” she grins away from me quickly.
“Same, I used to never smoke, not even vapsticks when I was back on Earth. But me and the other marines in my unit, we kinda made a rule out of it, and we ended up smoking these ancients a guy has.”
Her eyes shoot up in interest, “What kind of rule?”
“To smoke every time we survive a battle. Now I guess it’s just catching on everywhere else I am.”
“You have already fought! I thought you were fresh in like me, with it barely being the second month since the Coalition arrived.”
“No, I am fresh. Three weeks ago I was on the landing ships storming Jericho, then that same day I was at Tionem rescuing a surrounded detachment of rangers. We got an early leave as a relaxation thanks.”
“God, so you’ve seen the worst part of the war so far?” she stares at me in wonder now, completely forgetting I was socially terrified of her a few moments ago. “You charged and liberated a city, but were too afraid to meet a girl?” she laughs. “You are cute.” Never mind, she remembered.
“War is a lot simpler than women I found out recently.”
Alison’s friends start calling her name to hurry up, looking at us almost surprised too that our encounter didn’t entirely turn into an awkward bust. “Damn, well my friends are begging me to go. Sightseeing and what not before we’re shipped off, probably to your city you just freed. How much longer are you here for, on leave that is?”
“Just tomorrow.”
“Well I’ll be here tomorrow as well, I would love to hear about your stories so far, you know, so I could get a grasp of what things are like and stuff,” she begins walking down the steps, I look after her, she continues, “and oh, I don’t know, you could maybe show up and buy me a drink like you wanted today, just the two of us.”
I stumble slightly, accidentally falling down a step. “Yeah, I would love that, yeah.”
“There you go with your yeah’s,” she says as she walks down the street with her friends.
I yell back hurriedly, “What time?”
She looks back and smiles. “Same time as when you turned around and sat on those stairs, marine.” She is gone in the crowd with her friends.
I stand on the steps a little longer, smoking in awe. I can’t believe I actually just did that. I leave, the DT is wearing off since it is nighttime, but for once I don’t feel the rushing attack of anxiety. I feel full of glee and raw energy. I feel alive.
For once I feel like I am living my normal life again.
I return to the hotel and rest on the bed for a while, later some people from Easy enter. “How was your date?” says Isaac as he goes for the mini fridge.
I rest my arms behind my head on the pillow. “It went well. I’m going to see her tomorrow, actually.”
Isaac grabs a luxurious grade water bottle and twists the cap. “Bullshit, you seeing her tomorrow is as likely as this water being fairly priced.”
“Honestly, after you assholes left me, things kicked off.” I get up and put on my jacket. “She really is a dime.”
“Well, I guess you are a stunner after all.” Isaac yells down the hallway, “Vance, Alex, come over here! We got ourselves a pretty boy here.”
The other guys come pretending to gossip and giggle around me. Isaac grabs a towel and whips me with it as he makes mock female orgasms.
“Alright, knock it off guys,” I say, clenching the towel and threatening to strike back. “Where are we going tonight?”
“Drunk, somewhere,” says Isaac.
“East Downtown is where I heard all the other units were planning on heading to, lots of bars and clubs,” says Alex.
“Perfect, that’s where my type of ladies will be too,” says Isaac.
“What, dollar whores?” I say.
“He prefers the term, Lady of the Night, actually,” says Vance.
“Shut the fuck up.” Isaac moves to the bathroom and starts gelling his hair with a black comb. “Stick with me tonight, and maybe you’ll all learn a little something about getting laid.”
“I bet the ladies will only see a little something,” says Vance.
Isaac aims his comb to throw at Vance, then Blake comes down the hallway with a big box, pausing in between our room and the other room across the hallway with the rest of the unit. “Before we go tonight, I just got news from Command,” most of us begin bitching, “Hold on, it’s not that at all. Our replacements are meeting us tonight.”
“Replacements?” Rommel pokes his head out from his room, his necklace of rotting appendages dangling from the doorknob. “Like for who we lost?”
Blake looks at the doorknob. “First Private, get rid of that fucking thing, I won’t warn you again, it’s against regulations,” he glances our rooms again. “Exactly, you guys didn’t get two rooms to be comfortable. It’s three new marines, and all foreigners from other armies on request of the Marshall’s policy to increase international cooperation in the war.”
“Well shit, I only know English, sir,” says Tommy.
Blake chuckles. “They all speak English. I’ll fill you in as we go down to the lobby to meet them.” He places the box in the middle of the hallway. “These are letters and gifts from schoolchildren back in the States. Come grab one and read it.”
We take turns going to the box. I grab an envelope and go to my bed. I open it and a small, worn, black stuffed bird falls out—I pause numb for a moment—the bird finishes rolling over, it’s just a hawk, thank god. I open the letter and read what the kid had to say.
Hello soldier,—should I give this to the Army?— I am Mary, I am eight years old and live in North California. Thank you for fighting. I am supposed to give you a toy of mine. For good luck. I gave you my old best friend Rosa. She guarded my window at night from bad dreams. She can guard you now.