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ASSMUNCH
"Mom! We have to go. I can't show up late!" I yelled. She emerged from her bedroom walking like there was no emergency.
"Settle down, sweetheart. It takes 15 minutes. You're so much like your father."
"Bye bro!" Tim flew down the stairs to fling himself into my arms. "Thanks for everything. You better tell us where they're sending you."
"Don't wrinkle my uniform!" I didn't put much force into it though. "Even if I forget, do you think Mom would give Dad's Commander a moment's peace until he tracked me down? He probably already knows where they're sending me anyway. I love you, Tim. Be good for Mom, okay?" I hugged him back tightly..
He let me go. "Where's Kevin? Is he out front?"
I sighed. "He thought it would be too hard to say goodbye today." I lied. "He went home last night."
"That sucks! I didn't get a chance to say goodbye." He scowled.
Me either, little brother, I thought to myself. But it was okay. It wasn't goodbye anyway, not in my heart. Instead, I told him "He'll be back this summer probably. Maybe he'll hang out with you. You should work out with him. It's good to cross train, even if you aren't in track. He's going for the decathalon. He's a beast. Indoor nationals are in March and I wish I could watch him compete but who knows where I'll be."
Mom had her purse and keys. "Let's go, Mr. Impatient." I grabbed my backpack from in front of the door and held the door open for her. Tim was now driving my old Trans Am to school but the old girl was not doing well and he shot out the door right after Mom. Maybe my old classic would keep going for him until the end of the school year. I made sure the front door was locked then walked out to the driveway and heard a cheer from Tim. Maybe Mom said he could go to school late and he got to ride with us to Ft. Hood.
I reached the corner of the garage and stopped. There was Kevin standing next to Mom's Toyota Celica talking to her. My heart beat faster and I felt my face flush. He looked at me and I saw that big smile. The relief that hit me caught me unprepared and it was really fucking hard to smile when I almost burst out in tears. He looked so good, like I hadn't just seen him 12 hours ago and he was wearing the Wranglers.
"What?" He called out. "You didn't want to see me today? Okay, I'll go." He joked, turning around. Maybe he did that to flash his gorgeous jeans-encased ass.
"Don't move, you pain in the ass." I yelled back. I grabbed him in a hug and whispered in his ear "I love you, there's nothing for me to figure out. Got it?"
"Yes, SIR!" He stepped back and tried to execute the absolute worst salute, I half thought it was on purpose it was so bad. Kevin's dad wasn't in the Army, he was a civilian contractor that worked in maintenance. I think he was a GS-7... he might actually be a 9 now, who knows? Kevin didn't talk about his family much.
"Don't call me Sir, and don't salute me, dumbass. I work for a living. You live in a fucking Army town for Christ's sake, you should know that."
"Language, Tom!" Mom corrected.
"Agh! Sorry Mom. It slipped." I apologized.
"Your hat looks good on you." Kevin said with a smirk. Now he was just fucking with me throwing out that reminder of Tuesday afternoon. I'd put it on as a matter of habit even though I was just walking to the car and we weren't on post. Everything Army was just automatic for me at this point.
"You should see me with my patrol cap. They're called caps, or cover, not `hats'. Are you coming with us?" I asked him, hoping he'd say yes.
"Yeah, if you want. Your mom said it was okay." He raised his eyebrows.
"I want." I replied. "Say goodbye to Tim, we've got to get going."
Kevin gave Tim a body swallowing hug. "See ya brat!"
"Can I have your shirt?" Tim asked.
"What shirt?" Kevin asked.
"That cowboy shirt with the ripped sleeves. You left it in Tom's room." Tim explained.
"Uh, sure. It doesn't fit me anyway." Kevin smirked at me.
I shrugged. "It served it's purpose."
"YES!" Tim shouted. He immediately threw his backpack down and stripped off his sweatshirt. He was wearing the shirt. It was big on him, but he'd fill it out soon.
"Tim, dude, you need to wash it first." I said, a little stunned. I was pretty sure there was at least a little of my dried cum on it.
Tim grinned and shook his head. "Nope. Smells like Kevin. It's perfect. Later, bators!" He climbed in the Trans Am and tore off down the street.
"What's a `bator'?" Mom asked.
I rolled my eyes. "You don't want to know, Mom." Kevin never lost his smirk. I was beginning to think Tim loved Kevin more than he loved me and that made me feel really good. How'd I get so lucky to have this great family? Even if my kid brother was a peeping Tom pervert who liked watching and listening to us fuck, then loved wearing a cum stained shirt to school.
We climbed in the Celica, Kevin riding bitch in back behind Mom because of the additional leg room. I was both excited and reluctant to report in. I was so happy Kevin decided to come see me off. Last night was cold in my bed without him even though I understood why he had to leave. It was just easier for him to keep himself in check if we were apart and he needed to get himself right in the head also so that he could deal with being apart from me for who knows how many months.
15 minutes later we were waved through the gate by the MP who executed a disciplined open hand gesture with his elbow at a precise 90 degree angle. He must be either new or dedicated. The sticker on the windshield identified us as military with my dad's rank and I wondered if the guard got bored of making the same movement for the hundreds of cars that passed through at this time. Cars with an officer's sticker received a salute which broke up the monotony, I supposed.
I had no time for long goodbyes and I was thankful for that. Of course Mom was used to that as well as the no-hug, no lipstick kiss rule for full dress. But I gave her both anyway. Kevin gave me a folded up piece of paper and a handshake, but his eyes gave me the kiss and hug we couldn't have here on base. Sure, we could try for a casual `just bros' hug but I knew we wouldn't be able to stop ourselves there and it may turn into the kind of hug you wouldn't want the Army to see.
"Call me when you know where you're going, okay? And if you aren't on a flight today, I'll come pick you up." Mom said.
"There's a few phone numbers on that paper, as well as my Spring class schedule. But you should always be able to get a message to me through the Engineering department. Just make sure you leave a number where I can call you back." Kevin added.
"Okay. Wish me luck. Mom...". I didn't know the words to say.
"I'll be okay, sweetheart. It hurts, it does. Nights and waking up are the hardest part right now. We thought we'd have more time. Don't wait to do what makes you happy." She said with glistening eyes, shifting her eyes to Kevin for a brief moment. "Life is shorter than you think." Her eyes grew distant. "Whatever you have to do, sweetheart, if Kevin is the one."
"I'm trying." I told her, then looked at Kevin with a smile. "I'm happy right now. We're trying to be smart about this." Mom and I had a really good talk Wednesday night after dinner about what was ahead, about Kevin, life, and relationships in general. I knew if Dad was still alive he would have given me his advice too. I had to go. I waved at them one more time just before I walked through the door to my future.
I was on a commercial flight to Atlanta and it was packed because it was Friday and they'd had to shift over so many passengers from cancelled flights from the storm in the Northeast earlier in the week. I didn't mind. Being in uniform after the Gulf War meant there were perq's. I was upgraded to first class. Well, it may not have been the uniform, but it certainly didn't hurt. The gate agent took it upon herself to come bring me to the desk to switch my seat with a smile and an appreciative look. Yeah, Kevin was probably right. I got my share of attention just like he did. I didn't mind his jealousy, he had nothing to worry about. The flight was unremarkable, and in just a few hours I was checking in with the USO office at the Atlanta Airport.
"We've got a ride for you that will take you to MEPS downtown. They'll get you to Ft. Benning." The volunteer told me, consulting a stapled group of papers he'd found in a pile. I wasn't the only soldier in the office. It was mid afternoon, eastern time. "Sorry, but they are waiting on you. If you haven't eaten, grab a donut or a cookie over there. You probably won't get to eat until you get to your post."
"I had a sandwich on the flight, so I'm good." I replied. I took the forms he handed me along with my military I.D. I'd given him when I checked in.
"Go out door 2 from Baggage Claim. Your transportation is waiting there. Safe journey, Private."
"Thanks."
I didn't see much of Atlanta on the drive, it only took 15 minutes to get from the airport to the Military Entrance Processing Station downtown, where they in-processed new enlistees before shipping them off to Basic or Boot Camp. It was so similar to a hundred other government buildings I'd been in that it felt like home. Flags (we love our flags here in the United States) lined the lobby: one from every military branch, of course the Stars and Stripes, the the 10th Battalion Training Command Flag, the flag of Georgia, and two others I couldn't identify. The floor was that basic flecked white linoleum floor that hid dirt and was waxed every single day by maintenance, acoustic drop ceiling tiles that probably should have been in a dumpster five years ago stained with years of cigarette smoke and a couple water marks near the AC vents, bulletin boards with photos of the Commander and his minions and notices of change in procedure and emergency instructions, plus a special place for Outstanding Soldier Staff Sergeant Wilcox who apparently still believed in smiling which bucked the trend of scowling Sergeants. It made me think Staff Sergeant Wilcox probably had an easy job funneling new enlistees through their oaths. Staff Sergeant Wilcox was Outstanding Soldier for the month of November 1992, three months ago. Maybe no one had challenged him for the title since then. They put me in a chair off the lobby to wait for an hour, bored with my cap in my lap and my backpack by my feet. Obviously it wasn't intake season because the place was empty and it looked like the minimal staff here matched my bored mood. Hurry up and wait. I hated that I'd been wearing my dress uniform all day and now it was showing evidence of travel. It felt extremely uncomfortable to be in a uniform that wasn't inspection ready. When duty forced your BDUs into disarray that was one thing, but Class A's should never appear this abused. Sure, it was only a few wrinkles... well, more than a few, but it felt disrespectful. I tried to let my discomfort go while I chastised myself for being unprepared. I should have planned ahead instead of thinking I could just wear my civvies back and forth. I could probably change because there was no expectation I would show up at Ft. Benning like this. Hell, I wasn't reporting for duty, actually just checking in not even formally reporting, but even so not showing up for a parade. I was debating whether to ask for a place to change into my civilian clothes when a Corporal came into the lobby.
"Private Harris, come with me." He ordered.
I grabbed my backpack and followed him, eager to finally get to my post.
I was prepared for the two hour ride to Ft. Benning. I was not prepared for Friday afternoon rush hour traffic out of downtown Atlanta. Growing up in Texas, our towns and cities were on basic grid systems. Atlanta was not. If you wanted to go south, you had to go east first, then only slightly south before heading west, navigating one way streets between towering hotels, government and office buildings, working your way through a maze that I could swear put us back just a block over from the parking lot we pulled out of 20 minutes before. Somehow, this took you to the Interstate which finally pointed you south. Straight line travel in Atlanta was impossible. Bootlicker could probably tell me why. After we got through the traffic lights, the 15 turns, and finally got on I-85 South the day of travel hit me and I was passed out in the passenger seat, probably drooling on my already trashed uniform. But I dreamed of Kevin running across the school lawn towards me while I waited for him holding the door. The moment my heart stopped being mine.
AIRBORNE - GROUND WEEK
I'm not going to lie, it felt good to be back in my BDUs, and even better to be back with my brothers. Fuck, I missed these crazy assholes. I even missed Puta a little bit. But most of all, it felt right to be back where I had a goal, a target, orders, and an established structure of where to be, how to act, and what to do every minute of my day. Over the last week I'd been getting more and more antsy, finding it difficult to just relax and do nothing. It seemed pointless, empty, wasteful. The absence of purpose lingered just behind my conscious thought so that there was no peace I could enjoy. I had a gut wrenching moment in which I suddenly understood my Dad's constant insistence that Tim and I had what seemed to be a never ending list of chores and tasks while growing up. If we were sitting idle, Dad found something for us to do. We got used to it, but it didn't mean we liked it. I now knew why my Dad couldn't allow us to sit around, why play and leisure wasn't an option until you finished your list or took care of some necessary task. Those who weren't raised in a military family would never understand. No, we weren't raised as some kind of junior military unit, Dad left that stuff on post. But discipline and efficiency, cleanliness and respect... those we learned from a very young age. I'm sure everyone undergoes those flashes of insight when they see their parents' decisions and actions in clearer focus, but this one hit me hard because I'd always thought of my father as a hard ass that was too serious. I was appreciative of how I'd been raised, don't get me wrong. But only now did I understand why Dad couldn't raise us any other way because HE couldn't live any other way and I almost lost control of my emotions when the gratefulness and love for understanding my Dad hit me. I wanted to call him and say thank you. I loved the time with Kevin and my family but I needed my Army. I belonged here, I felt it in my bones.
"Thank you, Dad." I whispered. "You were the best. You did good." I let the warm feeling of ultimate acceptance dry the threatening tears before turning my mind back to the present. Somehow being in the Army helped me feel that Dad was still with me a little, that we still had a connection because I was serving just like him. Fuck, I missed him though. Way back when he was drafted for the Vietnam War (which he always thought was a good thing for him) the Army was a different beast. And although he shared much of his military experience with me, he never talked about the war much. The friendships he'd made back then still lasted to this day, and he told me the bond between brothers became stronger with every shared hardship. Up until this last six months in Germany his words were simply esoteric, sort of like the words `freedom isn't free' felt before I joined the Army. Now... I understood completely how these men and I felt something more for each other than simple co-workers. I'd take a bullet for any one of them. We shared a strength that surpassed individual limits and with them beside me or behind me I felt I could achieve a greatness I could never reach on my own.
I looked at my brothers with pride. I still couldn't believe we were doing this together. It was Sunday and we'd just gotten back from the PX to get the items on the required list they'd given us. It wasn't much, but we were responsible for our own towels and washcloths, and most of us wanted new socks. After six months at Graf, we were kids in a candy store at a PX that had EVERYTHING. Those who weren't in the military would never understand the feeling of exploring the AAFES Post Exchange as a young soldier. We looked, but didn't buy. About half the brothers were on the verge of getting the new walkman, but Bootlicker pointed out no one had any cassette tapes and they'd have to buy those too. There was no point, this wasn't our permanent posting and we had no where to put anything. Once again, we were billeted in an open bay barracks. The Bravos were quartered with 20 other random soldiers and it immediately drew a dividing line between the groups that I thought would cause problems, so I called the squad leaders over, as well as Zeus.
"Look guys, we aren't technically a unit anymore. We can't keep to ourselves. We got too used to that at Graf. Tell the guys to loosen up, talk a little. We should meet the others." I told them.
"Just feels weird, Assmunch." Shark pointed out. "I mean, look at them. Most of them look like they don't know what to do, or how to act, like this is some adventure or game. Or a vacation. It looks to me like too many of them like the idea of Jump School, and want the jump wings to make their uniform look good. There's only a few over there that look like they're here to get shit done and fly. The rest... I don't think it would be in our best interest to get too close to them. "
I noticed the portion of the bay we'd left to the randoms appeared to be chaotic. Shark had a point. The Bravos had already put away all their gear and uniforms in the lockers we were provided, our bunks were made, inspection ready in every detail. The randoms were taking their time, behaving as if they didn't remember basic or how to live in a barracks. For most, it appeared, it had been a while. I saw drinks and snacks, unmade bunks with half dressed soldiers napping, pieces of uniforms hung on open locker doors or thrown over foot rails, boots and socks tossed haphazardly. Shark wasn't wrong.
"They know what to do, they just don't think they have to do it." I answered. "Well we aren't them. Get your squads ready for inspection. Cellblock, do you want to do the honors?"
Cellblock smiled. "Oh, I'm going to love this. You want full on Sarge, or should I take it a little less serious?"
"Set the bar, brother." I smiled back.
"BRAVOS!" He yelled.
"HUP!" my brothers and I grunted loudly back, all standing and immediately stopping whatever they were in the middle of. The randoms got suddenly quiet, and I knew they'd also stopped what they were doing to stare.
"INSPECTION!" Cellblock stepped into the middle of the bay, facing us. We all leapt to the end of our bunks.
Cellblock took his time going down the row. He had a scowl that would make Sarge proud. He found problems that didn't exist, a blanket corner slightly off, a boot that wasn't lined up, a piece of paper that was no bigger than a fingernail peeking out from under a locker.
"Idiots." We heard one guy say to some of the others. "We aren't in basic, dumbasses." He received some laughs. Yeah, this might be a bit over the top, but it was what we spent the last 6 months doing, we were used to it, and we did it for ourselves.
None of the Bravos moved or responded to the dig. Cellblock continued with his examination of the brothers' themselves.
"Trim those ears, Bootlicker." Cellblock commented. Our hair had grown out since the total shave, and a few of the guys had put off seeing the barber.
He stopped in front of Zeus. He raised an eyebrow.
"You gotta do it, Zeus. We're not going to get privacy here." He said. "Sleeper, go with Zeus to shave."
"Yes, Private!" Sleeper called out and stepped forward before coming to Zeus. Zeus went to his locker and got his toiletries, then followed Sleeper to the latrines.
"Look at the big dumb one. Needs a keeper." Someone said.
Zeus stopped immediately. All of a sudden he seemed to grow in presence. I didn't see him change his posture but he seemed larger, more deadly and serious. You could feel a threat hanging in the air. He was displeased, and it was impossible to ignore. He raked his cold gaze over the randoms, looking for whoever said that. Sleeper just waited, as if bored.
"Who said that?" Zeus' calm, clear deep voice carried through the entire bay and all movement, all the uncomfortable fidgeting came to a halt. His head never stopped moving, he was drilling into every set of eyes that dared to look at him. And not many dared.
"Jesus, he's going to kill you, Teglovic." Someone said in a low voice.
"Did you hear that Sleeper? I'm a big dumb one and you're my keeper." Zeus said.
"Yep, Zeus. Are you going to rip his head off?" Sleeper replied as if discussing a menu.
"I'm too tired to rip anyone's head off today, Sleeper."
"Do you want me to rip his head off?"
"You can't do it Sleeper, you have to go with me to shave. Let's just wait until he's asleep and beat him with our boots in the dark."
"if that's what you want, boss man." Sleeper drawled. "Couple socks in his mouth, no one will hear a thing."
"That's what I want, Sleeper. Let's go." Zeus and Sleeper didn't rush, and actually took longer than necessary to reach the door at the end of the bay to go to the latrines. No one said a word or moved the entire time.
Well fuck me, this was a different Zeus. What the hell happened when I was gone? I'm not sure how well my plan to mix and mingle was going to go over, not after that. I think I needed to know everything I missed. We all waited patiently for Cellblock to complete inspection, then set to correcting the things he'd pointed out, except for the haircuts which would have to wait.
Zeus came back freshly shaved, with Sleeper casually behind him walking in step. I walked over to them.
"I guess a few things changed while I was gone?" I opened.
Zeus smiled, and of course I just melted. Damn him, he could make you feel so good when he smiled at you like that, it made you want to smile back. So I did. Zeus leaned in to whisper very quietly in my ear.
"Sleeper's my boyfriend now." His breath on the hairs of my neck sent a shiver down my back and goosebumps popped up. With him came the scent of ... something knee weakening that I couldn't identify. It was the familiar smell of a fresh laundered uniform, a clean shave, an earthy musk. It spoke of healthy strength. It suggested power, control, and thrilling danger. It pulled at me spinning my head in a whirlpool that almost brought me to touch him, lay my face against his shoulder and surrender. Fuck it was almost better than what Kevin did to me. He pulled back and smiled even bigger, so of course I smiled bigger. It wasn't for any particular reason, just because Zeus was so happy that he was making me happy. Hell, I wasn't in control of anything happening to my body right now. Apparently I'd lost some of my immunity to Zeus' effect, but I found that odd. It didn't feel like I'd lost it... more like he was throwing out more of whatever it was. It was actually a bit disconcerting to be this close to him, like I was being sucked in...and fuck I wanted to be. I wanted to hug him really bad I was so happy for him. And I think I wanted him to hug me back... really bad. Fuck....Me....Backwards. And then a small thought intruded... Sleeper. Was Sleeper an active participant in this boyfriend fantasy? Ten full seconds had passed while I basked in Zeus' happiness, without a single thought for my best friend.
Sleeper put a hand on Zeus' shoulder. "Pull it back a little bro... he can't think. You know what it does when you let it out like that." Sleeper was smiling too.
And suddenly it was gone. Well, most of it. I still felt incredibly happy.
"I'm just really happy, Addison." Zeus said with a grin. "I couldn't wait to tell him."
"Why don't we three go get something to eat, it's just about chow time anyway, and catch Assmunch up on everything that happened while he was gone?" Sleeper suggested.
"Let's do that." I said. "Cellblock, we're going to go grab something to eat. Anyone else?"
Wanker stepped forward and started to walk towards us, and stopped with a look from Cellblock.
"Nah, Assmunch. You three go ahead. We'll be behind you in a bit." God I loved Cellblock. He could read a situation without even trying, and knew exactly the right way to handle it. He was super smart. I'm not sure how I became Platoon leader instead of him. He was way smarter than me.
We were just out the door when a Black Hat Sergeant came up the sidewalk.
"Back inside, Privates." He didn't yell at us, or growl. He spoke to us like we were humans.
"Yes Sergeant." And we turned around and went back inside. That's how it worked. He followed us in as we went to stand by our bunks.
I noticed a couple of the randoms had come over to our part of the bay and were talking with a few of the guys. My brothers stopped talking and immediately went and stood by their bunks at parade rest, watching the Sergeant look around. We weren't sure what was expected here, how relaxed the rules were, so we made sure we followed the Army manual in everything. We all stared straight ahead. The randoms... I felt embarrassed. From the corner of my eye I saw various action and inaction... as in they just carried on with whatever activity they were engaged in like the Sergeant wasn't even here. There was no need for this kind of disrespect.
Look, every single one of the Bravos had received a permanent duty station after basic and AIT. We'd all been in the general ranks where when you were outside duty hours you weren't expected to be so rigid. You NEVER forgot address, but other than that when you were off duty you just had to show respect. Some unfortunates even had to learn that the hard way. But we were at Airborne School, in training, and we hadn't yet been given the run-down on how we were expected to behave but we did know one thing - we were in a barracks and you kept your barracks clean and tidy and if a Superior showed up you paid attention. And we weren't going to start off by doing anything but our best. Sarge would have our balls if we hadn't learned at least that in the previous 6 months. Hell, Sleeper hadn't even gotten naked, so that should tell you how seriously we were taking this.
"Listen up!" The Black Hat yelled. The randoms quieted down. "If you are here because your MOS requires this training, fall in on the right." About eight of the randoms lined up. There were two who went over to the other side and stood. "That's MY right! It's always MY right!" The two scrambled over to the others. "You will acknowledge commands with CLEAR SERGEANT AIRBORNE!"
The randoms managed a decent "CLEAR SERGEANT AIRBORNE!"
"If you are here for ANY OTHER REASON, fall in to the left."
"CLEAR SERGEANT AIRBORNE!"
The Brotherhood lined up on the Sergeant Airborne's left followed by the leftover randoms.
"I see some of you have delayed reading your Basic Airborne Course SOP. Read it. Memorize it." He paused.
The Bravos and a few of the randoms yelled. "CLEAR SERGEANT AIRBORNE."
He continued. "You will eat only at mealtimes, and you will be escorted by your Sergeant Airborne to every meal. You will remain together until you are returned to your barracks. Once you exit the barracks, form double file ranks and you will march double time to the dining facility. You must have the meal card issued upon your intake, you must show your meal card in the meal line. You will have 25 minutes to get your food and eat. You are not the only class or Company in the Basic Airborne Course and you will clear the way for other groups as soon as you get your food. You will return your empty trays before forming up outside the dining facility at the location which I will point out to you when we arrive. All ranks E6 and below are required to eat at the dining facility. In case you forgot you are in the United States Military YOU ARE NOT SPECIAL, and will receive no special treatment with the exception of serious food allergies of which you will inform the mess crew when you are served your food. And I don't know where you think you're staying, but this is NOT a Holiday Inn and you WILL maintain barracks cleanliness AT ALL TIMES. If we find food or drink in the bay again you will receive disciplinary action. If we find your personal area in disarray you will receive disciplinary action. Your stick leader is Petty Officer Lenger who will direct your DAILY maintenance of standards and discipline. If you receive two disciplinary actions you will be dropped. While I would love to find these barracks in the condition you see here -" he gestured to the Bravos. "We do not expect you to match this, but you will make your bunks properly, all personal effects will be stowed unless in use, and all uniforms that are not on your person will be properly stored. You will do this even during non-duty hours. We are here to train you, not babysit. You will babysit yourselves or you will be processed out to recycle. You are soldiers, not civilians. Act like it."
Once again, only the Bravos and about half the randoms this time responded "CLEAR SERGEANT AIRBORNE!"
I felt ashamed for the randoms, that they had to be lectured like that when they all knew better. And like all Sergeants, I knew this one had taken note of the slackers and the exceptions. I would later learn it didn't make a difference. Jump School was an assembly line for a single purpose: teach troops how to parachute out of an airplane and hit the ground. And it wasn't the Sergeants Airborne checking up on us, it was our Stick Leader, Petty Officer Lenger. Well, he had nothing to worry about with the Bravos, we wiped our own asses.
"Form up outside. This group goes first today." He gestured to the Brotherhood. So our discipline got us into the chow line first, which meant we had more time to eat. Let me tell you it sucks rocks to be at the back of the line when you only have 25 minutes total. We immediately took off in step to form a double column outside. My talk with Zeus and Sleeper would have to wait until after we returned.
The next morning at 0330 (Yeah, an HOUR earlier than usual for us on top of the time difference from Germany) another instructor, a Lieutenant this time, came to escort us to our first day - beginning with the physical fitness assessment. I'm not sure why this particular morning we had a lieutenant, but it caused much confusion as we had no choice but to call him Lieutenant Airborne. We were in our PT sweats, with our knit caps. It was dark and cold outside. As a group we performed our pushups and our sit-ups in a large well lit gravel pit that also held all the other groups starting their Ground Week today. I looked around and saw the Charlies two groups over. Holy fucking hell. I wondered if the Alphas and Deltas were here too. Lamont was looking around at the same time and our eyes met. I smiled and lifted my chin. He did the same. We weren't permitted to leave our group, but I'd try to signal him to meet after duty tonight. I flashed him a quick succession of hand signals: meet, 8, barracks 7. He signaled received.
None of the brothers had any problems and easily accomplished more than 70 pushups and sit-ups in the two minutes, and of course Wanker put us all to shame, hitting 83 pushups. We knew he could have done more except for the required slight pause at the top that ate up time. Holler was king of the sit-ups, probably because the skinny fuck hardly had anything in his middle to interfere with curling his abdomen and having almost no weight to his upper body that he had to drag up off the ground. I'm sure he could suck his own dick if he tried. I put a mental note to ask him when and if we got an opportunity to have a little fun here. A few of the randoms had problems, either not maintaining form or being unable to complete their two minutes. There were two Marines and one Navy Corpsman from the randoms who kept up with us. They were three of the ones who had taken their bunk area seriously. I think the Bravos were the youngest in our group. There were many groups of soldiers like us spread around the field conducting their physical fitness assessment under the watchful eye of the Black Hats.
After our two mile run (Bootlicker once again way out front, but I couldn't help thinking Kevin could probably run him into the ground) we were led to another area with a pull up bar.
"You must execute a flex hang. Your arms must be fully extended at the bottom of the exercise, and your chin must be above the bar at the top of the exercise. You will begin by hanging from the bar for ten seconds. When ten seconds have elapsed, you will be given the command to begin your pull up. At the top you will hold your chin above the bar for 20 seconds. If you cannot reach the bar a step will be provided for you. This simulates the strength and endurance you will need to control your parachute upon descent."
One thing became very clear - although our instructors were serious and efficient, they were not Drill Instructors. We did not get screamed at, belittled, insulted or treated like children. Jump School was a lot like our classroom and field training at Graf, where the instructors made sure we were absorbing their instruction not just blindly following orders. We were taught. We learned body position, we learned every strap, hook, latch, buckle and connection on our jump harness. We learned every part and piece of a parachute, including the different types of canopy. We got into and out of our harnesses many times. We learned how to control our parachutes and navigate using the slips which were the straps that connected your parachute to your harness. We ran everywhere in a ground eating jog. We jumped out of a mock door wearing our harnesses first to get used to keeping our chin to our chests, our arms in, our hands gripping our reserve chute located on our stomachs. We learned the specific order to don the harness with a buddy's help, what safety checks to perform, where to tighten, how to tighten, and how to release. I can sum up Ground Week real easy for you: Pain. Hurry up and wait, fall, and do it again until you're numb from the pain. Tuck your chin. Knees together, feet together. Fall. Roll. Get up. Wait. Tuck your chin. Knees together, feet together. Fall. Roll. Get up. Wait. Repeat. I think the shorter you were, the easier you had it, but everyone felt the pain at the end of every day. Your knees hurt, your hips hurt, your neck hurt, your ankles hurt, your thighs and ass hurt, your shoulders hurt. Did I mention the harness? Yeah, your crotch hurt from repeatedly jumping from the platform to hang off the line with your harness yanking up every single time. And then you were given the gracious opportunity to PLF again while hanging from a lateral drift line. That's the Parachute Landing Fall we'd practiced about fifty thousand times every day. But the repetition worked as intended to ingrain the proper landing fall so that you avoided injury. Knees to the left, roll to the right, five points of contact. My body hurt constantly and I felt like I was going to die which was such a comfortable feeling for me I felt stupidly good about it. We eat pain for breakfast. And boy, breakfast at Jump School filled our stomachs. We ran up the steps on the 34 foot tower. It was rigorous and the repeated unfamiliar movements beat your joints and muscles in a completely different way than working out at the gym or PT. Airborne was not for the weak.
We relaxed our barracks discipline slightly as that first week continued, finally understanding no superior was going to throw a fit about anything minor and that except for no food in the bay and keeping it generally tidy, we didn't have to worry about Inspection level standards. That didn't mean the brothers got lazy. It didn't matter whether anyone was checking up on us, we kept a standard because of pride and because Lenger was Stick Leader who was responsible for making sure everything in the barracks and on our bodies was disciplined and regulation. I didn't even have to tell the Bravos, we all just made sure nothing was out of place every single morning before our Instructor came to get us. And look, I've got nothing against the Air Force, honestly... but five of those fuckers just refused to try to keep their area up to standard. I don't think they cared. I mean, they weren't sloppy, and they made SOME effort but everyone else got their shit together after Sunday night's Sergeant Airborne visit and the bay looked good. Except for those five bunk areas.
I made sure to write to Kevin and Mom and Tim every night about what I did that day, so that I could send the letter on Saturday. I couldn't wait for Sunday when I could call using the long distance card Mom had given me. Thank God it was no longer an overseas call. Those were ridiculously expensive, and there was that two second transmission delay that made it difficult to have a smooth conversation. One ten minute International long distance call could double your regular phone bill, made even worse by my having to call collect. Supposedly the telecoms were shifting over to fiber optic technology which was like tiny glass threads that allowed data to flow so much faster but they had yet to lay the last transatlantic cable and get the new system fully operational. We'd learned all about fiber optics as well as the new satellites that were going up every year in the two weeks of communications we'd gone through at Graf. Fiber optics sent data using light pulses, which I thought was cool as shit. Wanker could bore you to tears with how modern day communications worked and could probably make a radio out of a cookie sheet, a few wires and a circuit board he ripped out of a battery operated robot toy.
After evening chow, we were free to do as we pleased which was a new feeling for us. The randoms had no issues enjoying the free time. The two Marines and the Corpsman started hanging around with us after day one and we all got to know each other but they gravitated towards Sleeper and Zeus more than the rest of us. That didn't surprise me, but a few of the brothers felt a little put out because they saw Zeus as belonging to us. No one said anything, but I could see the disgruntled looks when the three outsiders got Zeus to smile or relax. Zeus was OUR God and we were unexpectedly possessive of him. To see him interact with outsiders instead of us in such an enthusiastic way caused reactions of jealousy and proprietary selfishness. No one was going to say anything though, Zeus could do as he pleased. That didn't mean we didn't want him to bestow his attention on us exclusively.
On the second night a rare event took place regarding Zeus. The Marines, Private First Class Battles and Lance Corporal Potter were massaging Zeus' sore muscles, nothing different than what was happening with the brotherhood. When I said we hurt and were sore, I wasn't kidding. We'd paired off to work out the worst of the pain from each others' bodies. The Navy Medical Corpsman Petty Officer Lenger, our stick leader, was working on Sleeper, who was laying on his stomach, naked of course with his amazing ass on display. Zeus had his Army sweatpants and tan undershirt on.
"Zeus, just strip down, it'll be easier." Potter said, working Zeus' massive upper back while Battles tackled his thick legs.
"Zeus doesn't get undressed in front of people." Sleeper mumbled, obviously enjoying what the Corpsman was doing.
"Why not?" Battles asked.
"Don't know. He doesn't want to." Sleeper replied.
"It's okay, Sleeper. I should get used to it." Zeus said. It turned out it wasn't him who needed to get used to him being undressed.
"Good, let's get this off." Potter grabbed the hem of Zeus' undershirt.
"No, I'll do it." Zeus' voice shot out as he rolled off his bunk and stood up, and the tension in his voice put every Bravo on sudden alert, including me and all activity stopped as all eyes of the Brotherhood focused on Zeus. If he needed us, we were ready.
Potter and Battles stepped away quickly. "Okay, brother." was all Potter said. If Zeus was tense, we were all tense.
Chunk had stopped kneading my muscles, his hands remained stationary on my ass and I felt his fingers tighten in a grip.
"Everyone just breathe... Zeus is fine." I said, trying to relax the room.
Zeus sighed loudly. "Sorry guys. I'll relax." And he did, which meant we did right after.
"Fuuuuuuuuccckkkk". Potter groaned.
Sleeper laughed. "You'll get used to it. You like Zeus, right?"
"Yeah, he's great." Battles answered. "I mean, look at him. I wish I looked like that."
"We all do. But see, the reason you like Zeus isn't really up to you, it's up to him. He likes you. Which means you don't have a choice. That's Zeus. All of us are extremely grateful we've never seen Zeus angry. I don't know whether we'd collapse in fear, get angry too, or want to kill whatever made him angry but I guarantee none of us would like it at all. He's a God. We just keep him happy. We absolutely DO NOT like it when Zeus is not happy. Mostly he's just quiet and does his thing. And he does his thing better than any of us."
"Addison... don't say that." Zeus shook his head.
"And he doesn't like being called a God. Sorry bro." Sleeper apologized.
Zeus pulled off his sweat pants, then paused before lifting his undershirt off his huge upper body.
The gasps from Potter and Battles caused me to turn to look. I fully admit I popped an instant boner and it wasn't voluntary. Fuck, Sleeper looked like dog shit compared to Zeus. I couldn't wrap my head around what I was looking at, or the fact that something this impossible could be so effectively hidden by clothes. We all knew Zeus was built and big, but shit... seeing the exact size and shape of his body parts stunned to confusion. I didn't even know a man's thighs could look like that. How were his shoulders so round, his traps that far up his neck or that big and thick above his collarbone? His fucking rib cage was enormous, expanded further by his triangle shaped lats, and his pecs so mounded they seemed partially horizontal. The valley between them half of the width of my hand, at least and I could swear they went around the side under his arms. I made the mistake of looking at his nipples and found my mouth watering at the thought of nursing on them. His abdomen was divided up into eleven very distinct sections: the eight abdominals, the adonis belt created by his two prominent obliques, and whatever the fuck that was just above his crotch, some muscle I'd never seen anyone have before. I'd seen his biceps and arms, but had never seen how they met his big round delts. Zeus was at that body fat level where you couldn't see his actual muscle fibers, but you could see every cut between the different muscles, and see them clearly. Thank fucking God he wore loose boxers. I'm not sure we could have survived seeing him naked or even in tight briefs. We were all moths and he was a bright flaming beacon. I knew if he asked I would have to leave Kevin for him. It would break me into pieces but I wouldn't be able to refuse, not for lust but to worship. Maybe Zeus would take both of us, I'm sure Kevin wouldn't mind. Zeus wasn't bodybuilding huge, not puffed out where every muscle appeared to swallow the guy wearing them. It's hard to explain, but he CONTAINED his muscles, they grew on his frame perfectly to the exact proportion required to make the adjacent muscle and body part look even better, appear even bigger, formed just that much more perfectly. For God's sake, his goddamn ankles made me want to kneel and pray for just the slightest chance I might be permitted to touch them with the tip of my little finger. Every single eye in the bay was spellbound. None of the brothers had any idea we had been allowed to live with this God for 6 months and I know I for one was so incredibly grateful. With a jolt, I suddenly came to know the true meaning of adoration. That feeling of rapture when you gaze upon a deity and the joy of being given the opportunity to touch him with your eyes can make you weep. Magnificence was a word inferior to Gabriel Gunnerson. He was Awe. He was Brilliance. He was Expansive and Magnetic. Glorious. Gabriel, like his namesake the Archangel, Strength of God. You could not look upon him and believe he was a man. It saddened me that I would have to ask him not to get undressed in front of us again. If he did, it would eventually destroy us.
Our God stood there with his head lowered, still holding onto his undershirt bunched up in his fists. The bulging muscles of his larger than life body were criss-crossed with long white scars. I could only see his front, but the back had to look the same or worse.
"Assmunch," Chunk whispered. "You see that?"
"Yeah, buddy." I answered. "Don't stare, it's obvious he is uncomfortable letting anyone see that." Like we could do anything except stare.
"What happened to you, Zeus?" Potter asked. I cringed a little, but was impressed that the Marine had the fortitude to speak directly to his revealed God. If Zeus didn't want anyone looking, he most certainly wouldn't want anyone asking.
"I was bad." Were the only words Zeus gave in explanation as he lay back down on his bunk to allow Potter and Battles to continue to work his sore muscles. It took them a half a minute to pull themselves together and reach out to touch him, but their hands were shaking, I saw. I also didn't miss the erections they both had in their underwear, but honestly I think every one of us had a boner for Zeus. It wasn't their fault. I can't imagine what it felt like to touch him like they were doing.
I didn't believe for a second that Zeus had been bad. A man that perfect couldn't be bad, ever. I wondered who did that to him and how they could manage to bring themselves to harm a beautiful God. He'd never said much in general, much less tell us about his life before the Army so none of us had any clue where the scars had come from. I glanced over at Sleeper to see that my best friend was watching Zeus closely with concern and worry. All of us, the Brothers that is, understood if Zeus wanted us to know how he got the scars he would tell us when he was ready. Until then, we should pretend they didn't exist. I made a mental note to let everyone know Sleeper would handle it which should let them ignore it sufficiently that it wouldn't change how they treated Zeus. Besides, we weren't really in any position to do anything to help him except for doing everything we could to demonstrate he was still the same Zeus for us.
"My turn." Chunk said, having finished with my muscles. I was still sore, but knew I'd be functional tomorrow.
I stood up. "Switch up Bravos". I called to the brothers, some of whom grumbled because they wanted their turns to continue. I noticed more than a few jealous looks coming from the randoms so I addressed them. "If any of you want the kinks worked out, I'll get volunteers to help you out after we're done with each other."
"I want that Zeus guy!" One Air Force guy called out.
I looked over at him. "First, his name is Gabriel, or you can call him Gunnerson." I said calmly. "You get to call him Zeus when he says you can call him Zeus. Second, he's spoken for." I already knew the only reason it wasn't Sleeper giving Zeus his massage was because the giant really liked the two tough and built Marines. Potter had an ass and legs that almost rivaled Sleeper's, as well as a clear serious face that was unnervingly handsome. Like, can't-stop-staring-at-him, how the fuck were his eyes that blue handsome. Never mind that straight, wide nose, the square forehead that perfectly matched his heavy square jaw, eyes that were angles rather than curved or round, and dark hair cut and shaved in a high and tight that looked like it was created just to accentuate his male model good looks. Still, for all his attractiveness, he fell in a distant second to Sleeper who was just better proportioned, taller, and seductively beautiful with his pale skin, deep pink lips and smoky dark eyes.
Battles was damn near Potter's opposite. Tall and lean, but still muscular, Private Battles had light blonde hair the color of sunshine cut in a similar high and tight. His face was long and thin with a matching nose, wide thin lips and a cleft chin. His green eyes had that washed out quality that begged you to identify their exact color. You know the kind: where you questioned whether you saw green, blue, gray, or some blend. The Marine couldn't have had more than 4% body fat, and it looked like his skin was just a flesh colored cloth covering his exposed musculature. Zeus could probably wrap his massive hands around Battles' waist. Somehow, for being tall and thin, he didn't look small or weak. His chest wasn't thick or deep, but it was wide, as were his squared off shoulders. And in spite of his lack of mass, his butt still curved out and filled his underwear.
I grinned when I concluded Zeus must be an ass man. He definitely seemed to have a type.
I made sure to hit Chunk's soft muscle meat in all the right spots that had been punished repeatedly yesterday and today. He moaned beneath me in relief. I didn't neglect his feet driving my thumbs up from the heel across his arch to the pads, flexing his ankles, squeezing each foot with twists and pressure.
"Ahhh, fuck Assmunch, you can do that for an hour." Chunk mumbled. Across the bay various groans of pleasure came from the brothers, and I chuckled at the thought we sounded like a whorehouse.
"Roll over, time for your front buddy." I gave him a weak slap on his big ass. Chunk grunted as he repositioned to his back.
"Awww, little Chunk's happy." I said, grabbing his noticeably erect cock through his underwear.
"Careful, he's cocked and loaded, brother." He replied but remained fully relaxed. " We wouldn't want an accidental discharge and it's been so long it won't take much." Chunk chuckled. "I wouldn't say no to a handjob, but we have the randoms watching."
I laughed. "You wish I would give you a handjob, brother." I teased him with one last rub along his frenulum at the head of his leaking dick.
"Fuck dude, stop..." he whispered. "I'm about to bust, seriously."
"Why didn't you have Wanker take care of it?" I asked. I'd finally gotten a chance to have that talk with Sleeper and Zeus and received an in depth report of everything that happened that last week when I was gone. I felt a bit disappointed that I didn't share that experience with them. Not the Wanker part, but handling the shelter and that last operation. Like everything we went through together, it made the Brotherhood stronger and brought us all closer. I would have liked to have been a part of that. I admired how Sleeper had handled the Wanker issue, and how my brothers had responded.
"Nah man, I don't need all that. Don't get me wrong, I'm so horny it was tempting and I might take him for a test drive at some point, but I'm not comfortable enough with it yet. It's still a dude, you know?"
"I know bud. I wouldn't have either, for different reasons. But it's cool he's good with handling that for the brothers, and that everyone seems cool with it too." I focused on Chunk's delts while I talked, keeping my voice down. "Still, you guys are awesome for not making a big deal about it."
"Well, Wanker and Puta are still our brothers. Who cares what they want to do with other dudes? They pull their weight." He said. That pretty much summed up how it was for us. It didn't matter what you had going on, if you did your part and helped us be better and succeed, other shit didn't matter. Weeble was our smallest brother, and sometimes struggled with doing some stuff, but he worked twice as hard as anyone else and never quit. His determination spurred the rest of us to do better, and he couldn't wait to volunteer for the things he could tackle with ease. If he needed a hand with anything, we didn't make a big deal of it and just helped him out. The most frequent thing out of Weeble's mouth was `I'll do it.'
After a good thirty minutes, I called an end to our massages and asked the guys to go take care of the randoms who wanted or needed it. I let them know it wouldn't be a nightly thing and maybe they could pair up amongst themselves to help each other out. I could suggest, but it was up to them to figure it out. The Brotherhood didn't have an issue with putting our hands on each other, but those other soldiers really didn't know each other and it would be difficult for them to get beyond the reluctance to allow another man to touch you so intimately. Of course Zeus and Sleeper just stuck with each other, letting the Marines and the Corpsman get their turn by Troll, Puta and Cellblock. Zeus did Sleeper first and really had Sleeper groaning and drooling. Zeus wore a pleased grin the entire time. I needed to have a talk with Sleeper about what he thought about Zeus going forward. If this was Sleeper just having a little fun he needed to know Zeus was all-in and it wouldn't be right not to be honest with him. Sleeper wasn't usually careless with someone's feelings, but I wanted to be sure mostly because this was brand new territory for them both and maybe Sleeper didn't realize Zeus had fallen for him hard. I could see it in every look the giant gave my best friend. And damn, I was just a little jealous that they got to share what we did with each other. I would have given anything to have Kevin here doing Jump School with me.