Soldiers in Heat: Training Session (4 page)

“
I didn’t sleep with
her.”

His lies made her sick to her
stomach.

“
Don’t insult me by thinking I’m
not smart enough to put two and two together. Just because I didn’t
act a fool on you don’t mean I wasn’t aware. I knew if you cheated
while away, you’d cheat at home too.” If she was next to him she
would’ve had to resist choking him.

“
Stop this. You need to come home
so we can work this out.”

From his tone, she could tell he was talking
through clinched teeth.

“
The legal separation was me
working it out. Sign the divorce papers, and you can do as you
please with all the women you please.” She pressed the end button.
Taking deep breaths Kimberly tried to calm herself. She wanted to
scream.
How dare he want me to give up my career and go home to
his cheating behind?

“
You okay?”

Carlson stood behind her.

“
Yes, I’m fine.” Turning around,
she avoided eye contact.

“
I didn’t realize you were on the
phone. I was coming over to talk to you and caught the end of the
conversation.”

She sighed.

“
If you want to talk about it, we
can. Kang is in the computer lab. He’s the next Student Platoon
Sergeant. He’ll be a while.”

Why not?

Kimberly needed someone to talk to and he’d
already heard part of the conversation. She nodded and followed him
back up to the third floor. Following the OCS rules, they stepped
inside but didn’t close the door. Kimberly took a seat on his bed
and he on the floor.

“
Maybe you can help me understand.
You’re a guy,” she said. “How the hell can he cheat and hinder me
from following my dreams, but expect me to be there at his beck and
call?” She choked back tears and slumped down on the
bed.

“
Because he’s a guy and he’s an
idiot. How long were you married?”

His eyes were on her. She saw kindness and
understanding in them.

Not feeling any judgment from him, she
answered, “Five years.”

He scratched his chin. “Was he always this
way? I mean, were there signs?”

She swallowed hard and thought back. “It
didn’t start until I got promoted to Staff Sergeant. He was one as
well but got promoted to Sergeant First Class a few months
later.”

“
Some men are intrigued by a woman
who is independent, but they can’t handle what all it
entails.”

She looked up at him. A light bulb went off in
her head.
Could Charles be intimidated by my progression?
“So basically as long as I stayed lower enlisted, he’d be fine.
It’s all about his ego.”

“
I can’t say for sure, but it
sounds like it.”

Chapter Six

Jonathan watched Woodson’s every move. She
displayed sadness and strength. During training hours, you couldn’t
tell she had any problems at home. Talking revealed her softer
side. He wished he could give her a hug but refrained. The program
had its rules against intimate contact, but his body ached with
desire to comfort her.

She has no idea how sexy she
is.

“
Now that I’ve cried on your
shoulder, how about you? Wife? Girlfriend?” she asked.

He took a moment before answering. “I was
married a long time ago, and I currently don’t have a
girlfriend.”

“
What happened with you and your
wife?”

“
I joined the military right after
high school and married my sweetheart. It wasn’t long before I was
deployed. When I came home, she was pregnant. No way it could have
been mine, and I’m not about to take care of a child by the man she
cheated on me with.” Jonathan kept it short and sweet, leaving out
the part of how she constantly cleaned out his bank account on
payday while he was gone. She freaked out when he switched
accounts. He continued paying the bills but no longer let her have
access.

“
Wow, I don’t blame
you.”

“
Sup, Woodson?” Kang said, walking
back in the room.

“
Hi. I’ll get out your hair. I
need to look over some things before lights out.” Woodson stood up
to leave. “Thanks for the talk.”

When Jonathan was sure she was out of hearing
range, he said, “Thanks a lot. I thought you had stuff to
do?”

“
I did, but Staff Sergeant Isome
is on duty. The student area cleared out as soon as he walked in.
What’s the big deal anyway?”

“
It just walked out.”

“
Woodson? She’s cool, but I didn’t
think you dipped in the chocolate. Now, me on the other hand, I
love me some sistas.” He licked his lips and nodded his head as he
spoke.

“
You do know you’re Asian,
right?”

“
And? The sista’s love Ki Kang.”
He laughed.

Jonathan shook his head. “Stop watching so
many rap videos.”

“
Whatever, man. I grew up in the
hood. Well, at least my mom’s nail shop is.”

“
Kang!” Jonathan grabbed his towel
and snapped it at him.

Dodging the blow, he said, “What?”

“
There’s no hope for
you.”

“
No, there’s no hope for you in
getting with Woodson. I think Harvey is more her type.”

“
Harvey is a fuck up.” Jonathan
twisted his lips to the side. He wasn’t impressed.

“
He’s black, though.”

“
Then how come I never see them
together. Matter of fact, I saw her intentionally take the long way
around instead of walking in front of his desk.” He pulled out his
physical fitness pants and shirt.

“
The man simply hasn’t made his
move yet.”

Jonathan wondered if Woodson had ever dated a
white guy. Come to think of it, he never dated a black woman, not
that he didn’t want to. He appreciated women of all ethnic
backgrounds, but the opportunity to date a black woman one hadn’t
come up. Until now. Not that you could get away with really dating
anyone while in training though.

“
Flick out the light when you’re
done.” Jonathan crawled under his covers. Thoughts of Woodson
danced around his head before he drifted off into a much needed
deep sleep.

His alarm went off, and moments later shouts
of “Wake up!” rang down the hall. He grabbed his bathroom kit and
shuffled out his room and down the hall to the male latrine. The
room was packed.

“
Freaking sausage fest,” one of
the males coming in the door behind him said.

Jonathan couldn’t agree more. He relieved
himself and took a spot in line for a sink. His five o’clock shadow
was thick. Brushing his teeth could be done without the mirror, but
he wasn’t in the mood to miss a spot shaving and have the cadre
call him out on it.

When a sink became available, he and another
male shared it, both rushing to make it to morning formation on
time. He finished up and, within a few moments, stood outside with
the other half-awake candidates.

“
Today’s the battalion run for the
senior class. We’re going to march over to the start and line up
with the rest of the battalion. Remember, this counts as our
four-mile run. Anyone who falls behind will be doing a retake. You
don’t pass the retake, then you’ll end up at HHC,” the Student
Sergeant Major said.

No one wanted to end up at the holding
company. Jonathan and a few others arrived early for OCS and had to
spend a few days there at HHC. The candidates there were either
waiting on the next class to start or on their way home. One could
end up there for a number of reasons: getting hurt, failing a
graded portion of the course, security clearance problems, or
conduct unbecoming of a candidate.

The bottom line was no one wanted to be there
and the cadre in charge wasn’t happy to see them. After physical
fitness, they did crappy details around the battalion area instead
of going to class. The look on the candidates’ face resembled those
of a chain gang. Jonathan often saw them mowing the lawns and
landscaping the area.

“
I hate these runs,” he
mumbled.

“
Anyone who doesn’t needs a hole
in their brain. Everyone knows if you’re not in the front
companies, then you get stuck with the accordion affect. Go fast,
slow down, oh crap there’s someone slowing you down so you have to
sprint around to catch up. Not fun at all,” Woodson
answered.

“
Company!” the Student Sergeant
Major said.

“
Platoon!” the Student Platoon
Sergeant repeated.

“
Attention!” the Student Sergeant
Major said.

Everyone snapped to attention, and soon they
were making their way to the battalion area. Once there, the
Battalion Commander gave his spiel, said some lame jokes, and had
them do a few pushups to warm up. Afterwards, the run
began.

Starting off was extremely slow. With five
companies ahead of them, each had to get far enough down the road
to make room for the other. They took off at a snail’s pace before
it turned into a slow jog. Jonathan’s legs burned from taking
choppy steps. Woodson ran in front of him, and he tried his best
not to step on her. Daylight hadn’t arrived yet, making his task
difficult.

“
Carlson, call cadence!” the
Student Platoon Sergeant said.

He smiled and gladly stepped out the formation
and into position. “Up in the morning, before day!”

They repeated it back.

“
I don’t like it no
way.”

Calling running cadence allowed him to stretch
out his legs. A mile passed, and he got fully into it.

Chapter Seven

Jonathan’s voice kept Kimberley in step. Her
heart warmed in hearing him. It was becoming the highlight of her
day and night. After their talk she began have dreams about him.
She felt she could tell him anything. Kimberly wasn’t fond on
opening up to anyone, let alone a white man. Her upbringing led her
to believe they were from two different worlds. There was something
about him. His presence called to her soul.

The girl next to her caught her attention.
“Come on, Zimmerman, hang in there, girl.”

Zimmerman’s breathing became erratic, and she
was fading fast.

“
Don’t think about the pain. It’s
all in your head. You can do this,” Kimberly kept talking, but her
words were falling on deaf ears.

More candidates in the companies in front of
them had fallen all the way back to their formation.

“
You’re done, candidate. Stop and
get on the bus,” she heard cadre from different companies shouting
out and catching the ones who failed to stay with their
company.

Kimberly watched as Zimmerman’s eyes strayed
to the failing candidates.

“
Don’t do it, girl.”

It was no use. Zimmerman slowed
down.

Looking back over her shoulder, Kimberly tried
one last time. “Come on, catch back up. You can do it.”

Kimberly’s foot caught against a pothole.
Instant pain shot through her ankle. She faltered, trying to stay
in step.

“
You injured or hurt, candidate?”
Staff Sergeant Isome asked. He ran alongside her.

The difference between injured and hurt in the
Army was injured goes to medical to get checked out. Hurt means
you’re in pain and will be okay.

“
Hurt, Staff Sergeant.” She
winced. With each step, she felt discomfort.

“
Good, then suck it up and keep
moving.” He gave her a pat on the back and ran off.

“
Don’t let your dog tags dangle in
the dirt,” Carlson said, calling cadence.

“
Don’t let your dog tags dangle in
the dirt!” she and the other shouted back.

“
Pick up your dog tags and put ‘em
in your shirt,” he said.

Kimberly focused on his voice instead of the
stabbing sensation in her ankle. The other companies in front of
her rounded the last corner to the battalion area.

A little further.
She willed herself
forward.

Two hundred more feet and she was back in the
battalion area. When they stopped, she stood, balancing her right
foot on its toes, but with only a slight bend in the knee. She
faked the position of attention and was able to limp-march back to
the company area and then on to chow. Instead of running back from
the chow hall to Delta Company, she waited outside until other
candidates came out and marched with them.

Stevens gave her a look of concern when she
walked in the room, but Craig spoke up. “You okay? What
happened?”

“
Twisted my ankle on a pothole.”
She limped to the chair next to her hutch and sat down.

“
Are you going to
medical?”

“
Hell no. You’ve seen what
happened to folks who go to medical. They’re put with the gimps and
singled out by the cadre until they break. No thank you.” Kimberly
pulled out a t-shirt and underwear from the hutch drawers. “I’ll
just pull the bootstraps tight and pray it doesn’t swell. I can ice
it tonight.”