Barracks Bitch

[shinelover]

Fuck, that last part might be my favorite so far!

[Assmunch]

THE WEEKEND

 

I figured Zeus and Sleeper had gone off for some private time, but was happy to see them return.  I didn’t think either one of them would be careless but I couldn’t help the worry taking up a small space in the back of my mind.  They returned subdued and I wondered what had happened because Sleeper wasn’t walking with his usual swagger.

“What’s going on, guys?”  I asked.

Sleeper looked at Zeus and although he remained expressionless there was a deep undercurrent of uncertainty and sadness that radiated from his posture.

“We need to talk to you, buddy.”  Sleeper replied.

I nodded.  If Sleeper wanted to talk, this wasn’t something minor.  My best friend wasn’t someone who found it difficult to sort out his own head.  “Somewhere private then.  We don’t have a lot of time.  How about outside on the benches?  Less chance our voices will carry.”

Walking out the door the brothers all glanced at us.  I made a motion with my hand to let them know I’d handle it.  I could tell they’d noticed Zeus and Sleeper’s odd behavior and wanted to help.

I selected a spot far enough away from the group of smokers getting their final cigarette of the night.  Until Airborne it hadn’t occurred to me that the Bravos didn’t have a single smoker which I found curious.  That defied the odds.  After sitting down, I asked Zeus first.

“Buddy, what’s wrong?”

Zeus’s broad shoulders sank, his eyes refused to stray from the ground in front of him.  The uncharacteristically quiet night was chilly.  “I’m being bad again.”  The fog from our breathing seemed to linger longer than it should as if it held the weight of our feelings.

Sleeper shook his head and an angry look crossed his face.  It passed quickly.  He reached out and put his hand on Zeus’s shoulder.  “I’m sorry, Gabriel.  This is my fault.  We shouldn’t have taken our walk.”

Of course I was curious.  But I didn’t need to know the particulars to understand that Zeus’s issue wasn’t what happened on the walk, it was deeper.  I read the signs: Sleeper was upset on behalf of Zeus, not because of him.  Zeus was dealing with something that he would never blame Sleeper for and it sounded like he was blaming himself.

“Gabriel, look at me, please.”  I said.  When Zeus looked up, his eyes glistened with unshed tears.  This giant, capable soldier looked like a lost little boy and I couldn’t understand how someone who was so much larger than life could shrink himself down to appear so pitiful.  “You aren’t bad, Gabriel.  What do you want?  What does your heart tell you?”

Zeus shifted his gaze to Sleeper, and tears fell silently from his eyes.  I had to force myself to breathe through the overwhelming wave of sadness that bordered on despair that hit me.

“You love Sleeper.”  I said and sighed.  I knew this was coming. I didn’t think Sleeper would break this gentle man’s heart, but I hadn’t had a chance to have that talk with my best friend like I wanted.  I studied Sleeper’s face, his body language.  He wasn’t holding back from Zeus, in fact his hand had moved up to stroke Zeus’s handsome broken face, his thumb wiping the tears that fell.  No, Sleeper hadn’t broken Zeus’s heart.  He cared deeply about Zeus.

“And you, Sleeper?  What are you thinking?”

Sleeper shrugged, his eyes never leaving Zeus’s face.  “I love him back.  I figured that out tonight.  I’d do anything for him, but I don’t know how to fix this.” He said softly.

I tilted my head.  “Fix what?  Nothing needs to be fixed.  You love each other.”

“Assmunch, the Army -“ Sleeper started.

“So what?”  I interrupted him.  “Do you think you’re the only ones who have to hide?  This isn’t about a stupid policy.  Look, at some point there’s always going to be a conflict with what the Army wants and what you want.  My dad had to face that decision more than once.  Sometimes he chose the Army.  Sometimes he had to choose his family.  That’s something you figure out when it comes up.  This… this is about something else for Zeus.”

Sleeper took a breath.  “It won’t work, Andrew.  And Gabriel doesn’t want to break the rules.”

Maybe it was my recent reconciliation with Kevin, maybe it was because I was still basically a kid, but I felt they shouldn’t just give up.  A wiser, older me may have agreed with Sleeper’s assessment.  Yeah, Sleeper was just Sleeper about it, rolling with the punches and recognizing when he was out matched.  In sports you learned to accept defeat without internalizing it and used it as a lesson to correct your mistakes so that you could come back and fight better the next time.  But Zeus didn’t seem to have learned any of that.  In fact, Zeus appeared to give up the fight before he even stepped on the mat.

“Zeus, why do you have scars all over you?”  I asked him.

Zeus looked down at his big hands which were gripping his thighs.  “I was bad.  I had to be punished.”

That much I figured out already.  The real question was why… and who.  “What did you do?”

It didn’t seem possible, but Zeus shrunk down even further until he looked small and helpless.  I could swear he was a child in that moment, no older than 12, weak, uncertain, his voice was no longer broad and deep, no rumbling vibration caressed my body when he spoke about growing up and his brother.  Sleeper and I exchanged frequent alarmed stares as we listened to what had been done to our friend.  He quoted Bible verses often as a way to explain, but the worst part was the slow progression of how his spirit had been torn apart and crushed which he related without understanding what had been stolen from him by his brother’s ever increasing cruelty.  Zeus remembered every strapping.  They began with legitimate but minor infractions (still not worthy of being whipped by a thin leather rein, even so).  Then gradually they occurred for things Zeus couldn’t help or had no control over.  After a few years Ezekiel began whipping him for things that weren’t mistakes or misbehavior and it became apparent Zeus was simply a target on which Ezekiel could express his anger and cruelty.

“I wasn’t supposed to…”

“A man should always…”

“The Bible says…”

“It was my fault….”

“I didn’t listen…”

“It was his job to teach me…”

“I had to learn…”

With every repetition it became clearer and clearer that Zeus’s brother Ezekiel was an angry, bitter, cruel man who didn’t actually care about Zeus at all, in spite of his insistence that it was for Zeus’s own good.  The events Zeus described were ordinary kid things, not a single one of them were actually bad or malicious.  Not closing the screen door all the way… or letting it slam… Zeus got ten straps for that.  He interrupted his brother’s work when he was 12 to tell him he’d gotten an award for being the fastest to complete his math tables in the contest that day for his class, so excited and happy that Ezekiel would be proud he’d done so well.  He’d gotten 15 straps for stopping Ezekiel’s work, and for not immediately getting to his own chores when he got home.  He got whipped for giving his favorite horse a half a carrot one day.  He got whipped for not wanting to be whipped.

Holy. FUCKING.  HELL.

I don’t know how Zeus had survived all that without being completely broken.  I wanted to kill.  I’d always wondered if the time came when I saw real combat if I had it in me to actually kill another human being.  Some soldiers don’t, you know.  Some soldiers never fire a single round in combat.  Others will fire, but deliberately miss.  Look it up, it’s a common battlefield problem.  But now, I had no uncertainty.  Oh, I fucking had it in me, I could absolutely put a fucking bullet right through the center of Ezekiel’s skull.  I’d gladly watch his black, oily, evil brain splatter as the round exited the back of his worthless head.  A bullet was too good for him, though.  The words of Gutter, the Army Ranger who’d instructed us for that week in Germany came back to me.  “Your kill should be cold, it shouldn’t be personal.  Your enemy is an obstacle, that’s all.  If you’re angry, if you want him to suffer, you care about him too much.”  I couldn’t be cold about this.  I felt like throwing up.  What kind of person could whip a little kid until he bled?  Sleeper was furious, and tears were coming out of his eyes at the same time.  His breath was coming in deep, shaky, heaving snorts like the whuff of a bull about to charge.  I felt that tingling flush across my body as I finally put the last piece of Zeus’s puzzle together in my head.

If I had admired Zeus before, now I felt what I can only describe as a righteous, protective love that raged through me like a violent thunderstorm mixed with an intense pride at the strength it must have taken to come out the other side as probably the most upright, decent man I’d ever met.  That he could still feel anything good was a miracle and it only emphasized that Zeus was greater than us all.  He’d endured years of abuse that was worse than torture.  I understood how Puppy Dog Zeus could share this massive body with serious, quiet, masterful Zeus.  What had been done to him froze a part of his mind at a child’s age before it formed adult thoughts, the happy part before the pain.  There was no happiness for Zeus after his father died and Ezekiel took over.  Every piece of happy in him was a child’s version of happy.  In spite of his brother’s insistence that he become a man, Ezekiel’s actions ensured Zeus would never fully become one.  Zeus was faking it all, doing what he’d been told without understanding why men acted like men.  Knowing the rules, and knowing WHY there were rules were two very different things.  The former you followed blindly, the latter you reasoned through so you could judge when the rules were appropriate and necessary, and when they didn’t serve the situation.  This wasn’t about being good, and being bad.  Zeus would never truly know the difference until he saw it from a different perspective than he’d been brainwashed through torture to learn.

“Gabriel.  Do you love Addison?”  I asked him, struggling to keep my anger hidden from my voice.

Zeus nodded.

“If Addison did something bad…something truly bad, like stealing, would you give him a strapping to teach him a lesson?”

Zeus looked up in fright.  Then he looked at Sleeper.  Shaking his head fast, he said “No, I could never hurt Addison.  Never.”

“What about me?  Would you give me a strapping if you caught me stealing?”

Zeus didn’t answer as fast, which was good.  I needed him to think about it.  I watched his eyes roam off.  I wanted to actually chuckle because I could see his face screw up like a kid’s when they tried to think their way through something difficult.  Ah, it was good to find some joy in all this darkness.  Puppy Dog Zeus was just that - pure joy.  It just made me love this big man more.  So many of us lose the habits and mannerisms of youth, or learn to suppress them.  I saw it happening in my little brother Tim.  I felt another wave of understanding come to me about my parents and my Dad in particular.  How you want your kids to grow up, but have to watch the exuberant joy of youth gradually fade, and how it becomes a battle inside you between wanting that joy to stay around as long as possible and resigning yourself to teaching them to bury it or hide it so the harsh realities of life won’t hurt them too badly.  You have to walk a razor thin line balancing your love of who they are with what you want them to become.  Once again, I found myself thanking my Dad for the lessons he taught me while letting me decide how to manage and control my youthful impulses.  And through it all I knew my Mom and Dad loved me, even when they were angry at what I’d done.  That time when we’d first moved to Texas and were in base housing and I’d accidentally put a hole in my bedroom wall play wrestling with Tim.  Dad was angry, that would cost us money and this was Army property.  You didn’t damage someone else’s property with carelessness.  We fixed it, together.  Dad made me do most of the work which seemed like a lot when I was 10, but I understood now it wasn’t really that difficult.  The funny thing was it ended up being one of my favorite memories of Dad and I working together.  And he told me when the paint was drying how proud he was of me, how I’d done an excellent job.

“No, Andrew.  I wouldn’t strap you even though you know stealing is bad.” Zeus finally replied.  I wanted to ask him why, but it wasn’t time for him to see that yet.

“Okay, but I did a bad thing.  Would you let someone else give me a strapping?”

Zeus scowled.  “No. But I would make you give it back and I would tell you not to do it again.”

“So, you wouldn’t strap Sleeper for doing something bad, and you wouldn’t strap me, and you won’t let someone else do it.  Is strapping someone a good thing?”  I asked.  “I mean, hitting people is bad, right?”

Zeus screwed up his face again.  “You shouldn’t hit people, unless they deserve it.”

Ah, good, I thought.  Zeus COULD distinguish subtleties.  “So, if Sleeper and I did something REALLY bad, REALLY deserved it… then you would give us a strapping?”

“Andrew, no.  You and Sleeper are good.  I really like you.  I couldn’t hurt you like that, even if you were really bad.”  And my giant God sighed.

Now.  Maybe.  “Gabriel.  I don’t think Ezekiel liked you at all.  If he loved you, like you love us, he wouldn’t have been able to do that to you, even if you were really bad. What Ezekiel did was bad, Gabriel.  It was very bad.”

“But…” Zeus trailed off.

“Sleeper and I would never, NEVER give you a strapping no matter how bad you were, Gabriel.  No one deserves that.  Especially a child.  You could do the worst thing you could possibly imagine, and we wouldn’t do it.  Because we love you.  You don’t hurt someone you love.  When you love them, you do everything you can NOT to hurt them.  Was your brother ever nice to you?  Was he ever kind?  Did he tell you he loved you?”

Again, Zeus was lost in silent thought.  His face became more and more troubled.  He began blinking rapidly, and I saw his chest start to heave with short, shallow breaths.  I think he was starting to panic.  Thank God, Sleeper saw it too, and he immediately straddled the bench and pulled Zeus into a tight hug.

“I love you, buddy.”  I heard Sleeper whisper to him, nuzzling his face into Zeus’s head.  “You’re a good man.  A very good man.”  And Sleeper kept whispering to him, in gentle soothing tones, much of which I couldn’t hear.

At possibly the worst time, I heard the crunch of boots on gravel.

“Hey boys!”  Lance Corporal Potter announced.  Something about the Marine’s complete obliviousness to what was happening irritated me.  Refusing to read the situation was unforgivable.  I shot up and spun around.  Private Battles was with him.

“No.”  I said, staring them down.  “Go inside.”

“Corporal.  Go inside, please, Corporal, I think you meant to say.”

I looked at him, letting my eyes blink slowly.  What a fucking dickhead.  I gave Lance Corporal Dickhead, who could probably pick me up and break my back over his knee, a half grin.  “Interesting.  I don’t see a uniform.  I don’t see a rank insignia.  I could check my watch, but I’m going to take a guess and point out we aren’t on duty and it’s after duty hours.  Which means if he isn’t in my chain of command I can tell a Marine Lance Corporal anything I want.  With respect, Potter, this is Bravo business.  Go inside… please.”

I gave him credit for letting it go, even though I’d given him the out he still had the presence and grace to take it rather than puffing up.  Maybe he was only half a dickhead.  A baby dickhead.  Like a nub.  Lance Corporal Nub.  Fuck yeah, he might never know his nickname but I was entertaining the thought of making sure the brothers knew it.

He darted a look at Sleeper and Zeus.  I thought I read a brief puzzled look of concern cross his face.  “Okay.  Let us know if you need our help.  I don’t know what happened, but it doesn’t look good.  If you need us, we’ll be with you.”

I reluctantly gave him credit for finally reading the situation and actually being a brother about it.  Dammit all to fucking hell.  I wanted someone to hate right now, someone closer than Zeus’s brother Ezekiel.  Potter and Battles could take it, wouldn’t bother them at all if I was to be a dick right back.  But then Corporal Nub had to go and be a decent human.  I was still going with the nickname, I decided.  I’d keep it to myself, but his pathetic attempt to pull rank… a Corporal pulling rank… seriously?  That earned him the honor of keeping his nickname.  Maybe it was the Lance grade in front of his Corporal, maybe it was that Marine blood.  I wasn’t going to waste brain energy trying to figure it out.

“Thanks, much appreciated.  Zeus is going to be okay.  We got his back.”

 

“You know Brickmann, I didn’t get it before, why they’d choose you to be the leader.  I think I do now.”  And he nodded his head to Battles then went inside the barracks.  Battles hung back a moment longer, staring at me with a considering look that reminded me of Kevin taking me apart.  I think Battles had the same gears in his head.  Hmmm, smart Marines.  How unexpected.  I think I liked them just a little bit more.

I turned around and found Zeus and Sleeper in the same position.  Zeus appeared a little less small, less shrunken in on himself.  Sleeper was still nuzzled up against his ear with his eyes closed, his legs sandwiching Zeus’s larger hips and thighs.

I unbuttoned my uniform shirt and took a quick look around, marking the building, the corners, the roofline, the other tables which were empty.  A look behind me indicated no one was coming up the path.

“All clear, Sleeper.  Go ahead.”  And I raised my arms in a big stretching yawn which opened up my shirt and covered three quarters of the view as I stood above them.

The kiss I saw almost made me cry.

                                                   **********

It was a couple minutes to bed check when we got inside.  I bobbed my head in a nod to the Bravos at the unspoken question in their looks.  They all immediately relaxed and if they weren’t already in their bunks under the blankets they quickly climbed in.  I noticed Potter and Battles down the bay and gave them a nod of thanks.  Nub and Gears.  Maybe I’d let them in on it if we bonded during this course.  I was pretty sure they would see the humor in it.

Zeus seemed more himself as he walked to his rack.  For the first time since I’d known him, Zeus undressed by his rack, hung his uniform in his locker, stripped off his undershirt and pulled out his pajamas.  He stood there in just his white boxers.  Again, the entire bay came to a stillness.  I refused to look away from Zeus’s magnificent body, but if I did I knew I’d see everyone staring eagerly with looks that varied from complete adoration to lust.  Just the way his muscles rippled and bunched when he moved was like a siren song that called to you and urged you to sink beneath the waves of his masculine strength.  I felt like he was pulling me towards him yet I wasn’t moving, I couldn’t move if I wanted to, not until he told me to.

Zeus pulled out his puppy dog pajamas, the ones his mother had sent him.  I felt a smile come to my face.  Now that I knew a bit more about how Zeus grew up, it was obvious that at least his mother loved him and that she probably hadn’t bought those pajamas for him.  She’d probably made them, sewed them herself, which solved the mystery of how you get German Shepard puppy dog pajamas for a beast like Zeus.  I’d never seen him put them on before, only ever seen him wear them, but somehow I felt this time was different for him.  He paused for a moment and looked at them.  He put a hand on one of the puppies that frolicked, stroking it with a couple fingers.  He smiled, like a little boy on Christmas Day, lost in some memory of happiness.  I had held myself together until then spurred on by anger and determination for my friend.  All that left me suddenly as my tears started to fall.  I couldn’t help but think that little boy was free now to become a man.  We’d have to guide him there, teach him the things that his brother SHOULD have taught him instead of crushing his spirit but this was something the Bravos could do for our God.  I knew I would have to stay on my toes.  Some of the brothers had some stupid idiot ideas about what men should do.

After Zeus dressed he climbed into his bunk.  The duty Sergeant had done a bed check and turned out the main lights before leaving.  I was almost asleep when Zeus’s voice echoed through the bay.

“Good night everyone.”  We didn’t say good night in the Army.  Not like that, not to everyone.  It felt weird, but then I questioned why.  There’s nothing wrong with being nice.  But then I remembered, if this wasn’t Jump School, we’d have a Sergeant screaming from the end of the bay to shut the fuck up and knock ourselves out or he’d come do it for us.  That made me chuckle.

“Good night Zeus, go to sleep.”  I said back.

“Good night John Boy.”  Demon called out.

Some smart ass from the randoms called out.  “Good night Mary Ellen.”

Which made everyone laugh.  Yeah, like we were The Waltons.  Zeus and Holler probably came the closest to being a Walton.

Everyone laughed again when Zeus asked “Who’s Mary Ellen?”

 

                                                 *******

                                           TOWER WEEK

 

The second week of the Army Basic Airborne Course was Tower Week.  Everyone in the Bravos had made it through Ground Week.  That’s not to say it was easy, we were just at the top of our game.  Four of the randoms either dropped or cycled out for one reason or another - injury, unconquerable fear of heights, or lack of physical fitness were the most common reasons for soldiers to fail Ground Week but I couldn’t believe some of the failures were the result of lack of preparation and studying. Part of the course was knowing your equipment and procedure and the Black Hats constantly evaluated your proficiency and knowledge. Where were your hands?  What was this part of the harness called?  Were you paying attention to your Jumpmaster?  We ran everywhere back and forth, barracks, chow, classroom, field.  The 34 foot tower was no joke because it was high enough to put the thought in your head that if your equipment failed you’d plummet to your death.  Stepping out that door the first time was a moment of faith.

The first lesson of the day after our PT run of 3 miles (up from the 2 &1/2 miles during Ground Week) and breakfast was the Suspended Harness and Swing Landing Trainer, or the SLT.

 

On the Suspended Harness were were clipped in to mock parachute riser slips, those two straps that came down from your parachute canopy that you used to guide your movement in the air.  Our group and one other, about a hundred troops were all lined up under an open sided metal roofed building that contained overhead lines and hanging lift assemblies from which descended the mock riser slips that we were taught how to attach to our harnesses.  Our Black Hats explained where to put our hands, how to grip, how to position our bodies and once again the repetition of keeping our knees and feet together and keeping our head down chin to chest.  Frequently and repeatedly we pulled ourselves up from the ground using our grip on the riser slips to hand suspended using only the strength of our arms while the instructor pointed out corrections or what we should focus on.  And while it wasn’t exactly groping, no body part was safe from a Black Hat’s hands so you got used to being touched everywhere.

The Swing Landing Trainer was next.  This was an apparatus similar to the Suspended Harness only with movement.  From an eight foot high platform we individually stepped off to swing suspended as we moved horizontally down a zip line that was maybe 20 feet long.  Again, we were reminded to keep our feet and knees together.  You’d be surprised how easy that was to forget when you had five other things to focus on.  That was deliberate, we were told.  It had to be ingrained, unconscious, automatic.  Feet and knees together was what kept you from a stupid avoidable injury during landing.  And we practiced that PLF, the Parachute Landing Fall, again on the SLT but it was different because this time were were actually moving sideways rather than just falling vertically.  It was kind of cool, I thought, because you hung swinging back and forth four feet off the gravel pit while the Black Hat called instructions to you and you had no idea when the drop would come.  You had to be ready the entire time to execute your PLF.  Everything was geared toward muscle memory and being able to do it in your sleep.  And trust me, you dreamed about it at night.  Over and over again we moved through the line to jump off that platform.  By lunch time my groin hurt from the harness straps, and my hips ached.  You didn’t always roll when you hit even though you tried.  About half the time your feet hit and instead of rolling calves to knees to hips to shoulders you just went feet to hips.  We were definitely doing massages again tonight.  But after a while I was looking forward to stepping off that platform even though I hadn’t yet been able to ignore the jolt to my groin I knew was coming.  Some of the guys were leaning forward to go off instead of a lean and step so they wouldn’t have to experience that jerk at the bottom.  Of course they were corrected by the ever watchful Black Hat.  We were taught how to detach ourselves from our canopy after laying on the ground.

The rest of the morning was ground practice for the mock door mass exit, which thankfully gave our abused bodies a break from the punishment of harness chafe and hip and shoulder beating from the PLF.  Fucking hell.  The mass exit training involved attaching your static line clip to the anchor line, internalizing the timing of the Airborne Shuffle (that interval of shuffling that your entire line moved at towards the door) which was one second for each soldier, do not rush the door, do not pause at the door.  The mock door was just three feet off the ground and it was a free standing actual C-130 door we’d eventually be jumping out of if we made it to Jump Week.  The mock door was at the end of a 10 foot long wooden platform with steps and that was where we lined up.  It started to feel real.  We practiced handing off our static line to the Jumpmaster which was the strap that pulled our parachute out of our packs after we left the aircraft.  Lean, step, feet together knees together, hit the ground with both feet, knees and feet together, no PLF, hop away keeping your feet and knees together.  Did I mention keep your feet and knees together?  Yeah, you should keep your feet and knees together.  One of the big lessons was how to hold our static line and position of our arms while doing so.  In class we were told a few horror stories of jumpers who got tangled in their static line and it wasn’t pretty.   And we finally had our combat gear, our rucks, clipped to our harness below our reserve chute.

 

“You will not pause at the door.”  The Black Hat said to the group gathered by the platform.  “Move forward in a smooth controlled shuffle.  Follow the instructions of the Jumpmaster exactly and watch for his go.  Your secondary Jumpmaster will control you with his hands towards the exit door.”  The Jumpmaster was the Instructor who manned the exit door.  There were actually two, one at the door to grab your static line and a secondary three steps away to do a final visual equipment check and verify you were clipped onto the anchor line properly with your arm in the right position and keep you moving.  “It helps if you keep time in your head as the soldiers in front of you move - shuffle, step, exit.  Shuffle, step, exit.  Shuffle, step, exit.  Do NOT touch or adjust your equipment as you move towards the exit.  Keep your left hand firmly on your static line until the Jumpmaster pulls it from your hand.  RELEASE your static line when he grabs it, NOT BEFORE. Your combat gear will feel unbalanced and awkward where it hangs from your harness down in front of you as you climb the steps but YOU ARE NOT TO LIFT IT OR MOVE IT IN ANY WAY.  By this time you should know not to talk as you move toward your jump.”  This would be the first time we practiced with our rucks clipped to the front of our harnesses and they hung in front of our thighs down just below our knees.  The taller you were, the fewer problems you had, so Weeble was going to have a tough time of it.  Between his helmet, main chute pack, his reserve and his ruck you almost couldn’t see a soldier.

We were positioned in line in no specific order.  I was in the rear of our group, not dead last but five men away.  The morning was cold but it had warmed up to 42 degrees and it was grey and overcast.  Everyone seemed eager for this.  This was the last piece of the process of jumping.  We’d been trained and practiced landing, moving, and exiting.  After this we’d put it all together for mass exit training from the 34 foot tower.

And after lunch, that was the rest of our day until 1600 hrs when we had to inspect then secure our gear and equipment and return it to the building where we’d pick it up again the next day.  In spite of the amount of time we spent standing around waiting to practice our exit, we were all pretty exhausted.

In the Airborne course we were of course free and at liberty after evening chow and some of the students went off for various fun or activities on the base.  We’d all learned the first week that timing was important.  The base gym was busiest just after 1700 hours, up until 1900 hours.  So the Bravos tended to barracks duties until then.  Our two Marines and the Navy Corpsman attached themselves to the brotherhood and had started to become unofficial members of the Bravos.  Even though we were dragging ass, we still ran the mile and a half distance to the gym in our workout clothes.

Half of the Bravos were focused on keeping up their general fitness and endurance, like Bootlicker, Wanker, Holler, Demon and Shark.  They played half court basketball, did full body exercises on the mats along with pushups and sit-ups.  The rest of us did weight training to build size and strength.  We all started with some deep stretching using the buddy system to really push to full extension.

Currently, I knelt behind Dumbo hugging him to twist his torso while he sat on the mat, holding the stretch.

“Breathe, Dumbo.” I reminded him as I pulled him around just a little bit more.  “Slow three count in…three count out.  Okay, other way.”  I let him rotate around to his left, grabbed him again and pulled.  “Hold it, breathe…there you go.  A little more… good.”  I moved my hands to his ribs.  “Left arm up, cross it behind your head to your right shoulder.”  I grabbed his elbow with one hand, kept my other on his ribs.  I pulled him over.

“Ooooooohhhhh, yeah…”. He groaned as his sore muscles stretched.

“Breathe.”  I reminded him.  While I was manipulating his body, I saw the Charlies walk in.

I had a strange feeling come over me seeing the Charlies, like I was in two places at once.  The time before we pulled our mutiny and thought the Charlies were all jackasses, and my recognition now that they were like an extension of the Bravos for me, my brothers.  It was hard to reconcile.  I wondered how much of our initial aversion to the Alphas, Charlies and Deltas was deliberately imposed competitiveness spurred on by the Sergeants.  No, it was something else.  Yeah, they definitely pitted us against each other.  The Charlies were our main pain, Sarge letting us know every time the Charlies beat us in some qualification or task.  We traded top rank with them over and over again, the Alphas and Deltas fighting it out for 3rd and 4th.  The Charlies would take the lead, then we’d seize it back, then they’d outdo us, but we’d crush them again.  We ran faster to beat the Charlies.  We disassembled our various weapons and reassembled lightning quick to knock them back down to sniff our asses in second place.  They’d never beaten us once in marksmanship.  Navigation was always back and forth.  We were champs at Comms and Intel because of Wanker and Bootlicker.  We felt short in recon and mechanical.   Strategy was a toss up, always, but I think that was because the Sarges got together to fuck with us, they loved fucking with us.  It made the Bravos stronger, made everything an Us vs. Them situation.  I got that tingling flush again.  When you had an enemy, competition, doing well was not enough.  You had to win.  I had an idea.

“Lamont!”  I called to him.  We didn’t have a chance to talk after we met up the evening of our first day.  I hadn’t actually seen them during our training every day, and every evening I had the Bravos studying or doing barracks business.  This past weekend would have been the first opportunity, but again I had a ton of shit to do.  Thank God Sleeper and Zeus did my laundry waiting their turn in line.  Who knows what the randoms did, most of them left the barracks to run amok on the base and enjoy themselves.  I hoped the Bravos wouldn’t lose their focus like that.  Time enough for fun and games after we accomplished whatever little game the higher ups in Command had in store for us.  I knew there was a plan, you couldn’t miss the signs of our special training, keeping us as a group.  I still wasn’t sure how we’d been selected or why, only that we were selected as individual soldiers from a diverse occupational background.  We might never know.

Lamont and the Charlies came to the mats.

“How’d Ground Week go?  Did everyone get through?”  I asked him.

“Hey Assmunch.  Yeah, of course.  Didn’t seem that hard.  Hell, after Graf and Sergeant Horvath driving us to near collapse I’m not sure anything could take one of us out.  How’d the Bravos do?”

“Same, brother.  Every now and then I give them a taste of our Sarge so they don’t get complacent.”  I replied.

Lamont chuckled.  He leaned in and whispered.  “Me too.  I’ll never forget that hairy bastard.”

“Want to stretch with us?  I have a proposition.”  I told him.

“I’m intrigued.  Sure.”

“Sleeper,” I called to my best friend.  “Go get the Bravos.  We’re going to have a competition with our brothers, the Charlies.”

I helped Lamont do his stretches, outlining my plan.

“What are the stakes?” He asked.

“I’d like to make it Platoon stakes, but can’t think of a prize we can all do easily as a group.  So what about individual stakes?  Match by match?” I offered.

“Yeah, I think the guys would go for it.  Good workout, too.” He responded.

“Okay, you and I will choose the match ups, try to keep things even.  Laundry service next weekend is the prize.  Whoever loses has to do their winner’s laundry.”

“Perfect.  You go talk to your guys, I’ll talk to mine.”

I went over to the Bravos and told them the plan.  They were seriously hyped up.  I figured they would be, it was the Charlies.

Just then an older soldier, maybe in his late 30’s, came up to us.  He was wearing marine silkies that showed his thick powerful bare thighs.  “You guys done with the mats?” He asked.

“Uh, not exactly.  We were just about to start some hand to hand matches between our two groups.”  I explained.  “We can wait a bit if you need to use them, or give you some space.  We only need a little for the matches.”

“Actually,” he said looking around and taking us all in.  He lingered just a little longer on Zeus and Sleeper.  “I think I’d like to see this.  Need a ref?”

That was a relief.  It was better to have an outside ref, otherwise Lamont and I would have to argue.

“Absolutely!”  I agreed.  “Glad to have you.  Private Brickmann, Airborne Course.  Army.”  I stuck my hand out.

“Major Collins.  Marines.”  He shook my hand.  Now, you might think because we were out of uniform, at the gym, outside of duty hours it would be first names and casual.  And it would have been if our rank had been anywhere close.  He wasn’t being a dick, and I certainly wasn’t bragging about being an Army Private.  But you avoided mistakes if everyone knew where they stood.  He didn’t want to hide his rank because there were certain things he HAD to report if he saw them, and he wanted me to know.  I needed to let him know I was a trainee at Jump School.

“A pleasure, Sir.”  I said.  “You ever do one of these?”  I asked him.

“Oh, here and there.”  He said evasively.

I chuckled.  “Lamont, come meet the Major”. I called.  Lamont came right over and stuck out his hand.

“Private Lamont, Airborne Course. Army.”

“My pleasure Private.”  Major Collins said.

“Lamont, Major Collins has offered to ref for us.  Major, we usually do submission rules.  Is that satisfactory?”

“You’ve matched before?”  He asked.

“Yes, Sir.  Many times.  We don’t mess around, and everyone knows when to call it.  You won’t have any idiots holding out too long here.”

“Good, let’s keep it fun, but intense.  Don’t want anyone to get dropped because of some off duty injury. ”

“That’s the plan, Sir.  My guys are the Bravos.  Lamonts are the Charlies.  Lamont, let’s get Zeus out of the way first.  It’s never fair, no matter who you select to go against him.”

“Yeah, it’s just sad to watch.  I may as well send my weakest, Kilpatrick.  Maybe he’ll just hug the big guy to death.  I swear he’s got a crush on him.”

I laughed.  “We all have a crush on Zeus, bro.”

Major Collins broke in.  “Zeus is the big guy over there?”

“Yeah.”  I answered.  “No one can even give him a challenge.  He sits out most of the time.”

“How about you two?  Will you participate?”  The Major asked.

“We weren’t going to because we had to ref.  But if you’re doing it, I’d like to.  This is the first time we wouldn’t match in a Platoon challenge.”

“Good.  You guys go last then, against each other.”  He suggested.  “Give your guys one last chance to get some payback no matter which side has more losses.  Seeing their leaders go head to head is good for them.  And if you’re throwing away the match with Zeus, maybe I can start this off with some excitement.”  He grinned and raised an eyebrow.

Now Major Collins was absolutely in prime physical shape.  Six feet tall, just slightly taller than me.  He had to be 230, definitely knew his way around the weight room.  His thighs alone could probably crush a man’s skull.  The Major’s experience and Marine training would negate most of Zeus’s advantages of height and strength, which meant Zeus would have to be smart.

“I think you might find it harder than you’re expecting, Sir.  He’s a beast.” I warned him.

“Outstanding.”  The Major grunted.  Just like a Marine to think getting the piss beaten out of him was a fun night out.

Oh fuck, this was going to be good.

“Zeus!  You’re up first.”  I called.  “Sweats off, Zeus.  This is going to be a real challenge.  The Major respectfully requests that you don’t hold anything back.”  Zeus took off his sweatpants and sweatshirt and stood there in his tee shirt and PT shorts.

“Well fuck me.”  Major Collins mumbled.

“You get used to it.”  I said.   “Mostly.”

“Submission rules, just like before.  Let’s give them some room, brothers.”

“I’m fighting a Major, Andrew?”  Zeus questioned.

“I’m not a Major in the ring, soldier.  I’m your enemy.  If you hold anything back I will crush you.”  Major Collins said.  He gave Zeus an intense stare.

Zeus blinked, then looked at me.  I nodded.  Sleeper clapped him on the back and whispered something to him.  Suddenly Zeus’s eyes changed, and I could swear I saw a predator sizing up his prey as he looked at the Marine Officer.

“Start!”  Lamont called out.

Right out of the fucking gate Zeus took three steps and went into a grapple with Collins.  Without a pause Zeus dropped his left shoulder suddenly, slipping free of the Major’s grip and drove his shoulder into Collins’ midsection, wrapped his arm around his waist to lift him off the ground and then arched back to throw the Major to the mat behind him.  Zeus immediately flipped over and dove to try to pin the Major, but Collins wasn’t having any of it.  He rolled away and was on his feet in less than two seconds.  Zeus had sprung to his own feet right after failing to get Collins under him.

“Nice move.  It won’t work again.”  Collins taunted.

“I don’t need it to.”  Zeus said calmly.  Dangerously.

Collins moved fast, way too fast.  He was inside Zeus’s defense too fast for Zeus to grab him or hit him, and he got his left leg behind Zeus’s knee just as his forearm struck Zeus’s chest.  Zeus began to tilt back in a fall.  If Collins got him down it might end because I was pretty sure the Major knew about 50 ways to immobilize an opponent on the ground.  But Zeus wasn’t a pushover… literally or figuratively.  He twisted his torso opposite Collins’ position while grabbing the arm that struck him, using his own backwards momentum and body weight to drag the Major off his feet and over his body to throw him to the mat.  Zeus learned his lesson from the first throw and this time he didn’t let the Major go from his grip.

By now, our large group on the mats had drawn some attention, and others from the gym were coming over to watch.

“Is that the Major?”  I heard someone say.

The Major had wisely flung his legs away when he was pulled over and he kicked his feet on the mat to flip himself back over on top of Zeus.  Now they were face to face with the Marine on top.

“Mount! Don’t let him inside, Zeus!”  Sleeper called out.  “Guard!  Guard!”

Zeus’s feet were planted on the mat and he managed to bring his right elbow in before Collins could wedge his head and shoulder.  Zeus lifted his hips while forcing the Marine’s chest away with his right elbow.  At the same time Collins was attempting to lock Zeus’s legs with his own.

Zeus thrust up and forced Collins to disengage and they both scrambled back to their feet.

Collins immediately tried for a head strike but Zeus turned into the attempted blow, brushed it aside with his forearm, spun and delivered an elbow to the Marine’s midsection.  Collins was too savvy to let him get full contact and he danced back, abandoning his try to wrap Zeus’s chest with his other arm and bringing his knee up for a kidney shot which Zeus easily deflected with the arm that was in position from his elbow shot.

The action happening was so rapid it seemed like each of them knew the other’s move before it happened, like a choreographed dance.  I felt my pulse racing.  I’d never seen Zeus go full out like this.  They separated, studying each other.  Neither was even breathing hard.

Without an indication or warning, the Marine spun and kicked high towards Zeus’s head and my stomach clenched.  It happened in the blink of an eye and I knew Zeus was going to get slammed.  Fuck the Major was fast.  Zeus’s right hand shot up just as the Major’s heel got within a foot of his head and the Marine’s ankle smacked into Zeus’s hand.  The force of the kick had to be incredible but Zeus’s hand barely moved from the impact.  Zeus’s huge hand gripped the Major’s ankle, Zeus ducked, twisted under Collins’ leg yanking his foot around and he pulled, hard.

The Major was flung spinning face down to the mat and Zeus was already falling, his fist still wrapped around his opponent’s ankle.  It was going to be a pin.

Before Zeus made it down Collins flipped onto his back using Zeus’s hold on his leg to pull his knees in.  If Zeus hit, Collins was going to deliver a double knee right to Zeus’s stomach.  Zeus dive rolled, releasing the Major’s ankle, and somersaulted to his feet, facing away.  Collins didn’t waste the opportunity having rolled to his knees he dived towards the back of Zeus’s legs but Zeus was already moving, dancing away.

He allowed Collins to get to his feet.

“I thought someone like you might be more accustomed to offensive moves and neglect defense, but you grab offensive opportunity from your defensive moves.”  Collins said to Zeus.

“You’re very fast, Sir.”  Zeus replied.  “But you’re not strong enough.”

“I don’t need to be stronger than you, soldier.”  Collins replied mysteriously.

Their match had drawn a large crowd, and I think just about everyone that was in the gym had come to watch.  Even the Charlies were cheering Zeus on, and the rest of the gym crowd was cheering on the Marine Major.

“Then you should probably start fighting for real, Sir.”  Zeus said.

Huh?  I didn’t see the Major holding back at all.  Every attempted move or strike seemed intended to disable Zeus completely.

Collins smiled at Zeus.  “I’ll give you the same advice.  You won’t hurt me too badly, and if I land anything on you you’ll have to cycle back through the course because you won’t be able to move for the next few days.  So it’s up to you.  Take me out in the next five moves or you lose your place in the course.  I have nothing to lose.  You have everything to lose.”

The worried look on Zeus’s face when he heard the Marine’s words was quickly replaced by determination.

The crowd had gone silent, most likely thinking the same thing I was thinking - they hadn’t been fighting all out?  They’d just been toying with each other?

And then the blows started, too fast to figure out, each movement, spin, punch, knee, kick, turn, dodge and block became another move, another attack.  Blows were landed but neither of them allowed the full force of the blow to be absorbed.  A turn to the side to avoid a head shot became a return knee to the midsection, which was blocked and became an attempt to grab the knee or waist, which opened up the opponent’s neck and shoulders for a drop elbow.  Kicks were flung, blocked, countered and leveraged for opportunity to seize, twist or make a strike to a joint.

Now both Zeus and the Major were grunting and sweat was pouring.  I looked at my watch, this had gone on for 10 full minutes.

Each of them had been knocked to the mat where the other tried for a submission, but neither could immobilize the other.  Hell, I was sweating just watching this.  It stopped being fun and easy and seemed like they were seriously trying to hurt each other.  I nudged Lamont.  “Should we stop this?”  I whispered to him.

“I think they are both loving the hell out of this, Assmunch.  Let’s just trust them to know where to draw the line.”  He answered.

That was fine for him to say, it wasn’t his soldier at risk.  The last thing I wanted was for Zeus to be cycled because he got hurt sparring.  I’d give it another minute or so.

It didn’t last that long.  Collins began with a series of moves that seemed designed to flow into each other, and elicit specific defensive moves from Zeus.  Zeus did not disappoint, but I got the distinct feeling I was watching a chess match.  I knew a sacrifice was coming up, one designed to create an opening.  Collins was leading Zeus, moving him exactly where he wanted him.  Zeus was doing well, predicting every one of the Major’s moves.  A puzzled look crossed Zeus’s face.  I think he was figuring it out, but I didn’t think it would be in time.  Collins would make his move soon, I could feel it, see his body getting ready.

He was going to let Zeus hit him with everything, leave Zeus an opening he couldn’t refuse, but it would leave Zeus open to some trick or counter that would put an end to him.  Just what the fuck was the Major planning to do?

I almost couldn’t take it.  I’d started out figuring the Major would win, but over the course of the match it looked like Zeus stood a chance.  But now I was tense.  I was back to concluding Zeus would lose but I feared the loss would be something brutal.  Anything less and the Major would fail to submit him.

Suddenly, it was there.  Collins left his right side exposed, daring Zeus to take a shot.  I begged him silently to miss it.  I saw a resigned grin flash on Zeus’s face and he took the shot.  Which allowed the left side of Zeus head to be open.  Collins’ fist was already halfway to Zeus’s face when Zeus’s fist made contact with the Major’s ribs.  I gave the Marine credit, he never flinched.  He was committed to his plan.  A half second after Zeus rocked him in the ribs, he was struck in the jaw by the Major’s knuckles.

Zeus went down like a demolished building.

[laguyinhou]

Holy hell what a chapter! 

[Assmunch]

On 4/3/2022 at 1:45 AM, laguyinhou said:

Holy hell what a chapter! 

Thanks man!  I’m glad the truth about Zeus is finally out.  This was a pivotal chapter that was waiting to be revealed.  I was chomping at the bit to get here, but everything had to be set up.  Zeus is one of the keys to so many developments and now the brothers can put him back together.  More importantly, Zeus will allow it.  

[Assmunch]

                                                 ASSMUNCH

 

“Damn it!  It was supposed to stun him.”  Major Collins gasped.  He was holding his right ribs with his hand.  “I think he cracked my ribs with that shot.”

I’d darted in along with Lamont when Zeus collapsed and was kneeling over him.  “I don’t know why he took the opening, he had to know it wasn’t going to end well.”  I said.

Only a few seconds had passed before Zeus came to with a small groan.

“There he is.”  Lamont commented.

“Zeus, you okay?”  I asked.

Zeus looked at me.  “Hi Andrew.”  I chuckled.  Anyone else would probably have asked what happened.  Zeus just said ‘hi’ in the same tone you’d use to greet someone while walking into a party, like he was glad to see me and couldn’t wait to catch up on what was going on with me.

“Yeah, you’re fine buddy.  Come on, let’s get you vertical.”  I patted him on his shoulder.  “How’s your jaw?  Does it hurt any?”

Zeus stood up.  “It’s okay.  That was amazing!”  He said to Major Collins.

The Marine laughed, and instantly regretted it with a wince of pain.  “Kid, we both underestimated the other.  I knew you would hit hard, but I wasn’t expecting that.”

Zeus smiled.  “You hit me really hard too!  That was fun!”

I shot a look of incredulity at Lamont.  He rolled his eyes.

“You should have been a Marine, Private.  But only trade shots with your opponent when you know you can stay on your feet.”  Collins returned.

Zeus just shrugged.  “You were going to get me soon anyway, and I wanted to know what you were going to do.”  Zeus said.

“I didn’t have a lot of options.  I needed get you stunned.  Head shot seemed like my best bet.  Not sure a kidney or diaphragm hit would have done it, not on you.  I think maybe a nerve cluster could have worked, but you cover so well I couldn’t find the opportunity.”  Collins said.  “Good job, soldier.  But if we’d been fighting for real I would have had no choice but to put you down.”

“Are you sure you’re alright, Sir?  We have a Corpsman in our group if you want him to check out those ribs.”  I offered.

“I’ll be fine.  Not the first cracked rib I’ve had.  It’s not bad, just tender.  Let’s get these matches going.”  He said.

“Let him do his thing anyway.  Besides, I think two of yours also want to say hi.”  I waved over Lance Corporal Potter and Private Battles, and Navy Corpsman Lenger.  “Major Collins, this is Lance Corporal Potter and Private Battles.”  I said, introducing the two Marines.  “This is Corpsman Petty Officer Lenger.  Lenger, the Major thinks he may have a cracked rib, Zeus got him pretty good.  Check him out while we start the matches if you wouldn’t mind.”

“Sure thing.  Major, let’s lift your shirt and take a look.”

I did not expect this turn of events, but I knew after that exhibition the guys would do their absolute best.  Watching Zeus and the Major fight was inspiring to say the least and I could almost feel the testosterone thrumming in the air.

“Lamont, your pick.”  I said.

“Hmmm, weak or strong…?”  He mused.  “I think we need to continue the momentum, keep everyone primed.  I’m going with Urich.”

Urich stepped forward.  I’d seen him in action many times when we’d gone head to head with the Charlies.  He was good two on two or one on one.  Urich loved using his opponents’ weakness against them.  He was a bouncy fuck, had this way of springing on the balls of his feet in random directions while he fought.  He liked attacking from the side.  He had brown hair, brown eyes, stood at 5’10” and wasn’t overly burdened with muscle but wasn’t skinny either.  The guy could move.

I didn’t want to waste Troll right out of the gate, nor Sleeper.  I think Demon could handle him.  Puta could take this guy too, but Puta was really tested by Lamont’s guy Valentino which always made for an exciting match so I was going to save him for that.

“Demon.”

I looked over at the Major who was still paying attention.  The Corpsman was feeling along the Marine’s rib bones with tactile examination one slow inch at a time.  Zeus was sitting next to the Major, with Sleeper right beside him.  Those two seemed joined at the hip these days.  That made me happy.

I bent in to whisper in Demon’s ear.  “I don’t want you to show off, don’t get flashy.  And don’t play with him.  Take him out fast.”

“Well you’re no fun.”  Demon replied.

“I want to dominate.  I don’t want there to be any question that the Bravos are the best.”  I explained.

“Got it.  He won’t know what hit him.”  Demon said.

We let them shake hands as they squared off then they backed off to opposite edges of the spectator ring.  People were calling out encouragement from the sidelines.  Urich was bouncing up and down, focusing on staying in motion.

“Start!”  I called out.

Demon leapt forward towards the center and Urich hunched down in a flexed knee fighter’s crouch while he moved forward in a guarded half-step.

I leaned into Lamont.  “He always keeps his left foot in front.”  I pointed out.

Lamont nodded.  “He knows he’s strongest with his right arm.  I’ve tried getting him to change it up but he says it throws him off.  He relies too much on his speed to dodge.”

Demon’s move was a thing of beauty.  While Urich approached cautiously expecting a head to head, Demon sprung left then immediately went back right, juked in a fake and fell to his knees where he swept Urich’s left leg clean out from under him.  Urich did exactly what Demon wanted: he tried to hop back away from the low move towards his legs leaving him open for a sweep.  Demon was on his back almost before he hit the mat and Urich was tied up in a bow with Demon’s forearm pushing down on his shoulders and his other hand grabbing one of Urich’s feet and bending his leg backwards.  Urich smacked the mat with an open palm.  Demon released him with a pat, and helped him up.

“Should have seen that coming.”  Urich said, not at all embarrassed that he was taken out so quickly.

Demon shrugged.  “You put too much of your weight on your left leg.  I wasn’t going to wrestle you and I didn’t want to give you a chance to use that right hook you had ready.”

Our little tournament went back and forth with wins and losses demonstrating how evenly matched our two groups were.  Of course Puta and Valentino put on an excellent show but Valentino eventually lost.  After Zeus and the Major we made it clear that fist strikes were off the table, it had to be all open hand.  For those matches that didn’t have a clear submission, Major Collins made the call of who won.  Sleeper of course won his match with ease.  And when I say ‘with ease’ it looked like he was treating his opponent gently as if the guy wasn’t even trying to fight back because Sleeper controlled everything the guy tried.  The guy Weeble fought, Endauer, didn’t know what hit him.  There was no power in Weeble, just a frantic messy scramble that reminded me of two blue jays fighting, or maybe cats.  Fast, crazy, confusing and intense.  Weeble finally scissor locked Endauer’s head while pulling his arm at full extension twisting his wrist and squeezing the guy’s hand.  Everyone always underestimated Weeble.  After his win, the Bravos hooted and slapped him on the back with congratulations while he stood looking embarrassed at the praise.

So it was down to me and Lamont.  Lamont could tie it up if he won.  Size-wise, we were very similar and I knew from past experience Lamont would be a challenge.  He wasn’t flashy and didn’t go for big moves.  He was patient, deliberate and could adjust his attack in mid-move depending upon his opponent’s defense.  I had to be clever and deceptive to beat him.  With a practiced ease I closed off every emotion.  Cold calculation was necessary and the hard curtain of calm blanketed my mind like an old friend.  It was how I’d dealt with thoughts of Kevin for the last year but now it was a useful tool for battle.  Gutter, the Ranger Instructor, was right.  Lamont was an obstacle.  It wasn’t personal.  I couldn’t care about winning or losing.  I already didn’t want to hurt him or put him in pain but I also couldn’t care about NOT causing him hurt or pain.  The only thing I should care about was my attack and taking him out.  Pain, any injury I might cause was inconsequential.

The state of mind I fell into elicited an immediately suppressed shock.  I was in two places at once, both focused and present but also mentally standing a step back from myself as an observer.  If you’ve ever been thrust into a crisis, something happening too fast for you to control, you know the feeling of being outside yourself.  I thought I knew my own head, my reactions, my thoughts.  I was familiar with my automatic brain that sometimes betrayed me while I watched…and sometimes distracted me from what it was doing so I WOULDN’T watch and wasn’t aware.  But this… this refined that state of awareness and distilled it down into its purest form.  I was in the place where there was no Me only I wasn’t gone, I was split in two.  My conscious observer brain saw details with a detached clarity while my automatic brain absorbed the unfiltered information without judgment.  I was a team of two fighters in symbiosis.  I, the *me* that watched floating behind myself, trusted the automatic me like a trained attack dog.  He knew what to do.  The closest I approached to any emotion was interest and curiosity at how this contest could be dissected and boiled down into moves and counters, effectiveness of my strikes and recognizing opportunities and possible next moves.  I didn’t have to make myself perform the conclusions I reached, Automatic Me handled all that.  My body moved with Lamont’s offense and defense to perfection.  I saw every attack a split second after he positioned himself to execute it, every counter he threw before he even knew he had to.  This was an exquisite dance that wasted no physical movement as our feet repeatedly found the exact position necessary to mold our bodies into the spaces we needed to drive this into an artistic performance.  No external stimuli intruded.  For all my mind cared, Lamont and I were alone.  I evaluated his reactions.  Doing that I understood how Zeus and the Major had known when the other had been holding back.  I saw it in Lamont’s body, his unwillingness to commit fully, the way he controlled his strength, his refusal to go all out.  He believed he had to conserve his strength probably because he doubted his own endurance if the match went on too long.  Observer me was dryly amused that by doing so Lamont was going to fulfill his own feared prophecy.  Drawing out a fight because you were afraid the fight would be drawn out was a self defeat.  I could have used his own doubt to beat him, toy with him until his strength left him at which time he might realize what he’d done to himself and accept the approaching loss with disappointed resignation.  But that was no way to win.  Had I been in any danger my Automatic Brain may have chosen that as a wise course of action - just let him beat himself without putting me in any danger.  Lamont was not a threat though, not when I was in this mental state.  Zeus or the Major may have been a threat, but not Lamont.

Automatic Brain forced Lamont to choose.  It was a good course of action, I agreed.  I wanted him desperate and needed him to let go, to test me and push me to make an effort.

“Fuck, Assmunch.”  Lamont breathed heavily.  “How much have you been training?  I thought I at least stood a chance.  I can’t even get a simple hold.”  I had no true idea of how long our fight had been going on at this point.

Whatever look Automatic Brain gave him appeared to cause him concern.  ‘You’re not dealing with me, bud’ Observer Me thought.

Holy fuck I liked this!  I’d never felt this in control, this calm certainty of a perfect world I could handle without any effort.

And that was what shattered it all, that one simple thought of exhilaration.  I crashed back into myself and back into the physical world.  The first thing that assaulted me was the noise of the spectators who were screaming and shouting both encouragement and roars of excitement at watching a good fight.  The second thing that assaulted me was Lamont.  It was my own fault, I wasn’t ready and Automatic Brain had pushed him into throwing all his hopes into one last desperate move.

He had me off my feet before I even felt his contact with my chest.  How had he gotten inside?  I swear I heard the noise level double.  I wasted a precious single second trying to recognize my position and knew I was helpless until I hit the mat.  Lamont’s strength which before wasn’t even a consideration worth my concern now forced me to evaluate what I needed to do when I regained leverage.  My back would hit first.  Could I roll?  Only if my bounce jolted his hold.  I didn’t think he’d let that happen.  But he was going to feel it too when we hit.  I grabbed him tight and braced myself for what I knew was going to be a rough landing.  I couldn’t afford to have the breath knocked out of me.

 

 

                                                 * * * * * * * *

                                                 SLEEPER

 

Assmunch was handing Lamont his lunch and showing him out the door.  Fuck, I doubted I could take him myself, my friend looked like a primal beast evolved for one purpose - to attack and dismantle his prey.  Not a single sloppy move and he didn’t even appear to be working that hard.  His handsome face bore a cold, blank stare with his wide lips held closed but absolutely relaxed as if he wasn’t locked in an intense physical battle.

“He knows.  He found it.”  Major Collins remarked from beside Zeus.

I wanted to ask what he meant, but I was too riveted by the sleek and deadly way Assmunch’s fit body moved.  It was somehow erotic this perfect balance between tension in his limbs and core and the effortless flow between moves.  It looked like sex and violence, passion and control.  It was like Andrew had this entire fight all planned out before hand the way his moves just blended together looking like a single orchestrated pattern.  So smooth it was almost gentle the way he moved.  I’d seen this before.  On TV, some documentary about martial arts masters.

“Shaolin monks”. I said out loud when I made the connection.

“Not yet, but he could.”  Major Collins replied.  “He’s still clumsy compared to them.  But he has found the key.  Only the first most basic step on the path.”

It was the way Andrew’s eyes didn’t even seem to look at Lamont, half the time his head wasn’t even facing his opponent and yet he stepped gracefully aside at just the right moment, not too soon and not too far but just enough to avoid the attack.  His feet slid and his hips and knees poured… that was the only word for it, he just poured his body like liquid where he needed it to be and he never stopped moving.  I swear it was like watching a sheet on a clothesline waving lazily in a gentle breeze and fuck if it wasn’t giving me a fucking boner.

“Jesus Christ” I let out.  The crowd that had gathered increased their shouts and encouragement around us.

The Major gave a chuckle.  “It’s something to watch, isn’t it?  You should see the Shaolin Masters fight.  Speed this up by 10 until you aren’t even sure they are touching each other at all.  But the flow is the same and it’s all about conservation of effort and eliminating everything but the movement from your mind.  Does Private Brickmann meditate much? Seems like he wouldn’t have the time.”

Still not taking my eyes from the incredible creature my best friend had become, I answered.  “I don’t think so.  I’ve never seen him meditate, and we’re together just about every second of the day since I met him.  He’s never said anything.”

“Hmmmmm” The Marine hummed, as if considering some puzzle.

“You’re in Tower Week right now, aren’t you?”  he asked.

“Yes, Sir. Just started today.”

“Doing well?”

“I think so.  The Bravos haven’t lost anyone, and we don’t seem to need as much hands on or instruction from the Black Hats.  All the brothers seem to love it.”  I answered.

“And the little guy… he didn’t have any problems?  He’s almost too small to reach the static line and clip in.  And with everything he needs on his harness for a jump he must struggle.”

“Weeble?  Nah, never less than maximum effort from him.”

Major Collins let out a snort.  “You don’t call him Weeble, do you?  Really?”

I laughed along with him.  “Yeah, but it’s not mean.  Andrew…Private Brickmann, would never let it be mean.  It’s not about his size.  The commercial… you know… Weebles wobble but they don’t fall down?  That’s Weeble.  Every time he gets knocked down he gets back up and tries harder.  He won’t quit, doesn’t stop, and doesn’t let his size get in his way.  We should all have his attitude.  He never loses belief in himself and takes everything with a happy smile.  Weeble doesn’t fall down.  And he brings us up with him.”

“You seem like a close knit unit.  How’d you come to Jump School together?  That’s not exactly standard.  Unless your Occupational Specialty requires it?”  He asked.

I shrugged.  “Mine doesn’t, but we’re all different Specialties.  I don’t know why they sent us here, but it goes with my plan to be a Ranger and be assigned to the 75th.  Andrew and Zeus too.  We requested it.  I don’t know about the rest but I don’t think they did.”

“Hmmmm” The Major intoned.  “Ah, he just lost his focus.  Not a bad run.  You’ve never seen him fight like that?”

“Never” I said quickly, seeing the same thing the Major saw.  All of a sudden Andrew wasn’t flowing, he seemed… normal.  When Lamont went for a full tackle, something that shouldn’t have worked on a bad day, the crowd erupted with a roar.  The Bravos screaming for Andrew to fight harder, the Charlies exuberant that Lamont had finally gotten a good lick in, and the rest of the crowd because the fight wasn’t one sided anymore and the top dawg might get taken down.  If Andrew wasn’t in danger of losing I would feel like busting out in unrestrained laughter at how military guys loved a good hard fight, watching one, being in one, it didn’t matter.  It got our blood pumping.  The energy here in the corner of the otherwise empty hangar sized gym building was fucking supercharged.  Assmunch and Lamont were right… this was just what we needed, what everyone needed.  The randoms didn’t know what they were missing.  The crowd outside the core group had found various things from around the gym to stand on so they could see the fight action.  This had turned into a Main Event, and I fucking loved it.

One of the brothers started a chant “BRAVOS!  BRAVOS! BRAVOS!” And we all joined in.  Soon the Charlies were fighting us with their own chant as we watched Andrew and Lamont leaving nothing behind on the mat.

Andrew was the reddest I’d ever seen him, his entire body was damn near purple, holy shit.  He was giving it everything he had, and Lamont wasn’t going to let him win if there was any ounce of hope he could somehow pull out a win by submission.  He had to know he’d lose in a decision.  Even Zeus and the Major’s fight seemed tame next to this.

After Andrew got knocked to the mat it was like they both agreed to finish the fight off their feet.  I could see the exhaustion in both of them but they weren’t slowing down.

“Is that color normal?”  The Major asked in concern, referring to Andrew’s full body flush.

“Yeah,” waved his concern away.  “We used to call him Scarlett because he just turns all sorts of colors depending on how he feels, you don’t even need to embarrass him.  It’s kind of funny.  But he’s like the best guy you’ll ever meet.  He keeps all of us grounded, watches out for us and fixes things before they become a problem. He keeps our heads straight.”

“Used to?  What do you call him now?”

I froze.  I didn’t think Andrew would appreciate his nickname being passed around.

“Assmunch”. Zeus replied, like there was absolutely nothing wrong with it.  I was also surprised.  Zeus usually only referred to Assmunch by his nickname when he was with him, and called him Andrew otherwise when he wasn’t around.  Ah, maybe it was just because the Major asked.  Zeus really didn’t like cuss words.

The Major looked at Zeus with raised eyebrows.  “Do I even want to know why?”

“No, Sir.  And we can’t tell you anyway.  Not until Andrew says.”  Zeus answered, not even bothered or fazed that he just told a Major that it was up to a Private whether he got information or not.  Zeus said the Major wasn’t entitled to the information, and that was that.  Fucking Zeus being Zeus.

“Well you boys just continue to impress.  I like you Bravos.  Who are the Charlies to you?”  He asked.

“Rival Platoon from our special training.” I answered this one.

I’d lost count of the number of times that considering look had crossed the Major’s face during our conversation.  “I think I know better than to ask.  The Charlies aren’t a disappointment either.  It seems the Army chose well for what they intend for you.”

So he thought so too?  Good to know we weren’t just imagining things.  Wait…huh?  Did the Major know something?

Andrew and Lamont had to be on their last legs but neither of them was giving up.  They grunted and growled with the intense effort they were expending.  It was to the point where they were spending more time holding each other than moving.  I knew from how their faces pressed against their opponent’s body.  When you’re that weak, when it takes every ounce of strength you have left, you start trying to use your head to provide the leverage your body can’t.  I’d been there so many times in my wrestling matches.

Before I could ask what Major Collins meant, he stood up, holding his sore side.  “Break!  Match over!”  He called out, stepping into the space.  To everyone’s credit, no one grumbled.  We didn’t because he was a Marine Major, and the Charlies and Bravos agreed that he would call the matches.  But the rest of the spectators instantly fell silent.  I guess the Major carried weight.

Andrew lay on top of Lamont, both of them breathing hard, but relaxed and no longer struggling with each other.  It looked like they had just got done fucking.  Andrew’s head was just laying on Lamont’s heaving chest.  Yeah, they had nothing left.  Lamont wrapped his arms around Andrew and gave him a hug, then rubbed his head.

“Man, I’m so done.”  Lamont said.

Andrew started laughing.  “Me too, fuck you fight hard!”  Andrew rolled off of Lamont and they both lay there chuckling and breathing.

Everyone was waiting for Major Collins’ judgment.  “It was close, Brickmann started out completely dominating.”  He began.  “But on the mats Lamont controlled the action.  Match goes to Brickmann.”

Andrew raised his tired arm while the Brothers jumped and yelled in celebration.

“Yeah, you deserve it.  That style you were using in the beginning was incredible, brother.”  Lamont said to Andrew, holding out his hand.  Andrew shook his hand and sat up.

Zeus and I went to help him and Lamont up, but a couple of the Charlies, Cook and Lopez, got to Lamont first.  “That was an intense competition.”  I said.

“Fuck yeah it was!”  Cook said.  “Charlies need to train more.  We can’t let you Bravos live up there at the top.”

I laughed.  “Well come on then.  Actually, we should train more too.  A few of those matches we didn’t have to lose.”

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Major Collins had pulled Lamont and Andrew aside and was speaking to them alone.  I liked the Major, he seemed like a really laid back guy for a Marine and an officer.

 

                                           *************

                                              PUTA

 

Julio snuck away from the matches not long after he beat his opponent from the Charlies.  Almost everyone in the big hangar sized gym was riveted on the battles and no one noticed him leaving.  He’d had fun grappling Valentino, the 6 foot tall blonde with the beautiful ass.  Or rather groping.  Julio didn’t mind that Valentino didn’t really fight back as hard as he probably could have after his first takedown when Julio pressed his jockstrap encased erection into Valentino’s ass and whispered in his ear “Quiero tu sabroso culo.”

The pretty blonde didn’t reply, but Julio soon knew he’d gotten the message even if he didn’t understand Spanish.  Still, Julio was surprised.  He didn’t expect Valentino to actually LIKE it.  He’d done it more for a little fun and to throw his opponent off than in any serious attempt to fuck the guy.  But as their match went on he got more aroused as Valentino waited longer than necessary to break away, or move out of Julio’s grasp.  Julio made sure his hands found that enticing round ass at every opportunity.  He pushed his fabric covered hard cock against Valentino’s face, his ass, and even let him grope it.  No, he wasn’t imagining it.  The pretty boy was willing.  He thought at one point he felt Valentino’s mouth gnaw briefly on his cock.

Never one to waste an opportunity, when Julio decided the match had gone on long enough, he pinned Valentino and whispered to him with their faces pressed together in struggle, “Submit Guapo.  I give you what you want in da showers.”  In less than two seconds, his opponent smacked the mat and Lamont called the match.

With the matches drawing so much attention, almost no one was in the locker room.  Julio didn’t wait for Valentino to follow him.  He either would, or not.  But Julio knew he would.  He knew the hunt, knew the look of desire hidden in the eyes that stayed too long.  And if that wasn’t enough, Valentino’s equally hard cock would drag him wherever Julio wanted him to be.  That was how it was supposed to be: they came to him.  They always came to him.  All he had to do was entice them with sufficient encouragement.

Julio was standing naked in front of his shower cubicle, the last one in the back when he saw Valentino come into the locker room out of the corner of his eye.  There was only one other person in the locker room and he looked to be putting his things in his workout bag to leave.  Julio shot Valentino his suave grin, licked his lips before biting one gently in his teeth, turned slightly to give the blonde a quick look at what would soon be buried 8 hard inches deep inside him, then stepped into the shower and pulled the curtain closed.

It was all part of the hunt.  The lure.  The tease before the love-making.  Only rarely was it necessary to get it done quickly, like with Wanker that night in the snow shelter in Germany.  It was better, so much better, to inflame the passions and boil the blood.  It would not take a lot, much of their foreplay had occurred on the mat in front of onlookers, which to Julio made it even more exciting.  Valentino was already his eager plaything.  Even so, the pretty soldier deserved to be treated like the treasure he was.

In little more than a minute, the shower curtain moved and Valentino darted hurriedly inside.  He was very nervous.  That would not do.

“Hola guapo.” Julio greeted him with a slight grin, half-lidded eyes, and a quiet voice, one he knew was especially sexy.  Valentino smiled nervously.

“Are you sure this is okay?”  Valentino whispered.

“Jess, my beautiful.  Is okay.  I no let anything happen to you.”  Valentino learned very young how to soothe his conquests with sugary words and his gentle confident voice.  He reached up to stroke Valentino’s face.  “No one is here.”  He moved his hand down to grab Valentino’s hand and place it on his hard slightly upwardly curved cock.  “Is what you want, no?”

Valentino stroked him slowly.  “Jess, is all for you, guapo.  You have made me this way.”  He leaned into Valentino and kissed him softly.  Julio played his tongue along Valentino’s lovely mouth until he parted his lips to let Julio inside while guiding his hand with his own on his engorged flesh.  Valentino moaned.  Julio moved his other hand around to rub and knead Valentino’s enticing ass while he kissed him.  Valentino lifted his leg, wrapping it around Julio’s waist to give him clear access to his sweet hole.

Valentino moved his lips to the side, kissing Julio’s face, then his neck.  “I need you to fuck me.”  He said, running his tongue up Julio’s smooth brown skin.

“Jess, Papi will make love to you, Chico.  You no worry.”  Julio took his hand from where he had been guiding Valentino’s stroking and placed it on his head.  “You show me now how much you want me, Jess?”  Pushing gently, he guided more than forced Valentino’s head lower until he was directly in front his thick carajo where he wasted no time before taking it into his mouth.

Valentino was good, very good.  In no time he was fully buried in the warm, accommodating mouth of this beautiful man.  Julio had always been more excited by eagerness than reluctance.  He’d had many men who believed they were straight, and virgins, most when he had been a boy in his teens.  While he loved the hunt, it was far better when the prey cooperated solely because they couldn’t resist their own desire.  That is what he liked the most: a man’s inability to deny himself Julio’s multitude of charms, to watch them melt into pliable desperate vessels for his gratification and enjoyment which in turn drove them to sexual abandon.  He had no stomach for rape, or force.  He was all about love and passion, desire and enjoyment so that the heights of pleasure could bring him together completely with his partner.  And he always left them infatuated with him and wanting more.  And how could he deny his love to others by staying with just one?  No, he must show as many men as he had opportunity for how passion and pleasure were life’s reward for being men.

He controlled Valentino’s suction on his throbbing gift, keeping it slow and gentle.  He knew this man’s weakness, it was written all over him.  Valentino would not be brought to the heights of release by roughness or violent sex.  He needed to feel love, he was empty in his heart and Julio would fill that emptiness with his passion and his cock.

He could stay like this, slowly driving his thick cock deep into Valentino’s wet, warm throat for hours, but he knew he only had a certain amount of time.  He knelt in front of Valentino in the hot shower spray and kissed him lovingly while stroking his face.  “So beautiful.  You are an angel, te quiero mucho mi tesoro.  I must taste you.”  Julio didn’t lie, he loved every one of the men he made love to, he felt such joy for them that it became more than satisfying a crude sexual urge.

He stood Valentino up and turned him around to face the wall, kissing his neck, running his hands over his sides to wrap around his chest and stroke his nipples.  Julio kissed and licked his way down Valentino’s sculpted back, ending at that perky butt he’d already explored thoroughly with his hands.  He would not rush this even if he wanted nothing more than to push his tongue into Valentino’s hole and suck the puckered rim with his lips.  He took his time, licking and alternating nibbles with kisses as he worked his way over each individual cheek from top to bottom and in between while his hands roamed his legs, hips and back.  Valentino’s skin was incredibly smooth and creamy here.  The sun had never touched him in this perfect place.  He pulled the blonde’s hips back slightly before spreading his cheeks to gaze at Valentino’s sweet pink hole.  Julio could tell that God had made Valentino for one purpose - to receive pleasure through his ass.  It sounds sacrilegious and irreverent but there could be no other reason for Valentino’s soft moan and arched back, or his widening stance and spasming pucker as Julio lazily rotated his tongue over his delicious pink center of love.  Yes, his lips enjoyed the taste of this man, his eyes enjoyed the feast as well of this young, hard body, his hands wandered playfully over the firm muscles, and his ears loved every quiet whimpering moan from Valentino’s mouth.  This was what it meant to make love.  The pleasure received from giving pleasure, trading it back and forth and losing yourself to the beautiful intimacy that only two men could share.  It took so much more for a man to expose his vulnerability to another man that the sacrifice became a resplendent display of the purest tenderness.  Valentino’s hole no longer fought him, loosening perfectly to allow his tongue inside, and then his fingers.  He traded them back and forth his fingers, tongue and lips.  The blonde was no stranger to the love of men, Julio could tell.  Tight or loose, it did not matter.  There was no such thing as a disappointing ass on a man.  Once you pushed inside, it all hugged your cock perfectly.  And his beautiful chico had amazing control over his hole, squeezing and pushing as Julio ate him ravenously.

Julio eased off with tiny kisses at the cardinal points as if performing the sigh of the Cross on Valentino’s sacred edifice, a vestibule of love.  God did not mind, these were acts of men and giving thanks to him for his most precious creation was only right.

Julio climbed just as slowly to his feet as he had descended, licking and kissing his way up Valentino’s back until his hard cock found its way between his lover’s cheeks.

“Please put it inside me.”  Valentino begged.

“Que bonito, precioso.  Yo también lo necesito.” He whispered in the blonde soldier’s ear.  “I make you cum now.”  Using only the lubricant of the saliva he had left on his lover’s hole and what was dripping from his own cock, he pushed against the beautiful man until Valentino allowed him inside.  Just as he had wanted, Valentino pushed back against him until he was buried fully inside his lover.  It was not hurried or careless, but it was desperate with a need for the both of them.  He licked and kissed the blonde’s neck and found his cock with his hand.  As he rocked slowly in and out, he used his hand to explore the entire area of Valentino’s cock, balls, and pubic region.  There was no need to stroke his lover’s dick and force his pleasure prematurely.  Touch and love were the things that would bring them to the brink together.  He pulled and squeezed Valentino’s tender orbs, allowing one finger to reach between his legs and find his wet hole that stretched around his solid pole.

“Oh, fuck.  Julio, I’m close.  You’re going to make me cum.”  Valentino moaned, fortunately keeping his voice down.

“Jess, both soon, guapo.”  Julio told him in between kisses on his shoulder.  He only increased the speed of his motion slightly while pushing deeper with every stroke.

“Oh God…You’re so good.  Fuck me just like that.  Your cock is so amazing.”  The blonde panted.

“You like it, jess?”  Julio believed in making love with his entire body and while he was inside a man he pressed himself up against him from head to toe while using his hands to rub the often neglected places that a man found most sensitive: the front of his hips just above his thighs; his neck where his shoulder and collarbone connected; under his arms, behind his ears, the soft vulnerable point beneath his chin and above his Adam’s apple.  As he drove deeper inside Valentino he was almost lifting him up off the ground, forcing the blonde to raise and lower himself on his toes.  He heard his lover’s breathing grow more rapid and shallow.  He would wait until Valentino released his leche to orgasm himself.  Julio loved the feel of being inside a man so much he could cum anytime from first entry to 30 minutes later or more.  He was never far away from orgasm and timing their release so they came together was the most passionate way to celebrate the shared pleasure.

“I make you cum now, guapo.”  And he gently cupped Valentino’s hard cock and retracted balls and gave the barest squeeze.  When he felt the first twitch that signaled the blonde’s release, he opened his own floodgates to allow his milk to shoot deep inside his lover.  He felt Valentino’s milk dripping down his hand with every spurt from his own cock.  Valentino pressed his forehead against the tiled wall, gasping with every spasm.

“Si, hermano.  We cum together.  Is beautiful, no?” Julio whispered as the last drops of his cum joined his ample load now resting inside his lover.  They rested in silence for a few moments, bodies pressed together with their heavy breathing synchronized.

“Jesus Christ that was hot.  You are so sexy, Julio.”  Valentino said as he came down from his powerful orgasm.

“Gracias, Chico. You are sexy for me too.”  His hands had not stopped roaming over Valentino’s beautiful smooth body.

“We can’t stay like this.”  The blonde said as he pulled himself off Julio’s still rigid cock.

Julio turned him around.  “I know this, but I must kiss you once more.”  And he leaned in to tenderly kiss Valentino’s receptive lips.  “I must make love to you again soon.  You like this, jess?”  He asked.

“Oh fuck yes.”  His lover responded, still slightly out of breath.

Julio reached between Valentino’s legs to slide two fingers inside his ass, feeling the wetness of his cum around and inside his hole.  “My cock will ache for you now, guapo.  We will do this again.”  He removed his fingers and brought them to Valentino’s lips then kissed him once more to share their combined taste.  “Ay, que bonito.  What you do to me.”  He breathed.  “I leave now, you wait, jess?  I tell you when it good to come out.”  Giving Valentino one last caress on his face, Julio turned off the water and opened the shower curtain only enough to exit the cubicle.  Thankfully, the locker room was still empty.  The matches must not be over yet.

“We are alone, Valentino.”  He said as he went to the shelf that held a stack of white towels.  He got two and handed one to Valentino after he’d gotten out of the shower.  They dried themselves in silence, frequently sharing smiles and looks of appreciation.

The dressed back into their workout clothes and rejoined the crowd over by the mats.

[daddybear54]

On 4/5/2022 at 6:58 AM, Assmunch said:

"This was a pivotal chapter that was waiting to be revealed.  I was chomping at the bit to get here, but everything had to be set up."  

That was an amazing scene! I can certainly get why you were urgent to reach this key point. I'm sure my eyes were staring, wide open, as I read it. Very powerful moment of truth for all three of them.

[Assmunch]

3 hours ago, daddybear54 said:

That was an amazing scene! I can certainly get why you were urgent to reach this key point. I'm sure my eyes were staring, wide open, as I read it. Very powerful moment of truth for all three of them.

Oh man, I’m glad you felt that… Many of the guys reading my story are in love with Zeus (Hell, I am too…I’d crawl on my hands and knees over broken glass to worship him if he were real) and it was killing me to keep his secret.   

[laguyinhou]

Great chapter! Can't wait for more! 

[Assmunch]

1 hour ago, laguyinhou said:

Great chapter! Can't wait for more! 

Thanks bud.  

[TboTTomfun]

Wow !!!! Standing ovation, you must be a soldier ourselves for having so much insight in the military.  Assmunch you are a gifted writer, really great story and a rollercoaster of emotions in this story, i cried, i laughed, i dreamed.  The best story i did ever read on BZ, I sincerely hope there is more to come, so hooked on the characters, like i know them personality.

[Assmunch]

6 hours ago, TboTTomfun said:

Wow !!!! Standing ovation, you must be a soldier ourselves for having so much insight in the military.  Assmunch you are a gifted writer, really great story and a rollercoaster of emotions in this story, i cried, i laughed, i dreamed.  The best story i did ever read on BZ, I sincerely hope there is more to come, so hooked on the characters, like i know them personality.

Thanks!  I am truly glad you like it!  The story still continues and I will write more.  There’s still a lot of life to go for the Bravos.  There’s quite a bit I plan to write.  

[TboTTomfun]

You have An amazing talent to play with the readers emotions, the story of the Passing of Assmunch father, had me in tears, it was a first one for me reading a story on BZ.  I have several stories on BZ written, but i always avoid to be emotional in my stories, do not know why

[Assmunch]

4 hours ago, TboTTomfun said:

You have An amazing talent to play with the readers emotions, the story of the Passing of Assmunch father, had me in tears, it was a first one for me reading a story on BZ.  I have several stories on BZ written, but i always avoid to be emotional in my stories, do not know why

I feel that when you put an emotional aspect in the story, the readers really understand what makes the characters live and act the way they do.  But stories are also good without that if what they want isn't emotional.  Some people just want the sex stuff, and that's okay too.

 

Thanks for letting me know my story moved you.  I like that.

[Assmunch]

                                                                 ASSMUNCH

 

“You already know how.”  Major Collins said.  “You just need to learn how to do it deliberately and stay there.”  Lamont and I sat with the Major on the mats in the gym.  “Lamont, this will be new for you and don’t get frustrated if you can’t get it right away.  Brickmann is way ahead of you.  Your first step is to learn how to eliminate all external distractions and just focus on your mind.”

It was the evening of the second day of Tower Week.  We woke up at 0430 and started with PT.  Of course breakfast.  Then classes in which we learned all about failures and malfunctions that resulted in injury or death.  The two most common assigned accident codes were "improper or abnormal exit" and "unstable or improper body position," which combined accounted for 33% of cases. Also noteworthy at 11% each were "entanglement," "parachute malfunction," and "dragged on the drop zone," and at 6% each were "static line injury," "lost or stolen air," (which collapsed your canopy so you just fell) and "drop zone hazard. (Trees, buildings, power lines)" In 69% of cases blunt force trauma was the cause of death.  Blunt force trauma was the term used for hitting the aircraft on exit, mid-air collisions, and slamming into the ground.  It was a sobering discussion.

We were also instructed on how our 34 ft. Tower mass exit was to proceed.  It was harder than it looked.  Our practice down on the ground was understandably at half speed or less than what the actual expectation was.  All of the elements of your exit had to happen continuously from clip in to shuffle to hand off to jump with no pause.  The Jumpmaster almost pushed you out the door right behind the guy in front.  I have to say not having the opportunity to over think it made it easier.  Shark and Demon both learned the hard way to keep their chin onto their chest.  It kept the back of you head away from your slips when your canopy deployed so the slip or static line wouldn’t get caught on your helmet and whip your head.  They both looked like rag dolls going down the zip line after they got slip-whipped.  We did jumps with gear and without.  With gear was called a Combat Jump.  Without gear was called a Hollywood Jump.  And of course we did several of each with malfunctions and without.  By the time we were halfway through the day, I didn’t think about falling anymore and just trusted I was attached.  And 34 ft wasn’t a shock at this point.  There were too many other things to focus on and get right.  If you completed two satisfactory jumps of each type you were done.  If you didn’t…well let’s just say you don’t need to clip in to jump off a bus at the airport.

We were really pumped but tired after all that.  Before heading to the gym again I had the Bravos study everything we had learned so far.  Some of the brothers, like Bootlicker, studied alone.  The rest of us studied in groups.  Of course our honorary Bravos Potter, Battles and Lenger joined us.  Only a handful of the other randoms remained in the barracks to study or do personal shit.  The rest were off having fun somewhere on Ft. Benning or off post in the town.  At this point in the Course, it seemed randoms were disappearing every day after failing to qualify.

And now Lamont and I sat in front of Major Collins on the mats in a quiet corner of the gym.  Now, that’s a relative term.  If you ever been in a gym on post you know they aren’t quiet.  Even if you didn’t have the squeak of tennis shoes on the wood floor, the shouts of soldiers playing basketball along with the thud of dribbling down the court there were the giant fans that roared on either end of the hangar roof along with standing area fans that sounded like twin prop aircraft, the constant opening and slam of various metal doors and the grunts and shouts plus weights slamming from the weight room whose doors stayed propped open.  It was damn near a factory floor with all the noise.  A factory of mostly men, and a few women building better bodies for battle.  Base gyms were kind of a haven for the guys because women rarely ventured there even though there were female locker rooms.  There were other fitness facilities that female soldiers liked to go to like swimming pools, outdoor tracks for running and (hahaha) jazzercise studios (Think unused rec space somewhere)  An open hangar that smelled of sweat, with shouting men and constant noise didn’t seem to appeal to them.  Good.  Although it’s awesome checking out the women in their workout clothes it’s nice not having to worry about reining in our behavior or being distracted.  Trust me, even bundled up in Army sweats they were a treat to look at.

“Meditation isn’t magic, it’s about training your mind to focus.”  The Major continued.  “It helps you get past fear, anger, nervousness and all the emotions that interfere with clear judgment.  A clear mind enhances body performance.  Train your mind to absolute calm and you target better, you plan better, you perform better, and it can get you out alive.  Let’s start with breathing.”

He talked us through slow breathing using a 5 count inhale and a 5 count exhale and after a couple minutes he introduced the next step.

“Starting with your toes you will slowly move upward over your entire body to shut out all conscious feeling.  Keep your breathing slow and even.  Focus on relaxing all your muscles.  Imagine your blood flowing down and then up.  Relax your toes.  You have no muscles, no bones.  Breathe in…breathe out…”. His voice was monotone, regular, smooth.  “You have no toes.  Only arches.  Relax.  Breathe.”

Slowly he took us over our bodies to erase each connection until only our minds remained.

Ankles, then several rounds of breathing.

Shins and more breathing.

Knees, thighs, hips, back, chest, shoulders, arms, hands, neck, and finally head.  He told us to push everything left out the top of our heads.  I felt nothing, I floated there in the darkness behind eyes that didn’t exist.  My only thoughts were that I existed as a thought.  I couldn’t say how long I stayed that way because time didn’t flow.  Peace.  Serenity.  Being.  Thinking back, it felt like that brief moment before waking up in which your mind says ‘I’m here’ but your body isn’t because it hasn’t been awakened by your mind yet.

“Well done.  Open your eyes and take a deep breath.”  The Major’s voice intruded.

When I opened my eyes, I saw the Bravos and the Charlies seated around us.  I hadn’t even noticed they were there or when they’d come.  It felt like just a few minutes had passed, maybe ten?  I couldn’t tell but I could not have been gone that long, not long enough for all the guys to surround us.  “Hey guys,” I said.  “When did you get here?”  I asked.

“About ten minutes ago.  We’re all done.  It’s 2045 hrs.  Time to head back.”  Sleeper explained.

What?  Lamont and I were gone for more than an hour and a half?  It didn’t feel that way.  I glanced at Major Collins.

He grinned.  “That was a good first session.  You both did well.  Tomorrow we’ll practice this again.  You should get a short workout in first.  Meditation is good, but you can’t afford to skip conditioning.  They go hand in hand.  And although the workout will be short to leave us enough time for a lesson, I want you to push hard.”

“Yes Sir.”  Lamont and I said together.

Being gone wasn’t new for me, but this was different.  It was a little like the place where there was no me only I stayed aware.  The place where there was no me let other things in and some things still existed there.  I just wasn’t a part of it.  In this new place, there was only me.  I felt like there was an important connection way off in the gray murky depths of my thoughts.  I couldn’t reach it.

I was still lost in thinking my way through it all when I remembered that I forgot to talk to the Major about what Sleeper told me he said.  The Major knew something.  And if I was a paranoid person I’d think he actually sought us out from the beginning.  But what was so special about us?  And we still didn’t know why the Major was here at Ft. Benning, or what Battalion he was attached to, his command…nothing.  It was clear that some of the other soldiers here knew him or knew of him.  That alone indicated he was unusual in some way.  A Marine Major on an Army Post?  Except for Joint Operations you didn’t see that much at all.  Was there a Joint Operation happening here at Benning?  If Marines came to jump school they didn’t get their own liaison, they were subject to Army command for the duration of their stay here.  So the Major wasn’t the Marine liaison and I didn’t think they’d have a Major doing that job anyway.  There’s just a weird feeling you get when you meet certain Senior Officers or Enlisted that says they didn’t have some paper pushing job and weren’t ordinary.  It was how they seemed to do what they wanted without looking over their shoulder.  How they inserted themselves in situations like they weren’t reportable to anyone local.  We never saw the Major during our training.  In the gym no one approached him but many different soldiers recognized him judging from the looks and fast whispers.  Nothing too long.  It was always done with a glance, a hurried whisper, then a deliberate NOT looking and moving away.  It was all very strange.

 

                                                                      ***********

                                                                       WEEBLE

 

Thank the Lord that the Army pulled me out of Ft. Bragg and put this Alabama boy with the Bravos.  I didn’t know why, I was 15F, Aircraft Electrician, and the Bravos didn’t have nothin to do with Aviation.  I haven’t touched a single gunship since I was stationed with the Bravos.  But electrical systems for other machinery aren’t all that different when you see them as an overall nervous system.  At least not for me.  Now, don’t get me wrong or nothin my job was great and I was really good at it.  Helluva lot better’n some of the guys in my unit.  I’m just a last biscuit of a guy at 5’3” 120 lbs. so I could squeeze into some pretty tight spots or work my hand through small openings.  But my mama always said the last biscuit’s the best one.  My small hands could move inside tight spots to unclip or re-clip wirin harnesses, use a hand tool like a screwdriver for the sixty seven hundred thousand screws or bolts holdin our deadly gunship together, and I seemed to have some kind of magic touch for anythin that needed nimble fingers. I could work just by feel a lot of the time.  Our bird was the AH 64 - Apache Helicopter.  Workin in the Apache machinery there wasn’t nothin that wasn’t tight or crammed together.  And I could read a circuit board with a glance and field repair anythin wrong with em.  But my previous unit had become hell for me.  Word had gotten around that I was a homo and the guys I thought were cool suddenly just got mean.  Ida been booted if they had anythin on me, there was actually an investigation.  Thank God the two guys I had given blowjobs to didn’t want to admit they’d stuck their dick in a homo’s mouth.  Good thing too, they woulda been booted right alongside me.  Probably.

Learned a mighty big lesson there.  Don’t shit where ya eat.  I denied everything, even looked at one of the guys I’d blown right in his eyes when I lied about being gay to the others.  I knew it was him that started the rumor.  He couldn’t look me in the eyes right back.  He was a coward, but I suppose I was a coward too cause I damn sure wasn’t gonna admit it neither.  I don’t know whether he regretted what he done with me, or he was just tryin to cover his own ass so the guys didn’t think he was gay too, but he sure sucked my dick like a Hoover vacuum when we 69’d in that motel room off post, that’s all I needed to know.

The other guy, Wicomb, well he didn’t get in on the harassment and actually looked a little disappointed in the rest of the guys when they’d say fucked up shit to my face while we worked.  He always told em to stop bein assholes.  I really liked Wicomb.  I didn’t think he was gay.   But he was a walkin’ dream.

Bein’ short like I was I always liked taller, bigger guys (that makes me laugh because like… 100% of guys are taller and bigger’n me, so I guess I just like all guys.  Hah hah.  But taller’n bigger’n average was a particular weakness).  Wicomb could be a poster boy for the Army recruitment commercials.  All American good looks, and what I used to think was a jacked up muscle body until I met Zeus and Sleeper.  Hooo Lord…those two… Lord in Heaven.  Wicomb was about 6’1” with nice broad shoulders and long thick legs.  He had dark almost black hair and blue eyes, the kinda eyes that were sweet like some baby animal’s eyes that just begged you to love him.  He was four years older’n me and when I first got to Ft. Bragg he kinda took me under his wing to help me fit in.  I think he looked at me like a li’l brother.  I got that pretty regular from the big guys.  Somethin about how little I was made them wanna protect me and be extra nice.   You know, honestly?  That’s probably why I ended up gay.  I mean, I coulda gone either way I guess.  But girls seem to have a general thing against guys that were small, not mean or nothin but I was considered cute, adorable, precious… like I was one of their dolls.  Girls seem to like guys who can protect them, maybe even take charge.  I wasn’t nowhere near that.  So a girlfriend was never in the cards for me.  I did try.  But guys?  Half of the guys teased me like crazy.  I got used to that before I turned 12, so I learned not to let their stupid jokes bug me.  The other half seemed to really like having me around.  I think because I wasn’t a threat, or competition, and next to me they looked huge.  And the REALLY big guys… I was like their favorite puppy.  It seemed like they went out of their way to make sure I got my say in, didn’t let anyone step on me or put me down.  It felt really good.  I had so many man crushes before I even thought about being sexual with a guy.  My first jack-off fantasy involving a guy was Brody Thomas, linebacker on our high school football team.  In my fantasy he’d have his arm around me while we watched TV, and he would reach up and just rub my head with his big hand and say ‘I like you, Victor’.  And I shot my load.  Pretty lame, huh?  That’s the only thing I needed to cum was some hulk bein just a little nice to me.  I ended up losin my virginity to him.  It just happened when we were hanging out one day, but that’s private cause it was really special.  I ain’t gonna tell nobody that story.  I think I cried for a week when he went off to college.  He graduated and I still had my senior year to go.  He wasn’t gay as far as I knew and I didn’t think I was either back then but he was always really nice to me.  I missed him.  Still do.

So anyway, back to Wicomb.  He really was a good guy.  Bout six months after I got to Ft. Bragg, after we’d developed a solid friendship at work, he said he was takin’ a weekend road trip to Raleigh-Durham to watch his li’l brother’s basketball game at Duke University and did I want to go with him.  Course I said yes.  By that time I had my usual man crush on him and I wasn’t even thinking of anything happening between us.  All I needed to get that warm feeling was to sit somewhere close to him and have his attention.  He was just that kind of guy - genuine and authentic, confident and laid back, really funny in a way where he made anythin funny and fun.  He smiled all the time.  Nothin bothered him much.

I offered him to pay half for the hotel, but he said he was just glad I came with him and told me to keep my money.  And it wasn’t no Motel 6, it was a Holiday Inn, fancy and expensive but he wouldn’t take my money.  See?  Really nice, like I said.  And honest Injun, I wasn’t thinking nothin’ about sex with Wicomb.  But that seemed to be how it always happened.   Do you figure Indians used to lie a lot back in the Wild West, so it was unusual to come across an honest Injun?  Or do you figure it’s the other way round - that the old Indians were so honest they were known for it?  Maybe I shoulda asked my history teacher about that before he got to fuckin me senior year.  No… it wasn’t like that… I already had an ‘A’.  He was just really nice to me and it sorta happened by accident.  I have a lot of sex with guys by accident, I suppose.  I guess I just have that effect on some of the big guys.  Mr. Madden was handsome with a manly beard, married with a couple kids and reminded me of that actor from the TV show Grizzly Adams, I can’t remember his name.  Somehow I ended up in the back seat of his Ford Bronco with his fat hairy dick in my smooth tiny teenage ass.  Mr. Madden was my first guy kiss too.  Brody didn’t kiss.  That was normal.  Most guys who wanted me to suck their dick didn’t kiss.  Mr. Madden was so nice.  He’d always say ‘we shouldn’t be doing this’ before he guided my head down to suck his dick, and he’d tell me how amazing I was after his soft dick came out of my cum filled ass.  I walked the stage at graduation with his still warm cum tryin to wiggle its way out of my tender asshole from him bendin me over in the bathroom just before that, him in his suit and me in my graduation robe.  Oh yeah… Dan Haggerty…that’s the actor’s name.  Mr. Madden looked like Dan Haggerty.  Super hairy.  Pretty nice dick too.

I keep gettin distracted and I’m tryin to tell about Wicomb.  My brain don’t slow down much.  Never has.

Well, the first time it happened with Wicomb was in that hotel room.  I never saw him naked before that and I guess I was starin.  I didn’t mean to, honest.

“You okay, Chambers?”  He asked.  Now, we were in the Army and bein around other naked guys wasn’t no big deal so of course he wasn’t in a rush to throw his clothes back on.  We didn’t have to get to the game for another couple hours.  And this was before all the rumors started at work.

“What?” I asked.  His question caught me off guard.  “Yeah, all good.” I tore my eyes away from his dick and looked at those incredible blue eyes.  He had his usual big smile on his face.  I guess he thought somethin was funny like he always did.  I didn’t know what, but I smiled back anyway.

“Do you want the shower first?”  He asked.

I shook my head.  “Nah, you go first.”

“Good, I got swamp ass from the drive.” He said walkin into the bathroom.  I watched him from the bed, bendin over into the bathtub enclosure to turn on the water lookin’ at his muscly ass and his long thick legs.  Then he turned while the water got hot, lifted the toilet seat and took a piss.  He musta had to go pretty bad, cause he just seemed to go on forever and it wasn’t like a thin stream.  He just stood there with his hands on his hips and let his hangin’ dick flood the toilet with a deep rumble like a waterfall.  It would bounce a little as he forced his piss out.

“Nothing like a good heavy piss, right Chambers?”  He said, shootin me a smile through the open door while I watched.

I smiled back.  “Yeah, it sure feels good, no lie.”  I said.  “You even piss big.”  I said.

He shrugged.  “Comes with the big dick, bud.”  He joked.  He made me laugh.

I watched him finish.  He didn’t even shake his dick, he just climbed right in the shower.  I thought that was a real man thing to do.  Everythin bout Wicomb had real man written all over it.

After he got done, I watched him get out and he said “Come on, water is still warm, bud.” And he left the shower runnin.  It was nice the way he called me ‘bud’.  I didn’t feel small when he called me that.  I got bareass and went to get in the shower while he dried off in front of the sink.  I had to squeeze past him but he knew li’l ole me didn’t need much room to get by and he didn’t seem to mind that I popped wood after I brushed up against him.  Other guys woulda made fun of me for it, but not Wicomb.  Like I said, he was super nice.

We had fun at the game and went to a restaurant with his li’l brother after.  That was fun, his li’l brother was just like him only taller.   The whole time we all couldn’t stop laughin. Wicomb went out of his way to include me while they joked around so I didn’t feel like an outsider.  When he said somethin to me, he put his hand on my shoulder or the back of my neck which felt good.  One time he squeezed and rubbed my neck and gave me a big smile.  His legs were so big and there wasn’t a lot of room under the table so we were kinda pressed up against each other which I didn’t mind.  He didn’t ask me to move and squeeze into the corner by the wall.  I got that a lot.  Ya know, people figure I need less room so they take up more and I get squeezed.  That’s why big guys were so cool because they were just as aware of how much room they took up as I was aware of how little I took up and they seemed comfortable when their size forced them into my li’l body.  They knew neither of us could help it, that’s just how it was when you’re big.  I always did my most not to make a big deal out of it neither because I figured they got just as tired of bumpin into things and having to be careful all the time.  I understood all about how you had to think about your size every minute.  “I’m not crowding you, am I?” He asked when we first sat down.  I just smiled and shook my head.

When we got back to the Holiday Inn it was kinda late, and we were drivin back to Ft. Bragg in the mornin so we got ready for bed.  I was already under the covers and was watchin Wicomb standin in front of the sink brushin his teeth.  I could see his underwear bulge a good distance above the sink top in the mirror.  Mine woulda been hidden by the cabinet.

“You’re not going to brush your teeth bud?”  He asked me in the reflection.  I pulled my eyes back to his face and smiled.

“Don’t usually.”  I said.

He raised his eyebrows at me then gave me a scowl.  That made me laugh.

“Brush your teeth, Chambers.”  He ordered.

I pulled the covers up to my eyes.  “But I’m warm now.”  Fine hotels like the Holiday Inn had the best sheets and blankets, I decided.

Toothbrush hangin out of his mouth, he stalked over to the bed, threw back the sheets and grabbed me out of bed.  “Fine.  I’ll do it for you.”  He carried me to the sink.

Which is how I ended up sandwiched between him and the sink with his warm body pressed up against my back.  I had nowhere to go and accidentally leaned back into him with my butt on his thighs and his bulge into my lower back.

He grabbed my toothbrush and held it up to look at it.  “Bud, you need a new toothbrush.”  He said.

“Why?  It’s still got bristles on it.”  I asked.

He laughed.  “You aren’t supposed to wear it down to nothing, Chambers.”  He pulled his toothbrush out of his mouth and rinsed it in the sink, then put some toothpaste on it, workin with his arms around me.  “Open up.”

I did what he told me to and with his left hand on my jaw he slowly started brushin my teeth with his toothbrush.  I watched him in the mirror.  His hands were so big next to my face.  He kept lookin right into my eyes with those sweet blues of his, his long dark eyelashes just makin em perfect.

He was very gentle with me and I relaxed back into his chest.  My head only came up to his neck.  He went tooth by tooth with small, easy circular movements that felt more like a soothin mouth massage than the furious scrubbin I usually did.  He took his time doing all the fronts, then the backs, givin me a bright smile every once in a while.  I tried to smile back but it wasn’t easy with his toothbrush in my mouth.  “Stop smiling, bud, it makes it hard.”  He kept telling me.  I could feel it every time he breathed, his body moving against mine and his muscles flexin with his every motion.

“This is how you should take care of your teeth.”  He said softly, and I could feel his voice inside me as it came through his chest and into my back and neck.  “You should take your time, work the brush over every part of each tooth.  You have to make sure you get all the way back, and all around.  Your mouth is important, people notice your smile.  And you have a nice smile.  Let’s keep it that way.”  He rinsed the toothbrush.  “Spit”

I leaned over and spat the toothpaste foam into the sink.  He pulled me back up against his chest.  He brought his fingers to my lips and rubbed.  “Open wide and stick out your tongue.”  I did, and he put the toothbrush on my tongue and brushed real slow and soft along it.  “Your tongue is important too.  It’s soft, so you have to treat it gently.  Just rub the brush over it, back and forth, from back to front.  If you go too deep, you’ll gag at first.  But you’ll get used to getting back there and soon it won’t bother you as much and you’ll be able to go deeper.  Just take your time, that’s the important part.”  He kept his voice low and soft.  He was really a great guy, doing this for me.  He didn’t make me feel embarrassed or stupid.  No one had bothered to teach me the right way to brush my teeth and this big man was doing it just to be nice.

He set the toothbrush down and cupped his hand under the water.  “Sip and rinse, then spit.”  He held his hand up and I dipped my head and sucked the water he held.  My eyes were still looking at his in the mirror.  I swished the water around while he stared at me with a smile.  He held his hand up for me to spit into, then rinsed it in the tap.

“Let me see, open.”  He said.  I smiled as big as I could.  “See?  Pretty teeth now.”  And then he rubbed a finger very gently along my front teeth and gums.  I know he was just checkin’ to make sure they were all clean, but it felt really sexual to have his finger in my mouth.  That was just me though, he was just being nice.

I nodded.

“If you need me to show you again, I’ll do it in the morning.”  He said.  He gave my chest a pat and then stepped away to the toilet and took out his dick to piss.  I was relieved to see he had popped wood too and I wondered why teaching me to brush my teeth would give him a woody.  He smiled at me while I watched him force his boner down to point at the toilet.  I would never be able to bend mine down like that if it was hard, but mine was nowhere near as long as his.

I smiled back, then went back to watchin.  His dick was so big now that I could see it hard.  He had a full bush of black curly hair with his big nuts hanging a few inches below.

When he finished, he just pulled his underwear off.  “Do you mind if I take care of this?  I’m horny.”  He asked, waving his hard dick at me.

“Okay.  But I can do it.”  I smiled.  “If you want.”

He smiled back.  “Yeah?  You don’t have to.”

I shrugged.  The way I figured it, him gettin hard was probably my fault anyway because I was accidentally rubbin up against him while he taught me the right way to brush my teeth.  If brushin teeth excited him that was on me for not doin it myself.  It wasn’t his fault.  I was used to that happenin.  Big guys didn’t always know how big they were and they couldn’t help it when their parts came up against you.  And I never wanted them to feel self conscious about it so I made sure not to flinch away or say anythin.

Like I said, I wasn’t tryin to sex him up, but it happened so the least I could do was take care of it for him.  It probably had nothin to do with me anyway.  Accidents happen, right?

I got on my knees in front of him and stuck my tongue out to lick the head of his dick.  He had some pre-cum hangin there, even though he had just taken a piss.  His pre-cum tasted kinda good, most big guys did.  Maybe I could practice how to brush my tongue.  Seems like what he taught me was real close to suckin dick.  I chuckled a little that he had no idea his lesson could be used for that.  I reached up and grabbed the base of his dick to slowly start strokin it before taking it into my mouth.  I made sure to push it over my tongue, pretendin I was brushing it.  I made sure to do it slow and gentle like he showed me.   I knew my way round sucking dick and the whole gaggin thing wasn’t a problem.  I knew what the big guys liked.  One of the things they seemed to like was for me to look up at them while I sucked them off, so I lifted my eyes to Wicomb’s and watched him.  He was lookin down at me, smilin.  That made me want to do a good job for him.

“Wow, bud… you’re pretty good at that.”  He said, cradlin my chin in his hand while he pushed his dick in and out of my mouth.  “You want to make me cum, buddy?”

I nodded, still movin up and down on his large dick.

“You want to take it?  You want me to cum in your mouth?”  He asked.

I nodded again.

“It feels good, you’re doing a great job, bud.  Keep going, you’re getting me close.  Suck my cock.  That’s it, take it as far as you can.”  I liked knowin he liked what I was doin.  Some guys didn’t want to talk to you while you were suckin em off.  Not Wicomb.  He liked to talk.

It was really nice of him to let me help him out like that.  I was really happy he was lettin me do him a favor.  My mama said you should always repay a kindness with a kindness, so I was doin what I was good at for him.  And I really liked how his dick felt in my mouth.

I went as far down as I could even though I couldn’t go all the way.  He was just too big.  But I made up for it by slurping my tongue all over the rest of it and usin my hand.

“Damn, bud, work that dick.”  He said.  “You’re going to make me cum.  Yeah, just like that.  Keep going.  Just like that. Oh fuck yeah.  Here it comes bud.  Here it comes.  I’m cumming.  I’m cumming.”

I felt the first spurt shoot into my mouth I knew enough now to stop moving my head and just stroke the base as I let him do his cum thrust to get it all out.  I pulled off his dick to swallow his cum real quick then got back on it.  Guys liked it when you left it in your mouth for a while, until they started going soft.  You didn’t want to keep suckin on it or moving, it was too sensitive most of the time.

“Fuck, that was awesome!  Thanks bud.”  he said, patting me on the head.  That made me feel really good.

“No problem, Wicomb.”  I said with a smile after I let his softenin dick out of my mouth.  I pulled his underwear back up his legs for him.  He had good underwear.

Course, after the rumors started Wicomb had to distance himself from me, but I understood.  That was my fault.  I shouldn’t have trusted that other asshole even if he was nice to me at first.  Trouble is, you just can’t tell when they’re fakin bein nice and all, you know?  But he didn’t have to be so mean after.  I didn’t really think about him much at all before or after I sucked him off.  He wasn’t very good lookin.  I’m pretty sure he didn’t think about me neither.  Like I said before, we sucked each other’s dick by accident, it wasn’t like we went to that hotel to suck dick on purpose.  He was 24 and could get beer, that’s why I said yes when he asked if I wanted to stay in his room when the guys did their weekend partying off the main drag.  I couldn’t hit the bars with them but that was okay.  I wasn’t goin to have any luck pickin up any chicks.  I drank beer alone in that room while he went out and got drunk at the bars.  Then when all the guys got back at 0130 we drank some more.  Duncan and me just sorta ended up naked and sucking each others’ dicks.  I don’t even know how it happened.

After that weekend, even though I hated the mean things they said and did to me, I could handle it because Wicomb was still nice.  But I was truly relieved when I got PCS’d to Germany with the Bravos.  Don’t know, nor care why.  They even changed my MOS to 11B.  When I enlisted that was one of the occupations I absolutely didn’t want to be, Infantry and thank the Lord my ASVAB scores were good enough to get me other options.  I knew I was too small to go through what those guys did.  But if this is what Infantry was all about, I shoulda been here from the beginnin.

I finally felt like I had friends and it was a fresh start.  Of course I didn’t ruin it by sucking anyone’s dick even though all of them were nice.  Didn’t mean I didn’t want to.  I worried a bit that maybe I was liking it a bit much.  I had a huge crush on Assmunch.  I liked Zeus and Sleeper too, but Assmunch was like…normal?  Sleeper and Zeus were just flat out on some other level li’l ole me had no prayer to even get near.

Assmunch wasn’t just nice, he was like Wicomb.  Genuine and authentic.  And he seemed kinda sad most of the time, for no reason.  It wasn’t his job or our training, he never had trouble with any of that.  And he took care of everyone, gave special help when anyone needed it, or found someone who was better at it than him to help you.  He always knew the right way to get something done, and he kept us Bravos ahead of Sarge.  I think that pissed Sarge off sometimes when he couldn’t find a mistake or anything wrong with us.  Assmunch always put a stop to anythin that went too far, and never let the guys be mean to each other.  Andrew always noticed when something was wrong before anyone had to say anything, even personal stuff.  And then he dealt with it quietly.  He kept secrets.  Maybe he would keep mine.  I was trying to screw up my courage to talk to him but it was hard, you know?  I didn’t want to ruin my spot in the brotherhood.  I almost went to Sleeper that day in the snow shelter, but Puta got there first. I wished I could be more like Puta.

Jump School was hard for me, being small.  Those exercises and lessons we had to do with full gear made it super hard for me to even move and jumpin off platforms with all that extra weight was no joke.  I just barely was able to clip in on the anchor line too.  At least the Sergeants Airborne didn’t yell at me every time I smiled at them. I always got yelled at by the other Sergeants for smilin.

I was busy studyin the stuff we were taught that day (for the tenth time - I didn’t want to let the guys down and be the only Bravo to drop) when I saw Zeus and Sleeper comin to my rack.  Ever since that last week in Germany (Was that just two weeks ago?  Holy Moley!) Sleeper and Zeus did everything together.  That just made sense.  They were the Bravo Big Dogs and everyone kinda knew Sleeper was Assmunch’s unofficial enforcer.  Now Zeus was too.  Funny thing was, in any normal unit I could see Puta, Troll and Cellblock bein the top dogs.  Cellblock, one of the black guys, would make a good Platoon Leader with Puta and Troll as his enforcers.

“Hey Weeble!”  Sleeper said.  “You did great in your match yesterday.”

I smiled.  “Thanks Sleeper!”  I looked at Zeus.   “Hi Zeus.”  I waved and gave him a smile too.  Zeus smiled back and I think I fell in love.  Have you ever had someone look right at you, like… right into you and you feel like they know you and it makes them happy, which makes you happy?  That’s what it felt like when Zeus smiled at me.  Zeus didn’t smile much, or laugh much.  Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Zeus laugh. I felt warm all over.

“Do you guys want to sit down?”  I asked when I finally managed to look away from Zeus.

Sleeper shrugged.  “Sure.”

I pulled my legs up and wrapped my arms around them while I watched the two big guys sit on my rack.  Zeus looked a little silly like he was sittin on a children’s chair.  He kept tryin to figure out where to put his legs and arms.  I was sitting up against my pillow.  He tried sitting sideways but then he wasn’t facing me so he had to look over his shoulder.  Then he twisted but his legs hit the metal bunk frame.  So he tried to pull his left leg up and lay it on the bunk but his right was too long still sittin with his foot on the floor.  He put his right knee down which looked more comfortable but leanin his upper body forward looked awkward.  It was makin me smile, watchin him try to arrange himself.  That’s how big guys were, nothin in the world was made for their size.  We were the same, him and me.  He was too big for everythin, I was too small. I guess Sleeper waited to see if he could figure it out for a bit, then he went to the other side of my bunk and sat sideways then leaned over and rested on his elbow, almost laying down.  Zeus saw that and did the same thing behind him.  Man, even Sleeper looked small against Zeus.

“You doing okay, Weeble?”  Sleeper asked.

I nodded, still smilin.  “Yeah, doin great, Sleeper.  Just studyin.”

“Anything you want to talk about?  You having any trouble with the course?”  Mr. Deep Brown Eyes continued.  He was so handsome.

“Nah.  It’s hard, but I can do it.”  I assured him.  Sometimes the guys helped me out with stuff, but here we were supposed to do all the stuff ourselves.  “I won’t let you down, Sleeper.”

He reached out and put his hand on my knee.  “Weeble, you never let us down and you work harder than half the brothers.  Don’t think we don’t notice, or understand it’s more effort for you to do some of the things we can do easily.  You’ve come a long way from that first time I saw you trying to keep up with us rucking.”

I laughed.  “I had a lot of Sarge’s spit on my face that week from all the yellin”

Sleeper laughed too.  “We all did, brother.  I can still taste it.”  He leaned back into Zeus reclining just behind him..  “You never got yelled at Gabriel.” He said, tilting his head to look up at Zeus while he leaned into him.  That looked like it felt really good, snuggling up against Big Zeus.  “You never had to taste Sarge’s spit.”

Zeus smiled at Sleeper.  It was a really sweet smile.  I think Zeus really liked Sleeper.  He only smiled that way at Sleeper and Assmunch, never at the rest of us.  We just got the regular Super Smile that made you feel like a million dollars.  “I didn’t do anything wrong for him to yell at me about, Addison.”

Sleeper snorted.  “Yeah, right.  Sometimes I didn’t do anything wrong either, but he still yelled at me.  ‘You’ve disappointed me, Private.  I needed one more failure in this Platoon to win the Sergeant’s pool.  Now I’m not going to win.  And I hate to lose.  YOU WILL STRIP, CLEAN, AND REASSEMBLE EVERY WEAPON FOR YOUR PLATOON BEFORE CHOW TIME!  AND DON’T GREASE THOSE BOLTS LIKE YOU DO YOUR PATHETIC PECKER, DO IT RIGHT!”  He barked just like Sarge.  “And Demon’s M4 was bad.  He runs it way too wet.  I was almost late for chow.”

“I don’t think there was a Sergeant’s pool, Addison.”  Zeus said seriously.  “Sergeant Walters said he was in a lot of Sergeant’s pools, and he always said he lost.  He couldn’t have lost all of them, we were really good.”

Sleeper laughed.  “You’re right, Gabriel.  There was no betting pool.  Sarge just liked to say that for an excuse to make us work harder.”

“That’s not fair.”  Zeus said, scowling.

Sleeper raised his voice.  ‘FAIR?!?!  IF YOU WANTED FAIR YOU -‘

“SHOULDA JOINED THE AIR FORCE!”  The rest of the Bravos shouted in unison, mimicking Sarge’s growling yell.

That cracked everyone up.  Everyone except Zeus who just smiled with a hilarious looking grin.

“Fucking Ground Pounders.”  One of the Air Force randoms that were left said loudly.

Which only cracked everyone up again.

“So, you good Weeble?”  Sleeper looked at me with a kind smile.

I hesitated.  “Uh… yeah Sleeper.”

“What do you think Zeus?  He telling the truth?  Or do you think he’s got something on his mind?”  Sleeper didn’t look away from my face.  I had to look away.  I wanted to trust him, trust the brothers.  I just couldn’t take the chance.

“He doesn’t look happy like he always does Addison.”  Zeus said, keeping his voice low..

Sleeper nodded.  “I think you’re right Zeus.  Do you want to talk here, or out on the benches, Victor?  Or would you rather talk to Andrew?”

I felt my stomach clench.  I didn’t want to ruin this, what I had with the Bravos.  Everyone was still nice to me.

“Hey, Victor.  We’re your brothers.  We love you, buddy.  Hey, look at me.”  Sleeper put his hand on my knee again.  I looked up slowly.  “Something is bothering you.  You’re always really bright and happy, trying your best, going around lifting everyone’s spirits.  Everyone thinks you’re awesome.  But sometimes you don’t look happy if no one’s around.  You know we got your back, right?  Hell, we like Bootlicker, and he’s an asshole.”

“Victor, you’re our friend too.”  Zeus said to me. I liked hearin him talk.  And there was somethin about how he said it, with his deep serious voice.  We didn’t go around callin each other friend a whole bunch.  It was always ‘brother’, bro, or our nickname.  Sometimes even our last name if it was super serious.  When Zeus said I was his friend, I felt it.  It was real.  He wasn’t fakin it.  And Sleeper was cocky, sure…but I probably would be too if I looked like him.  But he wasn’t never mean to no one.

“If you don’t want to Victor, we won’t push you.  But you can come to us for anything, anytime.”  Sleeper got up, and Zeus did too.

I wanted to.  I wanted to so bad.  But I didn’t want to be weak.  See, what the big guys never could understand was how little guys like me never felt grown up and wished every day to be like them.  When I saw guys like Sleeper and Zeus, Assmunch, Troll, Puta, Demon, even Bootlicker I saw Men, grown men.  And next to them I felt like a child, always behind them, never keeping up.  Size was part of it, sure.  But it was also more than that.  They were confident, capable and self reliant.  They didn’t care what anyone else thought.  They didn’t beg anyone to be nice to them.  I felt dependent upon their good nature and every day I lived in fear that they would discover I was just pretendin to be grown up so they would continue to accept me.  No one ever looked at them and thought ‘he doesn’t belong here.’  Even before the rumors started in my old unit I didn’t actually feel like I was one of them.  Their jokes and dismissive remarks made it clear every day I was different from them and they’d never see me any other way.  I was used to that, honest.  It hardly hurt at all anymore.  It was how it was all through school.  Bein small was lonely to begin with.  They say it’s lonely at the top… but they don’t know what they’re talkin about.  It’s twice as lonely at the bottom.  Bein the smallest just meant you had even less to offer someone as a friend.  Think about it - what do friends do with each other?  Ride bikes, skateboard, play sports, try to pick up girls, walk around the mall tryin to be noticed.  Wasn’t a single one of those things I was any good at.  I couldn’t keep up, no one wanted me on their team playin a pick up game of touch football, or half court basketball, I wasn’t no girl magnet and no one invited me to go to the mall.  Sometimes I’d go by myself and say hi to some of the guys I knew from school.  I didn’t blame them for not invitin me to hang out with them after the first awkward exchange of ‘what’s goin on?’ It wasn’t like I was actually their friend, I was just the tiny guy from school.  Little guys like me didn’t say ‘hey, why don’t we…’. Or - ‘do you guys want to go…’.   Little guys like me followed.  Little guys like me took whatever they were lucky enough to get.  I felt like a hungry stray dog everyone pitied and would sometimes feed, but would never take home.

So see, guys like Sleeper and Zeus couldn’t understand how hard I tried to keep my spot in the Bravos.  And how desperate I was to keep up with them.  I finally felt like I belonged.  I was almost terrified of losing the first group of guys who never made me feel small.

“Victor?”  I heard Sleeper’s voice interrupt my thoughts.  “Dude, I really don’t want to push you, but something is really bugging you.  Please.  Let’s go talk to Assmunch.  He always knows what to do.”

I looked up at him.  Holy smokes he was so handsome.  His big muscles so sexy.  Those deep brown eyes so kind and … hell, those eyes saw me.  When Sleeper’s eyes looked at me I didn’t feel small.  I felt like I was a person.

“Victor, Andrew is amazing.”  Zeus continued.  “Do what Addison says.  We’re going to talk to him.”  For a Big Guy who never talked much he sure was talkin a lot these days.  Not like I minded, his voice was both soothin and excitin.  I’d never had a crush on someone’s voice before.  Before I realized what I was doin I had closed my manual and stood up.  I sighed.  That was part of it too.  A Big Guy tells me what to do and I don’t even stop to think.  A grown man would never do that.  I didn’t mind though.  Not when it was Zeus, or Sleeper.  Or Assmunch.  I woulda done anything those three told me to.  It was the part where I did it without thinkin that bugged me.

“Okay.”  I agreed.  I had no idea what I was going to say to Assmunch. I didn’t really want to do this.  I didn’t want to look weak, especially in front of Assmunch.  I knew how much it was going to hurt when I saw his eyes look at me different.  Sleeper led the way over to Assmunch where he sat on his bunk.  Zeus came up beside me and put his arm around my shoulder.  I almost stumbled when I felt so good and all my anxiousness disappeared.  He was so huge.  But the funny thing was, the REALLY strange thing… I felt bigger than I’d ever felt in my entire life with his arm around me.  I know it sounds stupid, but I felt like next to him like that I didn’t have nothin to worry about, and I was part of his bigness.  Like I was included… in HIM.  I can’t say why I didn’t just sink right into his big powerful body immediately.  Hell, I do know why.  I couldn’t risk lettin down my guard even when I knew anyone else would have done it and not be ashamed or care what anyone thought.

Assmunch didn’t even blink, or ask.  “Outside.”  Was all he said.

[BoYGaSM]

I just have to say… you are so talented!  I get so wrapped up in your words it allows my imagination to consume me and nothing else but the story plays out in my mind just like a movie.  Its so real it’s almost as if i have ACTUALLY seen the movie… if that makes any sense.  It also helps that i was in the Army 15 years so it really does manifest easily having knowledge of the topics you touch on and the fond memories of my time as an MP in the Army (mostly all under “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” so this absolutely touches home for me!)

Edited April 15, 2022 by BoYGaSM