“Wait, did that guy just threaten me?” Faith wondered, startled.
Faith fought a sudden and barely-controlled urge to plant his giant MGMC ring squarely in the other man’s forehead. Four years ago, a situation like this would have terrified him. But that was four years ago. At Middle Georgia Military, it was a tradition to scratch a notch in the back of one’s ring for every fight the wearer was in, win or lose, while wearing the ring. Faith’s ring had three notches, and it looked like he was going to get another one. It had been a long time since he fought more than one person at once, but he normally didn’t worry about things like odds, or even consequences, when it came to issues of principle. His only regret right now was that he was about to scuff up his highly-polished jump boots. After a scuffle like this one was about to be, it would probably take him hours to get them back up to standard. Longer, if his eyes where black and swollen.
“Okay, game on,” Faith said. He held the folder containing his orders and inprocessing documentation out to the side and dropped it. It made a “smack” when it struck the concrete. Faith began to undo the buttons of his uniform top; it would be too restrictive once he starting swinging.
The eyes of the man who threatened him grew wide.
But, they weren’t focused on Faith. They were focused on someone behind him. Faith turned quickly, half-expecting an unseen assailant standing behind him. There was, in fact, someone standing behind him, but he did not appear the slightest bit threatening. The man was tall, with dark black skin and impossibly white teeth. Sweat glistened from his shaved head and soaked into his gray PT uniform. He held a small gym bag in his right hand, which he shifted to his left so he could render a sharp salute to Lieutenant Faith.
“Good evening sir,” he said. “Sergeant First Class Edward Ellery from Delta Company. I’ll take it from here.” He was in action before Faith could say another word.
“You,” he said, pointing at Private Pigpen. “Go back to your barracks room. And for God’s sake, take a shower.”
“You,” he said, pointing to the youngest-looking member of the group who was attacking Pigpen. “Get this cleaned up. Put the vehicle back in the motor pool and put this,” he added, tossing his gym bag to the man, “in my office. Don’t forget to make sure the back door is locked when you leave.”
“You three,” he said to the remaining individuals, “glad to see you’re in your PTs. Come with me. You’re about to have a very bad day.”
“Sergeant Ellery—“ one of the men began.
“Nope,” Ellery interrupted, “not another word. You heard me. Make it happen.”
As they began, slowly, to comply with his instructions, Ellery turned his attention back to Faith.
“New to the battalion, sir?” he inquired. Faith nodded. “Which company?”
“This one, actually,” Faith replied as he buttoned up his BDU top and picked back up his folder. It had gotten a little wet but the contents seemed salvageable.
“Oh, fantastic,” Ellery replied. “I didn’t know we were expecting any new platoon leaders. Great to have you on board,” he said with what appeared to be genuine enthusiasm as he shook Faith’s hand. “Sergeant First Class Ellery, 5th Platoon.”
“These yours?” Faith asked, indicating the other men.
“No sir. Well, I mean they’re mine for the next…” he checked his watch “hour or so. And they’re fellow Delta Dogs, but no they’re not my Soldiers.”
Faith nodded.
“Well sir, glad to have you on board. I’m going to do some retraining real quick and then call it a weekend. See you here for PT at 0600 on Monday?” he inquired. It had been a long day already, but Faith wondered if he should stick around.
(end)
Discussion Questions
1) What should Faith do now? Should he put this in Sergeant Ellery’s hands, or stick around and see what happens?
2) How should he prep for Monday, and should he bring this up to the First Sergeant or Company Commander when he in-processes Delta Company?