Trainning in Missouri

PFC Williams stood out in the cold Missouri air wearing his green USMC sweatshirt, cammie trousers and boots with his arms folded behind his back, and his eyes closed waiting for the painful spray to come from his instructor. The procedure had been explained to everyone and everyone had to go through it before they advanced to the next step.

A two second stream came from the OC can the instructor held. As soon as it ended the instructor yelled at him to open his eyes and blink. Once he had blinked a few times he turned and ran to the first Marine standing in the line with a pad in his arms and replicated the strike he was ordered to give. Seconds later a whistle blew and he moved on to the next pad, then the next, and the next. On and on he ran down the gauntlet with his eyes burning and his nose flowing snot like Niagara falls. Finally he saw the man in the padded red suit through blurry eyes. In a broken gate he lunged for the man in the suit and took him down with an armbar, all the while yelling out commands for him to stop, Still the man in the suit fought him. At which point Williams figured it had escalated enough for him to draw his rubber pistol and take it to the next step. When he did, and issued one final order, the man in the padded suit stopped fighting.

Another instructor pulled Williams off and took the pistol and holster from him for the next student to use and instructed him to go stand over there with the others and recover.

PFC Williams did as he was told and walked in a broken line to the others.

The young man had dealt with a lot of pain during his short life but this had to be about the worst of it.

On the bus ride back to to the barracks Kendal, rubbing his eyes said to the Marine seated nest to him. "That has to be bout the worst Saturday morning Ive ever had."

The Marine just leaned back in the bus seat and closed his eyes tightly. Kendal too leaned back and closed his eyes. What seemed seconds later the bus came to a stop and the door opened. Surprisingly he was able to fall asleep for a little nap. But woke when the bus stopped.

He stood as everyone else filed out of the bus, and did the same. Finally coming to his spot in formation with the rest.

The older Gunny stood in front of the formation and congratulated them on a job well done. Then secured them for liberty for the rest of the weekend. As soon as the Gunny dismissed them the young Marines made for a mad dash into their barracks to change into civilian clothes and vanish for the weekend.

Kendal sat in the back of the cab with three of his friends going to one of three places that young Marines go to on a Saturday night in this small military town.

After a short ten minute drive the cab pulled into a shopping complex, well what looked like a shopping complex. To one side of them sat a big building that had a neon sign that said Big Daddy's Gentleman's club. Right next to the strip club was a small booth that sold beer. Apparently town law forbid the sale of alcohol in a strip club, so they sold it outside.

Next to the beer stand was an adult novelty store.

Kendal and his three friends lined up at the beer stand. Much to their delight the old man at the beer stand didn't card anyone that came up to the window. So each purchased a six pack (the most they would sell at a time), and walked to the club to pay their way in.

Once inside they saw several stages, but only one was being used. By the time they sat down the girl had stripped completely naked, and was clumsily swinging around the pole.

Her ability to dance wasn't what the men were interested in, and the girl was formidably equipped with what they wanted to see.

By the time Kendal had polished off two beers a young, and very attractive brunet walked up to him and sat right in his lap. Unlike the three strippers before her, she didn't instantly ask him to buy a dance. The young Marine liked that. Even if she was pretending to want conversation it was far more appealing than what the other girls had done.

She laughed at his jokes, and he listened intently at her aspirations at becoming a nurse. All the strippers seemed to be working on getting their RN and only took their clothes off to pay their way through school.

He finally asked her name, and gave his. In response she said. "Page, my name's Page with a pretty kitty."

Kendal chuckled at the implication and decided to go for the bait, and said. "I don't believe that you have a pretty kitty."

She in turn, without hesitation stood pulled down her g-string and bent over positioning it inches from his face, and looked up between her legs. "Believe me now?"

After Page had pulled her panties back up, and sat back down they talked for a few more minutes. Finally the young Marine decided to help with the young lady's education fund and asked her to take him to the private dance area.

A short song later she redressed in her clothes that offered very little to the imagination and lead him back to his table with his friends.

Unlike most of the women there she didn't instantly go to another man. She actually sat back down on his lap and started talking to her again.

Kendal liked that. It is unusual for something like this to happen.

Three songs later after talking about anything and everything the phone in his pocket started to vibrate. Page jumped a little, then shifted so she was sitting directly on the vibrating phone and said. "Ahh, that's nice."

Kendal chuckled nervously, and slid her down on his lap so he could get to his phone.

Over the noise, he couldn't hear the person on the other end, so he excused himself from Page and went outside.

"What do you mean you need money?" Asked Kendal.

The high-pitched voice on the other end explained, and gave excuses, and complained to the father of her child.

Finally, after seeing that his reasons for not being able to send anything more than the large chunk of his pay that made up the court ordered child support agreed to stop by a Western Union and send more.

Satisfied the young lady hung up the phone, and Kendal went back inside. Finding Page still siting in his chair, waiting on him to return.

With a frown he said. "I've got to go. You gonna be working tomorrow night?"

Page too frowned, but nodded her head.

The young Marine smiled a weak smile and said. "Its my daughter's mother, she is having some problems."

Page, caught the way the sentence was worded and instantly realized that he was saying that he is single, but is manning up to his responsibilities. The young stripper smiled at the thought of a young Marine actually handing what he should instead of hiding from it, and bid him goodnight.

Kendal walked with his shoulders slumped back outside and got into one of the cabs, and went to the nearest Western Union.

Kendal woke the next morning feeling like he had been run over by a truck. Not from the sickness that a lot of people around the world had been getting, but rather just from the stress of the conversation with his child's mother.

As he stepped outside to smoke he saw a bunch of the Marines in his class standing around one of his instructors wearing civilian clothes.

With the unlit light cigarette hanging from his mouth he walked over to where they were and listened in.

"Aight, because of the recent sickness,,,,"

Kendal scratched his head. "We are suspending your training. MARFORPAC has sent down orders that you are going to be augmenting security forces here and in neighboring towns."

The Staff Sergeant saw the nervous look on some of the Marines' faces and said. "Just relax, same thing happened during the swine flue thing the other year. Civilians are weak creatures and get scared easily. So SecNav wants us to help these Army dogs watch after the hospitals and stuff."

The Staff Sergeant pulled out a folder and said. "Ive got your team assignments." Then started reading off the names."

Kendal and one of his friends, A private named McKenzy were going to be attached to an Army Specialist and one of the teams working security at one of the hospitals.

After the Staff Sergeant had given everyone their assignments he dismissed them and took off walking towards the building that the instructors used as an office.

After the little mini informal formation Kendal checked his assignment, and noticed that he didn't have to head out until Monday morning, so he hurriedly smoked his cigarette and went back into the small barracks room that he shared with two other Marines to pack his things while his two roommates watched TV and played cards.

It didn't take long, he didn't really have much there. Two changes of civilian clothes, three sets of woodland cammies, two sets of desert cammies, and two sets of boots. Come to think of it, he never really had much of anything.

The young Marine spent the rest of the morning and afternoon just walking around base. Thinking about his past, and his future.

Finally as dusk started to set in he made his way over to the post exchange and climbed in a cab. The cabie didn't say anything, just looked over his shoulder indicating that he needed to know where the Marine wanted to go. Kendal smiled a weak smile at the older morbidly obese man and said. "Big Daddy's."

The cabie entered a coughing fit, then wiped his mouth and said to himself. "How did I know you would say that?"

Kendal ignored the snide comment, and spent the trip thinking about his little girl. He hadn't seen her but once, but that memory seemed to stick with him.

When the cab stopped in the near empty lot Kendal paid him then stepped out of the cab, and started walking over to the beer stand to get his six pack before going into the club to see the pretty stripper he met the night before. But before he reached the stand an attractive dark haired girl wearing a short white coat with fake fur around the collar, no makeup, a black tank top that barely covered her tight stomach, and tight jeans that barely covered her hips came running up to him, to stop his advance.

Kendal had to do a double take before he actually recognized her. "Page?"

The young brunette smiled coyly at him and said. "Yeah, I kinda lied to ya. I don't work tonight, and my name is Ellie. Page is just my stage name."

Kendal knew she hadn't given him her real name. Dancers never did. Even when you asked they just gave you another fake name. He always guessed that because they were showing complete strangers their most intimate body parts that keeping their names to themselves helped them keep their innocence, even though most of these women had lost their innocence long ago.

"Ellie." Kendal let the name roll off his tongue. "I like that. So if ya aren't working, what are ya doing here?"

Ellie showed him a bashful smile and said. "Well, I thought maybe I could take ya out to dinner."

Kendal smiled, knowing that she meant she thought he could take her out to dinner, as he would be the one paying.

But one thing the young Marine had learned during his short life is to never turn down a beautiful woman when she offered her company. So he graciously accepted, and went to flag down a cab.

Ellie stopped him and said that she had her own car.

A few feet away sat a beat down blue bronco. Ellie walked around to the driver's side and hopped in, and Kendal did the same on the passenger's side.

The two of them went to a rundown hole in the wall bar that had a kitchen, and ate hamburgers and fries. Ellie, like the last time they were together laughed and smiled at every funny thing Kendal said, and showed an honest interest in everything he talked about. Surprisingly she actually opened up about herself, and everything that lead her to where she is at in her life.

The young Marine liked hearing about her, even though most of it contained a sordid past that he could have gone without hearing.

Ellie once again surprised him when the check came. The pretty petite young woman took it from his hand, and reached into her purse. Kendal tried to protest, but she wouldn't have any excuses. So she paid, and then the two left the bar.

On the ride away from the bar Kendal noticed that she was taking him to neither the strip club nor towards base, so he asked her. "Umm, where are we going?"

She smiled over from behind the wheel and said coyly. "To my place. Why got someone else ya want to see tonight?"

"No, no. Just thought,,,"

She interrupted by saying. "You know, they say Marines don't think. I say you think too much."

Kendal's mouth opened wide, then asked. "How did you know I was a Marine?"

"Well I knew you were military by the hair. But figured ya wern't Army by the way you walked."

Kendal just smiled, and the two sat quiet for the rest of the ride.
After arriving outside the small apartment complex the two got out of the blazer, and Kendal stood by the hood. Ellie walked up to him and took his hand leading him to the building, and up the stairs, eventually to the corner apartment.

Inside he saw about what he expected to find. A fairly clean two bedroom apartment furnished as one would expect from a girl with a roommate.

Ellie pulled him through the doorway, and said. "Go ahead and sit down. Ill be back in a minute."

Paul cautiously walked into the small open living room and sat on the couch, staring at the TV that had been left on the WE channel. Either Ellie forgot to turn off the TV when she left, or her roommate was a girl, or gay.

A few minutes later he heard someone in the kitchen, and glass jangling. Moments later Ellie stepped into the living room wearing the same black top, but had replaced her jeans with black shorts.

The beautiful woman handed Kendal one of the two beers and sat next to him on the couch, then huffed. "I hate this channel." And changed it to Law and Order.

Kendal kinda shook his head, knowing it was the roommate that last watched TV.

They sat there in quiet for a few minutes sipping on their beers when suddenly Ellie set her's down and scooted closer to the young Marine Kissing him.

Kendal didn't fight the kiss, he had actually wanted to kiss her the first time he saw her.

Next the young woman's fingers were tracing the outline of his slim form down his chest, and stopped at his belt line. She then undid his belt, and started working on the button and zipper.

Kendal pulled back from the kiss and said. "Wait wait."

"What, did I do something wrong?"

Kendal shook his head catching his breath and said. "No, you're beautiful. But I got to leave tomorrow."

Ellie smiled and said, "Then we better make the most of tonight." and went in for another kiss. But this time she wasn't aiming her lips for his.

Kendal didn't get any sleep that night. Neither did Ellie.

Just before daybreak the two of them dressed and left the apartment, the roommate never did come home, and she drove him back to base.

Very few words were said during the drive back to the front gate. The only thing she said was that he should call her, and texted him her number. As they approached the gate he asked if he was going to have to get a cab. She replied by saying. "No, my dad is a light colonel, Ive got a pass."

Kendal swallowed the lump that instantly formed in his throat, and tried to enjoy the rest of the ride.

Not to Kendal's surprise Ellie knew how to get to the Marine MP barracks without asking him for any directions.

When she finally stopped the beat down old truck Kendal leaned over and gave her the deep kiss he knew she expected and got out.

An hour later the sun was up, and Marines were rushing out of the barracks. Kendal dressed in his cammies, and grabbed his gear.

Once outside he saw the Specalist that he was attached to standing in front of an older up armored HMMWV with the armor around the gun turret removed, and lacking the machine gun that would be in the turret if the truck were someplace like Iraq.

The two exchanged greetings, and waited on the second Marine to join them. When he did they mounted up and started off down the road.

Kendal, in the back passenger seat fell asleep almost instantly, but not before noticing the body armor, ammo cans, M4s and M240 Bravo sitting in the empty passenger seat, and in the back of the truck where the trunk would be.

What seemed to Kendal like a split second later, he was awakened when the Specialist stopped the truck and yelled that they were at the hospital.