The Soldier Next Door

It has come to that time again that I need to say my goodbyes. The week has come and gone faster than I wanted. It feels that I have not spent near enough time with Ana. The most unbearing thing shall be being away from the baby. I have grown fond of the idea and even more attached to something that has not yet even given shape. To say that I am not going to miss the both of them with be a lie.

The anticipation of deploying on the other side is equally just exciting. This time we will be away for a definite six months. This time the stakes are higher, and the danger is far greater. Camp Baharia in Fallujah, the base name, has a tight connection with its operating force; in fact, the Marine Corps are referred to as mushaat al baharia in the Arabian language; hence the free translation, the name describes the navy walkers. Among the military troop and plenty of other officials, including the 2-nd Battalion 1-st Marines, it is referred to as Dreamland.

And this is where we are headed. Ana is petrified; in a way, I am very grateful that she will not be deploying with me; in my opinion, this is not a place for a woman. It can get brutal, and it can get deadly; it is the center of resistance. Just recently, four civilian contractors were killed, and five Marines lost their lives.

Here I find myself staring at that beautiful chocolate brown eyes; they are filled with tears. At times she can look me in the eyes; those are the times that she know that she will miss me and that everything will be okay. Then there are the ones that she refuses, for she is so angry at me that I feel I need to do such a thing now that we are expecting a child. There is nothing I can say that shall make her feel better. Even having to promise her that I shall see her on the other side of this is even harder to promise. But a lie is better than any kind of truth.

“Boo, please don’t be mad; I promise you that I will see you soon.”

“Ethan, six months is not soon. Why? Why do you have to go? Can someone else not go?”

“Please, don’t do this now, not now that I have to leave. You know why I do this.”

“Get someone else to serve this country. I refuse to let you go. This is absurd; you have a child on the way.”Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

“And so does Lewis and at least a third of the battalion. We do this not because we need to; we do this because we want to. Please do not fight with me on the day that I have to leave.”

I watch as she breaks down into little pieces; her heart is falling apart, I am falling apart. Right now, it feels like we are falling apart. This is by far the hardest thing I shall ever do in our relationship, but she has to believe that I shall come home. There is so much here for me to come home to. She needs to believe that my will to come back is far greater than my will to go. Six months may sound like an awful amount of time, but before she knows, I will be right in front of this door again, greeting her hello.

So it is with a crushing feeling that I pull her once more into the comfort of my arms, I might be a tough Marine, but right now, all of that is out the door. My world is crashing as I pull her into my arms for this one last time. For this moment, all I need is for us to exist. My arms enfold her like a protective cocoon; as I lay her head against my chest, I can nearly hear my heart beating at a drum through her ears. The tears rolling down my cheeks drop like little trickles of a fountain on top of her head. I squeeze her harder than I have ever done before; her body trembles into the same rhythm as mine. After what seems to be the better part of ten minutes, it is time for me to go; the time has come, we are leaving in the next hour.

As I reluctantly pull away, I lift her chin for her eyes to meet mine, “I love you, boo. I promise I will speak to you soon.”

Through stuttering words, I hear her speak under her rapid breath, “I love you, soldier. Please be safe; please come back to me.”

With that, I get in the jeep with Gibbs; as I turn my head, I can see Ana growing smaller and smaller in the distance until she is but only a speck. Gibbs, sensing my pain, looks at me.

“I will make sure you make it back to her in one piece, Lieutenant.”

I burst out in an uncontrollable laughter, not so much as the fact that he said he would return me in one piece, but the very words of Lieutenant rolling over his lips. It is still very sad to think that Ray won’t be joining us on this one; then again, I can give Ana the comfort of knowing that I won’t be going out on a mission. Perhaps not fully, for I know my determination to prove to myself what I can do will draw me out in the field.

As we finally make our way to the airforce base, it brings a set of pride to my heart as I see the squads that are now under my lead. Never when I joined the Marines all those years ago did I once foresee myself to be in this position. I am proud, but most of all, I am a proud half a Marine.

So as I look all my boys in the eyes, there are not speeches of let us get home back safe, and let us do our best for we know that is what we are trained for. I have only one word, “Oorah.”

After what seems like endless hours of traveling, we soon find ourselves crossing the border into Iraq. The world has just become real.

…Ana POV…

As I sit here in the lounge waiting for Ethan’s family to come, I think to myself that he should round about now arrive at camp. I hate that I was so nasty with him earlier on now; I know that he shall be okay and no matter what, that he shall come home alive.

But, god, I cannot shake the feeling from my mind, what if he does not come back. It is ruthless out there; I have heard the amount of Marines that have already died out there. There, do I even dare to say it, have been Marines that need to be saved from being tortured?

I guess I should have known the very minute that I started seeing a Marine that this day would come, but never with his disability did I think that he would deploy again. He is stubborn and strong-willed, and he will not give up until he has proven himself to not only him but everyone else. Guess I am over-optimistic if I think he would take a desk job.

Just then, the doorbell buzzes, it must be his mom and dad, but as I open the door, it is not a face that I would have suspected.

“What do you want?”

“Is that a way to greet me?”

“What do you want.”

“I heard that you are on base, dating some Marine.”

“Actually marrying, now what do you want?”

I cannot stand people that come unannounced, but I guess ghosts from your past do not particularly ask for permission to come around.

“Are you going to let me stand outside, or are you going to let me in?”

“I guess I probably have no choice; otherwise, you are never going to go away.”

As we walk inside, I check the clock; Ethan’s mom and dad better come soon. There is a reason why you cut people out of your life; I guess some of them just do not get the message. If Ethan was here, I don’t know what he would have done, but the sooner I find out the reason behind the visit, the sooner I can say goodbye.

“So, why are you here, and cut the bullshit that you want to catch up. You must have gone through an awful lot of effort to find out where I am.”

“It really not much of an effort to find you, Ana; you were always reckless. It amazes me that you have never come in contact with me since what happened.”

“I don’t see any reason why I should have. You deceived not only me but a whole lot of others that cared about you.”

“The only one I ever cared about was you.”

“Bullshit. Stop wasting my time. What do you want?”