The Good Soldier (7 page)

"Yeah, well, we'll figure this out," the MP said.

"You do that," I said.

"Why don't you get down and stand in that corner for now." He pointed toward the toilet and sink.

I swung my legs over the side and hopped down and moved slowly to the corner of the room without taking my eyes off the MP.

He didn't take his off of me, either, keeping his palm rested on the handle of his tear gas gun.

I sat down on the stainless steel toilet and placed my hands on my knees. The MP seemed jumpy, and I didn't want to give him a reason gas me.

Two medics followed by two more MPs entered the cell a few minutes later. The medics attended to the injured man on the bottom bunk while the MPs focused their weapons on me.

"Jaw's broke," one of them said. "Bruised to hell on the left side."

The MPs looked at me.

"He fell," I said.

The short medic left the cell then returned a moment later with a wheel chair. They helped the man off the bed and into the chair and wheeled him out of the room. I found myself alone with the three MPs.

One closed the door and leaned back against it. His wide frame blocked the hole in the middle of the door. The other two approached me and boxed me into the corner. Their names were affixed to their uniforms, Bates and Sanders.

Bates spoke first. "Like to beat up on our prisoners?"

I didn't respond.

Sanders reached down and grabbed my shirt and pulled up on the collar, presumably trying to lift me to my feet.

I didn't move.

"Get up," he said.

I didn't.

"Now," he said.

I still didn't.

They both reached down and pulled me from the toilet and slammed me against the back wall. I turned my head and caught a glimpse of the final sliver of the orange sun before it set behind the expanse of trees that ringed the brig.

The MPs jammed their elbows into my chest as they leaned into me, taking turns punching me in the stomach, making sure to avoid my ribs. I kept my abdominal muscles tight as long as I could. Eventually the blows wore me down and they landed successive shots that knocked the wind out of me.

They backed off, and I slid to the floor. I clutched and dragged my nails across the concrete in an effort to get to my knees and fill my lungs with air. The edge of my vision darkened. Finally, my lungs expanded and air rushed in through my mouth. I gasped and exhaled several times.

"We'll be back for you later, Noble," one said.

The last one left the cell, and the door slammed shut. I knelt on the floor until the sick feeling in my stomach subsided. Then I pulled myself off the ground and checked the trays on the table. Chicken, green beans, bread and lukewarm coffee. I hadn't eaten in nearly a day and it had been at least that long since my last cup of coffee. It ended up being one of the best meals I'd ever had.

There wasn't much to do in the cell, and the nap combined with the attack by the MPs left me too amped up to sleep. I paced the space between the bed and the table, walking from the door to the back window. Stopped and stared out the window. A few lights flickered in the distance. Other than that it was dark and quiet and serene.

A bang at the door jarred me back to reality and I spun around with my arms held in a defensive position. The door opened, just a crack.

"Noble," a voice called.

"Yeah," I said.

The door opened further and General Keller stepped in, stopping just inside the entrance. His close cut grey hair gave way to a face that looked like it was cut from steel. There were deep lines etched into his forehead, thinner lines spread out from the corner of his blue eyes and from the sides of his mouth.

I nodded at the man and felt relief wash over me.

He smiled, looked to the ground then back up at me. "Christ, Jack, what did you get yourself into?"

"We didn't do anything."

Keller looked over his shoulder. "Leave us."

"Sir, that man physically injured his cellmate earlier. It's not safe for you-"

"Dammit, I said leave us. Do you want me to kick your ass, Corporal?"

"No, sir."

"Then get the hell outta here."

The MP disappeared from sight, and the cell door shut and remained unlocked.

I cast a glance toward the door.

"Don't think about trying to run, Jack," Keller said. "Not now, at least."

"OK," I said.

"And what is this mess all over your face? And your hair?" He shook his head. "I remember when you were a clean cut kid. Now you look like… like one of those bums my daughter used to bring home."

"With all due respect, General," I said, "I've seen your daughter. Do you think she'd be interested in me with my present look?"

Keller tried to look stern, but gave up and laughed. "Sit the hell down, Jack."

I sat across from him and waited for him to continue.

"I don't know where this is coming from," he said. "But I'm having a bitch of a time getting you two out of here. Did you piss anyone off over there?"

"Other than Martinez?" Jack said. "Not that I can think of."

Keller nodded. "Someone is issuing this order." He looked over his shoulder, then back at me. "I talked to someone, someone up high, who admits you had nothing to do with the murder of that family. Off the record of course."

"Of course," I said. "You think it's the CIA then?"

"It'd have to be, wouldn't it?" he said. "Who here would do this? I run the damn show and it's not me. There's no one between us."

I nodded. "Have you spoken to Abbot?"

"Yeah. Haven't been able to talk to him about it yet. But I'll keep trying. I'm not as connected as I used to be, Jack. That's what everyone says, at least." Keller stood. Reached into his pocket then threw a pack of cigarettes on the table. "You keep those, Jack. Maybe you can trade them for something."

I thanked him and rose. He stuck out his hand, palm facing me, indicating I should stay where I was.

"I'm working on getting you out of here. Stay alert, you got it?"

"Yes, sir."

* * *

The light in the cell cut off at ten p.m. The lights outside the cell dimmed and didn't provide much illumination through the square hole in the door. I climbed into my bunk and tried to get some sleep. It didn't happen. My face hurt. I tossed and turned most of the night, replaying the events of the past forty-eight hours, trying to figure out how I got from Baghdad to Camp Lejeune, from a free man on a mission, to an imprisoned soldier.

Every fifteen minutes a patrol passed the door. I'd hear them approach with deliberate steps on the walkway. They'd reach the door, stop and look in. The room would darken for five seconds, and then the patrol would back up and move to the next cell. I thought about getting up, standing at the back of the room, to see what they'd do. In the end I stayed in bed.

I dozed off a couple times, each time the sleep lasted longer than the last. By six a.m. I was fast asleep when banging erupted against the door, waking me up.

I sat up, shaking the sleep away.

The door swung open and two MPs entered the cell while a third remained firmly planted in the doorway, his taser aimed in my direction.

"What's going on, guys?" I said.

"You should've been up an hour ago, Noble. Get the hell out of bed."

They pulled me down and dragged me out the cell and down hall.

"Where are you taking me?"

They pushed and pulled me along and said nothing.

Prisoners hanging out on the walk parted to the side and ducked into open cells to make way for us.

We stopped outside the head. One MP opened the door, and the other two pushed me inside. All the showers were running, and the room was steamy. A group of four men stepped through the cloud of warm mist and walked toward me. They wore the same uniform as every person who wasn't an MP, and had to have been the four biggest guys in the place.

I looked back over my shoulder. Two of the MPs had followed me in and now blocked the only way out. I assumed the third was positioned on the other side of the door, blocking the only way in.

The largest of the men walked up to me. He had to be six-five, maybe six-six, and had forty to fifty pounds on me. He licked his lips and grabbed my shirt and leaned in close. I mentally flinched at the smell of his hot, foul breath as it washed over my face and invaded my nasal passage.

"You like attacking my friends?" he said.

I shrugged. "Depends."

His lips curled as he grinned, revealing two missing front teeth, one up top, one on the bottom. As fast as his smile faded, he brought his forehead down into mine.

Tears flooded my eyes, and I felt a rush of blood flow through my nose and trickle down across my lips. I spun around and reached out for the wall so I could brace myself and get my bearings. I found the wall, steadied myself and blinked away the tears. My eyes refocused, and I saw the four inmates forming a semicircle around me.

"Guys, look," I said. "We don't have to do this."

The big man laughed.

I swung my foot as hard and fast as I could in the direction of his crotch. It connected with a thud. He dropped to the floor, a huddled mass gasping in pain. I twisted sideways and drove my elbow into the nearest man's face. Blood sprayed from his nose upon impact, a crunching sound preceded his scream. I blocked a punch by the third man and countered with a shot to his neck, just above the sternum and just below his Adam's apple in the soft fleshy spot that offers little to no protection. His eyes bugged out and his face went pale, then turned a light shade of blue while he gasped for air.

The fourth man landed a blow on the side of my face. I wasn't expecting it and the force of it spun me. I regained my footing and charged him as he lunged at me. We met somewhere in the middle where a grappling match ensued. We rolled on the floor, fighting for position. I ended up on my back where he managed to get his arms wrapped around my neck in a choke hold. I arched my back and squeezed an arm between his, loosening his grip.

I caught sight of the MPs. They were leaning back against the wall, laughing at the action.

I scanned the room and spotted the big man on his knees, trying to get to his feet. The other two prisoners posed no immediate threat.

My legs climbed their way up the man I was wrestling with until I managed to get my shin across the front of his neck. A quick shift of momentum and I spun around, coming out on top with his neck in a death grip between my legs. I arched and twisted. His mouth opened and his face turned pale and his neck was close to snapping. He slapped and clawed at my legs. I felt like a savage, yelling as I neared the moment when I planned to lurch and end his life.

The MPs intervened, one hitting me over the head with a blackjack. They pulled at my legs and freed the man from the death grip. His loud gasps for air filled the room as he crawled across the slick floor on his belly to the row of sinks.

I felt my body pulled from the floor and flung through the air and pinned against the wall. The MPs held me there while three of the four men stood.

The door opened and the third MP stuck his head in. "What the hell is taking so long?"

No one said anything.

He entered the room.

"Jesus Christ," he said. "What the hell happened in here?"

I caught his eye and smiled. "You guys got no idea who you're messing with, do you?"

"Shut up."

The MP with the blackjack slammed it across my stomach.

I grimaced against the pain, forcing a smile even though I couldn't breathe.

"Just end him, and let's get out of here," the third MP said.

The big man stepped forward. "Let me do it." He bared his teeth at me.

"No," the MP said. He grabbed the big man by his shoulder. "You guys need to get the hell out of here."

The big man spun. "Like hell, man. He's ours." His large arm stretched out toward me. He took two steps forward, looked back at the MP. "Just try and stop me."

I knew the MP wouldn't, so I did. I lifted my leg toward my chest and drove my heel down and into the side of his knee. Popping sounds filled the room as his ACL and MCL tore upon impact. He went down hard, his head slamming into the tile floor, a pool of blood forming under him.

All hell broke loose after that.

The MPs quickly took care of the two standing prisoners, restraining them and piling them near the door. Easy work, considering I'd already beaten them. With the prisoners out of the way, the MPs turned their attention to me. I stepped forward and was met with a quick strike to the side of my head by the blackjack. Searing pain traveled from the spot of impact, and then around my head. The impact knocked me off my feet. I landed hard on my side. The MPs pulled me off the floor. Two of them pinned me against the wall. They leaned in with all their weight to hold me still. The third took the blackjack and placed it across my throat. He leaned on it in an effort to force my windpipe to close shut. My oxygen starved lungs screamed out in pain. The edge of my vision darkened while flashes of light filled the center. The last thing I remembered before passing out was the sound of the door opening and a deep voice yelling my name.

A hard slap across my cheek jarred me from my unconscious state. I opened my eyes. Bear stood over me. His eyebrows pushed down over his eyes. He helped me to my feet and steadied me against the wall. I tensed and checked over the room. Empty. Trails of blood led from the middle of the floor to the door.

"What the hell happened, Jack?"

I shook my head. "They wanted to cut my hair."

"What?"

"Retaliation," I said. "For breaking my cell-mate's jaw."

"Yeah, I heard about that."

"He swung at me first."

Bear took a step back. His lips thinned as he looked me over. "Christ, they did a number on you. How do you feel? Can you walk?"

I pushed away from the wall. Took a step, steadied myself.

"Yeah, I think I'm good."

I walked to the row of sinks and looked at my reflection in the mirror. Blood trickled from a small gash on the side of my head. My nose was red and swollen, but not broken. That was the worst of it, though. There were no broken bones and no major lacerations. I came out it OK, all things considered.