The Grunt (8 page)
***
Sunday evening at Camp Lejeune was bustling with people. As the sun set on the horizon, Brett and Courtney drove down the main road with the windows down and music low. Cameron sat in the back playing with his toys and staring out of the window.
On the sides of the road, people took their late evening run or walk, many with children trailing behind them or in front of them in buggies. The thing about enlisted and officers alike was the huge family syndrome. Due to lonely wives and serial deployments, many couples chose to insulate themselves with multiple children to ensure the family line or simply ended up with surprise pregnancies after a long time apart.
Courtney looked out of the window at the passing people while the wind jetted through her hair. With a smile on her face, she quietly sat in a peaceful daze that made Brett envious. He looked over at her and shook his head.
“Why do you always look so happy?” he asked, making eye contact with her.
Courtney trailed her finger over the side of the dashboard. “I imagine it’s because most of the time I am happy.”
A faint grin twisted his lips again. “But why?”
“You know, I’ve been asked that my entire life. And the truth of the matter is that I don’t know. I was just born happy.” She smiled at Brett.
Brett frowned. “But you’re not
always
happy, are you?”
“No. I’m not always happy. I’ve had some pretty shitty times before, but the bad doesn’t outweigh the good, and that is what is important.”
Brett chuckled. “You sound like that purple dinosaur right now.”
Courtney couldn’t help but grin. “Are you happy most of the time?”
Pulling into the commissary, Brett parked the truck and turned it off. Turning to her, he looked into her hazel eyes and sighed. “My life has been a comedy of errors, Cort. Some parts of it have been happy, but most of it hasn’t been. I’ve experienced the whole spectrum of emotions from happy to psychotic.”
“And does my happiness offend you?” she asked seriously.
“No, it just intrigues the hell out of me…that and wondering what kind of accent you have.”
Courtney laughed. “I can’t believe that you’ve already given me a nickname.
Cort?
My grampies call me Cort.”
Brett glanced at her lips as she said the words. “Where are they?” he asked, leaning further over to her.
“In Austin, Texas. I used to visit them every summer when I was a girl. That’s probably where the accent comes from,” she said, feeling nostalgic. “Are your grandparents around?”
Brett nodded. “Not for a very long time.” He pulled back a little as he felt himself drifting off towards a kiss. “Okay. We’re here. We’ve got an hour before they close. Think you can go hog wild with your list before then?”
“I don’t know. Cameron, you feel like helping me shop?” Courtney asked, looking back at his son.
“I want cereal,” Cameron answered with a big smile.
Brett laughed. “That boy
loves
cereal.”
“Are you coming in?” Courtney asked, opening the door.
“Yeah, I have to. You have to have a military ID to check out.”
“Oh, I have one,” Courtney said, pulling out a military ID from her pocket. “Since I’m
still
in college, I have to use a dependent ID from my father.”
“Your father’s military? Is he retired” Brett asked, reaching his hand out.
She had not mentioned that before.
“Let me see.”
Courtney hesitated. “Just don’t freak, okay?”
Brett frowned. “Why would I freak?” Taking the blue, laminated ID out of her clutches, he read the sponsor’s name and rank and turned pale. There were no words to express his sudden shock. His nanny was also the daughter of his Lieutenant Colonel. Shit!
Passing the ID back to Courtney, he felt his mouth spasm as he dragged in a breath. “I thought you said that your name was Redbrook?” he asked, wiping his brow.
“That’s my mother’s
maiden
name. I’ve been using it since I graduated from high school, and I guess you know why.” She offered him the bottle water in the cup holder. “Brett, it’s not a big deal. He knows that I’m working for you. Well, not you. He knows that I’m working for a Marine.”
Courtney couldn’t name the number of times that she had gotten the exact same reaction from people because of her father. It was why she had chosen to withhold the information from most. There were automatic assumptions that she didn’t want, but always nearly received.
“Oh, that’s wonderful,” Brett said sarcastically. “As if my life couldn’t get any more complicated, you tell me that you’re Lawless’s daughter? Do you know who this man is? He’s like Zeus’s right hand. This man went Recon when it wasn’t even cool for Black men to even apply for Special Forces. He still holds some serious records in dive school and on the shooting range. You can’t get more hardcore than your father used to be before he
ascended
up the ranks. Plus, he’s my fucking battalion commander, Courtney,” he moaned. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you wouldn’t have treated me the way that you have,” she said sincerely. She leaned into him.
“And how have I been treating you?”
“I don’t know,” she shrugged her shoulders in frustration, “like a normal person. You would not have hired me if you had known my father’s last name.”
Brett quietly agreed and still wondered if he shouldn’t just call the whole thing off right now. “How does he feel about you working for me?”
Courtney smirked. “What does it matter?”
Brett’s eye twitched. “What does he think?” he asked sternly. His eyes locked on her for an answer.
With a sigh, she turned her head from him and stared out the front window. “My father has never been happy with
anything
that I’ve done. And I didn’t disappoint this time around. But it is not about what he wants for me. It’s about what I want for me. And I want this job, or I would not have taken it.”
Watching her quietly, Brett could see her growing agitation. Evidently, he had hit a sore spot with her. Still, he had his reservations. Sitting back in his seat, he rested his head back and closed his eyes. The mood had just changed from
happy
to heavy.
Courtney waited silently for him to say something, but Brett sat still with his lips pursed together. Giving up, she opened the door. As she stepped out, she felt his large hand grab her other hand. Slowly, she looked over at him.
“I didn’t mean to make you sad,” he said gruffly. Letting go of her hand, he sighed. “I just don’t want any trouble right now. And I’m not talking about school boy scared here. I’m up for promotion. And I have a child to take care of.”
Courtney could understand the position that she had put him in, but desperately wanted him not to give up on her. “I’m a grown woman, Brett. My father has no bearing on this relationship. And I assure you that I won’t get in the way of your promotion.”
Brett paused. She had taken the words right out of his mouth. While they were not dating, they did have something more than just an arrangement, and he did not want to see her sad before they could even build on what was going on between them. Nodding, he sucked it up. “It could be worse, I imagine. You could be seventeen.”
Courtney laughed. “I’m twenty-two years old.”
Brett looked into her eyes and felt like her soul was much older and wiser. Everything she had done up to this point had been mature and thought out. He had to give her the opportunity to be more than just her father’s daughter. Yet, he knew that he had to tread carefully.
“No complications,” he said, looking back at his son. “For his sake, I can’t afford it. I’ve already had to deal with one daddy’s girl, and it was sheer hell from the beginning.”
“I’m your nanny. What’s complicated about that?” she asked with a smile.
Brett smirked. “Have you seen yourself lately?”
“You think I’m beautiful?” she asked playfully.
“You damned right,” he said with a sexy southern drawl. “That’s why I’m warning you. We need to be
very careful
.”
“I told you when I started this that I can control myself. The only complication will be you, Brett Black.” With that, she stepped out of the door and closed it behind her.
Four o’clock in the morning came early for Brett. His eyes flashed open from a nightmare that had him covered in sweat. Sitting up on the couch, he ran his hand over his shaved head and grunted.
Fucking Iraq.
No matter how long it had been, he still had the same dreams of being shot in the face while on patrol.
The room was pitch black with only the sound of the box fan blowing directly on him. Turning on the lamp, he looked at his watch and turned off the alarm on his cell phone before it went off.
Back to work. He had been off long enough, now it was time to return to the real world and Courtney’s father. He had gone to bed the night before thinking about what he had gotten himself into. There was no way that he was not going to have to face the man at some point, and he was sure that when he did, Lawless would have a few words for him. But he’d just have to cross that road when he got to it.
Dragging himself out of the den, he headed to the bathroom and noticed that the kitchen light was on. The smell of fresh coffee and breakfast filtered throughout the house. Looking down at his morning boner, he decided to investigate
after
he came out of the bathroom.
Courtney had been up for nearly thirty minutes. With the kitchen television on the news, she flipped hot pancakes on the stove and thumbed through her textbook.
She had always been an early riser, mostly because in her house as a child, it had been a sin to sleep in. Acclimated to the Marine Corps now, she rather liked getting a start on her day early. It allowed her to accomplish more and to get to bed earlier.
“Morning,” Brett said from behind her.
She turned from the television and looked over at him. “Morning,” she said, noticing him in white boxers and nothing else except his dog tags. His muscular body was covered in tattoos. After a quick glance, she turned back to her food. Evidently, he didn’t have plans to make things easy on her.
Brett was not without his own observations. Covered in a yellow, short kimono with her hair pulled up in a clip, Courtney looked more like a wife than a nanny. She stood at the stove with one foot wrapped around her long leg relaxed and pleasant. Pouring a cup of coffee for him, she offered it.
“Hope you like French Vanilla coffee. I grabbed the wrong one at the store last night,” she said as he walked up to her. She looked up at him and noticed the perfection of his square jaw.
Brett took the coffee and resisted the natural urge to bend down and kiss her full lips. “French is fine. Thanks,” he said in a deep baritone. “You always get up this early, or are you trying to impress me?”
“Did you forget who my father is?” she asked playfully.
“Point taken,” Brett said, sitting at the table. “I’m not used to being served breakfast unless I am at a restaurant. So you’ll pardon the shock.”
“Oh, you want some of this?” she asked, fixing his plate.
Brett thought the question could easily have two meanings, but he played it safe. “If you don’t mind.”
“I’m just kidding with you. Of course, I fixed you breakfast. You can’t go training without it.” Putting down the plate of pancakes, sausage links and eggs in front of him, she rubbed the top of his head. “Did you sleep well?”
“No,” he answered as he pushed the chair back to get silverware.
Courtney quickly passed it to him. “Why not?” she asked.
He took the fork and knife. Pausing, he raised his brow. “I have…nightmares.”
“PTSD?”
Brett scratched his stubby beard. He’d get rid of it after breakfast. “Yep,” he answered flat and hard. “I’m supposed to go to see this base shrink, but the guy is full of shit.”
“I’ve heard that before,” Courtney said, fixing her own plate. She sat down across from him and looked down at her food. “Do you want to bless the food?”
“No, you do it.”
Courtney bowed her head. “Thank you, Lord, for the food we are about to receive. Let it edification for the mind, body and soul. And please help Brett with his nightmares. Amen.”
“Amen,” Brett said, raising his head. He stabbed his food and tasted it.
She waited. “You like?”
“Umm,” Brett said with a mouth full of food. “It’s been ages since a woman fixed me breakfast at four in the morning.”
“And you didn’t even have to sleep with me. Isn’t paying for it great?”
Brett chuckled. He’d pay for
it
alright.
“Cameron and I have tons to do today. I saw on the list that he supposed to go to the pediatrician. So, I’m going to take him there, and then we’re going to the park, the library and the bookstore.”
“Sounds awesome. I’ll leave my bank card.” He shoveled more food in his mouth.
“What time do you normally get home?”
Brett bit his lip. “I don’t ever know. Most of the time, I get here by six or seven. I’m normally the last to leave.”
“Why?”
“Excuse me?” The food stuck in his throat.
“Why are you the last to leave?” Courtney repeated her question comfortably.
Brett frowned. “I’m a squad leader.”
“You mean that you hate coming home,” Courtney answered for him.
He didn’t know how to answer, even though he knew that she was right. Was he that transparent? Smacking his lips together, he put down his fork. “You don’t hold back, do you?”
Her voice was tranquil and sweet. “No.” She stared into his eyes.
Brett conceded. “I normally go and grab a beer off base and get my thoughts together before I come home. It’s out in Jacksonville. So, I tend to get home at about seven.”
“Fair enough. I’ll see you then,” she said, sipping her coffee. “Now, wasn’t that easy?”
Brett picked his fork back up. “Easy for whom?”
Courtney smirked. She had known enough Marines and lived on the base long enough to know that when a grunt got off work for the day, he busted his ass getting off base. If he didn’t, it was normally because he was avoiding his family like the plague.
Her father had drug his feet after early deployments when she was little. She vividly remembered her mother confronting him on several occasions about his constant tardiness. It was then that she decided as a young child that marring a Marine was simply out of the question.
***
When Brett came out of the den fully dressed in his desert uniform, his boots laced to the top with his boot bands on, his cover down on his head and his assault pack thrown over his arm, Courtney almost gasped aloud. She had seen a thousand Marines, but the look of him in his uniform was purely a guilty pleasure.
Brett hardly noticed when her eyes lit up. With his head down, he walked into the kitchen and grabbed his lunch, then looked at his watch.
“Gotta go,” he said, turning to her. He almost kissed her again, yet he couldn’t understand why it seemed so natural. Her smell kept enticing him; her pouty lips and fresh face bright with expectation kept calling out to him.
This is going to be hard
, he thought to himself as he nodded at her.
“Have a great day,” she said, closing her textbook.
“You too,” he said, stopping at the door. “If you need anything, you can call me on my cell.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said with a smile.
***
The Naval Hospital was packed by noon. With Cameron in his stroller, Courtney strode into the pediatric center with a backpack full of pull-ups, baby wipes, lunch and water and checked in at the front desk. She noticed a few stares as she did so. Black woman. White kid. Who said racism was dead? Smirking, she pulled Cameron out of the stroller and pointed him toward the play center.
“Go play, baby,” she said lovingly as she kissed the top of his head.
Unaware of his surroundings, he ran over to play with the other kids while she waited for their name to be called.
The other women sitting in the waiting room - both black and white - spied her as she flipped through her book. Cameron was a brunette boy with fair skin, brown eyes and rosy cheeks. Courtney was in contrast dark-skinned. It was a curious sight, she knew. Yet, she became quickly agitated. Closing her book finally, she crossed her legs and looked over at the women across from her.
“It’s not nice to stare, or didn’t they teach you girls that at charm school?” she snarled.
The women quickly looked away, making Courtney laugh aloud.
***
Shots of any kind were never good for children. Holding Cameron tight, she tried to keep his attention while the nurse pulled out the needle. Only Cameron had suffered through shots before and knew what to expect. He immediately began to cry loud, screaming for his
mom
. The sight hurt Courtney to her heart.
Holding him close to her bosom, she felt him flex his muscles tight and cry out. She wondered how much screaming was due to the pain of the shot versus the pain of his mother’s absence. Who would do this to a kid? What kind of woman would run off and leave her only child?
Serves the bitch right to be dead,
she thought to herself as she comforted Cameron.
“There, there now. You have to get your shots, baby. You want to go to school and play don’t you?” she asked, kissing away his tears.
“I want my mommy,” Cameron cried. “Where is my mommy?”
Courtney didn’t answer. The nurse looked at them with a quiet nod. Word had gotten around about what had happened to Amy. Only, they did not know the specifics. So, it looked like either Brett had gotten help for a while, or he had already moved on.
Taking the paperwork from his physical and placing it in the baby bag, she put him in the stroller and gave him a Popsicle.
“You can take that form with you to the base pre-school and get him registered,” the nurse said to Courtney with a gentle smile. “But you’ll need Staff Sergeant Black to be present.”
“Oh, he gave me power of attorney. I’m good,” Courtney said, pushing Cameron out of the room.
The nurse looked flabbergasted. Power of Attorney? Evidently, the Staff Sergeant
had
moved on.
Breaking out of the hospital in the heat of mid-day headed towards the truck, Courtney pulled her ball cap down on her head and tugged on her ponytail. Even though Cameron wasn’t her child, she suddenly felt horrid for him and for Brett. But what more could she do than what she was doing?
Brett had asked her to get Cameron into pre-school for three days a week to help him learn to deal with his loss and to keep him from becoming anti-social. The therapist had made that recommendation after their first session, which had also been their last. Brett had told Courtney that the only good thing that had come out of the session was that suggestion and nothing more. He had even referred to the female doctor as a
meddler
.
Courtney chuckled. Men were pigs. Still, here she was with this child who definitely had suffered through the loss of his mother and was now missing the loving kisses and touches of two parents. There had to be something to cheer him up. Getting an idea, she snapped her fingers.
“Hey, do you like water?” she asked as she put Cameron in the truck.
“Yes,” he answered with teary eyes.
“Wanna go to the beach?” she asked.
He shook his head with a bright smile. “Can I make a castle?”
“You can make whatever you want to make. Just let me get you enrolled in this little school for
super cool
kids and then we can go to the beach and hang out for a while. Does that sound good?”
“Yes,” Cameron said, sniffling. But at least she had gotten a smile out of him.
“Great.” Courtney closed the door and leaned against it.
Poor little guy. She couldn’t imagine what he was feeling. She had never lost anyone before. Her grampies were even still alive for goodness sake and they were ancient. Yet here was Cameron, just a little child, and he had lost one of the most important people in his life.
It was tragic and uncalled for. It made her think of her own mother and how kind Diane had been her entire life. There wasn’t a single memory in her childhood that didn’t include her mother in some kind of way. She was always there, always protecting her and guiding her, especially when her father was away. It was strange how something tragic had to happen to someone else for her to see how blessed she had been. It made her want to call her mother right then and thank her.
***
At exactly four thirty, Brett was finished with work and was now utterly exhausted. After a five-mile run and two hours at the shooting range along with operational training, all he wanted to do was take a shower, have a beer and relax.
Returning back to work had actually not been too bad. For one, he didn’t run into the colonel. Secondly, he actually enjoyed not spending his day coordinating funerals and taking care of Cameron. He was a grunt, made for the field. And the time away only confirmed it.
Throwing his backpack in his truck, he loaded up and headed towards the house. Normally, he would have stopped and had a drink with Joe, but today, he decided against it. It could have been just the fact that Courtney had brought it up that morning,
which was very awkward
. Or it could have been that he really wanted to see her. But whatever it was, today was the first day in a while he had felt like going home.
***
Courtney had just finished fixing dinner. As she placed the salmon and avocados down on the table by the red peppers, rice pilaf and wine, she heard the front door close shut. As soon as he heard him, Cameron jumped down from the table and met Brett at the door with a big hug.
“What’s up, big guy?” Brett said, rubbing his back.
“We went to the beach,” Cameron announced.
“I can see that. You got quite a tan,” Brett said, rubbing the top of his head.
“And we went and saw Courtney’s mom. She’s really nice, and she fixed me muffins. But she wouldn’t fix me cereal.”
Brett stopped. His son was at the colonel’s house today? Sighing, he debated whether or not to speak about the matter. On the one hand, it gave Cameron more interaction with people. On the other hand, it broke down the barriers between his house and his commanding officer, which could potentially be a problem down the line.