“Around eight or nine o’clock.”


“You’re bringing the music?” Shawn asked John.


John pulled three CDs from his pocket and handed them to Shawn. “I burned them last night. There are roughly fifty songs on each CD. I might be late. I have a final exam I need to study for.”


“Study on the ride home! We’ll be traveling for twenty-four solid hours, you have plenty of time.” Shawn argued.


John rubbed his face. “I don’t know. It took me a week to pull myself together after Tony’s party.” He turned to Shawn. “What the hell did you do to the booze? What was that shit?”


“You don’t wanna know.” Charlie insisted.


“Right,” John looked at Shawn suspiciously then asked Charlie. “Same crowd as last time?”


“It’s the same crowd.”


“Alright, I’ll see you guys later.” John hopped to his feet. “I’m to the clinic, my head is pounding.”


“See ya!” Both replied.


Charlie stood. “Let’s pack up, say our goodbyes and get the hell out of here.”




******



“Malcolm in the Middle” blared in the background while Lisa sat feeding CJ and Paula twisted Sarah’s silky hair into two French braids. Their happy home life was about to end with the return of John. He called three times a week on schedule to make sure things were going okay with Sarah and Paula. John was a good father; she lacked neither emotional nor psychological support from him.


Paula and John’s friendship was based on genuine trust—so much so that gossiping tongue began to wag. Envious people will gossip, by all means John was a good catch. Physically he was biracial, tall, blue-eyed and handsome, however his beauty lie in his intelligence and his love for Sarah. He could have won an Olympic medal for pole-vaulting over the women who shamelessly threw themselves at his feet. His next wife would have Paula’s qualities and the good sense God gave her. No more crazy women for him, he vowed.




The phone rang and startled Lisa. “Base operator,” she read from the caller ID and passed the phone to Paula. “It’s Charlie.”


Paula answered. “Hello?”


“Hey P.” Charlie’s voice came through clear as a bell. “How’re you doing?”


“Hey baby,” With the first notes of his lyrical drawl Paula’s loneliness receded. “I’m fine, how’re you.”


“I’m missing you. I’ll be home in a couple of days.”


“I can’t wait to see you. What time are you leaving Ramstein?”


“We’ll leaving around five o’clock local time. We all scored the same flight home.” There was a loud crash of glass breaking against the floor and laughter. “How’s Sarah?”


“She fine,” Paula replied. “What was that?”


Charlie walked outside and away from noise. “Sorry about that. We’re having a small get together.”


“Sounds more like a party. Where are Shawn and John?”


“Um…Shawn is…um…busy and John is…” he peaked through room door and found John passed out on the sofa. “John is enjoying himself.”


“Um huh.” Paula frowned. “Have you been drinking?”


“No!” he said truthfully. “I haven’t had a drop.”


“Please be careful and don’t let the guys drink too much especially Shawn.” Her remark was met with silence. “Charlie? Are you there?” She excused herself to their bedroom.


“Yeah,” he sighed and lowered his voice. “Baby, I love you and I wanna thank you for stickin’ with me. I know it hasn’t been easy for you. A lesser woman would’ve kicked me to the curb a long time ago.”


“I love you too.” She stopped. Something in his tone bothered her. “Are you alright?”


Charlie smiled to himself. “I’m fine. I…I can’t wait to get home.”


“Is that Charlie?” Tony asked Paula from the door.


“Yeah, do you need to talk to him?”


“Is that Tony?” Charlie asked.


“Yeah.” Paula answered. No wanting to be a conduit between the two of them, she gave Tony the phone, warmed a cup of tea and went back to living room.


Paula sat with Lisa grinning at her. “What?”


“You know he’s gonna ask you to marry him, right?”


“He probably will.” Paula sipped from her mug and tried to conceal the enormous smile plastered on her face.


Lisa turned CJ over on her lap. “There’s no probably about it. He’ll ask as soon as he sees you, watch.”


“In the airport?” Paula spat. “That’s tacky.”


“You can say ‘yes’ anywhere. You’d better snatch that man up!”


“We’ll see.” She rolled her eyes.


Tony gave the phone to Paula. “He’ll call you back later. There was an incident.”


“Incident!” Lisa snapped. “What happened?”


“Nothing, this guy name Matt, total asshole, tried to crash their party and Charlie had the security police ask him to leave.” He sat beside Lisa and took CJ in to his arms.


“Was it serious?” Paula asked.


“No! No big deal. Matt’s an idiot. Charlie asked him to leave and he wouldn’t so the SPs showed him to the door.”


Paula wasn’t assuaged “Why do I have a bad feeling about this?”



******


In truth she had every reason to be worried. Within hours of the incident, the base commander’s executive officer, Col. Gilbert, appeared at their door with a handwritten letter requesting Charlie and Shawn appear in his office first thing in the morning in their blues.


The party slowly petered out. The nurses cleaned the suite; Charlie threw a blanket over John and knocked on Shawn’s door to give him the news.


“Damn it! We were almost home!!” Shawn shouted. Shortly thereafter he kicked Desiree out and he and Charlie started planning their strategy.


“Screw it. I’m telling the truth. I’m not lying.” Charlie remarked. “I’ll take the blame for the alcohol.”


Shawn looked up from the floor. “You’d be lying. I made the hooch.”


“I out rank you. They’ll go easier on me.”


“You’ll be court-martialed.”


Charlie drew a deep breath. “We’ll both be court-martialed. They’ll go easy on me because of my rank, but they’ll throw you under the jail.”


Shawn covered his face with his hands. “Oh fuck, I forgot about that. We’re in deep shit”


“Tell me about it.” Charlie got up to leave Shawn’s room. “Get some sleep.”


“Charlie.” Shawn stopped him in step. “Call your mom and see if there’s anything she can do. She’s a full bird Colonel with citations coming out of her ass; she has to be able to pull some strings. We’re in bad shape. We’re not looking at being dishonorably discharged or losing our strips; we’re looking at jail time. And I rather enjoy freedom.”


Charlie rubbed the back of his neck. “No, I don’t wanna bring her into this. Good night.”
He went back to his room and grappled with whether telling Paula before or after the meeting with Colonel Gilbert. He chose to tell her immediately.


“What the hell?” Paula sat up in bed.


“I know it looks bad.”


“You’re damn right!”


“Are you angry with me?” He asked.


“I’m not angry with you. You guys are risking your necks over there…you deserve to cut loose.”


“Saudi is a dry country. No alcohol.”


“Big freakin’ deal! What’ll happen if they drink? Will everyone turn into moral manwhores?! And now we’re expected to obey these stupid rules because we’re on their land! Please!! We wouldn’t be there if they could take care of themselves!....”


Charlie sat back and listened to Paula rant until she eventually ran out of words—which, astonishingly, wasn’t for thirty minutes. Finally he cut in. “It was our faults. We shouldn’t have done it. I just need you to be ready for whatever happens.”


“Shawn is right; you need to call your mother.”


“No, I’m not calling her. I don’t want her help. Besides, there’s no time. We have to be in the Col. Gilberts office in four hours.” He looked at the clock. He could tell by Paula’s long sigh she was exhausted and steadying herself. “I’d better catch a nap. I’ll give you a call and let you know how things turn out. Don’t call my mom, Paula!” he demanded.


“I won’t although I think you should. You’re being selfish. If you don’t care anything about yourself then think about what’s going to happen to Shawn.”


Charlie buried his head under the pillow. “I can’t do it. I won’t ask her for help. Shawn is an adult and knew the risk we were taking. We’ve gotta take responsibility for what we’ve done.”


“Is John in trouble?”


“No. The letter was addressed to me and Shawn.”


“Oh my God, I can’t believe this is happening.” Paula choked. “I just want you home.”


“One way or another, I’ll be home soon.” His attempt to lighten her mood failed miserably. “I love you.


“I love you too.”