For Life

Part 53

Ant stared at the army base ahead of him and ran his hand through his now very short hair and down over his cleanly shaven chin.He'd had his hair cropped short as he knew if he didn't,it would be done for him today anyway.

He took a deep breath and drove through the gates.

It was every bit as awful as he'd been expecting.

Although the staff were initially very nice and friendly,it didn't take long for them to show their true colours and their first impressions lulled Ant into a false sense of security.

He was lined up with all the other soldiers...Ant wasn't even sure if that's what he should be calling himself...but he was a recruit in the army so in his mind that's what he was...for a few weeks anyway.

Once led to their barracks and shown their beds,which they had to stand by,a uniform was thrust into each of the men's hands.

Ant glanced around at the other men,probably about twelve of them who looked equally as nervous as he felt,but the most noticeable thing to Ant was how young they all were compared to him,maybe only eighteen or nineteen years old,apart from a couple of exceptions who were probably in their late twenties.

Ant wondered what the latter's reason for being there was and if it was similar to his.

"MCPARTLIN...EYES FORWARD"

The Commander shouting jolted Ant out of his thoughts.

Ant immediately stared straight ahead,but couldn't help his mind wandering.

He'd noticed some beds with no one standing next to them and he was to find out later that they belonged to men who were already several months into their stint in the army.

Ant had no clue what he was doing,but planned to make friends with the other men so the next few weeks might be a little easier and that's exactly what he did.

There was no opportunity to rest on that first day after the journey there and he was immediately put to work scrubbing floors alongside another man.

"I'm Kostas" the man smiled and briefly shook Ant's hand,before carrying on with the tedious task.

"Ant" Ant introduced himself and the two men immediately hit it off,the conversation flowing naturally,only pausing when the commander or anyone else walked by.

Ant liked Kostas and could already imagine him becoming a life long friend,as crazy as that seemed.

That evening,Kostas was on duty guarding the guns in the dorm and Ant carried on chatting to him,getting to know him better.

As they talked,Kostas took a small photograph out of his pocket and showed it to Ant.

"My wife" he smiled and pointed to the smiling woman in the picture "Sofia"

"She's very beautiful" Ant beamed "and these are your kids?"

"Yes" Kostas nodded proudly "my two boys,Demetrius and Tobias,they're eight and eleven,they're great kids...how about you?are you married?"

Ant was quiet for a moment.

"No,I'm not married'

"Girlfriend?" Kostas pushed for more information on his new friend.

"No" Ant shook his head.

This kind of conversation happening had crossed Ant's mind before he entered the army and he had decided he would face it head on,but when he was actually put on the spot,it wasn't so easy.

Because Ant thought if there was one place where homophobia would be rife,it would be in the army and the thought of how he might be treated because he was gay filled him with horror.