Caro's Descent

Chapter Twenty-One - Tillis's Guidon

Sharp returned to the barracks the following morning, his hair disheveled and the same clothes from the night before still hanging on him. Melvin slept on his belly, fully dressed, a wad of chewing tobacco sitting beside his mouth in a puddle of saliva. As usual, his spit ran down the bedpost by my feet.

I had been sleeping soundly on my back when Sharp shook me. At first, I didn't respond, so he shook me again, the second time, more aggressively.

Startled and panicked, I jumped out of bed and shouted, "I'm up! I'm up!" I searched for my P.T. shorts in a frenzy when Sharp grabbed my arm, a smile creeping onto his face despite the early hour.

"Relax, bro. It's Saturday. You're not late for P.T.," he said, his California charm shining through.

My relief trumped my embarrassment as I sat on the edge of my bed. "What the hell, dude? Why are you waking me up on a Saturday morning?"

"Bro," said Sharp, his eyes glinting with mischief, "Sixty-two!"

"What are you talking about? Sixty-two what?" My confusion turned to curiosity.

"Bro, she was sixty-two! She had polka-dotted bloomers!" He laughed wildly, and his laughter was infectious.

I couldn't help but chuckle. "You're a sick bastard, Sharp. That's nasty."

"Hell no, bro. She wasn't nasty. She was experienced. No, I'm playing. That shit was nasty as hell. Bro, she showed me pictures of her grandkids. Yo, I might hook up with her granddaughter next weekend. She's eighteen and smoking hot." His hopeful arrogance shone through, deadening the dreams his parents had for him back in Los Angeles.

"Do you have any scruples at all?" I asked, astonishment lacing my voice. "Dude, I saw you on the dance floor before I left. You could have had any of those girls. How did you end up with a sixty-two-year-old lady?"

"So, after you left the rec center, I went to a bar with a few girls I met on the dance floor. They bought me drinks all night. I'm not sure how many shots I did last night. Yo, you should'a seen the girl I fucked in the bathroom. Her friend got jealous, so they got into a huge fight. Bro, it was awesome! Those bitches were about to kill each other over me. Before long, everyone in the bar was throwing down."

"The bartender called the cops, and I bolted out the back door. This old bitch next to me opened her car door and asked if I needed a ride. I said, 'hell yeah!' and jumped in with her. When the bitch pulled off, she asked if I wanted to go home with her or if I needed a ride somewhere else. I figured, fuck it. Old bitches need loving, too, so I said I'm down for whatever. Next thing I knew, we're at her apartment, and I'm tearing those polka-dotted bloomers off her."

"Man, you have no shame, do you?" I couldn't help but admire his reckless spirit, a part of me almost envious of his fearlessness.

"Bro, that shit had cobwebs on it," he laughed. "Yo, I saw Flowers and Kelsey help you drag Melvin out of the rec center. What happened with that? D'you finally tap that ass or what?"

"Fuck no. Like an asshole, I turned Flowers down." My voice thickened with regret. "My dumb ass didn't want to cheat on Owens."

"Bro, fuck that shit! You need to play the field." Sharp urged, that familiar pressure to seize opportunities evident in his tone. "It makes no sense to get serious about that bitch. You may not even get stationed together after A.I.T."

"Yeah, turns out she's been sleeping around. We broke up last night. Bitter disappointment crept into my voice, reflecting the bleak reality I faced.

"Damn, and you turned Flowers down, too. Stupid ass, you need to listen to your boy. I'm telling you, bro, it's like Snoop says, 'We don't love them hoes.'" He threw his hands up dramatically, playing the character to perfection. "Fuck it, though. It's for the best you didn't hook up with Flowers. If you did, and Drill Sergeant Neville found out, it would be your ass."