"How the fuck has it already been a week?" I mumble to myself, sitting up in bed. I look over at the clock: 2:12 AM. Sleep has been so hard for me to get the past days due to the stress of my first deployment hanging over me. A million things could go wrong out there. I could get hurt and possibly killed, or even worse, one of my fellow Marines could. I couldn't bare the thought...
I turn and look over at Courtney, sound asleep thank God. But even in her sleep, I can see the stress in her face too, as if she's tensed up. My phone goes off on the nightstand and I pick it up and whisper, "Hello?" Wallace on the other end asks,"You ready?" I shake my head and reply, "Hell no." I can hear him laugh on the other end of the phone, a nervousness hidden in his voice, "Yeah, well you know the plan. In front of the barracks by 0700 and we'll be in the air by 08." I sigh and rub my eyes,"I know..."
"Babe, who's that?" I hear a rustle behind me. "It's Wallace, care to say hi?" I say. She wraps her arms around me from behind, still not fully awake, "Hey Wallace." "Hey there Courtney. Don't you worry,okay? I'll keep his ass in check over there. He'll be back before you have the chance to miss him." She buried her face into my shoulder a little more and mumbled, "Somehow I doubt that one..."
After hanging up the phone, I got up and started to put my Cammies on. Courtney looks at me and I see a tear roll down her cheek. "You better come home,I'll kick your ass if you don't." She smiles and says in a shakey voice, fighting tears. I walk over to her side of the bed and sit next to her, holding her tight to me. "I'm coming home. I promise. I'm gonna be just fine. I'll be back before you even know I'm gone. It's only 6 months." I wipe another tear off her face and hold her cheek. "I'm coming home." She nods and closes her eyes to try and prevent more tears. "I-I love you." She says in an almost hopeless voice. I pick up her chin and kiss her lightly, "I love you too, more than you'll ever know." Saying that was hard, I didn't know if that's the last time I'd say it or not...
Courtney pulled the car up in front of my units building. Everyone was outside with their packs, hugging their families. We step out of the car and I grab my bags out of the trunk. One last time, I pull Courtney close to me, as close as I can because I know it could be the last time I do. When I let go, she wipes away a tear and says, "Ohh, I have something for you." And she pulls a small picture out of her pocket. It was from 2 years ago, the first picture we ever took together from a date to a music festival in Ventura. I take it from her hand, kiss it lightly and put it in my left breast pocket, right under my last name. "Thank you." I say,smiling brightly despite the tear now rolling off my cheek. She lightly wipes the tear away and says, "Youre gonna do good things out there, I know you are. I love you." She kisses me slowly and takes my hand, "Now go little soldier boy, go. So you can come back to me." I've never been so reluctant to walk away from a person in my life.
I stood next to Wallace in formation, waiting on our unit commander to arrive. Captain Deschamps showed up at about 0715. "Alright ladies, you know the drill. Take our packs, load the buses, drive to the airstrip, and get the fuck outta Camp Pendleton. We should be in the air by no later than 08. Any questions?" The formation stood silently, everyone awkwardly shifting their weight side to side. "Okay, tight," Capt. Deschamps hollers, "Get your asses in the bus and let's blow this dump."
At the airstrip, we all shuffle off the buses and stand waiting for the plane to roll up. At 0745 exactly, we here the rumbling of the old C-130 engines and the plane taxis over close to us. The load master hops out of the back and says, "Welcome aboard, let's get this thing in the air." Inside, I sit down by Wallace and our friend, Lance Corporal Akita. She looks nervous as all hell, more so than everyone else on the plane. "You good Akita?" I ask as I strap in. She nods quickly, her Kevlar wobbling being slightly too big for her head. "Yeah," She stammers, "I've just uhh... never flown before." "No shit?" I laugh a bit. Wallace leans over and grins his signature ear to ear grin,"You're gonna LOVE this shit then!" The engines of the plane roar to life and quickly we're rocketing down the runway. They left the back door wide open, I'm pretty sure just to fuck with us on takeoff. As the plane lifts off the ground, I take the small folded up picture out of my pocket and look at it. "I'll be home soon baby," I think to myself. "I'll be home soon..."
