Private Monkey Ghost Story

Chapter 16

At 0700, Captain Bishop told me to get some rest, that he'd wake me up at 1700. I nodded, gave him the .45, he gave me a bottle of Jack Daniels, and I headed back to my room. When I got there, I laid on the bare mattress of the bottom bunk and lit one of the cigarettes. Malboro. One of the ones I'd stolen from SFC Vickers.

I didn't smoke, but it helped me think.

The temperature in my room had plummeted, so I swung my legs off the bed, and turned up the radiator. I stood there for a moment, looking at the snow. I couldn't even see the guard towers across from me.

I went in and stood in the shower, letting the water run down my back. I finished the cigarette and threw it in the toilet, trying to figure out where Tandy could have gone that we couldn't have found him. In retrospect, where Cobb went was a no-brainer, but Tandy was tougher.

I was exhausted. I missed my wife, but at least the vision of Stokes nakedness was fading from my memory, overlaid by the familiar feel of my wife's body against my hands.

We'd gotten married while I was at Red Stone Arsenal, real quick, while I was on weekend pass. I'd spent the weekend in her arms, we never left the hotel room.

I missed her desperately. I held that vision of her, standing in front of the bathroom, the steam rolling around her, posing naked, touching herself, telling me not to move, to just watch her.

I held the memory long enough to finish, soaped off, then got out of the shower.

Who the fuck was I fooling, playing Boy Detective. I was a goddamn PV2, and Vickers was right, I hadn't even graduated High School. I was an uneducated military brat and hick.

I climbed in bed, snuggled down in the comforter my wife had given me, and stared at the ceiling.

Sleep came slow and fitful. I kept waking up to thumping noises above me.

I woke up when the door opened, and Mann called out my name.

"I'm awake," I told him. He came in and sat down in the same chair that Stokes had sat in. I swung my legs out the bed, and noticed that my breath was visible.

"Have fun?" I asked. He looked dog tired.

"We used a block and tackle to remove all that shit from the attic and send it to main post. Eight trips through the goddamn snow, but Captain Bishop is sure we got all that fucking Nazi shit out of here. Tomorrow, we're going to photograph then pain over all those murals on the third floor." he told me and rubbed his face. "Got anything to drink?"

"In the desk drawer." I jumped down, walked over in my underwear, and dug out a cigarette. I offered one to Mann, who refused, lit one, and went and sat down. The cold air stung, but it was helping me wake up. Mann pulled out my bottle of Jack Daniels and took a long pull off of it before handing it to me. I took a hit off it, then passed it back.

"How's Cobb holding up?" I asked.

"OK. We got in about 10 more people, including another butterbar. You were right, when Captain Bishop excused us from the work detail, he went and hid in the office." He took another pull off the bottle and looked at me. "You act like a former NCO, you know that?"

"Nope. Just PV2." I answered, taking a drag off the cigarette and then a pull off the bottle. It settled in my empty stomach, and I felt the warmth spreading through my limbs.

"Huh," Mann replied. He took another pull off the bottle, then stood up and handed it back. "Anyway, Captain Bishop wants us all there for a headcount every night now."