A Soldier of No Importance [ Band of Brothers ] 1

FOURTEEN

Alice woke from her nap to the sound of pounding rain. When she'd reached the barracks with Ron, Gene had insisted she rest. She looked at the ceiling. The lights were on. Cigarette smoke wafted through the air, filling their sleeping quarters. Alice took a deep breath and let it calm her.

Looking right, she found Malarkey, Muck, Penkala, Luz, and Perconte sitting on a cot playing poker. Guarnere, Toye, Martin, and Randleman seemed to be playing their own game of cards, the latter two dripping wet. To her amusement, Gene sat in George's cot to her right, dozing off. They all seemed to be staying relatively quiet, to her surprise. 

Alice glanced at her watch. "Scheisse," she muttered. She'd slept right through lunch. Her stomach hated her for it.

Half the guys looked over at her, including Gene. He sat straighter, shaking himself from sleep. "Je ne parle pas allemand, Alice."

She laughed. No, he didn't speak German. She needed Liebgott for that one. Then she remembered why she'd cursed. "I slept through lunch. You didn't wake me!"

"You needed sleep."

"Yes, well now I need food."

Suddenly Muck threw a paper airplane at her. Alice dodged it at first, not realizing what if was. "What the hell?" She grabbed it. A cigarette was inside. Her eyes brightened. "Thanks!" Then she looked af Gene again. "You're not taking this one."

He rolled his eyes. Now that Alice had woken up, the group talked more. Groaning, the boys playing cards threw their hands down as Muck won the round. He grinned like a maniac.

"Pass the money, come on. Pass it." He collected his winnings and then moved off the bed.

Malarkey glared at him. "You can't win and quit!" 

"I'll give you a chance to win it back later. I have to write a letter." Skip Muck settled down and grabbed a pencil and paper. He used a book as a table and set to work.

Penkala rolled his eyes with a smile. "Who to? Faye Tanner?"

"Sweet, sweet Faye," George added with a grin. "Is that who you're writin', Skip?"

"The one and only, boys. The one and only." 

Alice cracked a smile at their antics. Every time Muck talked about Faye, he blushed. The sweetheart he left back home would be lucky. Any idiot could see how much he loved her.

"She ain't as good as Frannie." Guarnere looked over from where he'd folded in his poker game. Getting up, he stretched his arms and walked around. Finally he plopped down next to Alice. "Frannie could even give Alice a run for 'er money."

"Thank you Bill. I don't think I've given you one of these before unless it was for a cigarette." Alice leaned over, pressed her cheek on his and kissed him. With a tiny wink, she turned to where the boys were hollering. 

Gene sent her a tiny smile. She returned it, not even wincing at the slight pain in her side as Guarnere put his arm around her as he was chatting about his girl, Frannie.

"Maria is still the love of my life." George had finally stopped shuffling the cards. With a last puff of his cigarette, he put it out, and wandered back over to his vacant bunk. "At least, until Alice falls for me."

"Your sister is cuter than I will ever be," Alice argued with a laugh. "Every letter from her that you've shared is precious."

Guarnere got up from her bedside and walked over to his cot. While he fished around in his footlocker, he turned. "We know you ain't got a man now, sweetheart, but I find it hard to believe no one's ever been sweet on yah? Anybody your brothers had to fight off?" He winked her way.