A Brutal Betrayal(6)
They had a lot of down time, more than most would think, but it was rarely so peaceful as it was that night. Declan, James, Marshall, Steve, and Todd were sitting around a box Todd’s girlfriend had recently sent. It was a “care” package, if you’d have to call it something. And Todd had the best fucking girlfriend ever, not only because she was beautiful and smart, and as far as we could tell, loyal to a fault, but she sent all the guys something every time she sent a package to Todd. And after the long fucking week they had, they needed something good. They had been patrolling nonstop, which would have been okay if they hadn’t had to endure enemy gunfire for most of it. It sucked. It sucked big time, but such was the life of the Army, and Declan wouldn’t have traded it for anything. He loved the guys he was sitting around; he loved his unit. He’d step in front of a bullet for any one of them, and they would do the same for him.
They’d seen some shit together, and they’d endured some harsh times as one. It brought them all closer. He couldn’t imagine a different life.
He was especially close to Briggs, Aaron Briggs. They had gone through training together and became as close as brothers. That guy was pussy whipped like no other, but if he’d had Jenna waiting for him at home, Declan probably would have been whipped too.
“Here you go, Dec,” Todd said, handing him some sort of handmade book. He looked at the cover and snorted. “Laughs for Declan,” it read.
He opened it up to find a note from Terri, Todd’s girlfriend. It basically said she had compiled the best of the best jokes she could find just for him, because Todd was starting to complain Declan was running out of good ones. See? Best girlfriend ever. Too bad Declan would never get to experience something as amazing as what Todd and Briggs had. It wasn’t in his cards.
“Yo, Briggs,” Declan called out.
“Yeah?”
Declan flipped to the first joke and began reading it out loud:
A guy walks up to a prostitute and asks how much she charges. She tells him her rates start at $500 for a hand job.
“Five hundred dollars for a hand job? What!? That’s insane!” he retorts.
“Well, you see that diner over there?” she points out. He nods. “And that one over there?” He nods again. “And that third one on that corner? Well, I own them all. You know why? Because I give a five hundred dollar hand job.”
The guys thinks for a moment and says, “What the hell, let’s go.” They find a room, do their thing, and after, he is amazed. “Holy shit,” he says. “That was the best hand job I’ve ever had. Damn, how good are your blow jobs? And how much do you charge? Let me guess, a thousand?”
“Nope,” she responds. “Blow jobs are fifteen hundred dollars.”
“What? No way. That’s too much.”
She waves him over to the window. “See that casino over there?” She points to one across the street with hundreds of people walking in and out, lights shining, sounds pulsing. “Well, I own it. And you know why? Because I give a fifteen hundred dollar blow job.”
“Damn, now I need to feel this.”
So, she gives him a blow job, and after, he is reeling. “That was unbelievable,” he says. “Best blow job ever.” He’s wondering what the sex must be like. Can he afford it even? Fuck it, you only live once, he thinks to himself.
“Alright, have to ask. How much for pussy?”
She brings him back over to the window. “See the city around us? See all the people, the restaurants, the twinkling lights, everything?”
“Holy shit! You own the city?” he asks.
“No, but I would if I had a pussy.”
Hot damn, that was a good one. He looked around at his buddies, mouths open wide in shock, moments before they all burst out in belly laughs.
“Fuck, man. You had to spring that one on me while I’m writing to my wife. And here I thought you were my friend.” Briggs spoke between laughs, the words a jumbled mess.
“Todd, what the fuck kind of things is Terri into?” Marshall asked, still trying to find air.
“What can I say, my girlfriend is the shit,” Todd replied, a shit eating grin on his face. To say Declan was jealous wasn’t completely accurate. He was happy for Todd, he was happy for Briggs, he was happy for all the guys who had a good woman waiting for them back home. Declan was just a bit envious, but he didn’t let that ruin the moment. It didn’t ruin the time he had with these guys—with his friends.
They had sat around telling more jokes, mostly from the book, and reminisced about the foods and luxuries from back home that they missed. Being where they were, in the situation they were in, gave them a special bond. It was them against the world, one unit and one team. And even though he knew there was fighting and war all around them, it was moments like this that made it all worth it. It was joy, contentment. It was just that instant—no past, no future—just this.