Rock Her(51)

Kip looked at the faces of all of them gathered before him and Lydell.

“Believe me Jacky,” Kip said. “This is nothing like the U.S. You’re not going to party here like you do in New York. You don’t just call up some girls and pull an impromptu. Becky and Becky are not here. Deal with it. You leave this secure compound and you may not come back alive.”

Jack looked at Stabbs and Lock, narrowing his eyes. Then he turned back to Kip.

“What the hell makes you the expert on protocol here, Kip?” Jack said.

Kip looked over at Annie and took a deep breath. “Because I have been here before Jacky. Okay? In a former life I was a Marine. I spent my fair share of time here, and have seen everything Afghanistan has to offer. And I can tell you that what it has to offer is a lot of pain. So let’s avoid that, Okay? Let’s just go by the book, something we all, including me, have a problem with, I admit. But here it is crucial.”

Jack looked again around to his band mates. “No shit, Kip? You were a Marine? And you have been here before?”

“That’s no shit Jacky,” Kip replied, looking again at Annie.

“Well, slap my ass and call me Sally!” Jacky said. “Kip was a fucking Marine! Doesn’t that explain a lot?”

Kip laid his eyes on Annie once again, making sure she understood what he was trying to do. This was as much about opening up with the guys as it was about opening up with himself.

“Okay, why don’t you all come with me to the officers club and I’ll fill you all in on my past? How is that?” He looked at Annie again. The question was for him as much as it was for them.

“You know I’m game, Kip. Let me get settled and take a huge… uh, piss, and I’ll join you directly.”

A young corporal stood beside Lydell and motioned Jack to follow him to their quarters. Jack, Stabbs and Lock all followed him. Kip and Annie and Lydell followed them, and Sparks limped behind.



When the sergeant took Kip to his quarters, He mentioned to Annie that the female barracks were across the tarmac, and he would take her there directly.

“Uh, Sergeant Dale?” Kip asked. “I’d prefer that she stay with me here.”

“That would be highly irregular sir.” The sergeant said looking between the two.

“Never the less, it’s kind of important.” Kip said. “She is my biographer. She needs to note everything about my life. You know how it is, right?”

Sergeant Dales shook his head. “Actually, no, sir I don’t. The women stay over there, we stay over here. That’s just how it is.”

“Well, yeah, but, she’s not military, right?” Kip said. “Rules don’t really apply here, see?”

The corporal shook his head and looked down at his way too shiny combat boots. Kip followed his gaze and realized this guy had probably never left the compound himself. A newbie, no doubt.

“Look, Dale,” Kip said. “I can see you’re still learning the ropes here. But I have been here many times before. I can assure you you’re not going to get into trouble by letting me keep her here with me. I won’t let that happen, got it?”

“What do you mean you’ve been here many times,” The corporal asked. “I was told this was the band’s first time in country.”

“It is the band’s first time in country. But not mine.” Kip rolled up his sleeve, holding his arm in front of the corporal’s face. Dale took in the U.S.M.C. tattoo, bordered by the barbed wire and carried by a bald eagle.

“I see sir,” the corporal said.

“I was here at the start of this war that you’re finishing up,” Kip said, placing his hand on Dale’s shoulder. “You have my respect, devil dog.” Kip smiled at him. “Look, we’re only here for a few days. No one will know that she’s here but you and me, and of course, her.” He jerked his thumb toward Annie, who gave him a quick, all-tooth smile and a small, yet exaggerated curtsy.

“Look,” Dale said. “I don’t care that your lady friend stays here. I just don’t want any trouble.”

“No trouble, I swear,” Kip said. “Look, what if I give you the numbers of a couple of Becky’s back in the states?”

Annie looked horrified. She punched Kip in the arm. Corporal Dale noticed.

“Where are you from Corporal?” Kip asked.

“Jersey, sir.”

“Well, there you go then. The Becky’s are in New York. Just a hop, skip and a jump,” Kip said.

“They’re hot?” The corporal asked.

“You ain’t seen hotter. Especially here,” Kip answered.