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Chase did as he was told as Paul and I walked away. When we were out of earshot, Paul lifted his brows. “Man, what happened?”
“Roberts.”
Paul straightened, his jaw lifting slightly. “What now?”
“He had him wandering around the flight line with a BRU-32.” At Paul’s blank stare, I opened my hands to illustrate how big the thing was. “It’s a bomb rack. It goes on the side of the jets. It secures two-thousand-pound bombs. The thing weighs nearly eighty pounds, and he was out there carrying it around for who knows how long for no freaking reason.”
“They take hazing pretty seriously these days,” Paul said with a shake of his head. “I’m surprised he’d risk it.”
He wasn’t wrong. I’d looked it up once. Hazing was a big deal in today’s military. Particularly big in our branch, unfortunately. Nine out of ten hazing reports come from within the Marine Corps. Being that we were the smallest branch (if you didn’t count the Space Force) that was pretty sad. Something I wasn’t proud of in the slightest.
I’d seen some of it during my time on the drill field in California. Some hotheaded drill instructors on a power trip would get pretty nasty with the recruits. They were dealt with swiftly, as were the Marines involved in a recent scandal at our other boot camp here in South Carolina. The latter situation resulted in a complete overhaul of the Marine Corps’ hazing policies and punishments, something that actually did make me proud. But for those involved, it was a case of too little, too late.
I knew hazing ran wild in a lot of different job fields, but for me, after everything I’d been through, it was something I just couldn’t tolerate happening in my shop. Marines were a tough crowd. I knew that going in, and I knew it now. But we were also honorable and loyal and good. When I’d chosen to join the military, it was never a question in my mind which branch I was going to pick. Semper fidelis, our motto, meant always faithful. The three core values that we lived by were honor, courage, and commitment. Why wouldn’t I want to join an organization like that? But just like any organization, there were always bad apples.
I rubbed a shaky hand over the top of my head as Paul and I waited in line at one of the counters. “I gotta do something, man. I can’t let Roberts keep doing this to him.”
“No, you can’t,” he agreed thoughtfully. “What are you going to do?”
“I already tried talking to him. That didn’t go well.”
He smirked. “I imagine not.”
“Now I guess I need to take it up the chain.”
It was our turn at the counter, so we stepped forward and ordered three meals and drinks, standing off to the side to wait for them. My mind ran through all the Staff NCOs in my shop, trying to decide who would be the most likely to take this seriously. I’d talk to all of them if I had to.
“It really blows that Chase has to deal with this in his first shop,” Paul said quietly.
I grimaced. “I know.”
“Guys like Roberts give the rest of us a bad name.”
We stood in contemplative silence for a few minutes until our names were called, then we grabbed our to-go boxes and headed back to the table where Chase sat. He lifted his head from the table when we approached, trying to look less worn-out than he was. Seriously, how long had he been out there?
I handed him the bottle of water before placing a box of food before him. “Drink first. Then eat.”
“Yes, Sergeant.” He blinked when I pulled a face at him, swallowing hard. “Will.”
Satisfied, I took a seat across from him. If Chase didn’t want to tell me how long he’d been on the flight line with that rack today, fine. I didn’t need to hear it. When I brought it up my chain of command, they’d take over, and he’d have to tell them. For now, I was fine with being there for him and making sure he knew he had me and Paul.
Nodding at my best friend, I forced a smile, trying to shake off the day’s events and move on to brighter pastures. “So, less than a week to the big day. You nervous?”
Paul chuckled as he chewed a bite of his burger. “Oh, no. Don’t tell me this is the part where my commitment-phobic buddy tries to get me to back out.”
A hard knot tied itself around my heart. “Nah, man. I wouldn’t do that.”
“Good. Because not everyone wants to spend their lives living the single life.”
Shots fired. I shoved a fry into my mouth and chewed. Today wasn’t the day for this conversation. I was already wound up so tight I couldn’t see straight. Paul’s assessment of what I wanted out of life couldn’t have been further from the truth, but I had no one to blame but myself. Maybe if I would have been honest with him—or with myself—from the beginning, I wouldn’t have spent the last fifteen years dating other girls in hopes of forgetting how I felt for his sister.
“Wait a minute,” Paul said, pointing a finger at me. “What ever happened with the flowers?”
Ice ran down my spine. A direct question would require the truth. But the whole truth? I wasn’t so sure. “I ended up getting a single rose because of the bike. Thanks for pointing that out before I wasted fifty bucks on one of Ms. Hattie’s fancy bouquets.”
Paul roared with laughter. “Nice. Bet she loved that.”
“She did.” The first genuine smile I’d worn all day found its way to my face as I remembered the wistful expression on Aria’s face when she leaned down to smell the rose.
