C. Brown: Compromising

“Okay. I will be waiting for you out here.”

I stepped out of the vehicle and walked into the chow hall that was filled with Marines who looked unusually gleeful for such an early Monday morning. That happiness further eroded my already pissed off mood, and I hurried to get in line and grab my food, so I could go and deal with the prick who was missing a set of balls.

“Hey, Alex, how’s it going? I heard about everything that happened.”

I looked to find Corporal Collins standing before me, looking nervous as fuck. After what I’d heard from O’Hara, claiming that those around me had loose lips, I had my guard up where everyone was concerned.

“It’s going,” I muttered.

“Cassie is a good Marine. She didn’t deserve that. And I know—”

“Pfc. Bennett is just fine. I am fine. Everything is fine,” I grumbled, feeling overly annoyed by her desire to make her sympathies known. I damn sure wasn’t about to delve into anything with her. She was a friend of Leti, and my relationship with Cassie—out in the open or not—wasn’t going to make me get chummy with her. “If you don’t mind, I need to finish my breakfast so I can get on with my day.”

Her eyes drooped, almost making me feel bad. Collins had never done anything to make me believe she had a sinister bone in her body, but I was about to be chopped down a few notches, and my fucking girl was lying in a hospital bed after a psychotic maniac had attacked her. I just couldn’t find an ounce of give a fuck for Collins at the moment.

“Well, I hope it all works out for the best.” She turned and walked away. I scarfed my food down, then walked out of the chow hall where Staff Sergeant Mitchell stood waiting for me.

“All right, Sergeant Cruz, time to get you off to First Sergeant O’Hara.”

Fucking joy!

The short ride was made in absolute silence. The air was thick, making the ride nearly unbearable. Every OOD knew who I was and what I’d done, so questions were surely swirling around in their heads, but I wasn’t about to offer anything up to them. They didn’t deserve to know shit. What I’d done with Cassie was none of their business, and unless they were directly responsible for handing down my punishment, I wasn’t going to give them a damn thing.

We pulled up and exited the car. I stood straight up, adjusting my cover on my head before walking side by side with Mitchell. Every step I took inched me closer to the office of the man who would take every opportunity to berate me verbally again, and with the lack of respect that I was harboring for him, I had to convince myself that composure and respect—even if I didn’t feel like O’Hara deserved any of it—were in my best interest.

“Here we are, Sergeant Cruz. For what it’s worth, I hope you come out okay. I know the rules, but they don’t always apply to real life situations.”

He knocked on the door then stepped back. I was stunned that he’d given his personal thoughts, and even more so that he seemed to be leaning towards my side of things. It didn’t matter one way or the other, but to know that there weren’t a bunch of Jensens walking around put me a little more at ease.

“Come in,” O’Hara bellowed.

Mitchell pushed the door open, then motioned for me to walk in. “I have Sergeant Cruz, First Sergeant.”

“Thank you, Staff Sergeant Mitchell. You’re excused.”

Mitchell nodded his head then stepped out, leaving me alone with the man whose face had my blood boiling.

“You can go ahead and take a seat, Cruz. This won’t take too long.”

I stared at him for a second, convincing myself that as much as I wanted to be an asshole and disobey his order, I couldn’t do it. I was still a Marine, and like it or not, he warranted respect.

“As you know, your crime of fraternization carries hefty consequences, and I plan to deliver them swiftly. Sergeant Major Thomas spoke with Colonel Davis, and with my recommendation they have decided that you will not be promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant. Your actions do not embody the characteristics needed to succeed as a Staff NCO in the Marine Corps. You lack judgment, morals, ethics, and downright common fucking decency. You have shamed me, and made a mockery of this schoolhouse, and your promotion has already been revoked. If I get my way, I’ll bust your ass all the way down to Private before kicking you out through a dishonorable discharge.”

I looked at him, nostrils flaring, but still unable to say anything for fear that whatever came out of my mouth would be the wrong thing.

“I am taking this shit to court-martial. You are being charged not only with fraternization, but also with assault.”

My eyes bulged. I couldn’t believe what he was saying and how low he was going to try and prove a point. “Assault, First Sergeant? If I may ask, assault on who?”

“On Private Allen. From everything I have heard, your attack was unwarranted. The firewatch was already engaged in a struggle with him, and you or Sergeant Riley could have easily restrained him, but you took it a step further, and now the guy is lying in a hospital bed struggling to heal.”

“With all due respect, First Sergeant, he had attacked a female. He was very close to raping her—”

“And you saw fit to protect that female in an unacceptable way.” He walked over and stopped directly in front of me. “If you weren’t fucking her, I highly doubt you would have reacted that way.”

The snarl of his words put me on attack mode. The pent-up aggression was ready to be released, and I was finding it hard to continue holding it in. “Are you married, First Sergeant?” I asked, seemingly baffling him.

His eyebrows scrunched tightly as he studied me. “That’s none of your fucking business, Cruz.”

“Well, First Sergeant, I’m asking because Cassie is my fiancé now. I didn’t fuck some random student for shits and giggles. I fell in love with her, and nothing you can do to me is going to hurt me because Allen did all the hurt that could be done and I still have her.” I looked down at his hand that clearly showed the sign that he was, in fact, married. “So as a married man, you know that you’d do anything to protect the woman you love.”

He swallowed hard, and I could tell I had gotten to him. He moved even closer to me, his face embedded with a deep scowl.

“You’ve lost your fucking mind. You better remember who you are speaking to, Cruz. This shit isn’t about me.”

“I’m speaking on my behalf, First Sergeant.”

“You don’t have a goddamned thing to say!” he yelled. “You’ve tricked some stupid Pfc. into marrying you, for what? BAH? Extra money? What?”

“Because I fucking love her, that’s why!” My words came out passion-filled and strong. I was no longer going to allow him to tear down what Cassie and I had. If he didn’t like it, too bad, but having him stand before me and try to minimize what she had done for me wasn’t going to fucking fly any longer. “These rules are put in place for a reason, and I know that, but I can’t help that I fell in love with her, and I’ll be damned if a rule gets in the way of that.”

The room grew silent as only our breaths filled the space. He was staring with anger in those beady eyes, and I was reciprocating it. I was done pretending that anything he could do to me was going to send me begging for mercy. There wasn’t shit he could do to me that would break what Cassie and I had, and it was time he knew it.

“I have an impeccable service record, and if this is my only blemish, then I guess my record is still damn near perfect. With all due respect, First Sergeant O’Hara, Cassie Bennett and I broke the rules. It wasn’t intentional, but it was meant to happen and I don’t regret it. So go ahead and do whatever you have to do to me to make me your example, but I’m telling you right now, I love her, and I won’t apologize for it.”