Water
The silence echoed in your ears. It was loud, deafening even. It was like there was an empty void of nothingness, just waiting to be filled. There was nothing. No jokes from dear old Luz, no loud obnoxious laughter from Bill, no emotionless sarcasm from Speirs. The place was silent. Full of empty spaces. You longed for the voices of the men to be there. But, then, you didn't. You knew there was too much emotion in the sounds of the men. The laughter was contagious, smiles as wells. At the end of the day, everyday, your mouth always hurt from smiling at Babe's and Perconte's and Luz's jokes. Those insensitive, crude, hilarious jokes. You could only laugh and nod and go on. They hadn't known about your gender until Bastogne. From first sight, Eugene's cheeks tinted pink, as did Lipton's. They were the first in your hole, first to help the blood stop pouring from your wounds. Those two were also the first to know of your womanhood.
That was all behind you now, with Currahee and England and the Eagle's Nest.
The only thing in front of you now was silence, and the beams of summer sunlight seeping in through the windows, cascading onto the floor, illuminating a path to the doorway. The spare leather baseball glove that Lipton had given you was too big for your small hands, so you turned it side to side, looking over the dark leather. The pocket is large, and the movement seems worn in. You toss it once, measuring its weight. Tossing it again, then it lands in your small girlish hands with a satisfactory thud. A small smile cracks through your facial mask, like a sudden discovery. As you were about to toss the glove again, you were interrupted by the door to the barrack's swinging open. There was Cpt. Speirs, dressed in full attire, as sharp as a bayonet. He watched you with a curious eye, as you stood at attention, dropping the glove and throwing a hand up in an awkward salute. Your short, cropped hair flopped into your eye.
"Why aren't you out with the others?" Speirs casually waved off the salute and stalked towards you eyeing the baseball glove that was resting at your feet. The old worn out boots adorning your feet are flopped and torn, and compared to the leather glove; they looked like one of Malarkey's 'five star cuisine' meals. You shrugged and adverted your eyes to the floor, your lashes brushing your fair cheek every time you blinked.
"Jane… Why?" They had gotten into the habit of calling you that now, instead of your real name. Malarkey thought it was more fitting than G.I. Joe, so it was now G.I. Jane. Your eyes darted up to the light that had pooled on the wooden floor. Speirs was now half emerged in it, basking as the light played across his face. His eyes had softened, but the same intimidating face stayed plastered. You coughed.
"I, uh, don't know how to play baseball, sir." Embarrassment flitted across your features. Speirs' mouth turned upward for a split second, but as soon as it was there, it was gone. Like a flash of lightning. His eyes spoke more words than he did.
"Well, if you want to learn… Don't be afraid to come down to the field." The sentence was out his mouth as soon as he left the barracks, leaving you alone again with the silence and the light. The glove, still at your feet, made you dwindle a little longer in the sun, before sitting down on the cot once more and tossing a glance lazily out the window. The warmth that rolled in on the breeze made you think about the game even more, and before you knew it, you were ditching the silent barracks for the warm outdoors. You silently strolled to the field, enjoying the yielding touch of grass on your calves and the wind through your short, frizzed hair. The baseball glove swung lazily from your hand, tossing it up and downward with each step. As you kept your eyes glued ahead, you watched Luz lob the ball down the center, directly over the dusty, white, plate, as Talbert swung full force and made connection with the ball. The small white and red piece of leather came soaring through the air, spinning and wobbling in the atmosphere. As soon as you thought it was going to strike you, the ball suddenly dropped out of the air, before coming to a progressing stop at your feet.
Looking at the tattered ball, you picked it up, and examined it.
Tossing it in your hands, you held it like Luz did, before throwing your arm back and whipping it forward. The ball went farther than you expected, and as Leibgott ran out to catch the ball, you smiled to yourself thinking that maybe you could play baseball. You walked the experience off, cutting through the outfield, and crossing to the trucks where you spotted Speirs chatting with Nixon and Winters. As you passed by, Lipton tapped your shoulder, and smiled, before telling you he was glad you came. You nodded to him, and held up his glove.
"I promise I'll give it back... As soon as I learn how to use it." You explained, smiling to your older friend. He chuckled, before nodding in agreement. Harry Welsh, the curly haired man who was also leaning against the truck laughed, and called out.
"Hey, boys! Look who cared to join us!"
A series of head were whipped around to spot you, before smiles broke out and laughter rang through the field. You suddenly felt shy with so many eyes on you, and ducked your head before Luz called out and told you to play right field.
"Right field?" You stuttered, looking like a bomb was about to drop out of the clear, blue, Austrian sky. Lipton chuckled, before pointing to the spot in between Perconte and Webster, way out in the green grass of the empty field.
"If they ball comes to you, stick your glove out, like this." Nixon piped up from the other truck, holding his hands up above his head towards the sun.
"It's really not that hard. If you want, you could practice first…" Winters smiled graciously at you before you declined.
"No. I think I got it." You smiled and ran off, darting through the hole in the metal fence and crossing the field. George smiled before slapping your back gingerly with his glove.
"Thatta girl!"
You smiled back at him, before high fiving both Perconte and Webster on the way over to right field. You made your way to the grass, and like wading in deep water, you stood and waited. The glove was by your side on your left hand, and your other hand tapped freely on your thigh. As Eugene stepped up to plate, Bull's loud voice boomed from the third base.
"Go easy on 'er, Gene! She's new at this!"
Laughter racked through the field once again, and before you knew it, Dick, Ron, Lew, Harry and Carwood all had their eyes glued to you. You stood self consciously, toying with the leather glove with your free right hand. It was soft, and as you clamped the glove open and shut, it smacked satisfyingly. As Luz looked around the field, Talbert rested on third, while Babe stood awkwardly on first. With a deep breath, Luz's arm swung forward and the ball was released.
A crack echoed through the field.
Shouts and cheers and laughter were all blocked out as you spotted the ball. It was flying farther to the right than where you were, so you ran. Farther, farther, farther! Your legs glided swiftly across the grass with soft thumps as your gloved arm stuck out gawkily, chasing the ball. The air blew through your hair, and your eyes stayed trained on the ball. Farther! Farther! The screams of the boys became louder and louder.
Before you knew it, you were falling face first down a thick brushed hill, were shrubs and trees poked out of the ground and thrived. You tumbled head over heels, twigs becoming stuck in your shirt and dirt covered your arms and knees. Your vision made out the look of a lake with a dock and everything, but as you rolled once more, you could no longer tell. You hit a fallen log with a thud, the old, rotted wood breaking your fall. The loud snaps of twigs followed your loud groan as the boys ran down the hill to you. Luz and Lipton were the first to get to you, and instead of asking you how you felt, they both said at the same time:
"The ball was foul, Jane!"
Confusion racked your features once again, and before you knew it, Eugene was running up to you. He knelt carefully beside you, apologizing and asking you the normal questions, 'What day is it?', 'How many fingers?', etc. You blocked him out for a second before spotting the white and red ball laying near the tree to your left. Leaning over your knees, you picked up the ball and tagged Eugene with it.
"You're outta there!" Harry chuckled, and while you rubbed your head, more of the boys began to congratulate you on the great play. You shook your head and brushed off your arms, but even before you could pluck the twigs out of your hair, Ron and Nixon were upon you, and as Ron hauled you over his shoulder, Nixon peeled your boots off and chucked the heavy pieces of leather to the ground. Leaving them in the dirt before the dock to the lake, the boys began to laugh. Easy company was pulled into a ruckus as you kicked and screamed for Ron to put you down. For a second, a smile was on his lips. Ron's boots thudded against the dusted, sun-faded boards of the dock, and as he neared the edge, you screamed even louder.
"Captain! Sir! Please put me down!"
Stopping right at the edge of the water, Ron spun on his heel and faced the men.
"Men. Give me one good reason that G.I. Jane here shouldn't take a dive?" The woods were suddenly silent and as Winters ducked his head into his hands, you were thrown backwards off of Cpt. Speirs' shoulder and into the warm crystal blue water. It was refreshing, but a shock to your system and as your eye vision became bleary and your lungs screamed for air, you came up. Frustration and anger were written across your face. From behind Speirs, you noticed the men all loosing their boots, and heading towards the water.
Luz and Bull was first jump in, while screaming, "Canon ball!"
Perconte followed in suit, doing a belly flop.
Leibgott did the same, while Webster ran full speed and tried to catch some air.
Babe and Talbert laughed before jumping in, almost landing on Luz and Leibgott.
Buck dived cleanly into the water before splashing Web.
Harry dived in and shortly after some convincing; Carwood Lipton plopped down on the edge of the dock and sat into the water.
Eugene stood shyly at the edge of the dock, shaking his head at the constant protests from Easy Company.
You laughed to your self before swimming up to the dock submerged, and quickly grabbing one of his legs, you pulled the dark-haired Cajun into the cooling, Austrian water.
Now, only three of the officers remained, but as a main target, you desperately wanted to shove Speirs into the water yourself. Nixon succumbed quite quickly, ditched his jacket and boots before jumping in, while Winters bashfully declined, and stepped back and said he would watch. Speirs, on the other hand, kept quite and you could feel his eyes glued on you. He knew what you were planning. So, as casual as ever, you swam up to the dock and hauled your small frame out of the water. Your arms dropped to your side and you swung your bare feet out of the water and onto the dock. With every step, water pooled and left tiny footprints. The boys were too busy ganging up on Luz in a splash fight to see the quick exchange of glances between Winters and yourself. Speirs didn't move, but simply watched, unsuspected of your plan.
As soon as you were close enough, lake water came spewing out of your mouth and onto Speirs' face. With a pleased snort, you watched as he tried to fight away the grin trying to illustrate his face. He looked down, the water rolling off of his brow, and his face came back up grim.
"Corpral?"
"Sir?"
"You're dead meat, Janey." He started off running towards you, and as you neared the edge of the dock, Speirs lunged. Quickly, you spun out of his reach, and before he could stop himself from falling into the water, he was laughing. He met the refreshing lake with a splash, and returned to the surface with his cap sticking to his damp hair. As suddenly as he had landed in the water, you suddenly found yourself in the lake as well. Winters had finally given up on the resistance, and the heat was making him regret wearing his heavy jacket. You laughed as he tossed his boots, cap and jacket aside and joined the rest of Easy in the lake.
The next few hours carried on like that, swimming and diving and playing Marco Polo. Turns out that Eugene was wonderful at that game, and Easy had come to the conclusion that it was because he was so fine tuned into the sounds that the boys of easy made and also because of his acute hearing of the word 'Medic'. Most of the boys didn't want to get out of the water, but as the day came to a close, more and more of the boys headed back to barracks. Some got out because they couldn't stand their wrinkly hands, and others got out because they were cold. The deep water was too inviting and you didn't want to get out anytime soon, even if your fingers felt like raisins. You still swam, and as Winters and Nixon both got out, you found yourself stuck with Captain Speirs, who was lying on his back on the dock. His feet dangled in the water and as quiet as you could, you swam over and pulled yourself up on the wooden float. Water dripped off your body and spread out on the warm wood. It oozed closer and closer to Ron as he tried to dry out, but you sat their, unnoticed by him. His arm was draped across his eyes, blocking the bright sunlight that fell onto the lumber. The birds and the bugs and the wildlife around you two filled the void of silence, and you found that unlike the hours prior, this silence was comfortable. After a few minutes of sitting, Ron finally stirred, removing his arm and blinking at you. You smiled once and turned back to kicking your feet in the water.
"Sorry I threw you in." Ron flat lined, turning his head to you and staring at your back with his gleaming eyes. He reached into the pocket of his jacket lying next to him and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. They were water logged. Ron quickly cursed and threw the whole pack into the lake.
"Sorry I spat water on you, sir."
"Drop the sir, will you, Janey?"
"Speirs then?" You asked, your head turned to face him. He closed his eyes and shook his head, sun falling onto his face.
"Ron."
There was a silence after this but; it was only brief, because with in seconds, you found yourself in the water once more. Ron was now chuckling, and as he sat up, you splashed water onto the dock.
"Hey! I was just drying off!"
"So was I, Ron!" His name sounded nice rolling off your tongue, and as soon as those butterflies flew into your stomach, they left. But, you had to remind yourself, it was all over now. The war. It was okay to fall in love now. Especially with a soldier. After all, no more fighting. You pulled yourself onto the dock once again, but this time, you sat just like Ron did, with his legs outstretched in front of him and his arms bracing him up.
"Jane?"
"Hm?"
"What are you going to do after the war?"
You paused.
"Go home. Hug my parents. They're probably worried sick about me. I'll probably ask my brother to teach me how to play baseball. I'll try and get a job in town, I don't know? Marry and have some kids?" You shrugged and looked to Ron, "What about you?"
"I think I'm going to stay where I am. In the military, I mean." Ron looked up and the turned to you, "Sure, I'll get married. But, kids? I was never any good with young kids. And the only thing babies do is eat, sleep, cry and poop."
You chuckled, "Kids aren't terrible. Not as bad as everyone makes them seem, at least. Oh and babies puke too."
"I rest my case. I would not make a good parent." Ron laughed and smiled freely to you, which you returned graciously.
"I think you would, Speirs. You're protective. And you're intimidating. You wouldn't have to worry about any boys touching your daughter."
Speirs turned and smiled once more, his long floppy brown hair crowding his eyes. Sun shone down on both of you and silence was suddenly there again. This time, you dropped your arms to the side, laying down on the warm, sun soaked, dock. Ron was now lying next to you, your shoulders touching. It was gently and comforting, and it reminded you of all of those times the men of Easy would comfort you.
"I'm going to miss Easy Company." You stated, not to Ron in particular. His head turned to the right, seeking your face in the sun.
"I will too. I'm going to miss everything… The jokes, the guys."
"The constant bitching from Sobel?"
"Eh. That I might not miss as much."
You laughed and Ron paused, his lips pressed together in a fine line.
"I'll miss you."
Those words tore through your tranquil mind like a sudden storm. Lightning and thunder pounded in your head. AS soon as Ron had said that, the Captain had captured your face in his hands, and as you both sat up, the gap between your faces was shrinking drastically. His breath was hot, and calm, while yours was stuttered and quick. You were now half in his lap, and as Ron's smile grew, your lips met his. Your eyes seared shut, and as Ron pressed on, his lips gently nudged and played upon yours. They were soft, if not a little chapped and taste a lot like Lucky Strikes. You didn't mind. As long as they were his lips. Soon, Ron's tongue was running along your bottom lip, and as you opened your mouth for a split second to breathe, he was exploring rather slowly. His tongue danced against yours and you couldn't help but moan. The kiss was broken apart by the sudden snap of a twig.
"Shit." The distinct curse of Luz came from behind one of the bushes. Both you and Speirs spun around, only to see Luz half trying to help Perconte out of a tree. His trousers were stuck on a hanging limb. You couldn't help but laugh as the small Italian struggled and cursed. Speirs and yourself look at one another.
You stood and collected Ron's coat and cap before walking straight past Perconte and Luz, back the silent barracks.