It feels like the story is finally moving now!

I hope that you'll Have fun with chapter 7! :)


Chapter 7: Manila Coffins

Marlene looked at her boyfriend. He was staring in front of him, obviously deep in thoughts. She wondered what he was thinking. She wanted to see his beautiful smile, it was the one thing that made her day, the one thing that made her day.

Thump! The boxing ball knocked him from his feet. Skipper took a quick glance around, but he was lucky. Nobody had seen it. He stood up and called for his friends to join him. "Alright boys, what about some one-on-one fighting? No weapons allowed." He gave Rico, who was holding a chainsaw above Private's head, a quick glance. "Kowalski, you're with me." He felt a little sorry for Private, who was looking terrified at his opponent. Normally, Skipper would have assigned Kowalski or himself to Rico, but this time he wanted to find out how much Kowalski improved. "Ok, let's fight!"

Kowalski opened their fight with a punch aimed for Skipper's stomach, but he dodged and grabbed Kowalski's arm. Their battle ended within five seconds. "I think this was a new record, Kowalski. And I do not like it." He extended his hand to help his friend get on his feet, but Kowalski ignored it and got up on his own. "Very funny." Skipper narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What's wrong, soldier?" He wanted to comfort Kowalski, but it appeared that he pulled an invisible trigger. "What's wrong? What's wrong?! You are too paranoid, making us fight, do stupid training exercises. That is what's wrong! We aren't even in the military and you drill us like we are an elite force. It's not fair to push us this far. That's what wrong!" Kowalski yelled to him. "Manfredi, Kowalski, and Johnson. Have you forgotten about them? Don't they mean anything to you?!" He could see the flames rising in Kowalski's eyes. "Of course I haven't forgotten about them! But how can this situation in any way be related to them? My parents aren't even planning to move to Manila, so I highly doubt it if you would see the remainders of me back in a manila coffin. You're just overly paranoid Skipper." It was impossible to hide his disappointment. "I thought they were your friends too, Kowalski. That they were our friends."

Skipper looked around and saw Private and Rico watching them with open mouths. They never heard about Manfredi and Johnson, Skipper only mentioned their fate sometimes as a warning, nothing more. "You're just as naïve as they were Kowalski. It wouldn't surprise me if you throw a Nairobi surprise party yourself one day." "GET OVER IT! They are gone Skipper! Nothing can change that, maybe you have to move on!" Skipper stared in shock at Kowalski. "How can you say those things, Kowalski?" The tall boy shrugged. With the tears running down his cheeks, Skipper turned and ran away, leaving his friends staring in shock after him.

He walked. Just walked. His tears blurred his vision, but he didn't care where he was going, so he just walked further. How could Kowalski say those things? He would never have guessed that Kowalski would try to make him forget about them. How could he possibly forget about his two friends?

Marlene couldn't focus on her history essay. Who would possibly be interested in the life story of Frederik IX, king of Denmark from 1947 to 1972? She sighed and looked out of the window. It was cloudy and rainy outside. The streets were empty, at least that was what she thought until she saw him. Walking down the pavement with his hands in the pockets of his jeans, his shoulders bowed, as if he was sad about something. She took a closer look and saw that he was crying. She jumped up quickly and ran outside. Forgetting about her essay, jacket and keys.

"Skipper what's wrong?!" He looked over his shoulder and saw Marlene running towards him. He walked further, trying to ignore her. He felt her warm hand upon his right shoulder. "Skipper, wait!" He shrugged her hand off his shoulder and walked on. Suddenly, she appeared right in front of him, blocking his way. "You are now going to tell me what's wrong." She commanded of him, making herself long, crossing her arms. In a secret place in his heart, he loved strong women. Women who stood up to him, had the guts to stop him. On the other side, he hated everybody who wouldn't listen to him. "Alright. But we can't do that outside, what about we go to your home?" She nodded and they walked together to her house.

How could she be so stupid? How were they supposed to get in now? "Skipper… I am afraid that I left my keys inside." He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Really?" She gave him a small nod. "Yes, I am sorry." Skipper gave her a small kiss on her cheek. "Don't be. That's your room right?" He pointed at the open window on the first floor. She nodded again. Before she could say a word, he ran towards her house and jumped in a nearby tree. From the tree he threw himself to the window, only at the last moment grabbing the windowsill. She was amazed by his sudden burst out of power, clapping in her hands when he went inside.

With two swiftly jumps was he inside her room. When he took a glance around, he saw a drawing laying on her desk. It was unmistakably him. She had drawn him with a small smile. He liked the drawing. He turned away from the drawing and made his way to her front door. When he unlocked it, he saw her standing smiling in front of him. "That was amazing Skipper!" He laughed. "Thank you, Marlene!" And they went inside.

Apparently, she forgot about the fact why he was with her in the first place. She could only talk about how magnificent his jump to his window were. He was glad that he didn't have to talk about Manfredi and Johnson.

They got closer that evening and together they made love.


Thank you for reading so far! :)