For Winterhalt and capsarchic. A romance story challenge featuring Low Light in ten chapters. Rated T to M
Chapter Ten
Long Forgotten Now
0800
Beachhead allowed Cooper to eat breakfast. At the table Brooks and Popelka had bandages on their nose. They were packed with gauze. They stared at him while Holt and Ridenhour looked over their shoulders. They didn't want to meet his eyes. Ehrenstein did what Ehrenstein always did. He kept his face in a law book. In the corner Beachhead and Cover Girl were talking. He said something that made him hit his palm on the table. They all looked over. Cover Girl touched his arm and he stopped. Beachhead stood up and walked over. Cover Girl squeezed his hand and left. She had her head down. Cooper knew he would have hell to pay. If he had to run the course again he would end up losing his breakfast. He put his tray aside and drank coffee. The sleep deprivation was wearing on him. He had to stay awake. Beachhead was standing right in front of him.
"You're with me MacBride." He said. For once it wasn't a yell. He turned his back and went outside. Cooper followed him. In the parking lot he saw Dixon leave by the front gates.
Family week was turning into a disaster. It started when Cooper MacBride met Sharon Dixon. He couldn't deny the attraction on his part. He also knew his history. Sharon deserved and got better than what he could offer. He was jealous. He was jealous of Beachhead and Cover Girl. He was jealous of Snake Eyes and Scarlet. He was jealous of Flint and Lady Jaye. He was even jealous of Butch and Charlie. And now he was jealous of General Hawk and Sharon Dixon. They had something he would never have. The nearest he came was a fifty dollar whore and a back alley. He didn't have to know their names or remember their faces. He only remembered her hands against the brick wall when she bent over. That was where it ended.
Amy Taylor was the first girl Cooper MacBride made love to. It was also the first time he was truly drunk. He was eighteen. They went to the same high school and shared classes together. She had long black hair like an Ojibwe and brown eyes that laughed. Her father hated him. He had good reason to. Amy came from a good family. She was a straight A student. She would go to college and leave Crosby North Dakota behind. They always talked about leaving the small town. They would go to Great Falls or Minneapolis. It was the hopes and dreams of teenagers at the cusp of adulthood. They had the rest of their lives to look forward to. Cooper didn't know why she loved him. To the rest of the town he was poor white trash. His father was a drunk. They didn't expect the son to be any different. In a way they were right.
It was the end of May. It was the time of year when the snows were over. The planting season was just beginning. There was new grass on the football field. Everyone was looking forward to graduation. The high school kids spent their weekends at the local quarry. There were beer and liquor bottles between the graffiti. If the adults knew they looked the other way. It was a rite of passage. Their mothers and fathers did the same thing twenty years ago. In his father's shed Cooper and Amy laid on a blanket. It was clumsy and amateurish. What they lacked in experience they made up for with honesty. It wasn't passing childhood experimentation. He loved her. On the radio they listened to Boz Scaggs. Above him he heard a rain on the tiles. It drummed on the roof and trickled down the side as held her. He kissed her. In return she held him close. He wanted to stay like that forever.
When they rode on his motorcycle to the quarry that night Amy held onto his waist and put her chin on his shoulder. Her hair blew in the wind and she laughed. It should have been one of his happiest memories.
They were soaked and wet when they met their friends. They were laughing. Their friends had a bonfire going against the rock. At night in May North Dakota could still be chilly. Stacey Wagner was with them. They were all drinking. Cooper should have noticed the irritation on Amy's face when Stacey flirted with him. She sat too close to him making touches with her fingers. She passed the bottle of Jack Daniels around. Amy put it off. She let him take the drinks. She repeatedly asked him to take her home. Her father would be mad she said. Cooper was too drunk to notice the anger on her face. She stood up and walked off alone. That was when Stacey sat on his lap. She had her knees around his hips and the bottle in her hands. She smiled when she kissed him. She tasted like whiskey and smelled like cigarettes.
The hurt on Amy's face would follow him from Crosby North Dakota to Fort Sill Oklahoma two weeks later. He rode to Amy's house nearly every night. Her father chased him away. It was the last time he was in Crosby North Dakota. It was also the last time for Amy Taylor. Only now it was Amy Standing Elk. She was President of the Northern Region of American Indian Affairs. She over viewed the states from Minnesota to Washington down into South Dakota and across to Wyoming and Montana. She married a Blackfoot Indian from Missoula. She met him at the University of Montana. He owned the largest car dealership in Montana. He was a millionaire. They had five children that looked just like him. It was what Amy deserved.
Years later Cooper MacBride still fucked whores that tasted like whiskey and smelled like cigarettes. He didn't know why he was thinking of it now. It was the biggest mistake of his life. He saw Dixon heading straight towards it.
They were past the obstacle course and onto the loop. Beachhead was walking this time. He didn't have to say anything. Cooper followed beside him. In Cooper's hand was the stick from this morning. He used it to hike along the path. The sun was now up making the desert look bleached. It was as if the scenery was being coy and shy about its beauty. It was like a woman. The rocks and mountains only showed their true colors at dusk and dawn. That was when it would shine. Beachhead stopped at the two mile marker. He sat down on a rock and pulled off his mask. His hair stuck up.
"Sit down Cooper." He said.
He looked at him but didn't protest. If Beachhead was calling him by his name and took off his balaclava then Cooper knew it must be something important he wanted to say. And it was off the record. He found his own rock and sat down. He leaned forward on his stick. They didn't look at each other.
"You know for someone so smart you sure do stupid things Cooper." Beachhead said. "It's any reason why though. I would have probably done the same thing." He shook his head. "Mrs. Dixon is still good looking. Yeah I looked. I'm not dead." He snorted. "You're not as hard to read as you think. I've known you too long. I know she's Dixon's mom. There was no way you would go after it. I get that too." He said.
Cooper dug holes in the dirt with his stick. He concentrated. "It doesn't matter now Beach. She's with General Hawk." He said. His voice was back to normal. It was quiet and soft.
Beachhead nodded his head. He knew that much as well as anyone else. "I guess if I knew my C.O. was doing my mom I'd be pissed too." He said. "I also know that wasn't your bottle of Jack Daniels I found this morning Cooper. It was Dixon's." He watched his face. "I know that much. I've seen you drunk too many times to count. You weren't drunk. When you said you haven't had a drink in eight months I believe you. Some things I guess are worth taking the knocks for. That includes Mrs. Dixon and her son."
Cooper shook his head. "I'm not his father Beach. What the kid does on his time is his business." He said.
Beachhead stood up and yanked the stick out of his hands. He threw it away as far as he could. "Bullshit Cooper!" He said. "If you see someone standing in front of a train you don't just say that's what they want to do! You pull them off! You. Fucking. Pull. Them. Off. It's not whether you like it or not. Dixon looks up to you. Yeah you're not his father but that doesn't mean the kid won't follow your example. Hawk has been watching him since you came back from Sierra Gordo. He spent four days shit faced on booze. General Hawk knows more than you think he does. He thinks you can handle the responsibility. He sent you down to keep an eye on him."
Beachhead knew a lot about pulling people away from destruction. He did it with Cooper MacBride for years. Now there were two. He didn't want to watch Dixon float down the endless spiral he had to watch Cooper in. He would never change. But there was still a chance for Dixon. He was young enough to change his ways. Beachhead hoped he would.
On the rock Cooper sat there slack jawed. "General Hawk knows?" He asked.
Beachhead stood before him. "Of course he knows Cooper. The man's like Santa Claus. He knows when you've been bad or good. He sees what goes on his base. It's up to him to decide if it's important enough to say something. As for Brooks and Popelka those two jack asses probably deserved it. I've wanted to take them over a knee myself. That doesn't change anything though. You still broke their nose." He said.
"They were talking about General Hawk." Cooper grimaced.
"Yeah I know. You're not the only one with eyes and ears Cooper. If you ask me Hawk earned it. Dixon's mom's a little spit fire though. The way she goes up against him. He wouldn't put up with anything else. But General Hawk doesn't need you to defend him. It's not your place. If General Hawk has an issue with Brooks and Popelka he'll take care of it himself." Beachhead said.
Cooper stood up. He sighed. He looked at the sky. "So what will happen now?" He asked.
Beachhead shrugged. He went back to the loop. "I'm not going to tell General Hawk about the whiskey. That's between you and Dixon. I will tell him about Brooks and Popelka. That'll earn you a couple more months on the barracks. It's one for each nose." He said. "It'll keep Dixon close."
Cooper groaned. "Shit."
Beachhead smiled. "What are you complaining about? It'll be fun. That's three more months of PT Cooper." He said. "And get a haircut. You look like a fat Peter Frampton hippie."
"I'm not fat." Cooper said. He paused. "How do you know Peter Frampton?"
"Well you ain't fit either. You must've put on twenty pounds sitting down taking pot shots." Beachhead said. "Hey I had Frampton Comes Alive. That and Lynard Skynard." He said. Cooper figured he would. He was close to the loop. He turned back. "You're chalked in for your sniper qualifications in the morning. Do you think you'll be up to it?" He grinned.
"Gee I don't know Beach. It's been so long. It was Monday. I might've forgotten."" He said. It was now Thursday. Family week was almost over. Cooper thanked whatever Gods he prayed to and lifted his head. He didn't know how much more he could take.
"In that case I'll race you." Beachhead said.
Cooper stopped. He held out his hand. They shook hands. "Thank you Wayne. I appreciate it." He said.
In answer Beachhead shoved him back and took off down the loop. Cooper had his shoes beneath him before he had a chance to go after him. He cussed but smiled as he ran. They finished the rest of the loop in less than fifteen minutes. It was ten AM.
He met Ehrenstein at the barracks. He was busy wiping his face and chest with sweat."I was impressed with your time this morning Ehrenstein." He said. "You're pretty fast."
Ehrenstein didn't move. He kept his face down. "I was the only Jew in the state of Kansas. You learned how to be fast." This time he did look up. "Thank you for the advice Sir. The treats worked." He said. He smiled at him. "I'm going to the library. Do you want to come along?" He asked.
"Yeah, sure, I have nothing going on." Cooper said. He didn't even know the base had a library. "You don't have to call me Sir Ehrenstein."
The library was down six floors and behind bomb proof doors. Cooper MacBride didn't have the authority but Ehrenstein did. He passed his badge and opened the door. Inside it was cool and quiet. There were more books than Cooper thought there would be. More importantly there was internet access. The greenshirts weren't allowed but the Joe's were. He went to Facebook. In his search history was Amy Standing Elk. It probably wouldn't mean anything to anyone else if they looked but he sent her the link to Boz Scaggs. Amy would know.
Outside the rain begins
And it may never end
So cry no more on the shore
A dream will take us out to sea
Forevermore, forevermore
Close your eyes, Amie
And you can be with me
'Neath the waves, through the caves of ours
Long forgotten now
We're all alone, we're all alone
Close the window, calm the light
And it will be alright
No need to bother now
Let it out, let it all begin
Learn how to pretend
Once a story's told
It can't help but grow old
Roses do, lovers too
So cast your seasons to the wind
And hold me dear, oh hold me dear
Close the window, calm the light
And it will be alright
No need to bother now
Let it out, let it all begin
All's forgotten now
We're all alone, all alone
Close the window, calm the light
And it will be alright
No need to bother now
Let it out, let it all begin
Throw it to the wind, my love
Hold me dear
All's forgotten now, my love
We're all alone
He checked out Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms and left.
The End
Long Forgotten Now
For Winterhalt and capserchic.