Memories
As Maila got nearer the top of the tower she heard someone call out.
"Thunder!"
"Flash mothafucka" she called and heard laughter.
As she entered the room she was swept of her feet.
"Jackie boy" she laughed as he eventually put her down. "I missed you"
"I missed you too" Jackson said "Come look at the view" he said taking her hand and dragging her over to the window. She grabbed onto Jackson's shirt as they neared the edge.
"Don't you like heights?" he asked.
"No Sir, birds have wings for flying and fish have fins for swimming. Us human have legs for walking, on the ground" she said and Jackson smiled. He sat down and pulled her into his lap. "Maila, this is Parker" Jackson said introducing her to the other soldier.
"Nice to meet you" she smiled offering her hand and instead of shaking it the Private kissed the back of it.
"Why do guys do that?" Maila asked and Parker smiled.
"Just greeting a lady as one should" he said and Maila looked out the window again.
"What happened to your jacket?" Jackson asked.
"Reiben" Maila sighed "He's being a real asshole" she said leaning her head against his shoulder.
"This is Reiben we're talking about Maila" Jackson said.
"I just don't get, why I love him" Maila half whispered.
Jackson took a moment to reply
"I'll always be here for you Maila, no matter who you love" he said and she looked over her soldier at him.
"You are just, unbelievable" she said hugging him.
Jackson pressed his face into her shoulder. "You'd better head back" he said after a while.
Reluctantly Maila stood. "You'd better not die on me Mr. Sharpshooter or we're gonna have a problem. You hear" she said and he kissed her hand.
"Loud and clear mam" he said "Now go on"
With a nod and a salute to Parker Maila headed back down the tower stairs. She decided to go see James before she made her way back to Mellish.
"That's one special relationship you have there" Parker said and Jackson smiled.
She found her brother with the Captain. Miller was clicking his fingers and Maila smiled.
"I won't ask" she said to the Captain and went over to James. "How you holding up?" she asked pushing his feet off of a chair. He then pt his boots onto her lap and she pushed them off again
"Quit it!" she wined. "Sir, he's trying to hog two chairs"
"Now now children" Miller said coming over and sitting down.
James didn't stop trying to put his feet up so Maila's gave in. She took to picking some mud of his boot as he and the Captain spoke.
"Is it true you were a teacher back home?" James asked Miller.
"Yes" Miller replied.
"See that is something I could never do. Not after the way we treated our teachers" James said.
"You and the boys, I was an angel" Maila said concentrating on some mud that was stuck in the tracks on his boot.
"I had a thousand kids like you" Miller said
"I can't see my brother's faces" James said. "I've been trying but I can't see their faces at all. Has that ever happened to you?"
"You gotta think of a context" Miller said. As he spoke Maila listened.
"What does that mean?" James asked.
"Well you don't just think about their faces you think about something specific. Something you've done together. When I think of home I think of something specific, I think of my hammock in the backyard, or my wife pruning the rose bushes in a pair of my old work gloves"
James paused "Well there was this one night. Two of my brothers, came and woke me up in the middle of the night. Hey said they had a surprise for me, so they took me into the barn and up into the loft"
Maila was already smiling, she remembered this night as if it were only last night.
"In the loft there was my oldest brother Dan, was Alice. Alice Jardine"
James then started laughing as he told the story.
"I mean, picture a girl who just took a nosedive out of the ugly tree and hit every branch coming down" he laughed. "And Dan's got her shirt off, so he's working out this bra an he's trying to get it off. And all of a sudden Sean just screams out, Danny you're a young man don't do it!"
Maila couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"So Alice Jardine hears this and she screams and jumps up, and she tries to run out the barn but she's still got this shirt over her head. She goes running right into the wall and knocks herself out. So now Dan is just so mad, he starts coming after us but at the same time Alice is over there unconscious. He's gotta wake her up, so he grabs her by her leg and he's dragging her and at the same time he picks up a shovel and he's going after Sean. And Sean says 'what you trying to hit me for, I just did you a favor' And this just makes Dan more angry so he tries to swing this thing he looses the shovel, goes out of his grasp, and hits a kerosene lantern. The thing explodes and the whole barn almost goes up. Sean pulled you onto his back to get you out" James said patting Maila's shoulder. James then stopped laughing; both Maila and Miller looked sympathetically at him.
"That was it, Dan went of the basic the next day. That was the last night we were all together. That was two years ago"
"Doesn't seem like it" Maila sighed.
"Tell me about your wife and those rose bushes" James said to Miller.
"No. No that one I save just for me" Miller said and Maila looked at James.
"You know, you two don't look much alike" Miller said "Who looks like who"
"Well" Maila said standing "I was always told I have my mother's eyes"
She patted the Captain's shoulder as she went by.
Maila could see Horvath, Mellish, Reiben and Upham still sitting in the same place she'd left them. As she got closer to them she felt a slight rumbling under her feet. She gave it a few seconds and then turned around.
"Captain!" she called.
Then the group came running towards her and Mellish threw her helmet and rifle. The Captain and Reiben came and stood next to her, they looked up at Jackson in the tower.
"Enemy from the East, he sees Tiger Tanks, two of em. Panzer tanks, two of em. Infantry, 50 plus change" Miller said looking back down. Maila couldn't really make out Jackson's features but she smiled at him and then looked back down.
James came and stood on Maila's other side, Reiben gave him a look and Maila continued to look at the ground.
"Disperse, you know what to do. Reiben, you get on the rabbit" Miller said.
"Yes Sir" Reiben said, he looked down at Maila and quickly pulled her into a kiss. He then kissed her forehead.
"Be careful" she said.
"I'm always careful" he said giving her one of his cheeky smiles.
"Good luck Reiben" Horvath shouted.
"I don't need any luck Sarge, I was born lucky" Reiben said as he leapt onto the rabbit. Maila gave him a smile and then Mellish grabbed her shoulder.
"Come on sweet-pea" he said.
"Coming" she replied and followed him to their machine gun.
Just wanted to say thanks to BloodMoonWanes, Sky Smith and Screaming Revolver for their support.
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