Sitting on a stool, Dallin peeled her fifth potato that morning.
She felt rough, hungover and sick to her stomach with a banging headache. But this was her punishment for sneaking in extra booze and disobeying orders. Winters rightfully gave her an earache when she woke up and soon ordered her into the kitchen. The cooks were glad to see her and they put her right to work. They gave her a large sack of potatoes to peel, which would take up her entire Sunday morning.
It was a boring job. The cooks were busy at the front of the hut, serving breakfast. The smell alone made Dallin's stomach turn; she was glad to be skipping breakfast that morning. Picking up another muddy potato, Dallin dug the knife into its skin and began to peel it off. She had a bucket to her right, where the peeled potatoes went.
Dallin picked up another potato.
She could hear her friends in the mess hut, talking loudly over another crummy breakfast. But as far as complaints went, they were usually said outside of the mess hut. No one wanted to piss off a cook. Dallin never once complained about the food, not in front of the cooks, anyway. They could easily stop serving someone a meal if they complained. It was common sense to keep their mouths shut.
A few minutes after breakfast and Dallin heard some loud bangs coming from outside. Turning around, Dallin stopped peeling her potato. She could hear thumps, groans and a few hushed threats shared. Frowning, Dallin dropped the potato but kept the knife. Rising from the stool she walked towards the back entrance and pulled the door open.
Five cooks had cornered a guy.
And they were beating him up.
Dallin didn't think it was a fair fight and she stupidly got herself involved.
Grabbing hold of one of the cooks, she pulled him back;
"stop…leave him". She said.
The cook glared at her and pushed her back;
"back off!" He snapped.
Dallin stumbled back but she didn't fall.
Taking a step towards him again, she mumbled;
"it's not fair fight…five against one".
She sounded calm. And Dallin was confident the cooks would reason to a calm voice. But when she saw who the cooks were beating up, Dallin completely lost her cool. Grabbing hold of one of their arms, she roughly pulled him back;
"leave him". Dallin growled.
Pinning him up against a wall, Dallin pressed the side of the knife against his neck;
"leave him…all of you".
Through hazy eyes, Shifty whispered;
"Dallin…drop the knife".
Her jaw clenched;
"they beat you, Shifty…".
"I'm okay". He assured her, "it was my fault-"
"no". Dallin cut him off, "no…they hurt you, Shifty".
To prove a point, Shifty got onto his feet.
He was going to have a black eye, his cheek was cut but other than that, Shifty was okay. The cooks didn't have a good enough punch to break anything or knock him out. But Dallin wasn't looking at Shifty, she was staring at the man she had at knifepoint.
The cook was pale, and he looked terrified.
They didn't know anything about Dallin.
They didn't know what she was capable of.
But her hand shook.
And Shifty carefully took her wrist and lowered the knife from the man's neck;
"there we go, baby". He murmured, "let's get out of here, huh?"
Blinking a few times, Dallin eventually took in Shifty's face.
She frowned;
"I will…clean you up, yes?"
Shifty nodded;
"yeah…anything's better than you making that fella piss his pants, Dallin".
Tilting her head to the side, Dallin's fingers gently brushed under his cut cheek;
"sorry…Shifty".
Shaking his head, Shifty took her hand;
"I'm okay, Dallin".
Eventually, one of the cooks said;
"get the hell out of here – both of 'ya!"
Surprisingly, Shifty smiled;
"sounds good to me".
And Dallin's lips twitched a little;
"Shifty…latrines?"
He shook his head;
"stables". He said, "don't want the fellas seeing me like this".
The stables were located directly behind the mess hut. Hand in hand, Shifty and Dallin sneaked into the stables and closed the heavy doors behind them. It was a messy place, with empty stalls and different tools and farming equipment lying around. But they did find a less cluttered spot, right at the back. Heading their first, Shifty sat down on pile of straw. He reached into his pocket and brought out a small mirror from his shaving kit to inspect the damage on his face.
Dallin couldn't find anything to clean him up with. So, she decided to use a tissue from inside her pocket. Kneeling in front of Shifty, she pressed the tissue against the cut on his cheek. It wasn't a huge cut, just a thin scratch. Dallin snorted;
"they use their fingernails?"
Shifty cracked a small grin;
"they was cat-fighting…they don't know beans 'bout cooking, or fighting".
Dallin hushed him;
"they might listen…do you wish to starve?"
With a tiny sigh, Shifty mumbled;
"wouldn't be ideal".
With a small frown, Dallin moved in closer towards his face.
Head cocking to the side, she placed a hand by his right temple and mumbled;
"you will have…black eye tomorrow".
Shifty hummed.
Clearing his throat, he replied;
"yeah…probably".
Licking her bottom lip, Dallin's hand left the side of his face.
She removed the tissue from his cheek and said;
"the bleeding stops now".
While Dallin placed the tissue down, Shifty said;
"you – uh – had that knife right up by that fella's throat".
She nodded slowly;
"yes…I did".
Shifty huffed out a quiet laugh;
"why?"
Dallin frowned and looked at him;
"because…they hurt you, Shifty. They beat you…".
He shrugged one shoulder;
"don't think any other fella would do that, Dallin".
Her frown deepened;
"no…but…I would…for you, Shifty. Always for you".
Shifty it down on his lip, before saying;
"Dallin, I sure do think the world of you".
"There is…but?"
Shaking his head, he mumbled;
"no…no buts. I just don't want you getting into trouble cause some angry cooks jump me".
"Trouble". She repeated, "I will…be careful but you must watch your mouth".
His lips twitched;
"I learned my lesson".
With a tiny sigh, Dallin wiped the blood on her trousers and said;
"I get scared when I saw you, Shifty…it made me want to cry, almost".
His eyes softened;
"but I'm alright, Dallin".
"You are…nicest person on earth. You don't deserve that".
With a tiny and soft chuckle, Shifty placed a hand on her waist;
"we all got our flaws, huh? Just like you said to me up on that hill there, Dallin".
Rubbing her lips together, Dallin then told him;
"but I…really like your flaws too, Shifty".
Her hand went on the back of his neck;
"everything…Shifty". She whispered.
Shifty searched her eyes, getting lost in blue and a hint of green. Once again, he knew he was staring into the most beautiful creation on God's green earth. And it was clear she liked him. It was clear they liked each other, right from the start. As soon as his eyes landed on hers, Shifty thought she had the most amazing eyes. For Shifty, it was so easy to talk to Dallin. He could tell her every little detail about his life and knew she'd treasure it.
"It ain't 'gonna so bad, you know". He whispered. "Being out there and all…cause you're 'gonna be there. And I ain't ashamed to admit that I need you sometimes…maybe most of the time".
Shifty sat up a little.
There, his hand found the side of her face.
"You keep me warm at night…even though you ain't by my side". He said, "I just 'gotta think 'bout you, and there I go smiling again. I know I ain't some bigtime city fella from-"
"stop". Dallin whispered.
And Shifty lost his breath when her lips came crashing against his. Her arms went around his neck, where she deepened the kiss. And once out of that shock, Shifty was fully into the kiss. He hadn't expected Dallin to make the first move, but he shouldn't have been that surprised. Dallin was fierce and she acted on emotion. If he wasn't going to kiss her, then she certainly would.
Moving onto his lap, Shifty's hands grabbed hold of her waist, pulling her in closer.
Their first kiss together was always going to be passionate. Because underneath that soft-spoken young man from Virginia, there was a fire Dallin brought out of Shifty and she loved that fire in him. Dallin wanted to see more of it, so, the kiss intensified. Dallin's nails dug into the back of Shifty's neck. Her teeth gently pulled on his bottom lip.
Shifty pulled back from the kiss for some air.
But his lips soon found her neck.
Dallin's head fell onto his shoulder.
There, she whispered into his ear;
"I'll do anything…anything".
Shifty pulled away from her neck.
Dallin looked at him.
He pushed a few strands of hair off her face and asked;
"here?"
She nodded;
"yes…here".
"Don't you 'wanna…".
But Dallin shut him up, when she got onto her feet.
There, she took off her jacket. Her shirt.
Everything.
Her clothes fell on the ground, in an untidy pile.
Shifty was soon standing in front of her.
"You're…so Goddamn beautiful". He whispered.
With a tiny grunt, Shifty picked Dallin up.
She giggled softly into his shoulder.
And soon, she was lying down on the straw.
…
Shifty picked the straw from her hair, while occasionally kissing her shoulders and the back of her neck. Dallin smiled, while she sat up in front of him. He was half lying down and used his arm to prop him up a little. When he breathed against her neck, it sent shivers down her spine. And when he kissed her shoulders, Dallin could feel warmth pool in her stomach.
When the straw was gone from her hair, Shifty reached for his jacket and brought out his pack of cigarettes. Lighting two up, he handed one to Dallin. She thanked him quietly, before taking a long drag from her cigarette. Allowing the smoke to hit her lungs, Dallin exhaled. Shifty rested his chin on her shoulder and mumbled;
"in a stable, huh?"
Dallin smiled again;
"yes…like two animals".
He snorted softly.
After a pause, he told her;
"Dallin…you're 'gonna make me fall in love with you".
"Yes…that is plan, Shifty".
His lips twitched;
"what happens after two folk fall in love?"
"They live normal life". Dallin said softly, "they buy house…work…get married and have babies".
"Yeah, they do". Shifty confirmed quietly, "that the sort of life you want one day, baby?"
"Maybe". She whispered, "if the world is safe again".
He kissed her shoulder;
"we're 'gonna make it safe, Dallin…you, me…and Easy".
Dallin eventually turned around to face him.
He smiled, his fingers trailing down the side of her face;
"you sure are something else, Dallin". He whispered, "and I hope you don't mind me saying this but…well, I'd sure like to do this again".
Her lips twitched;
"yes…me too".
"But first, I 'wanna take you out". Shifty said, "my mama wouldn't be proud if she knew I wasn't 'gonna take you out for some supper".
Dallin pulled a thoughtful frown, before telling him;
"I wish to see…Brighton". She said, "the pier have rides…and we can see beach".
Shifty nodded;
"we can do that". He smiled, "but I ain't going on no roller coaster".
Shaking her head, Dallin said;
"no…but you win me something, yes? They have gun game…shoot targets and get prize".
Shifty chuckled;
"why, I could do that". He said, "hell, I'll win you every single prize, Dallin".
Stubbing out her cigarette, Dallin then wrapped her arms around his neck.
Pressing their foreheads together, she said;
"yes…you can do that. You shoot dime. You can shoot anything".
With a soft smile, his thumb trailed her jawline;
"only if you're right next to me".
Dallin moved onto his lap and pressed their lips together.
After, she mumbled;
"always by your side, Shifty".
After doing nothing but holding each other for a few more minutes, Shifty and Dallin got dressed and left the stable. Like nothing had happened, they went their separate ways. Only, Dallin felt like a completely new person. Walking back into mess hut, she took her seat on the stool and picked up a potato.
Inside the kitchen, there was tension.
The five cooks were constantly looking over their shoulders, worried Dallin would start threatening them with a knife again. But she peeled the potatoes in silence. Allowing the tension to soak up the room and keep them on edge. Still, she wanted to increase the tension.
So, Dallin spoke;
"peeling potato…is much like cutting skin".
One of the cooks dropped a pan on the ground.
The others flinched from the noise.
"It is?" One cook asked, laughing nervously.
Dallin bobbed her head;
"yes…if you have sharp blade, skin peels off like potato peel".
With a tiny smile, she added;
"I always carry knife around…sometimes, things need to be peeled, yes?"
And the cooks were quick to agree;
"yeah, for sure-"
"it's a handy thing to carry around, huh?"
Dallin nodded;
"I am happy…you agree".
The cook who had dropped the pot picked it up again.
Dallin's eyes landed on him;
"peeling potatoes is tiring….".
"Uh – you want me to take over?" The cook asked.
She smiled and nodded;
"yes…thank you for your offer…and for me to accept the offer you must do something for me, yes?"
He nodded eagerly;
"yeah – sure…what it is?"
Getting onto her feet, she handed him the knife;
"if you touch Shifty or any of my friends…I peel you all like potatoes".
Blinking a few times, the cook shook his head;
"we ain't 'gonna do that again…we're just the cooks, right? We only 'wanna get you all fed".
She faked a frown;
"it's okay…please, don't be so scared. Only be scared if you do it again, yes?"
"Y-yeah". He whispered, with a noticeable stammer.
With a smile, Dallin clapped his arm;
"goodbye…see you at lunch".
Leaving the mess hut, Dallin chuckled. Bringing out her tin, she rolled herself a cigarette and made her way back to the huts. It was almost midday; lunch would be served in an hour. But her friends had other ideas and wanted to eat at the bakery. Like a group of civilised people, Dallin joined Guarnere, Toye and Johnny Martin for lunch at the village bakery. It was a very odd setting, having four Paratroopers inside a lovely decorated café. They weren't exactly dressed to be eating out too.
And by far, they were the loudest table.
And the smokiest.
They ordered the soup of the day and coffee. The soup came with a slice of freshly baked bread and homemade butter. Dallin enjoyed her meal. And her friends watched her for a few moments in silence, thinking back to the girl who once ate fast. Now, Dallin ate like any other person. She took her time.
Chewing on her bread, Dallin looked up and met their stares.
"What?" She grumbled.
With a grin, Toye shook his head;
"nothing, kid…absolutely nothing".