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August 1944
Training was back on twelve hours a day, five days a week. While the battle-worn men got back into shape, the recruits learned the Easy Company way of things during field exercises. When a long training day came to an end, the men were exhausted. Right after supper or a shower, they went straight to bed and fell asleep. And while the men slept soundly in her block, Nelly got up, put on her boots and left the stables. Approaching the latrines, she discovered she wasn't the only one still awake. Leonard and Sheehy were standing outside of the latrines, smoking one more cigarette before bed.
"Well, look who it is...". Leonard said smoothly.
Nelly stood a few feet away from them.
"Not only are you fucking retarded...". He continued to say smoothly, "But you're also so damn ugly. Jesus – it's looking at me, John".
Sheehy huffed softly. "Yeah...we should go, Leo".
But Leonard stood his ground. "Why?"
"It's late". Sheehy said, "I'm too fucking tired for this shit".
Leonard gave Sheehy a tiny glare. "Tommy was our best pal, John. Are you forgetting that?"
"No". Sheehy said lowly. "But we should leave her alone, you know?"
"No...no, I don't know". Leonard sounded mildly angry. "But you can go – I don't care. I don't think Murray understands what she did out there. And I 'wanna make that message fucking clear. You understand, John?"
Huffing out a nervous laugh, Sheehy shrugged. "Sure – I understand, Leo".
Leonard gently patted Sheehy's cheek. "Don't go soft on me, John".
"Nah – no...I ain't". There was a hint of fear in Sheehy's voice.
"Good". Leonard turned his attention back to Nelly. "It's your fault we're even in this mess – not just with Tommy but the whole fucking war. You Brits dragged us into this".
Nelly kept her expression blank. "Wrong". She said, "The Japanese dragged you – "
"keep that mouth shut, huh?" Leonard cut her off. "Let the men do the talking". He snorted out a tiny laugh. "God...you girls think you're really something, huh? You know what you're only good for?"
Nelly didn't respond.
"I'll tell you, should I?" Leonard said to her quietly. "Doing as your fucking told".
Her eyebrows twitched.
A smile appeared on Leonard's face. "Ah...you didn't like that, huh? Truth hurts, girly. There's a reason girls ain't supposed to fight in this war...now, Sink – Sink just went all soft on you, cause you came to us looking fucking pathetic. And now you think you're some sort of soldier".
Nelly faintly shook her head. "No...". She said, "I...I was an agent and – "
"boo fucking hoo, Murray". Leonard cut her off. He said, "I always knew you'd fuck it all up for us. I just had to sit and wait for it to happen. And it did happen. Now I can't see my buddy no more because of you".
"Are you going to hit me now?" Nelly asked.
Sheehy sent Leonard a nervous look.
And Leonard shrugged. "I might".
"You can't do that, man". Sheehy stressed quietly. "She's a kid".
"She's eighteen, John". Leonard reminded him. "She's an adult. Just like me".
"If you hit her, Joe will kill us".
"He ain't 'gonna find out". Leonard said lowly. And he sent Nelly a glare. "Ain't that right?"
Nelly didn't respond.
"Cause if she rats on us...I'll make her life fucking hell". Leonard threatened.
"Leo...". Sheehy's voice was quiet. "Come on, man...you know this ain't right".
Nelly was doing a great job of not showing emotions. Leonard reminded Nelly of her father. It was hard to hear what Leonard had to say but she kept her expression blank. There was some anger in the pit of her stomach, but Nelly was mostly nervous. She didn't want to get hit and she didn't want to stand there and get talked down to like that.
And yet, Nelly just stood there and did nothing.
Leonard snapped at Sheehy. "She fucked up, John".
"Okay, I get it, man...". Sheehy said, "She fucked up. But it's over, Leo. It happened. We've 'gotta let it go".
Nelly's eyes looked up toward Sheehy. It was clear he wanted to let it go and stop Leonard. But Leonard was his own man. Nelly's body stiffened when Leonard approached her. She saw his hand forming into a fist. Nelly mentally prepared herself to be punched in the face. But Sheehy quickly grabbed a hold of Leonard's shoulder.
"What the fuck, man!" Sheehy's voice rose. "Stop!"
"Get the fuck off me, John!" Leonard snapped back.
And there was this small wrestling match between the pair of them, where Sheehy tried his best to pull Leonard back and Leonard tried to break free from the tight hold. During that match, his first swung around and ended up colliding into Nelly's face. Leonard did end up punching her in the face – accidentally. The hook smashed into the side of her nose and Nelly dropped onto the grass with a thud.
"Shit!" Sheehy hissed. "Shit...shit!"
Leonard's lip snarled angrily as he stared down at Nelly. "Let that be a fucking lesson, Murray". And he kicked her right below the ribs.
Sheehy ran a panicked hand down his face. "Christ, Leo!"
"Let's go, John". He muttered. "Come on, let's go!"
When the two young men marched off, Nelly whimpered quietly and rolled onto her stomach. Her hands pressed against the wet grass, and she pushed herself up and onto her feet. Feeling blood trickle out of her nostrils, Nelly stumbled into the latrines and cleaned herself up.
It wouldn't leave much of a mark, just a bit of bruising.
Her nose hurt.
But Nelly felt numb inside.
Taking in a few deep breaths, Nelly then finished cleaning the blood off her face and left the latrines. Walking back inside the stables, she discovered Leonard and Sheehy were gone – they were back inside their block, probably trying to sleep. Nelly figured she should do the same. But she found it hard.
Nelly lay in bed and stared at the ceiling all night.
And didn't sleep a wink.
...
On a bright Sunday morning on the 28th of August, men were roused from their sleep and were ordered to get up and look sharp. The 506th was holding a memorial service for the men killed in Normandy. There were some complaints, mostly because it was a Sunday and men had been out the previous night drinking. Babe got his weekend in London last week and he continued to rave about this female singer in a club. Babe said she was "big, busty, with a hell of a voice". A lot of men were curious to see this singer. Before getting on the bus, Nelly stopped by the latrines and when she left the latrines, Leonard was there to meet her.
"So...". He sneered, "How many do you have to honour that you got killed?"
And that single remark, cast another dark cloud above her head. Leonard was mostly the one to make those comments – Sheehy seldom joined in. Nelly tried her best to ignore those comments but the more she heard them, the harder it got. It was the morning after Leonard accidentally hit her. Nelly's friends questioned the bruise. She lied and told them she fell and hit her nose on the way to the latrines.
As she walked away from Leonard, she unfastened the top button on her shirt and slackened her tie. Watching this unfold, Toye let out a long and irritated sigh as he approached her.
"Kid, for Christ's sake...".
"It's too...fucking tight...". Nelly muttered.
Face forming a tiny frown, Toye stared down at the girl. "What's wrong?"
Scratching a spot above her eyebrow, Nelly shook her head. "Nothing".
Toye knew something was bothering her – because she hardly ever got angry. "Fine". But he wasn't in a very good mood either. "Hands out the way – I need to sort that". Removing her hand from her tie, Toye's fingers soon fastened up the top button before he pushed the tie right up to her collar and straightened it out. "Don't mess with it again, kid". Toye murmured.
Buck called from the door of the bus, "Come on, load up! Let's go!"
It wasn't a long journey to Littlecote House outside Chilton Foliat – the bus journey only took them fifteen or so minutes. Soon, Easy joined the rest of the Companies spread out on the soft green grass before the grand castle. Soon, two thousand Americans spread like a solid brown carpet on the lawn. Standing on a platform, were Colonel Sink, General Taylor and Chaplain McGee. The two thousand soldiers stood at parade rest, while the Chaplain took to the platform first and talked into a microphone.
"The men we have lost really were heroic. Our country is worth the sacrifices we make daily. The comrades we lost in France, did not die in vain. And now, I will read to you a prayer written by Lieutenant James Morton". McGee brought out a piece of paper. "Almighty God, we kneel to Thee and ask to be the instrument of Thy fury in smiting the evil forces that have visited death, misery, and debasement on the people of the earth...be with us, God, when we leap from our planes into the dark abyss and descend in parachutes into the midst of enemy fire. Give us iron will and stark courage as we spring from the harnesses of our parachutes to seize arms for battle. The legions of evil are many, Father, grace our arms to meet and defeat them in Thy name and in the name of the freedom and dignity of man...let our enemies who had lived by the sword turn from their violence lest they perish by the sword. Help us to serve Thee gallantly and to be humble in victory". Folding the piece of paper up, the Chaplain smiled. "Thank you for listening, gentlemen".
As the Chaplain took a step back from the mic, Nelly grabbed a hold of her collar and slackened it – it was too tight. Her body felt strange. The comment Leonard made before she boarded the bus threw Nelly off. Now, the uniform itched, her stomach was in knots, and she could feel a familiar tightening in her throat begin to form.
Taking the Chaplain's place, General Taylor was soon standing before the men. "Gentlemen, I'm so...". Then a series of C-47 planes zoomed overhead, drowning out Taylor's speech. Skip and Alex was having a hard time keeping amused smiles off their faces. However, the amusement soon left, when Taylor began reading out the roster of the dead and missing from Normandy.
Nelly felt sick. All she could think of was Leonard's remark. There were over four hundred names for Taylor to read out. They heard familiar names like Everett, Bloser, Evans, and Meehan. That tightening inside Nelly's throat turned into a tearful lump. Collins, Earnest, Elmer, Jordon, Metzler. Lavenson, a former Easy Platoon Leader, was on the list too. The man that her cousin shot was read out loud. Nelly could only imagine how Speirs must have felt.
Normandy often felt like a fever dream for Nelly. They did so much, in such a short space of time but then did nothing for days on end. Patients was key in combat. The men knew that now. And they knew about those tough decisions. They knew about loss. They knew how disgusting life out on the line truly was. They knew it wasn't about being a hero, it was about keeping your buddies and yourself alive. Each day required a fight, with or without shots being fired. Often, it was a battle with the mind. Being mentally strong and ready for anything could be difficult. But the men had proven themselves as brave, loyal and smart on the line.
Brave enough to do anything for their Officers and friends.
Loyal enough to stay and fight.
Smart enough to know their next move.
But Nelly thought smiles and laughter were brave in combat. She thought loyalty was staying with the wounded until a medic arrived and fighting until the end. Smart was just as simple as following orders and picking up their weapon to fire back. So, in her time in combat with Easy, Nelly knew for certain, that she was with the best men. And she'd do anything she could, to not have her friend's names read out on a list by General Taylor.
But her time with Easy now felt tainted because of Leonard.
It was hard to avoid Leonard and Sheehy, they were in the same squad as Nelly. Apart from the odd remark, glare or smirk, Leonard didn't dare approach Nelly to hit her. Leonard knew Toye and a handful of guys would kill him. However, Leonard wasn't the only man who gave Nelly a bit of trouble since coming back from Normandy.
When they got back from the memorial service a lot of men went on a pub crawl. Nelly joined her friends – Alex, Skip, Malarkey, Toye, Grant and Guarnere. And they sat in the Crown, drinking their sorrows away. The night was fairly tense with mixed emotions from the men.
To catch a small break from the tension, Nelly walked outside for fresh air. And that's when she heard the sound of sniffling. The sniffling sounded close by. With a small frown, Nelly followed the sound and soon discovered a Dewitt Lowery was crying. Lowery smelled of booze, he was probably drunk. But Nelly worried over the young man from the south. Lowery was in their 2nd Platoon. He got injured in Carentan but escaped from the hospital to join his buddies again – he still had a bandage around his head.
Nelly placed a hand on his arm. "Dewitt? What's wrong? Are you – "
He bristled. "Stay the fuck away from me!"
Immediately, she let go of his arm. And Dewitt uncovered his face to pull out his jump knife. He stuck the knife right at Nelly's gut. But there was no pain. The knife didn't go inside. The point of the blade was about an inch from her stomach. "Dewitt...". Nelly whispered.
"I said – " And as Dewitt took a tiny step forward, the blade broke skin.
Nelly stood completely still – she was in a state of shock. But then, a strong pair of arms took hold of Lowery, lifted him up and spun him around. Lowery was pinned up against the wall, with a strong hand tightly clamping his throat. It was Joe Toye. And Toye scared the living hell out of Lowery – he even frightened Nelly a little.
"Damn you, Lowery". Toye hissed, voice hot with rage. "You ever threaten my kid again and I'll kill you. Got that? I'll kill you".
Lowery whimpered and nodded. He couldn't breathe. Toye's hand released his throat, and he came tumbling to the ground, landing in a heap. Lowery gasped and rubbed his neck. Toye's attention was on Nelly now. The Sergeant crouched in front of the girl and pulled her jumper and shirt up.
"Is it hurting?" He asked – rather sharply.
"No". Nelly whispered.
Toye's eyes were looking for blood or a cut on her stomach. "Don't be brave". He said, "Are you sure?"
Nodding faintly, Nelly whispered, "Yeah".
Sighing, Toye pulled down her shirt and jumper. "You 'wanna head back to the stables?"
"Yeah".
A sad smile reached Toye's lips. "Are you 'gonna give me more than a one-worded answer?"
Frowning softly, Nelly shrugged one shoulder.
"You've been quiet today, kid". Toye pointed out. "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah". She responded quietly.
"Nelly". His voice turned serious. "If you're in any trouble, you tell me, and I'll sort it out".
Jaw clenched tightly together; Nelly nodded. And unclenched her jaw to tell him, "I'm fine".
"Okay". Toye rose to his feet. "Let's go".