The next day...

"Sketch!" a man yelled, "Hand me that donkey dick!"

"Right!" Ronnie hurried over to his side like an obedient puppy, handing him the fuel nozzle, "Here you go, Walt." She smiled politely at the blonde marine who smiled back.

"Thanks, Sketch." Walt replied. Ronnie nodded before she scurried on back to Rudy and Pappy. As she made her way back she over heard Espera and Brad talking about how most of Espera's parts for his humvee were rotted out or not functioning very well, apparently, a lot of other marines were having the same problems. Even the humvee Ronnie was working on.

"We're on a short string here, Poke." Brad replied, hoping Espera would understand.

"Man," Poke groaned, "We literally got these like five days ago. It's like Gilligan's Island! They're giving us rocks and coconuts to make radios with." Espera had a point, but who knows? Maybe they would get better supplies and parts soon, at least, Ronnie was hopeful of it.

"Here we are, invading a country with ghetto hoopdies!" one marine vocalized his frustrations on the shitty and almost broken down humvees, "Depressing!"

"Depressing indeed!" Ronnie couldn't help but chime in. The marine, along with Espera and Brad, directed their attention towards the girl who started to regret opening her mouth.

"Uh," the marine furrowed his brow, "Who are you again?" instead of answering Ronnie just gulped and quickly sprinted off, leaving the three men confused as fuck. Ronnie sprinted all the way back to Rudy's side, dread still swallowing her whole. She wanted to be of assistance while Pappy and Rudy fixed up the humvee, but the only thing that she could find that needed fixing was the 50 on the roof of the humvee, she was a bit disappointed because there wasn't much left for her to fix and Rudy made her sit and wait patiently on the back of the humvee.

"When can I do something interesting?" The girl whined, gently swinging her legs off the side of the humvee, "You guys hardly let me work on the engine or the pipes!"

"Well, Ronnie," Rudy slid out from underneath the vehicle, "That's because we need you to press buttons to see if we got this thing fixed or not." He smiled before resuming his task under the humvee. Ronnie huffed in frustration, picking up a nearby wrench and fiddling with it. She looked over at Brad's group to see if they were doing anything interesting only to see the SgtMaj. shouting at poor Ray for having his shirt untucked.

"Plus," Pappy snatched the wrench out of the girl's hand without a word, "You remember what happened last time, right?" he raised an eyebrow as if he were scolding a toddler.

"Look," Ronnie rolled her eyes as she reached for a nearby screwdriver, "It was that one time. How was I supposed to know that connecting that wire to the wrench in my hand would electrocute me?" the only response she got from the man was a blink and an obvious "I told you so." look from him before he took the screwdriver from her hand and replaced it with the wrench.

"Ah!" a man stopped in front of Pappy, "Sgt. Patrick..." Ronnie tensed up in her spot and instantly pretended to be focused on fixing something nearby.

"Sir..." Pappy acknowledged the sergeant major.

"Your moostache hairs is in violations. Growin' beyond the corner of yer mouth. I hear Godfather hisself say, 'You look like a bum!'..." the SgtMaj. scolded, Ronnie held her breath in hopes that he wouldn't notice her, "PO-LEECE THAT MOOSTACHE!" Pappy and Ronnie swapped a glance of irritation between each other, SgtMaj. Sixta was always such an annoyance.

"YES SIR," the SgtMaj. then addressed the nearby marines, hoping to make an example out of Pappy, "AND YOU LOOK LIKE ELVISES!" He looked behind him and noticed Ronnie who was holding her knees to her chest as she moved her wrist like she was fixing something with the wrench.

"RONNIE!" Sixta bellowed suddenly, Ronnie jumped in surprise and accidentally falling off the back of the humvee, "Son, why ain't your trousers bloused and tucked in yer boots?" he towered disappointedly over the disoriented Ronnie.

"Uuuhh..." Ronnie's mind went blank as her gaze fell to her boots, "I thought today was Tuesday?" she flashed him a timid grin in hopes that he wouldn't throw her across the deck.

"Oh, you think you're so smart, huh?" the SgtMaj. scoffed, "YOU PROBABLY WON'T BE SO SMART WHEN I NJP YER ASS!" without saying a word, Ronnie swiftly and obediently started to blouse her trousers. Sixta sneered in content, amused at how he could get a genuine reaction of terror from Ronnie rather than the other marines. Once he was sure that Ronnie's trousers were bloused, he nodded in approval and trudged off to who knows where.

"Psst!" Ray whispered to Ronnie when he was certain the SgtMaj. was far enough to not hear, "Sketch, coast is clear!" the brunette man began to untuck his shirt like his life depended on it, glancing over at Ronnie to let her know that it was safe for her to untuck her trousers- which she stubbornly refused to.

"Hey," Brad scolded Ray, "Don't push our luck." he then made his way over to Ronnie who's dumb ass was still planted on the ground.

"And you," he hissed as he forcefully yanked her off the ground, "Don't you ever pull something like that around the SgtMaj. again. Do I make myself clear?" his face was probably a few inches away from Ronnie's, hoping that she would get the message- which she did. When he got the answer he wanted, a couple of quick and nervous nods from Ronnie, he released his grip on her and walked off with Espera. Everyone- Rudy, Pappy, Ray and Ronnie, stood in silence as they exchanged awkward glances with each other. They only started to converse amongst themselves again when Ray broke the silence with obnoxious laughter.

"That was fuckin' priceless, homes!" he hopped off his humvee, "Damn, Sketch, you're on a role today!" he found it amusing that Sixta still hasn't caught on to the fact that Ronnie was a girl.

"Should've seen the look on your face." Pappy chuckled.

"Man, who said that Asian's can't be cool?" Ray patted Ronnie's shoulder.

"How long do you think it'll take him to find out that I'm actually a girl?" she joked along with the men.

"I don't know," Rudy shrugged, "Maybe the whole damn war!"

"Walt!" Ray called as he hurled an envelope in the direction of a pure faced blonde, "Trombley!" He made his was over to Brad who was laying with his laptop on his torso and a look of desperation mixed with anticipation plastered on his face, Ray sucked in a breath and shook his head reluctantly, "Nothing but letters. No batteries, no diapers," he began listing things off as he spun around, "And no turret!" his disappointed face fell on Ronnie as he finished the list. Brad seemed crestfallen, but he was used to it by now.

"Guess not today, homes," Ray dumped a couple of letters onto Brad, "Just another five dozen letters from fuckin' school kids and shit."

"I think it's sweet," Ronnie responded as Ray gently placed a letter on her head, "At least someone cares about us." she glanced up at him from laying on her stomach, Ray grimaced in disgust and proceeded to throw more letters in her direction.

"Really? Here," Ray continued, grinning at the giggles coming from the girl, "Just take them all!" he messed up her hair and walked off as she flipped him off endearingly. Ronnie perused the first letter she was handed, it was from some kid in Chicago, IL, before opening up the envelope to read what they had to say.

"Listen to this," Ray mused, gaining everyone's attention, "Dear Mr. Army Men..."

"'Army'? Fuck that." Trombley butted in teasingly as Ray continued dramatically reading the letter. Some men joked on how the kid was a good writer, some chuckling in the back, Ronnie rolled her eyes in annoyance- she honestly thought that the letter was adorable- but she stayed silent and kept on listening. From the other side of the tent she could make out Hasser subtly sniffing the letter he got, his eyes furrowed in concentration, he reminded her of a curious golden retriever.

"...I pray for you..." Ray finally finished with a cringe.

"Ooh," Chaffin reached for the letter, there was no telling what would come out of this man's mouth other than something raunchy and uncalled for, "What she look like?"

"She's actually pretty hot." Ray replied as he handed a photo of a little girl to the man, Chaffin took it graciously as his friend Jacks looked over his shoulder.

"Ooh, I like them braids." Jacks sneered, Ronnie grimaced in her spot as she listened to the inappropriate comments these grown men made about a child.

"You guys are disgusting." Ronnie flatly blurted, the two men glancing in her direction- they were kind of surprised that she actually spoke to them. "That's someone's daughter- child- for fuck's sake!"

"Yeah," Jacks laughed, "She's gonna be calling me 'daddy' though!"

"What if another grown man said shit like that to your daughter?" Ronnie hissed sternly, the tent suddenly fell silent, "What if he said that about your sister? Would you say that about your own mother?" when no answer was received, she raised her eyebrow impatiently.

"...No, ma'am..." Jacks muttered sheepishly.

"Hey," Espera butted in before any conflict started, "Listen to this shit right here..." he began to read another child's letter, gaining some groans from the other marines. Ronnie didn't seem to pay attention much anymore, she had no need to.

"Where the fuck is this weak ass child from?" Ray interjected the man as he continued reading.

"...Maryland..." Espera responded.

"Dear, Fredrick..." Ray began his bullshit monologue of a joke response, Ronnie rolled her eyes In annoyance but yet still listened with interest. Ray was like the comedic relief of the platoon, albeit, a pretty dark and morbid kind of comedic relief- the kind that makes your eyes widen in shock and gasp in disgust- that just happened to be fueled by caffeine or some shit, probably a multitude of drugs- who knows- but underneath all that dry and morbid humor was a kind heart.

"...War," Ray's monologue was coming to an end, "Is the motherfuckin' answer." to which others cheered and praised. Ronnie slid her letter into the very back of her journal where many other letters were nestled between the back covering and the last page, she smiled softly as she began to count them all in her head.

"Jesus, Nguyen," Walt glanced over at her, "You've got like a whole fucking library there!" she quickly shut her journal and tensed up at this comment, glaring at the blond who only smiled warmly. Ronnie could see that Walt meant no harm, she began to relax and her gaze became calm, she flashed him a lopsided grin and shrugged.

"What?" she opened the journal back up, letters cascading before her eyes, "Gotta keep the lil notes my fans write!"