Disclaimer: The Rat Patrol is not my property. They come out to play sometimes, then I send them home.
Roommates
By Suzie2b
Since Tully moved out of the quarters they'd shared, Hitch had been assigned several different roommates. The latest was Private Kevin Rodriguez. He was a good guy—a couple of years younger than Hitch and friendly enough, but messy beyond belief. Kevin would leave things wherever they happened to fall, whether it was on his bed, a chair, or the floor. His laundry was seldom put in his dresser or hung in the closet. Hitch was always kicking something back to the other guy's side of the room.
Hitch had liked having Tully for a roommate. They never fought—granted there were occasional disagreements, but they never stayed upset with each other for more than an hour—and Tully was neat. Hitch remembered his friend telling him once, "Everything has a place, and that's where it belongs." He missed sharing space with Tully.
Now, as he sat on his bunk, getting ready for some much needed sleep, Hitch looked across the room at his roommate's bunk. It was awash with Kevin's clothes and belongings with the young man sound asleep beneath it all.
Hitch shook his head with a smile, undressed, and crawled between the cool sheets.
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It was one of those rare afternoons when Troy was able to give his men a little down time. Tully was at home, boots off, window open, fan going, Charley napping at his side on the bed. He'd been reading when he heard an argument between two men downstairs in the street. Tully's Arabic was very limited—he understood more than he could speak—but he was able to pick out enough to understand the fuss was about someone not being happy with his roommate.
Tully set the book aside and let his mind wander. He'd had a few roommates since joining the army. Chase Collins was the first when he got to North Africa. They'd gone through boot camp together and was the first friend he'd made after leaving home.
When he was recruited into the Rat Patrol, Tully immediately moved in with Hitch. They hit it off right away and never had any major problems as roommates. Hitch was clean and neat, which Tully appreciated. Though Charley kept a neat and tidy home, sometimes he missed living with his friend.
Charley sighed in her sleep next to him and he hugged her a little closer. By far, she was the best roommate Tully had ever had. He kissed her lightly on the top of the head and closed his eyes.
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Troy walked into the quarters he shared with Moffitt. His friend and counterpart was dutifully putting away laundry and straightening up their quarters. He smiled and said, "Evening, Jack. Thought you had a date tonight."
Moffitt grinned. "Linda got called in to work unexpectedly. I thought I'd just come back here for a quiet evening. What about you? No Diane tonight?"
Troy sat down on his bunk and started to pull his boots off. "Nope. She and some friends are having a 'girl's night in'. Hair, nails, gossip, the whole shebang."
The sergeants fell into companionable silence. Moffitt was reading one of his archeology books and Troy was writing a letter to his older sister.
In his quick but neat handwriting, Troy wrote, "You asked if I ever had an issue with having a roommate. Not really. It's part of being in the army. You get used to it. You don't get private quarters until you're a captain, and I don't plan on going there. I've had my fair share of roommates. Some good, some not so good, and a couple that I wanted to kill. But, I have to admit, Jack Moffitt has been the best. He's smart and easy to get along with." Troy looked across the room at his friend, then wrote, "You'd like him, sis."
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The Rat Patrol had just finished a weeklong mission and Captain Boggs had given them twenty-four hours off to recuperate. Moffitt was in the quarters he shared with Troy, sitting at the small table sewing a few missing buttons on his shirts.
Moffitt happened to look up after he'd snipped the thread away from a button. The room was neat and tidy. The bunks were made up so tight a quarter would bounce if dropped on the blanket. He wondered how he got so lucky as to have a roommate like Sam Troy. A hard as nails military man who was able to see the human side of the war.
In the past Moffitt's roommates were either impossible to get along with because of their insufferable British ways, or just a disaster waiting to happen. Moffitt had been brought up knowing different cultures and had learned early in life to not take himself too seriously. He and Troy were much alike in that sense. To live and work in such close quarters on a daily basis and not causing each other grief was something they learned by watching and listening to each other. They seemed to know and understand when the other needed some space.
In the silence of the room he was alone in, Moffitt knotted the end of the thread with a smile and picked up another button.