If I couldn’t spend what could be my last night stateside getting some rest, I couldn’t imagine hanging out with anyone else. Everyone else on the teams had been in this exact spot. Same as I had before. Every one of us could commiserate with the nerves and anticipation that churned in my belly.
That wobbly feeling was something we all experienced the last few days at home, but Brock and I had been side-by-side from the get-go. So, no one knew exactly what I was feeling as much as Brock. He’d been right there with me; it was his last deployment before we took that final step to being Tier One operators.
Plus, we were filling some pretty fucking big shoes. The guys that the team had lost were long-time members of the teams. Both had more than ten years under their belts.
Hours later, we were in a bar. We’d run out of Jameson and beer at the apartment, so we’d made our way to a local frogman drinking hole. It was filled with frog hogs looking for a roll in the hay with a SEAL, or maybe even two. Some were looking for something more permanent, but they were mostly clueless. SEALs were never fucking home. The divorce and breakup rate was high for us.
My head was foggy, and my vision was swimmy. I shook my head, trying to get my eyes to both point in the same direction at the same time.
“How’d we get here?” I said to no one in particular.
A giggle next to me pulled my attention. I swung my head around, and my whole body felt rocked as if I were in a boat in the waves offshore at Coronado.
“Fuck! How much?” I asked as I teetered on my barstool. I felt like I’d been swimming in heavy surf.
“You motherfucker! I’m not a prostitute!” Stomping and swearing combined with a crash and laughing.
I looked after her, confused. Was I talking to her? Was she talking to me?
“What the fuck?” I shook my head, trying to jolt the scattered pieces of my brain back into place.
Who the fuck is laughing?
Someone slapped my shoulder. “C’mon, buddy. Lesh, get home.”
“Whosh, Lesh?” I asked. “Why didn’t that smell…fuck! Sound right?”
A girl laughed. “Probably because you and your buddy drank more liquor tonight than six other people combined.”
Brock yelled, “Six! More like eight at leash!”
The girl laughed again. “Okay, Lesh and Leash.” She laughed some more. “Let’s get you two froggies home.”
“Whash your name go ge or us?” I asked. “That didn’t sound wight too.”
She giggled while walking between Brock and me. “It’s okay, go ge or us. I understood. I’m Carly.”
“Ish Carly married, Brock? Didju check?” I asked.
More laughter as we stumbled along.
“Yep. Shesh, all good,” Brock replied. “You assed her so many times.”
“Carly, you okay with them?” someone asked—a guy.
I spun on him. “You back off. Shesh jush fine.”
“Come on, big guy. Time to go,” Carly said.
“Not the big guy. Thash Brock. I’m big in better ways,” I replied.
I might not have been a giant, but I was packing in all the best ways.
“Hey! I’m big in all the ways!” Brock yelled as Carly helped us into the car.
Carly laughed at us some more.
“Whosh car is thish?” I asked.
