He settled on the floor and positioned himself so she didn’t have to turn her head too much to talk to him.
“I like camping a lot. Not in a campground. I like solitude. I have the condo so I can slip away and be alone.”
She thought about his answer. "I don't know the last time I was alone."
“What about vacations?”
"I've hung out with other Marines. We've gone to Florida, New York, and once, when we were stationed in Italy, we vacationed there."
“Italy. Where?”
"Since we were stationed close to Napoli, we hung out there. It was early in my military career. We climbed Vesuvius, played on the beach in Amalfi, and went to Sorrento. We drank and hung out on the beach. It was fun."
“That’s cool. Sounds like you all had a good time.”
“What about you? Where do you go when you have vacation time?”
"When I get free time, I stay in the States for the most part. There were a few times I got vacation time when I was in Japan or Germany, and I headed to the mountains there. I don't like to spend time traveling, though, so I like vacations that are close to home. That means Hawaii, though I love it, isn't on my list of places to go often."
"How long have you been in the military?"
He shrugged. "I went in at eighteen and moved through the ranks. I was a Green Beret, and then I was invited to do more."
“Wow, Green Berets are badasses.”
“Yeah. I would have been happy sticking with them, but something special came calling and I answered.”
She looked down at the floor, rubbing her finger over a stained spot. Her life was in the air. She was leaving the military while he'd gone deeper.
She glanced up at him, her stomach going tight. "Do you think I'm wrong for wanting out?"
He shook his head. “No. I’ve thought about getting out. It’s hard, this life. We need military, but we also need civilians. You did more than most. Only about seven to eight percent ofcitizens have ever served. The highest percentage historically was a little over nine. So you should be proud of your service.”
“Seven percent. I didn’t realize it was that low.”
“It’s a tough life. A part of me believes everyone should serve for a little while. Then again, I think it would destroy the military if everyone in the US joined up and served when they were eighteen and nineteen.”
She cocked her head to the side, shocked by his statement. “Really? You think it would be bad?”
"Yeah. Just look at the numbers. Think about how many people would have to join each year. There are roughly two million people in the military right now, if you add in the reserves. More than four million US citizens will turn eighteen next year. That would be double the number of people in the military. We would be overrun by people who were forced to serve. Even if they only served two years, that would mean another four point five million people would join the next year, so we'd have a total of almost nine million people in the military who don't want to be there. We can barely manage two million people, and when I say we, I mean housing, food, and medical. You know, stuff that keeps us operational. Can you imagine how awful housing and feeding all those people would be? Not to mention medical incidents."
“Interesting. I haven’t ever thought about it.”
“Training and transportation costs would be astronomical.” He shook his head. “I spend way too much time thinking about everything. If I have the data points, I think about them. It’s annoying. I mean, it can be a good thing, but it can also be an incredibly annoying habit. Sometimes, I just want to have an empty brain, but there’s always something to think about.”
“So is that why you like vacationing alone? No extra noise, no conversations, just you and your brain.”
"Touché. My brain is enough to keep me awake at night. After three or four days alone with no one forcing input, it's heaven. It's just me and a fishing rod catching fish, or me watching waves from a balcony. I love the lack of questions, the lack of needing to know something."
“That would be nice.”
“You like to fish?”
She shook her head. “God, no. I like to eat fish.”
He threw back his head, laughter spilling out. “That’s great. I’ll remember that when I go out looking for food. But only if I can find cooked fish. I don’t think there will be a lot of cooking happening here.”
“So no kitchen?”
