“Yes, Drill Sergeant Ga..Gask..”
“For fucks sake! Freckles, No Name sounds justlike you did.” Phillip exclaimed. “ Gra-bow-ski. Say it with me,No-name.” He repeated his name and the Private said it with him.“Fucking recruiters, they send the dumbest fucks they can findhere,” he groused.
“Drill Sergeant Grabowski, after all heisfrom Delta Company,” Ryan said and froze in shock thathe’d opened his mouth without being asked to.
Phillip burst into laughter. “That he is,Freckles. Only fucking morons get sent to Delta Company. Are you afucking moron, No-name?”
The private flushed and didn't answer.
“Come on, No-Name. What's the answer?”
Ryan figured this was one of those no correctanswer things.
“No, Drill Sergeant Grabowski! We are notmorons!” The private finally answered.
“Then you think Charlie Company are fuckingmorons?”
Ryan had to bite his cheek to keep fromlaughing. It was a Catch-22 when answering these sorts of questionswith Drill Sergeant Grabowski. Nothing that was said was evercorrect.
“No, Drill Sergeant Grabowski.”
“Your Drill Sergeants got a fucking wiener whenyou arrived, didn't they, Private?” Phillip blew out a disgustedbreath. He turned so he was only facing Ryan and the other privatecouldn't see his face. He winked once and then threw up his arms.“Fuck it! Finish this shit up.” He stormed off.
Ryan looked at the bewildered soldier. “Yeah,he's crazy but he's ours.”
They finished the potatoes, and were all sittingaround bullshitting. Grabowski was actually pretty laid back on KP.Ryan kept sneaking looks at him when he could. It was a damn shamethat he was crazy as fuck. He really was an extremely beautifulman.
“Has anyone asked you about Grabowski?” Patrickasked.
“Are you crazy? Everyone is asking if he'sinsane. He nearly had that Matt guy in tears.”
Patrick snorted. “Does it piss you off whenpeople talk shit about him?”
For Ryan this was a loaded question. He lookedat Patrick and thought about it. It did piss him off. Not becausehe had a big ol' crush on the man but because no matter what he wasTHEIRS. “Yeah, I guess it does. It's like he's oursto……defend.”
Patrick nodded. “I just about decked that guyover there. He called him a fucker.” He hissed. Ryan got slightlyangry too. Maybe he and Patrick were both going insane.
“We get to call him a crazy fucker, not anyoneelse.” Ryan growled.
“Exactly!” Patrick agreed. They both lookeddisgruntled when they were told to get up and serve the incomingsoldiers.
Ryan marveled at the ‘Us versus Them’ mentalitythey were both supporting.
***
There was a difference in Grabowski during KP.He watched over Ryan and Patrick like a father would. Patrick hadnearly gotten into a fight with a guy who was fucking around.Grabowski appeared out of nowhere and stopped it.
Ryan was damn near ready to stab No-Name withhis peeler if the young private didn't shut up. Grabowski wouldcome and interrupt them just to stop No-Name's rambling.
“Drill Sergeant Grabowski, may I use thelatrine?” Ryan asked just to get away from the still-jabberingPrivate.
Phillip waved him off.
Ryan strolled into the bathroom, thankful thathe was away from that stupid asshole who still thought he had theright to trash talk Grabowski. He had barely been in the bathroomfor a minute when the door opened.
“Freckles,” the Drill Sergeant said.
Ryan decided that being yelled at was a vastimprovement over holding his dick when the Drill talked to him. Helooked up and he recognized the look in Grabowski's eyes. God, thatwas fucking hot as hell. His hazel eyes were full of smoky,unspoken promises. Ryan had no doubt fucking Grabowski would be anexperience of a lifetime.
