Jessica was quiet for a moment but eventually nodded slowly.“All right.I can handle the boring stuff.”She smiled.“But you owe me.”
“I owe you so much for so much more,” Faith agreed.
“I’ll add it to your tab.”
Jessica took a sip of her own coffee, something milky and sugary, and said, “So tell me about Hayes.What was your relationship like?”
Faith took a bite of her croissant and chewed thoughtfully.She didn’t think often about her time in the Corps.It was odd that she thought so little of it, but considering how dark and violent those memories were, it wasn’t that odd after all.
But not all of those memories were dark.Not all were violent.
“We were close.”
“Is that unusual?”Jessica asked.
“Yes.I mean, no one’s really close with the chaplain.Well, the more religious guys are, but most of us don’t want to be lectured about the evils of drugs, sex, and alcohol when we’re in the middle of a war.”
“Did Hayes lecture people a lot?”
“No, actually.He was focused on comfort, not judgment.We just felt guilty around him a lot.Stupid reasons, mostly.We were young.That’s the big thing that sticks with me from back then.We were so young.”
She took another bite of her food and tried to get her thoughts to come together.“Hayes was always gentle with us.Always kind.Always ready with a prayer or a word of advice or encouragement.We liked him.I wasn’t religious, but I respected him a lot.It’s very hard to stay grounded in the middle of a war, but he always was.And when we’d come back after a firefight, limping, bleeding, playing the deaths of our comrades over and over in our mind, he was our rock.”
“He sounds like a good man.”
“He was.He really was.”
Faith looked down at Turk, who watched her with kind, empathetic eyes.She recalled that look on Hayes’s face when she came home from a tough firefight that saw three of her squad members killed.She was shaking, crying, unable to even get words out.
“He just sat next to me for an hour.Didn’t say anything.Just laid a hand on my shoulder and waited.”
“Hayes?”
Faith realized she’d said that thought out loud.“Yeah.”She took a breath, then returned her gaze to Jessica.“You know me as a mostly stoic, seasoned, desensitized veteran agent.I’ve been there, done that, seen it all, and I’m generally not deeply affected by the things I see.I’m passionate about what I do, and I get emotional when I see the effects murder has on the bereaved, but I’m not going to have nightmares about a dead body.”
Jessica, like Hayes, was a great listener.She nodded but said nothing, knowing that Faith needed to finish her thought first.
“When I was younger, it was a different story.I joined the Marines when I was eighteen.Fresh out of high school.A Marine recruiter came to our school, and I signed up immediately.As soon as I got my diploma, I drove to the office and signed the paperwork.”
“Wow.You were driven.”
Faith laughed.“I was eager to get out.”
“Rough home life?”
Faith shrugged.“Not really.Just a directionless home life.My parents wanted perfect children.They got my sister, who was everything they ever dreamed of, and me, who got bored easily and acted out each time.”
“You were a rebellious child?I don’t believe it.”
Faith rolled her eyes at the sarcasm.“Yeah, yeah.I never got into serious trouble.No police or firefighters.I was on a first-name basis with the principals of each school I went to, though.”She laughed.“When I joined the Marines, my high school guidance counselor just nodded and said, ‘Yeah, that’s probably the best option available to you right now.’”
Jessica grimaced.“Eww.”
“Yeah, she was a bitch.”She laughed.“Damn.I haven’t thought about this in years.I’m sorry.I know I’m kind of jumping all over the place.It just kind of opened up a lot of memories for me.”
“You’re fine.”
Turk placed his head on Faith’s lap.She smiled down at him and began stroking his fur down his neck.“The point is, I joined the Corps so I could stop being reminded of how disappointing I was and have a chance to do something meaningful while having adventures and making new friends who didn’t mind that I was a wild child.”
