Authors: GP Joyner
“Would there have been a better way?” Geon asked pointedly. “I mean, you should lose it to someone who loves you, and…”
His voice trailed off. Sally studied him; his dark face was impassive but, underneath the mask, emotion roiled.
“Are you saying you love me?” Sally said slowly, quietly.
Sally felt her heart beating fast, and almost seeming to overfill. Tears pricked at her eyes. He nodded.
“Does this mean…now that, you know…you might stop doing all that dumb stuff? Geon, I’m so afraid for you, all the time I’m just afraid you’ll come home in handcuffs, or hurt, or worse…”
Seeing a single tear fall down her face, Geon leaned forward, wiping it away with his thumb.
“I never thought I had a future, no matter what. I mean, I thought…you were the thing I wanted most. More than college or anything. And knowing I couldn’t have you…what was there for me to do but act reckless? I wasn’t going to be happy, anyway.”
“Well…maybe you could be happy now…” Sally said softly. “I mean, I don’t know how any of this is supposed to work. Our parents are downstairs right now, Geon. Oh,my God…”
“Don’t think of them,” Geon said, shaking his head. “They won’t always be downstairs. They won’t be in New York.”
Sally’s eyes shone with tears, the strangeness of it all both sweet and painful and confusing. She felt waves of anger towards him, for keeping all this from her for so long. And regret, that it took so long for it all to come out in the open. And affection, and something she’d always
thought
she felt with Mike, but maybe never really had.
“Will you be?” she asked. “You know…in New York?”
“I could be,” he answered, a grin breaking over his handsome face. “Why not? Not like I’m gonna stick around here just to go to community college.”
Suddenly, the quiet tone between them was broken by Todd’s voice bellowing up the stairs.
“Are you ever going to come downstairs, Sally? We’re getting dinner soon,” the voice echoed up through the hallway. Sally’s breath caught in her throat; she was still covered in Geon’s seed, and the blush on her cheeks was enough to light a candle.
“Uh, soon,” she called back, voice wavering. They waited, still as stones, for a response.
“Okay,” Todd’s voice came, cheerily enough. Sally released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. But when her eyes met Geon’s again, there was a sparkle of a secret in his that made her smile. And then laugh. Looking down at herself, she couldn’t contain her laughter. Geon’s voice joined hers, and they laughed until tears streamed down their faces.
An hour later, the two descended the stairs. The smell of pizza wafted through the house; Sally was still ravenous despite the nacho’s she’d had. Geon followed close behind. Jillae looked at him with surprise; usually, he skipped dinner with the family unless forced to,
“Will you be joining us?” she said, looking at the table set for three. He shrugged and nodded.
“It’s pizza,” he said, and Jillae smiled, the first genuine smile that Sally had seen her give Geon in what felt like years. Closing the circle, he smiled back.
THE END
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Sara Harper was frustrated. She was frustrated because, yet again, she was being packed up and moved across the world to some dirt village in the middle of nowhere. All she wanted was to be a normal 18 year old girl who graduates high school then moves away to college where she can drink and experiment like all the girls on movies did. Unfortunately, she had to be born to a couple of hardcore humanitarians who dedicated their lives to aiding the less fortunate of the world.
Sara's father, Dr. Jack Harper, went to remote areas of the world and set up clinics for those who had no access to medicine. Her mother, Emily, set up schools and educated the children of whatever tribe they were living with. As a child, Sara loved this sort of lifestyle and she thought that her parents were heroes for the work they did. She still believed it, but as a young woman she was ready to leave the jungles and deserts and start a normal life.
The only times she saw Western civilization was when her parents brought her to their home in Florida so they could restock on supplies and give Sara a chance to visit with her grandparents before venturing out to save another group of lost natives. As the years went by, Sara started to find it harder and harder to leave the comfort of Florida.
“Where are we going again?” Sara asked her mother as she pulled her battered and faded suitcase from its resting place in her bedroom closet.
“Central Africa to go live amongst the Nguntu people,” Emily responded as she helped Sara fold up her clothes and pack them into the suitcase.
“How do you and dad even hear about these people?” Sara asked as she ran her hand through her long, dark hair.
“Your dad has friends in a lot of places,” Emily said, tossing Sara's socks into the suitcase. “One of those friends works for the UN and he tells your dad about people who need our kind of help.”
“If dad's friend is such an important person, then why doesn't he get someone else to go?” Sara asked as she tossed herself onto her bed.
“How many times have we gone over this?” Emily asked softly as she sat down on the bed next to her daughter. “This is what your father and I do. We are blessed to have such nice things like running water and electricity and medicine. Other people in the world aren't that lucky. We are just trying to help them out. This world would be a better place if more people did what we did.”
“I know that you and dad enjoy this kind of stuff,” Sara said as she crossed her arms across her chest. “I used to really like it, too. I just want to be home where I can make friends and go to school and maybe chase my own dreams.”
“What kind of dreams do you want to chase?” Emily asked in an effort to console her pouting child.
“I don't know,” Sara sighed. “Maybe I could get into fashion and design or become a journalist. All I know is that the Nguntu village probably doesn't have a lot of college options for me.”
“You're right,” Emily admitted as she stood back up and finished packing Sara's clothes. “You do deserve the opportunity to follow your own heart. It isn't fair of your father and I to force you into doing what we want anymore. You're a grown woman now. It's time for you to leave the nest.”
“Do you really think so?” Sara asked as she bolted upright in her bed, suddenly feeling excitement in her chest.
“I really think so,” Emily said. “I'll make you a deal. You come on this one last trip with us and when we get back, you can go to any school you want. Your father and I will pay your tuition for whatever you want to study.”
“Is dad going to be okay with this?” Sara asked, her heart pounding and a smile stretching across her face.
“He will if I talk to him,” Emily said with a wink. “You're father can never say no to me.”
“Thank you so much, mom,” Sara shouted as she threw her arms around her mother and squeezed her tightly.
“Why don't you go shower and get ready for dinner tonight with Grandma and Grandpa,” Emily said as she returned her daughter's hug.
Sara released her mother and looked down at herself. She was still wearing her yoga pants and sports bra and smelled of sweat. She had been out for a run and received the news that she was moving just as she got home. Sara shrugged and skipped off to the bathroom to go clean up.
She closed the door to the bathroom and turned on the hot water. She couldn't stop smiling as she thought about how her days of dirty mud huts were almost behind her forever. As steam filled up the bathroom, Sara stripped off her exercise clothes. She admired her form in the mirror and did a little turn so she could check herself out. The upside to living in jungles her whole life was that she was in very good shape. Her muscles were toned and firm from a lifetime of running and climbing. Her breasts were perky and a solid C-cup and her hips and ass gave her a perfect hourglass figure. Her long, dark hair in combination with her brilliantly blue eyes had gained her many marriage proposals from many chiefs and princes in her life. Fortunately, her parents knew how to deny those proposals.
Sara washed herself quickly under the hot water and thought about how much she was going to miss hot running water when it was time to leave. Once she was done rinsing herself off, she shut the water off and wrapped herself in a towel. Back in her bedroom, she put on a light blue sundress and a pair of white high heels. She was really going to miss being able to dress up.
“Sargent Freeman!”
Harry Freeman winced as he heard his name shouted from his commander's office. He recognized the tone and knew that once again he had been caught doing something against regulations. Of course, he knew that he had been breaking rules left and right, the only question was which one he had been caught breaking. As innocently as he could, he strolled into Captain Harrison's office.
“What can I do for you, Captain?” Harry asked with a smirk on his face.
“Wipe that stupid grin off your face, Sargent,” the Captain spat as he stood up from his chair. “You really think you could get away with this bullshit in my unit?”
“I don't really know what you are referring to,” Harry said nonchalantly.
“You know damn well what I'm talking about,” Captain Harrison said, his face turning red. “Somebody deflated all the tires on Bravo company's jeeps. Their Major is climbing up my ass looking for the culprit. He's looking to hang somebody over this. This kind of childish behavior will not stand in my Army.”
“You can't prove that was me,” Harry said throwing his hands into the air. “Even if it was me, I only would have done that because Major Dawkins is a major asshole.”
“God dammit, Freeman,” Captain Harrison shouted. Harry began to fear that the veins in his neck were going to rupture if he yelled any harder. “You are a Sargent in the United States Army. You are supposed to be a leader. I expect better of you. This kind of behavior can't go unpunished.”
“So, you are blaming me?” Harry asked, knowing that testing the Captain any further was probably a bad idea.
“Of course I'm blaming you,” Captain Harrison said, spit spewing from his mouth.
“Is it because I'm black?” Harry asked, putting one more toe over the line.
“I don't give a shit that you are black, Freeman,” the Captain spat. “I only care that you have a history of pulling this kind of crap. You were disciplined just last week for using the medic's saline packs to cure your hangover.”
“I know a lot of guys that do that,” Harry said, trying to defend his actions.
“It was a Wednesday for Christ's sake!” Captain Harrison shouted out. Finally, the anger seemed to burn itself out and the Captain calmed down and took his seat again. “What am I going to do with you?” he asked, sounding exasperated. “I can't keep you around base. You just get into more and more trouble. I'm afraid of deploying you into combat because I don't know if you can control yourself in that kind of environment. You might get somebody killed with you shenanigans. I would have your ass kicked out of the Army, but you are too damn good at your job to lose.”
“It's true,” Harry chipped in. “I'm the best vehicle mechanic in the entire unit. I believe I hold the record for the fastest transmission replacement on the base.”
“And that's your problem,” Captain Harrison said with frustration in his voice. “You're a damn good worker and you are smart. You just don't have enough to keep your mind busy so you find other projects to work on and those projects make everyone else's life hell.”
“It's not exactly the Army life that my recruiter promised me,” Harry said with a smirk.
Suddenly the Captain sat straight up in his chair with a twinkle in his eye. “I think I know the perfect place to put you. It's an opportunity for you to stay busy and it gets you out of my hair.”
“I hope it's somewhere nice,” Harry said.
“I got an email yesterday asking for volunteers to go to Central Africa working with some people there doing some charity work. It's some shit hole village in the middle of nowhere. It's so remote that a couple of surplus Army vehicles are being used to transport people and supplies in and out of the jungle. The Army is looking for one of us to go with and make sure that our trucks are taken care of properly.”
Harry had stopped listening when he heard 'Africa'. Being shipped off to the middle of nowhere made his stomach drop. The last place on Earth he wanted to be was around some hippies trying to put shoes on a bunch of natives who made their houses out of sticks and cow droppings.
“I don't want to do that, thanks,” Harry protested.
“Too damn bad,” Captain Harrison said turning to his computer. “You are going. Go home and get your bags packed. You ship out in the morning,” the Captain said, typing furiously.
“Fuck this,” Harry said as he stormed out of the office.
Harry stormed back to the barracks cursing his situation the entire time. The only bright spot of the day was the look on some young Lieutenant's face when he tried to scold Harry for failing to salute him and only got a middle finger. The memory of that Lieutenant's jaw dropping to the concrete gave Harry a nice chuckle.
Once back in the barracks, Harry pulled out his green duffle bag and began to shove his clothes into it. He didn't even bother to make sure that things were packed properly. He simply shoved things into the bag until it was able to close.
Sure, maybe it was true that Harry could be a bit 'mischievous', but it was only because things in the Army were so regimented that it drove him crazy. He felt like his innocent pranks were taken way too seriously.
“The problem is that all the officers have brooms shoved up their asses,” Harry muttered to himself as he changed out of his uniform. “It's not like I killed a man. I wonder when the last time any of them got laid. That would probably calm them the fuck down.”
Finally free of his uniform, Harry put on a pair of basketball shorts and a grey Army shirt that showed off his bulging muscles and laid down on his bed. He laid there staring at the ceiling and steaming at this unfortunate turn of events until he eventually fell asleep. He never even once thought about what was going to come out of this assignment.