Date: Fri, 08 Apr 2005 19:23:19 -0400
From: frontrnrusa@netscape.net
Subject: Best of Friends Part II

This is a work of fiction with an adult theme.  I look forward to hearing
your thoughts on the story: Frontrnrusa@netscape.net


The Best of Friends - Part II
By:  Holloway H.
Copyright 2005 Holloway H.


    I finally got my orders to Iraq.  I've been working my ass off to learn
everything there is to learn.  The guys in my platoon call me CF that
stands for Crazy Fuck.  We were going through live fire and one of the guys
in our platoon got hung up on razor wire and couldn't get loose.  We had
been warned this was live fire and to keep our heads down, so I wasn't
going to sit up and look around.  I crawled backwards pushing other guys
from my platoon forward with my hands to get them out of the course as
quickly as possible.  When I reached Lucky (his name is Nicholas) he was
hung up in the damn wire really good, he wasn't going anywhere.  Using my
fingers I found that his shirt had caught and somehow wrapped around the
wire, that's why I couldn't rip it loose.  Using my fingers I began
untangling it, as I got near to the barb in the wire I cut my fucking
finger, then I cut another one.  Lucky was bitching that my sweat was
dripping in his face.  I told him to shut the fuck up.  When I had him
loose, I pushed him forward and we got our Asses through the rest of the
course.  The guys were cheering us on.  When we jumped over the last wall,
I was burnt out.  Gunny came over and began chewing our Asses for taking so
long to get through; I listened to him never saying a word.  He looked down
at my feet and said I was dripping something, I lifted my hand and noticed
my hand and fingers were cut to shreds.  Gunny called the corpsman over and
he cleaned and bandaged my hand telling Gunny I'd need stitches.  Lucky
told Gunny what had happened, Gunny listened then walked away.  He told us
to get our Asses in our bunks.  I went to the clinic with the corpsman, he
offered to deaden my hand before stitching up the cuts, I refused, he shook
his head, I never felt a thing, when he finished I returned to my rack. I
showered and slept until morning chow and then I was hungry as hell.  The
next morning we headed back out to the course to improve our time, we all
got through it without any problems, Gunny mentioned we were one of the
better platoons of Marines by the course times we had posted.  On the day
we completed our training at Pendleton, The Colonel called me to the front
of the platoon, I turned sharply ending up at attention in front of him and
saluted, he retuned the salute and began to read.  He read a short piece of
what happened during training on the live fire course then he pinned my
Corporal stripes on and shook my hand telling me to keep up the good work
Marine. So now you know how I came to be called CF.

    I've got my shit packed and ready it's only 7pm, we don't leave until
3pm tomorrow afternoon.  I called home to talk with my parents, my mother
picked up the phone and soon as she heard my voice she hung up.  After Eric
died, I told my parent's that I had been in love with Eric and that we were
gay.  My father called me a faggot and told me to get my ass out of his
house.  That was almost 11 months ago.  I don't really care any more Eric
was the only thing that mattered in my life.  I dropped the pay phone
receiver and walked a way, I told myself from this moment on I had no one
in the world but myself.  By 3pm I was seated on the transport, reading a
book I'd gotten from a used book store, I was really interested in it and
hadn't noticed that a couple of hours had passed since the plane had taken
off.  I put my seat back, closed my eyes and fell asleep, I woke abruptly
to the feeling that Eric was holding me in his arms and that I was kissing
him.  When I looked around Eric was sitting beside me pulling my head to
his chest, I could feel the warmth of his body.  My fingers moved up his
neck and I shivered, he kissed me and I woke suddenly in a sweat.  Lucky
was sitting next to me, he shook me awake telling me I was having a
nightmare, I woke up looking around, Eric wasn't here.  At that moment I
wanted to fall apart and if I had my weapon I'd have blown my brains out.
Getting up I stretched my legs and walked quickly to the bathroom, once
inside I locked the door and sat on the toilet and cried silently, I hated
the motherfucker that killed Eric and I was going to kill everyone I could
until I was dead too.

    We landed at night, I couldn't see much but it didn't look any
different from say California or somewhere like that.  The place was lit up
and houses and businesses had electricity, no big deal.  I stowed my shit
under my cot and soon crashed out waking at 4:30am.  I was showering and
dressed when the sun came up, a quick breeze coated my perspiring skin with
sand, I went to wipe it off and the feeling drove me up the wall so I just
let it stay on my skin.  Once I stopped sweating, it would fall off.  I
happened to look in a mirror in the exchange, my hair was getting long, I
walked over to the barber and had him shave my head before grabbing chow
and returning to my rack.  Lucky was the only one in sight, he looked at
me.

    "Josh you shouldn't have shaved your head."

    I looked over at him, "Why not?"

    He shook his head, "the sun is going to bake the top of your head
something terrible unless you put a hat on or let your hair grow out,
besides you don't look as crazy with your hair longer."

    I tried to smile, "thanks lucky I'll consider that a compliment."

    He smiled at me and turned back to what he was doing.  After chow Gunny
called us together and told us to get ready for patrol at dark, he reminded
us all to keep on our toes.  We nodded and began getting ready.  There
wasn't much talking going on everyone was thinking about our first patrol
in Iraq.  By 7:30 we were out of camp, with enough firepower to kill
several hundred insurgents.  We spent the majority of the night wearing our
night vision goggles and going from house to house looking for those
chicken shits that used roadside bombs to kill our troops.  It was first
light when we returned to base.  A quick shower and I was dead to the world
for a couple of hours.  The next six months consisted of evening patrols
and me sleeping most of the day.  I was becoming an old hand at spotting
those crazy Iraqi fucks and more than once I was pleased to nail there dead
assess with a bullet to the head.  Gunny was pleased with the success of
the platoon and the fact that we had no KIA to date.

    We started out Sunday just like we had all those Sunday's before we had
chow and after checking our gear we headed out.  We were in a poor
neighborhood when all hell broke loose.  We were surrounded by a group of
probably 25 insurgents firing at us from rooftops and doorways.  We dug in
best we could and began firing back.  I watched as a grenade blew two guys
away.  I felt the warmth of their blood slap me in the face.  I fired
carefully making sure my bullets killed as many of those fucks as I could
before I ended up dead.  I heard Gunny order the platoon to pull back I was
in a forward position and couldn't get back to the main body of troops.  I
held out as long as I could.  The firing ceased and I waited.  I was
looking forward at my attackers, I never felt the butt of a weapon hit me
hard, upside the head and knock me out.  I'm not sure how long I was out
but when I woke I was seated in a chair.  Two guys with towels tied across
their face were sitting at a table about fifteen feet from me.  They heard
me move and called out for someone.

An older man weighing probably 250 pounds walked in wearing a suit, he
walked up to me and asked my name, I shook my head.  He grabbed my ear and
punched me in the face my hands were secured in front of me there was
nothing I could do.  I felt the blood in my mouth.  I blocked out the pain.
He asked the same question again this time I spit blood in his face.  He
went nuts and began pounding my face with two fists finally the two guys
that had been watching pulled him off.  I'm sure that they told him I was
wanted alive, even though I didn't understand their language. He walked out
of the room a white handkerchief wiping the blood and spit from his face, I
lay crumpled on the floor, the pain was bearable, I hoped they would soon
kill me.  I must have fallen asleep because I woke to water being thrown on
me.  Standing a few feet back was a soldier of some type wearing a uniform;
he had a side arm and weapon slung over his shoulder.  He helped me get
seated in my chair before pushing a bottle with water to me.  He also
pushed a plate of food.  Even with my hands bound I could still pick up the
food, eating and drinking.  He stood and watched me finish eating before
ordering the plates removed and everyone out of the room.  He sat across
from me.  He was smoking a slender American looking cigar/cigarette.  He
looked at me and asked my name.  I shook my head, he didn't flinch he began
asking me other questions.  When he had finished, he stood up and told me I
could answer any of those questions anywhere along the way and he would
stop the pain.  I watched him stand he pulled out a small knife and began
cleaning his fingernails.  He walked over standing only inches from me, he
pulled my hands out in front of me and stabbed the knife in my hand, I
screamed out, he pulled the knife out quickly before asking me to answer
any of the questions, I shook my head, the knife entered my hand again, he
stabbed me maybe five times before calling three guys into the room.  He
told them to remove my pants and shirt and to tie my hands to the rafters.
I was standing almost naked with my hands way over my head.  I looked
around desperately trying to find the guy that had stabbed me.  He asked me
my name again, when I failed to respond he shoved a piece of cloth in my
mouth and began to fuck me in the ass, I screamed out but he laughed and
kept on going.  Driving in and out as hard as he could, my eyes were
clinched tight, when I opened them there was a cameraman taping everything,
finally the man asked me my name and I told him Corporal Josh Benson.  He
pulled from me quickly and left the room.  Two men came in immediately and
told me to get dressed they shoved me back and forth hurrying me.  When the
man that had raped me returned I was sitting in a chair, behind me was the
flag of Iraq and three armed guards with their faces covered.  The big man
speaking just off camera told the audience that I was one of the American
murderers that had stormed his country without provocation, he said, they
would cut my head off if I didn't cooperate.  The cameraman stuck the
camera only three or four inches from my face making a big deal of the
damage that had been done.  He panned to my hands and the voice began once
again warning that what had happened to me would happen to anyone that
assisted the American enemy.  The cameraman pulled back and I was handed a
statement written in English, I began reading it slowly:



    'As a Marine and American I have come into this country as an occupying
force.'  I stopped for a minute gathering my thoughts 'America came to this
God forsaken place before you criminals destroyed the Kurds and anyone else
that stood up for Democracy.'  The cameraman continued to tape as one of
the men behind me knocked me out with the butt of his rifle.  I woke during
the night my hands were bound.  I knew they would kill me tomorrow and tape
it as they had several Americans' working in Iraq.  Quietly I slipped my
arms over my legs my hands were in front of me.  I stood unsteadily at
first but after no more than a minute I had my balance back.  I looked
around the room, there was a window, I didn't know if I was on the first
floor or what so I carefully pushed the shutters open without making any
noise.  I was probably 10 to 15 feet off the ground.  Without thinking I
jumped through the window landing on my feet, I felt something in my shin
snap I tried to stand and couldn't walk.  I found a stick to use for
leverage and got to my feet.  I knew that I only had the darkness and
probably not more than a few minutes before I was killed.  Dogs were
barking frantically as I moved out of the area, with first light I hid in
an area of trees and waited for night.  Once again I moved forward this
time the sand slowed me down, I knew the basic direction of our forces and
I moved in that direction.  As morning approached, I hid in the sand I
covered my body with as much sand as possible so that I was camouflaged.  I
started to sleep but felt ants moving over my broken leg, before long they
had moved up to my abdomen and were biting me with a vengeance the pain was
unbearable but moving would probably get me killed. In the darkness I stood
up and began killing hundreds of ants that had taken refuge on my body.  I
moved forward slowly the moon was high, I thought I heard something in the
distance.  I couldn't make it out I continued to move forward until I felt
the bullet whiz past my head then I dropped to the sand and lay there
motionless, I was prepared to die.  I lay there for what felt like an hour
before I felt Eric lift my head in his lap, he gently wiped my face with a
cloth then he bent forward and kissed me.  I was jerked awake from my
daydreaming by the boot of an Army private kicking me in the ribs telling
me to get up.  I turned over the patrol could see I was a Marine, within
five minutes I was loaded onto a helicopter that had been called in.  The
next time I woke I was in the field hospital, my leg had been set and I had
been cleaned up, there were three IVs running in my arms.  A corpsman
seeing me awake read my chart and soon had given me a shot and I was back
asleep.  I think I slept close to four days, when I woke up I was starved,
an Army nurse hurried to get me a tray and spent the next 40 minutes
helping me eat, my hands had been splinted.  The nurse that fed me talked
about how brave I had been, she said the entire United States had seen the
film of me refusing to cooperate with the insurgents.  I finished eating
and fell back asleep without ever hearing the rest of her conversation.
The next afternoon, Lucky stopped by, he had a couple magazines, he was
reading when I opened my eyes he smiled and asked how I was feeling.

    "I'm doing all right.  How are the guys?"

    He shook his head, "PJ and Maine were killed the night you were
captured, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you."

    I nodded my head, "Those fucking Iraqis."

    Lucky stood up, "Josh settle down otherwise I'm going to call the
nurse."

    "Okay, I will but you sit back down."

    Lucky sat down, he looked at me, "you'll be back in the platoon in
three weeks, I talked to the nurse.  Once you're back, we're being rotated
out we've been here 10 months already."

    I nodded my head, "I cannot believe how time flies while you're having
fun."

    Lucky looked at me, "Josh you going home on leave when we get back to
the world?"

    I shook my head, "no man, don't have any family, just me."

    He nodded his head, "you're welcome to come see my farm."

I didn't reply to him and that took the steam out of our conversation and
about ten minutes later Lucky made an excuse to get the hell out of Dodge.
He patted my shoulder then walked out.

    Over the next several weeks I healed pretty damn good my hands worked
fine and other than small scars you couldn't see shit.  My leg was good as
new and I felt fine overall, I wanted to get out of here and work out, I
hated sitting around doing nothing.  On the day I was to be released the
Commanding General came around to the hospital, there was a ceremony for
three guys I was one of them.  I was given a Purple Heart, A prisoner of
war medal and a heroism medal.  I thought we were about finished when the
general awarded me the rank of Sergeant.  I shook his hand and once he left
I threw the medals in my bag, they meant nothing to me.  I wanted to get
back to the platoon.  I got my wish and within 20 minutes I was sitting on
my rack, I had just stowed my gear when I was called to see Gunny.  He
looked me over before standing up and telling me to take a seat.

    He crossed his arms as he walked back and forth in front of me, "Josh
you're a damn good Marine one of the best I've had the pleasure of serving
with.  You've done the Country and the Corps proud."  He stopped waiting to
see if I was going to say anything I just looked at him.  He stood directly
in front of me this time without walking back and forth.  "We're going to
rotate back to the States next week, I'd like to ask you to become second
in charge of the platoon, you've got a good way with the guys, they respect
you, we'd make a good team."

    I nodded my head.

    Gunny said he was proud and said he'd do anything he could for me all I
had to do was ask.

    I stood up, "Gunny I want to remain here in Country, can I be assigned
to another platoon until you guys are rotated back here?"

    Gunny's face turned red, "what in the fuck is wrong with you wanting to
remain in this country."

    Looking directly in his eyes, "Gunny why did you tell me to ask if it
was just bullshit."

    He got in my face, "Sergeant don't overstep your bounds."

    I smiled, "Gunny don't lie to me from now on, where's your honor?"  I
walked out without waiting for a reply.  As the rotation date approached I
began getting nervous I didn't want to leave.  The day before our flight I
received word I'd been reassigned.  I collected my gear and walked across
the base to my new platoon.



    I like being in an Expeditionary Force.  Gunny Nelson is all right.  He
gave me a rack in his tent he had the entire tent to himself, he said since
I was second in charge now he might as well share.  I stowed my shit and
followed him to meet the Marines in my platoon.  There were 20 guys in
total not including Gunny or myself.  The first time I heard one of the
guys call me Sergeant it actually made me proud.  I worked with the guys
twenty-four seven.  They were new meat directly from the world and they had
been in country only a few weeks.  By the end of the first month, I knew
who they were, where they came from and what their strengths and weaknesses
were.  I got along well with them all except for Stokes.  He was a short
kid just turned eighteen.  He was from Texas.  He had reddish blonde hair
and green eyes.  He had the best skin I'd ever seen on anyone it was clear
and smooth.  More than once I'd found myself staring at him, he never
noticed but I did and was quick to stop it.  When I didn't have him
assigned to duty he spent his time working out and running, I saw him
whenever I went to work out, I figured he had something haunting him the
way I did so I didn't pry.  The one thing I noticed about Stokes was that
he never came to me for help he'd always go to Gunny or to one of the guys
in the platoon.  I was getting pissed about it and on Friday before I sent
him out on guard duty I called him to my tent.  Gunny Nelson was at the
airport for the evening so I was alone in the tent.

    He came into the tent looking at me like he wanted to kill me.

    I told him to sit down.  He remained standing.  I told him to put his
ass in the chair and gave him some help.  He sat looking at me.

    "Private Stokes I want to know what your problem with me is, we're both
men and Marines so fill me in."

    Stokes looked at me, "Sergeant I don't have a problem with you, you're
always busy if I have a question I go to others instead of making you
crazy."

    I looked at him trying to soften my mean exterior, "Stokes, I'm sorry I
thought there was some problem.  I want you to know I'm always available,
ask me if you have a question, I want you to go home when the time comes
and if I can help make that happen I will."

    He nodded his head, "Thank you Sergeant, I don't have any family so
like you I plan to spend as much time in country as possible."

    I looked at his face and dismissed him, apologizing once again for the
misunderstanding.

    The following day Stokes sought me out on a problem he was having with
the bolt on his weapon.  I watched as he expertly tore his weapon down, I
held the bolt in my hand the damn thing had a machined defect.  I had him
follow me to the armory and within two minutes he had a new weapon that I
had checked out.  He walked me back to my tent.  I asked him if he needed
anything else, he looked up at me with those green eyes, "Sergeant, I need
someone to talk too."

    I scrunched up my forehead before saying anything, "The guys in the
platoon think you're a great guy."

    "I know but they aren't my friends, I don't have anyone to talk too, I
have no family and at times I feel alone, do you ever feel that way?"

    Without thinking I nodded my head.  There was a minute or so of
silence.  I asked Stokes to run with me at sun down.  He smiled and jumped
at the chance.  I finished working out by the time Stokes showed up.  We
took off around the base running side my side at a good clip.  He was
telling me about where he grew up, I told him about me up to a point, we
ran until it was too dark then headed back to my tent.  We sat on a bench
out front and talked as the night deepened.  When it was time for Stokes to
leave, he looked at me, "Sergeant, Thank you for talking to me, I don't
feel so alone anymore."  Without thinking I reached out and straightened
his hair, I pulled my hand back like it was burned and apologized for doing
that, saying I don't know why I did that.

    Stokes looked at me, "I didn't mind Sergeant."  He stood up and walked
out of the tent.

    I hurried to the shower, the water felt great and I soon had sand,
sweat and dirt off my body.  I was lost in my thought when I heard the
shower in the corner come on.  I looked over and Stokes was standing
looking at me.  He saw the scars and bruises.  His face turned red.

    His head shook, "Sergeant I'm sorry you went through that hell, I read
about it."

    I nodded my head, "thank you Stokes."  I grabbed my towel and walked
out returning to my tent.  As I lay in the dark that night my hand moved
inside my FTLs, I could feel my erection straining, this was the first time
in almost a year that I had gotten an erection.  As I closed my eyes I
began to pray telling Eric how much, I missed him, I couldn't see his face
any longer and I felt my body shaking, I turned over on my stomach crushing
my pillow and falling asleep exhausted.



    Got up early this morning, all US forces are going to be patrolling the
city as the Iraqis prepare for a holy day.  The General thinks that
insurgents are going to try and kill as many as possible to turn sentiment
against American Forces.  I checked my gear then carefully checked out the
other twenty guys before reporting to Gunny Nelson.  As I walked in the
tent I noticed that Gunny Nelson wasn't ready he was packing a civilian
bag, he looked up at me his eyes were red, "Josh I'm going home, my son was
killed in a car accident this afternoon."  I heard his voice catch.

    I extended my hand, "Gunny I'm sorry, is there anything I can do?"

    He shook his head, "you're in charge of the platoon now, keep the guys
alive."

    I nodded my head and walked out, I felt like I was suffocating inside
the tent, Gunny's sadness had hit home really hard.  I found myself taking
deep breaths trying to calm down.  I walked over to the CO's tent and got
my orders before getting the guys in formation and heading out for what was
going to be a long night.  We were in place long before sundown, I had the
guys take positions in a vacant store no one knew we were there we remained
silent all day long, we heard people walking by talking about this and
that, nothing of importance.  As the night set, I put on my night vision
goggles and I was able to watch movement in the dark.  About 150 meters in
front of me I could see three men with a shoulder-launched grenade.
Silently I pulled the trigger on my weapon and with nothing more than a
rush of air heard one of the men fell to the ground his head in pieces all
around his friends.  Two more shots and the three of them lay dead in a
pile next to their weapons.  Sending out a party of three we soon recovered
the grenade launcher and other weapons.  By first light we had moved from
our recon site and returned to the base, no one wiser as to why or who
killed those three.  I made my report to the CO he was pleased and shook my
hand before walking away.



    Stokes came to see me near dusk that same evening.  I told him to come
in.  He sat across from me on Gunny's bed.  "Sergeant can I ask you a
question?"

    I nodded my head "go ahead."

    "Sergeant I know I shouldn't be saying this but I'm going fucking crazy
inside, I don't know what's wrong with me."

    "It's all right try to tell me what you're feeling."  By the time I
said that he began to shake he didn't cry, I knew he was fighting it.  I
walked across the tent and sat next to him my hand on his shoulder telling
him there is nothing to be ashamed about in crying.  Soon as the words left
my mouth, he hung his head, he was pissed at himself saying he was ashamed
to cry in front of anyone, I told him to get over it and put my arm over
his shoulder.  Stokes began telling me what he was feeling, by the time he
stopped talking he looked up at me with the most beautiful eyes. "Sergeant
thanks for listening."

I smiled at him, "what's your first name Stokes?"

His lips trembled, "David."

"Well David I'm Josh, whenever you need to talk come to me I don't want any
of you guys feeling depressed, we'll always be able to work things out,
we're a team."

David nodded his head, "thank you Josh I promise I will."

As he left the tent I turned my light out and buried my face in my pillow I
felt that I might fall apart the way I had the night Eric died.  I didn't
know what was wrong with me but I knew I had a problem and that problem was
David Stokes.



Six months later I rotated back to the world with the Expeditionary Force,
these guys were my platoon now and I was responsible.  Once we had our gear
accounted for and put away I gave the guys liberty.  Within the hour the
barracks were empty except for David.  The reason I knew David was still in
the barracks, I heard him as I made my inspection.  I returned to my room
and changed clothes pulling on a pair of blue jeans and a red T-shirt then
I went to find David.  That was easy enough, within five minutes he had
agreed to share pizza and beer with me.  David called me Josh all night, he
smiled and laughed I knew he was feeling better.  Leaving the pizza place
David told me he always got a room in the city, he wanted me to come over
and watch television with him for a while.  I agreed and followed him to
the room.  As soon as we entered the air conditioning made you feel great.
David hurried to take a shower before returning in only his boxers, I
grabbed a shower returning in my boxers, I sat on the end of the bed and
waited for the movie to start.  The film was a Kung Fu and soon we were
cheering for the good guys.  David had moved up next to me, every chance he
had he made contact with my body and each time he touched me I knew I
wanted him badly.  As the movie ended, I got up to get dressed I didn't
want to leave but David had not asked me to stay, as I put my pants on
David called out.

"Josh stay the night it's late the bed is big enough for three."

I nodded, "thanks David you sure?"

He smiled, "Yes, I'm sure."

I pulled my pants off and crawled under the cover of the queen-sized bed.
David turned the lights off and crawled in.  David stayed on his side of
the bed and I made sure I didn't move from mine.  I was almost asleep when
I felt David touch me, what happened next I'm not sure.  I lay there when I
felt his hand touch my cock I went nuts and punched him in the face several
times before I caught myself, I was yelling at him telling him to never
touch me again I wasn't a faggot.  I reached out turning the light on
David's nose was bleeding like a stuck pig, he stared at me in disbelief
unsure what to say.  I ordered him into the bathroom, he moved
mechanically, I cleaned him up and apologized over and over for going nuts,
he stared at me unsure what he should do.  I took him back to the bed and
told him to lie down, first the guy was depressed and then I beat the shit
out of him because he tried to feel me up, what a good Marine I was.  David
had not said a word, taking my life in my hands I pulled him to me and
began to tell him about Eric when I finished he cried his tears falling
against my chest.  I ran my fingers through his hair and told him I
couldn't believe I hurt him.  I begged him to forgive me.

He nodded his head, "I already have, I'm sorry I didn't know about Eric,
you make me feel important I shouldn't have pushed you."

I pulled him tightly in my arms he easily rested his head on my stomach and
told me he knew I cared.  David moved his head to my erection and soon had
my back arching.  I cried out trying to pull him away but he refused and
just as quickly I filled him with my seed.  He lay next to me exhausted.  I
put my hand in his FTLs and found he'd already cum.  He moved his head to
my chest, he sobbed saying he wasn't sorry.  I moved down his body slowly
and made love to him until his fingers in my hair caused me to deep throat
him until he came once more.  David moved up in my arms and almost begged
me to hold him tight.  I pulled him close and kissed him deeply then I
buried my face in his hair, the smell of shampoo making me hard as a rock.
My fingers on the back of his neck caused him to fall asleep.  I watched
him for hours before I too feel asleep.

I woke in the morning, David's face was swollen, I wanted to die, I had
hurt someone that needed my help.  I dressed and went to the front desk and
paid to keep the room for the remainder of the weekend then I went across
the street and got breakfast for us before returning.  I shook David he
could barely open his right eye he tried to smile,

"Josh please don't be mad at me."

I took his face in my hands and kissed him, "I'm so fucked up I've hurt the
one person that has been nice to me, David I can't stand that I hit you.  I
wish you would beat me with your fists I won't fight back I swear."

David stared at me, "Josh you hit me not out of anger but out of loss, I'm
not hurt and by the end of the day if you put ice on my face the swelling
will be gone too.  I'm not giving up on you, now that I understand why.
Josh forgive me and I'll forgive you."

I nodded my head.

David opened the bag and pulled out two cups of coffee and several
biscuits, we sat beside each other. When we finished, I turned on the
television and told Josh to lie back down.  I ran down the hall and got a
bucket of ice, when I returned to the room David laid his head in my lap
and I put ice on his bruises.  My fingers moved through his hair, we talked
about our pasts.  David told me that when he was growing up the boys in his
neighborhood would beat him up all the time and force him to do things to
them.  He told his father what was happening and his father told him to
grow up and be a man.

I looked down at him, "anyone fucks with you and I'll kill them.  I care
about you.  I want you to have a good life."

David turned his head away from me, his shoulders shook and I pulled him
close talking to him, he fell asleep.  It was near dark when David woke, I
turned the light on and looked at his face, the swelling had gone down
except for around his eye.  I bent forward and kissed him.

"David will you go out and eat with me?"

He sat up looking at me, "yes if you promise forget about last night, let's
start again."

Why I couldn't look him in the eyes, I wasn't sure what I knew for a fact
was I had hurt the one person that meant something to me and it was killing
me inside.  I took David to a nice place to eat, we talked and ate, when it
was time to leave I asked David what he wanted to do, he said be alone with
me.  We returned to the room.  David turned on the television then sat on
the end of the sofa, he pulled my head to his lap, I lay on my back looking
up at him.  His fingers moved over my face, he was tracing my eyebrows.

"Josh I want you to listen to me for a few minutes, don't say anything just
listen."

I nodded my head.

"Josh, never in my life have I felt the way you make me feel, I have a
purpose in life, you.  I don't know how you feel but I care about you more
than anything in this world and I want only one promise from you?"

I looked in his eyes without saying a word.

He touched my lips, "Josh I'd like us to become good friends."

I swallowed not sure I could say anything.

He continued, "The only thing is that you won't do anything, you know,
unless it is with me, I want your word of honor."

Reaching up I grabbed his hand and kissed each of his fingers, "David I
swear on my oath to do as you have asked."

Gently I pulled David down beside me, I lay behind him, my arms holding him
while we watched a television movie.  I kissed the back of his neck and up
into his hair repeating over and over how important he was and how sorry I
was for hurting him.  David turned around in my arms and gently laid his
head on my shoulder his lips close against my neck, he kissed me over and
over.  I moved down his body slowly.  It took him only a minute to let me
know I had pleased him.  Gently I moved my tongue between his legs tasting
all of him as I parted his legs he cried out, my tongue buried inside of
him.  I lay back on the bed watching David, he lifted himself up and
straddled my erection, I watched his face, I knew I was too big for him
slowly he lowered himself until he was sitting on my lap.  His face was a
bright red and I knew instead of feeling good it was hurting him.  I gently
held him without moving.  My fingers stroking the skin on his back, he
relaxed after a while and his hips moved involuntarily on my erection.
Before the night was over David became mine and at that moment I knew that
David would always belong to me fuck everything else, I wasn't going to
lose him the way I had lost Eric, I couldn't take losing him.  I loved the
Marines but if I had to choose between the Marines and David, I'd take
David in a minute.  I wasn't afraid of hard work.  I would get whatever job
I needed to take care of him.

Sunday morning, David woke up in my arms.  His eye was looking much better.
He kissed my neck, "thank you for last night."

I looked in his eyes, "David, when is your tour up."

His forehead wrinkled as he looked in my eyes, "what?"

"When is your tour in the Marines up?"

"Why?"

I ran my fingers through his hair, "David I want you to get out of the
Marines at the end of your tour, I'll take care of you, I'll get out too."

David sat up in bed, "Josh you must fucking crazy I'm not leaving the
Marines, it's the only family I've ever had.  Don't ask me to do that,
don't."

I stood up looking down at him, "I was wrong I'm sorry."  I dressed and
walked out of the room, David called for me.  I knew I had been stupid
falling for a kid in only a few days.

As soon as I returned to base, I knew I had to get away staying around
David at this point would make me crazy.  Monday morning I was in front of
the CO asking for an immediate transfer out of country.

He looked at me wondering what was wrong, he nodded his head, "Sergeant one
day you are going to have to confront your ghosts."

I nodded my head, "yes sir."

He approved my request I would return with my old platoon in three weeks.



Gunny was pleased to see me again and as soon as Lucky saw me he made a big
fucking deal out of me being back in the platoon.  Work took all my
concentration I realized now that I would never return from out of country
this time.  I was tired my mind and body was ready to rest.  I put a
hundred percent into getting the platoon ready for our deployment.  We
boarded the transport on Friday afternoon.

The first month passed as it had in the past, I kept busy on patrol daily
and when I wasn't on patrol I worked out then slept.  After the first month
I received a letter.  I thought something was wrong since I never got mail.
The letter was from my mother, she had written that my father died, one
line was all she had written.  I tore the letter up and threw it away.

Lucky stuck by my side like glue, if I had to say I had ever had a friend
it would be Lucky, no matter what shit I pulled he was always there to be
supportive.  The funny thing about Lucky was he was all man and all Marine,
he was probably only 5'8" muscular with thick tightly cropped black hair
and his face warned people not to fuck with him.  But, the few times we had
hung out, he would smile at me and for a minute I could see Eric, that
fucking smile of his said more than any words could ever say.

Patrols became more frequent, the heat of the day was unbearable at times
and the sand was endless, every crook and cranny was filled with sand.
During the half waypoint of our tour, the new Lieutenant told everyone to
stand down for 48 hours.  Lucky and I pooled our money we ended up with two
large pizzas and two large bottles of cheap Sangria.  We scouted out a
secure spot near the motor pool in an old container vehicle, Lucky had a
small DVD player and the Matrix movie neither of us had seen it before.  We
entered the trailer pulling off our jackets, we sat down in the dark within
minutes the film moved across the small screen while we ate and watched the
movie like two kids we were so engrossed, by the end of the movie we had
finished one bottle of Sangria and both pizzas.  We sat in the semi
darkness, my flashlight giving off a dull glow.

Lucky looked over at me, "Josh you know I would die for you man."

I nodded my head, "Lucky I'd die for any of my brothers in the platoon."

Lucky started talking about home.  He wanted me to guess where he was from.
I listened to him for almost an hour as we drank half of the other bottle.
He had a farm that his father had left to him when he died unexpectedly
last year.  He was really proud of the place and said his brother's family
was keeping it up for him until he got out of the Marines.

"Lucky you getting out of the Marines"

He nodded his head, "you damn right, I want a life and I'm not staying in
after this tour, I've got my farm."

I leaned over and punched him in the arm, "you lucky son-of-a-bitch."

He punched me back "you could always come work the farm with me."

I stared at him, "Lucky all I would need is to be around your old lady and
all them kids you'll be having and I'd be nuts."

"Josh I'm going to tell you two things and I'll trust your honor they won't
leave this room.  I'm not getting married and having kids.  Second thing is
you and I have a connection, you feel it too, just like I do."

I looked away from him and felt my erection stirring.  When I looked back
over Lucky's eyes were looking deep into mine, "You want to talk or not."

I nodded my head, the first words out of my mouth were 'fuck it,' I told
him everything, Eric, David everything, now my best buddy new I was a dick
sucker.

"Josh, nothing that you've told me means anything to me.  I want to care
about you, but not unless you let me and you care about me in return.  If
you want a blowjob we can call it a night because I'll pass.  I may act
like a motherfucker but there are just certain things about me that mean a
lot to me and I'm not giving up on myself or on what I want for my life."

Lucky had that small smile across his lips.  He moved over next to me
handing me the bottle.  I took a big gulp setting the bottle down.  Lucky
looked at me for a second before putting his arms around me and pulling my
head to his shoulder.  I lay their saying nothing and for once in my life I
felt safe again.  Eric was in my heart at that moment, I knew this felt
right.  Lucky told me more about the farm while his fingers moved up the
back of my neck and across my face before moving up and down the back of my
head, I closed my eyes, I could sleep sound tonight if he held me, but that
wasn't going to be possible.  Another hour passed before Lucky touched the
side of my face, I looked in his eyes and he kissed me, not a hard
demanding kiss but a kiss that had feeling and desire in it.  Lucky pushed
me back gently until I was resting on the floor of the container.  He undid
my pants and freed my straining erection.  He was still wearing his hat, I
ask him to take it off I wanted to put my fingers in his hair.  He took the
half off and soon was making love to me, I didn't even last a minute, my
back arched, Lucky moaned and I almost jumped out of my skin the feeling
was so electric.  When he zipped me back up he moved beside me and kissed
me once more.  I wanted him badly and as soon as my hand touched the front
of his pants he pushed my hand away.

"Josh when you can tell me that you care about me, and I really mean care
about me, then we'll have sex otherwise just consider yourself 'lucky' that
your best buddy gave you a fucking great blowjob."

He went to move and I pulled him back down beside me this time in my arms,
I kissed him, he rested his head on my chest, my fingers moving through his
hair, as my hands moved over his chest, I shivered, it was then I noticed
that Lucky had fallen asleep, we had all day so there was no hurry, I
looked at my watch it was only 10pm it felt like two or three in the
morning.  As he slept, I thought about how fucked up I was and how fucked
up my life had been.  Then I thought about the farm, the thought of having
somewhere like that and someone like Lucky would make life the best, the
only problem was I knew if I let myself go with Lucky the way I had with
Eric something would happen, either he'd get tired of me or he'd die, I
couldn't survive that, I couldn't.  I hadn't realized that Lucky was awake
and had his chin on my chest looking in my eyes.

"Tell me what you were thinking."

Tonight was definitely the night, "I wasted no time in telling him
everything I had been thinking."  He looked at me for a moment trying to
judge how best to answer me.

"Josh you are an amazing guy, you want me to see the future and give you a
guarantee, I can't do that.  Maybe in time I can but right now I can't and
won't it wouldn't be fair to either of us.  Let's see what happens to us
first."  He reached up pulling my lips to his and kissed me then he stood
up pulling me to my feet, we headed back to our racks.  We showered
together before walking back to separate tents.

I knew the next morning things had changed.  I felt it, none of the guys
could see a difference but I was sure that Lucky could.  We spent all of
our free time together working out, talking or playing basketball, above
all we were really getting to know each other without having to say a word
to each other.  The months flew and once more we were scheduled for
rotation.  This was the completion of my second full tour.

As soon as I got back to the world I asked for and was granted a full
month's leave.  Lucky had too and we were soon headed to his farm.  When we
arrived, his brother was just locking up the house telling Lucky that the
house was ready to be lived in.  They gave each other an easy hug and
talked for a few minutes.  His brother smiled at me and shook my hand
saying he was really proud to meet me.  I thanked him and a few minutes
later I followed Lucky inside.  Lucky dropped his bags inside the front
door then grabbed my arm and took me on a tour of the house, when he
finished he said I was family now so not to expect anyone to wait on him.
I smiled and watched him this was his element he was happy.

We carried our luggage upstairs, at the top of the stairs he stopped and
looked at me, "Josh we're going to spend every night together in the same
bed, is that cool with you?"

I nodded my head, "without a doubt."