by MLJ Quigg
“Marine, huh. How did that come about?” Tweety questioned.
“My dad is from Florida. Yes, he’s a Yank,” she explained yawning.
“I gotta ask. How did you learn those fucking moves? Man. I’ve seen bigger men fight harder than you did, and you squashed the DS. I thought Captain Brooks was gonna have a coronary watching. Funniest fuckin’ shit ever. But, he’s got a target on you, hon.” Tweety chuckled.
“My dad’s an ex-MMA fighter. He came over here for an exhibition fight and met my mum. Gave it all up on the spot, opened his own gym in Adelaide, and started training fighters. I’ve been training with him for as long as I can remember. He and my mum had a huge fight. She wanted me to be a dancer, and he wanted me to be a fighter. So, I ended up doing both,” she answered.
We watched as Max and Seb walked over to us. They flopped on the seat and drank a canteen of water each.
“Fuck, man. I need a fucking drink that’s not damn water. A fucking huge meal of the biggest steak I can find, and then a willing woman. You up for it, Tiny?” Max asked cheekily.
“Yeah… nah. Your hand will have to suffice.”
“Do you have a man? I mean, you have kids. Of course, you do. My brain is dead. I can’t think straight,” Tweety countered.
“No, I don’t. He disappeared before I found out I was pregnant. We’d been going out for about nine months. Everything was good, but on the night of my nineteenth birthday, he disappeared. I found out a month later his mum had died the morning after he disappeared. He left a phone message then nothing. I have no idea if he’s even alive. We tried everything to find him. Hired private investigators, went to Birth, Deaths, and Marriages to see if a death certificate had been issued. We even went to the Australian Electoral Commission to see if his address had been changed. There was no sign of him. We keep looking, but he’s vanished,” she exclaimed sadly.
“So, there’s been no others since then?” Max inquired.
“No. He’s the only man who even came close to my one. I’m not interested in others that way. And plus, I have the kids. I don’t want them to get attached to someone and then have it all go up in flames. Fuck, I miss my kids. I’ve never been out of contact with them for this long. So, what about you guys? Got any girls out there pining away for you?”
“Married here, already told you. I miss my wife and baby girl. Wish I could hear her voice,” Seb declared.
Tiny got a negative from everyone else except me.
“What about you, Mike? Got a girl out there somewhere?” she questioned.
I gulped. Fuck! I seriously didn’t want to get into this.
“Umm… no,” I stammered.
“A boy then?” Tweety asked.
My eyes went wide. Oh fuck. Not good.
“Holy shit. You do. I didn’t know you were gay,” Max blurted out.
“Well, it’s not something I advertise,” I countered.
“Don’t give a fuck personally. You’re a great guy. Just don’t expect anything from me. Hold on. Are you attracted to any of us?” Benny wondered.
“Fuck, no. I like them a little less alpha.” I laughed.
“What’s your perfect guy, then?” Tweety insisted.
“Smaller than me, but not a twink. Muscles but not too many, dark hair, about six foot. Tattoos. Has to have a job. Can’t stand freeloaders. I don’t know… a generally nice guy, I suppose,” I explained.
“So, are you taken? I mean, do you have a boyfriend?” Tiny asked with a glint in her eyes.
What the fuck was that about?
“Umm… no. He dumped me before I came here. Couldn’t take the pressure of me not being there for him twenty-four seven.”
“I have someone for you to meet. My bestie… Dave. He was my nurse, but he’s a tattoo artist now.”
“How the fuck do you go from nursing to tattoo artist?” Tweety wondered out loud.
“Okay. Long story… when I had the triplets, I caught an infection and had to have an emergency caesarean at twenty-nine weeks. They were so tiny that they fit into my palms, and as you can see, that’s fucking tiny. I nearly bled out, and they had to put me in an induced coma for three weeks. When I came to, there was a male sitting beside me holding my hand. He introduced himself as Dave, and he was my nurse in the ICU unit. I thought he was coming onto to me, so I told him in a not very kind way to fuck off. He laughed and said I had the wrong parts for him to even think about getting hard. We laughed it off.
“I kept trying to get up to see the babies, and in the end, the hospital put him on me twenty-four seven. He slept in my room and became my shadow. I woke up one night, and he had been drawing then fallen asleep. He dropped his sketchbook, and I slipped out of bed and picked it up. It was a drawing of me sleeping. Not long after, he woke up and told me he loved to draw and had sold his drawings to a tattoo studio in the city, and the tattoos he had on himself were of his own design. I suggested he become a tattoo artist, and when I got out of the hospital, he decided I was right and resigned on the spot. He apprenticed for the shop he sold to, and when we moved to Sydney, he opened his own shop and has gone from there,” she gushed clearly happy to talk about her best friend.
“So… description? What does he look like? You have to give Mike a visual here,” Max insisted.
“Well, okay then. Dave’s six foot. Built like a swimmer. He’s got definition that’s for sure. Long brown hair. Green eyes. Ummm… tattoos and kinda looks like Johnny Depp. Nice guy. Very loving and a fantastic friend,” she emphasised.
Hmmm… could definitely go for that. I’m going to play this out and go from there.
“Well, introduce us when we have time. I’m gonna get some sleep before they start waking us again. I suggest you all do the same,” I commented.
“Sir, yes sir,” is shouted by all the guys.
I was the highest rank of the recruits, so I let it slide.
We all bunked down to get some much-needed sleep.
Mike
We were flown to the desert region for days eleven to sixteen. We made a base camp out in the middle of fucking nowhere. We had to do a solo navigation of one hundred and fifty kilometres over five days, carrying fifty-kilogram packs. We hauled radios for communication and emergency purposes only. We had to travel over mountainous terrain and desert. Fuck, I hated Western Australia. This place sucked donkey’s balls. It was stinking fucking hot. Bloody flies every fucking where. I had no idea how the others were doing. It was just me and my thoughts. On the fifth day, we were all called to base camp, and we were once again flown back to Base.
Tiny was still there as well as everyone in our original group.
“Wake the fuck up, quims. Move your fucking arses,” is yelled out.
Fuck! I felt like I’d only just gone to sleep. I look at the time on my watch. Shit! I only went to sleep like half an hour ago. This had been the worst thing I’d ever been through. I thought phase one was bad. Phase two was fucking torture so far, and we still had five more days to go.
Please let this be over soon. I knew I couldn’t take much more.
We all scrambled and pulled our bodies to attention. I counted thirty-six guys including Tiny.
Fuck! That was depressing in a way. We started off with one hundred and thirty at the start.
“Well, quims. You’ve made it this far. To say I’m disappointed is a fucking understatement. You should be on top of the world. Come on, wake the fuck up. More to go. Chop, chop, gents. Let’s get to it,” blared Brooks on the fucking loudspeaker.
“Did he just call us cunts?” Benny muttered.
“Yep. Charming guy that one,” Tweety mumbled.
“I need food and sleep. Man, I can’t take this shit anymore,” someone stated behind me.
“Don’t give them that satisfaction. Buckle up. We can do this,” I declared.
“Well, looky here, men. Looks like this quim wants to give up. Go on… do it. You get to go home, see your loved ones, have some food and sleep. Hmmm… I slept
like a log last night. Had the biggest steak. So damn juicy. Man, the smell and taste of it was out of this world. Just looking at it made me salivate so bad. Then eating it, oh my God… so good. Creamy potato bake. Crisp vegetables. And for dessert, the biggest piece of chocolate cake. You can just imagine the taste? Better than fucking sex. No, fuck that. The video chat I had with my wife was the best of the best. Fuck, that woman’s a minx. Horny little devil that one. You get to have all that by just saying the word and you can leave,” Brooks relayed smugly.
Fucking arsehole!
I so want to kill this bastard right now.
Fucking prick, wanker, arsehole, cocksucker, motherfucking son of a bitch. Fuck that. That’s what I’m calling him from now on. Well, not all of that, maybe just prick.
Most of us stood there at attention, but a couple of guys broke down. They gave up and walked out.
Fuck. Okay, we’re down to thirty-four.
Take a breath. In, out, in, out. You can do this, Mike. Don’t give up, I tell myself.
“Henderson, you’re team leader for the next exercises. Let’s get to it,” Brooks shouted.
“Sir, yes sir,” she yelled back.
After the next three days had passed, another seven had withdrawn. That left us with twenty-seven.
We were finally offered hot food. It was only rice and boiled offal, but I seriously did not fucking care. I was starving.
“Eat slowly and small bites for the entire meal, or you’ll be sick,” Tiny muttered.
Her hands were shaking so bad. Mine weren’t that much better. I was in serious trouble. My muscles were cramping, and I was so insanely tired that I could have fallen asleep standing up. This shit was fucking torture.
I was given my chance to lead the team in exercises, and in this one I had to help a ‘guerrilla leader’ to move objects across a space of ten kilometres with fully loaded packs and weapons. We all had to watch our six. We were told we had to carry a car. Yes, a fucking car five kilometres away. How the fuck were we supposed to do that? They would give me the fucking hardest task as a team leader.
“Tiny, guard twelve o’clock. Tweety at three. Seb at our six. Bazza at nine. Be vigilant. The rest, we carry. Halfway we’re swapping. Come on, let’s get to it. Trackers in the middle left and right. Try not to push yourselves too much. You’re our shadows. You get the go-ahead from me, you go and capture. If rebels, subdue. If they shoot, shoot back,” I commanded.
“Sir, yes sir,” they all shouted.
We got about four kilometres into it, and Tiny held up her hand in a fist halting our movements. She went down on one knee with her weapon trained on a target. She slowly brought her hand up to her neck and activated the mic. “Suspect activity. Uniform alpha, two hundred metres ahead at two-thirty,” Tiny cautioned quietly.
“Roger. Trackers fall back. Find out who and what,” I replied.
“Roger.”
We proceeded slowly, and about an hour later the trackers re-joined us.
“Threat neutralised, sir.”
“Roger,” I muttered.
We dropped the car at the destination and got back without further incident.
By the last day, five more recruits were gone. They either gave up or were told to leave. We were left with twenty-two. Surprisingly, it was the same guys from our original team on day one.
So we were left with Tiny, Benny, Tweety, Seb, Bazza, Max, and me, plus the other fifteen we started with.
We were all lined up in a row, and Brooks sauntered over to us. “Congratulations, men and Henderson. You’ve done well. Tomorrow you’re leaving us, but your training’s not finished. Some of you still won’t make it into the SAS. We only take the best of the best. But you’ve proven you’re all capable. Good luck to you all in the future. I hope to see you all again someday. We have a feast for you guys in the mess hall. Go, shower, and make your way there,” Brooks suggested smiling.
“Sir, yes sir,” we all replied.
The next morning, we were on a transport to Singleton Base in Sydney. We were told we had a week’s leave when we arrived, and we had to report back to Singleton at zero seven hundred Monday the next week.
“What are you guys gonna do when we get back?” Benny questioned.
“I’m going to see my wife and baby girl. And sleep for the entire fucking week,” Seb commented.
“I’m going to hug my kids and never let them go,” Tiny agreed.
I had nowhere important to be having no family left. “Nothing to do,” I stated.
“I have nothing important to do. I’m gonna get a hotel and spend the week relaxing,” Tweety declared.
“No. Fuck that. Whoever has nowhere to go is coming home with me. We have a huge house and backyard. You can bunk with us,” Tiny suggested.
“Thanks, that’ll be great,” Tweety replied.
“I agree. I’d love to,” I exclaimed.
“Alright. Anyone else need a place to crash?” she asked.
Everyone except Seb put their hands up, and we all laughed.
“Alright, looks like you’re all following me.” Tiny laughed along with us.
“Can we go to a camping store or something? I need a fucking mattress and sleeping bag at least,” Tweety pleaded.
“Good idea. Everyone else okay with that?” she asked.
“Well, I’m gonna get some shut eye. I’m fucking knackered,” Bazza commented.
“Good idea. How ‘bout we all try?” I suggested.
“Sir, yes sir,” is shouted by of them.
“Fuck off, idiots. I’m not your commanding officer, and you all know it.” I chuckled.
“Sir, yes sir,” is laughingly repeated.
Everyone settled down into the flight. I closed my eyes, and the next thing I knew we were landing.
“Holy fucking Christ, I musta crashed so hard,” Bazza said.
“I think we all did,” I commented yawning.
I looked out the window, and it was pissing down with rain. The sky was black and ominous.
“Just our fucking luck. Welcome home, brothers and sister,” Benny retorted noticing the same thing I did.
We made our way out of the plane, and after a debriefing by our superiors, we were told not to be seen for a week. Tiny hired a bus for us for the week, and after we were notified of its arrival, we walked out of Base as a group.
Bazza took the wheel and after Tiny gave directions, we made the two-and-a-bit hours’ drive to her house in Sydney. After stopping at the camping store and dropping Seb off at his place about an hour from Tiny’s, we made our destination at around two in the afternoon.
“Alright. This weather isn’t letting up. You can all sleep in the house. There’s a guest suite downstairs. You guys don’t mind bunking together, do you? I can have the kids come into my room with air mattresses, so that frees up three more rooms. Whoever doesn’t take the beds can have mattresses on the floor. Welcome, and make yourselves at home,” Tiny explained.
“Sounds good, Tiny. I’m so fucking tired, I couldn’t care less,” I countered.
She walked to the door and punched a code on the wall next to the door, and it swung open.
“Dave. You’re back early. I thought you said you’ll be late today,” a female voice commented from inside the house somewhere.
“Dave,” it reiterated getting closer.
A small woman came around the corner and gasped. Tiny was the spitting image of her, except she had blonde hair and hazel eyes. She was also small in height—like a slim five foot nothing.
“Holy fucking shit. Who the fuck are you, and what the fuck are you doing in my house?” she demanded.
“Mum. These are the guys I was training with. They didn’t have anywhere to go for a week, so I invited them home before they get to the next part of their training,” Tiny comforted.
“Oh my God. Monique. You’re back. Come here, my baby,” she stammered not noticing us. Then she continued with, “You all blend in so well. I didn’t even see you the
re,” her mum continued getting teary.
They walked to each other and grabbed each other in a fierce hug. When they finally pulled apart, her Mum wiped the tears from her eyes.
“Well, welcome everyone. Of course, you can stay here. Make yourselves at home,” she gushed.
“Thank you, ma’am,” I replied.
“Oh God… none of that ma’am shit. Call me Mary. You guys want anything, coffee, tea, food?” Mary asked.
“I would kill for a cuppa. Thanks, Mary.” I sighed.
She got nods from everyone else.
“Alright, come on, let’s go to the kitchen, and we’ll get to know each other,” Mary declared.
After coffees were passed around and we were all drinking, Tiny introduced us all.
“Alright, Mum. These guys are...” Tiny started introducing all of us by name. Guys, this is my mum, Mary,”
“Well. Holy shit. I’m never gonna remember all that. There’s simply too many of you. You’ll have to remind me of who you are constantly.” She laughed.
“Took me a while, too, Mum.” Tiny chuckled.
“I’ll start dinner for everyone. Make yourselves at home.”
“Thanks, Mary. You want any help?” I asked.
“No, thanks anyway. Go on and relax, I’m sure you’re all knackered.”
“You have no idea. I’m never going to do that again.”
We all stepped into the lounge room and got comfortable anywhere we could find a position—on the floor, on the lounges. The next thing I knew I was being poked on the arm. I looked up and in front of me were three little kids. The two boys were identical, they each had blond hair and green eyes. One had long hair to his shoulders, and the other was just past his ears. They were tall for nine. The little girl was the spitting image of Tiny with tight black ringlet curls to her shoulders, blue eyes, and small or should I say tiny.
“What are you doing with my mum?” the boy with the long hair asked.
“Huh. What do you mean?”
I looked down, and Tiny was asleep with her head on my lap. I’d obviously fallen asleep sitting up, and Tiny had laid her head on my lap. Benny and Tweety were asleep next to me, and the rest of the guys were crashed out wherever there was space. I looked at the time on my watch and noticed I’d been asleep for three hours. To be honest, I didn’t even remember closing my eyes.