Alice's Soldiers

by Robert T. OShea

  Martha wrote a list of things she wanted to do the next day, including taking the three girls to a sex awareness meeting. As she was checking the girls to see how they are doing, she tied tiny bells on Alice and Gloria to make sure they stayed in bed and didn’t visit their boyfriends.

  But there was something wrong with Alice

  Martha was laughing at Gloria pajama’s because she opened all the front buttons. She re-buttoned Gloria top and planned to buy the girl’s tee shirts, which she added to her list. Joeann was cute, Martha will get a few kittens and puppies to sew them on her pajamas.

  After thinking about the day Alice had, Martha just gave her sweetheart at quick peck, and then she would be off to update her to do list. The peck to Alice burned her lips. Her baby was sick. Alice had a high fever and looked scared. The pajamas were soaked. Martha woke up the girls.

  Gloria said Alice is having horrible nightmares. Gloria told Martha don’t worry this happens all the time

  Martha said to herself, “I know I must get Robert.”

  Grandmother Lily always put Robert next to Alice and sat in a chair and watched them. Gloria put dry pajamas on Alice who acted like she was out of it.

  Martha went outside to get Robert. She pushed Maria away. God, things have changed in only one day I am struggling with a Mountain Lion to get off one of my children. He was soaked in sweat like Alice, but he looked mad, not scared. They called Tony and Sarge and told to change his clothes.

  Watching this Martha said, my poor baby.

  Tony said, please don’t worry mom; Alice has been holding on to his nightshirt since they were babies. If she can’t touch Robert, she has horrible nightmares.

  Martha after watching the Nurse work on them the other day agreed. She knew Robert was in bad shape too.

  They dragged the King size bed into the girl’s bedroom. Set up, two monitors. Laid the two kids down on their stomachs put Alice’s hand on Robert’s nightshirt. Martha covered them and went outside to wait. Sure, enough in a few minutes, their dreams of beasts and monsters evaporated. The two children were sleeping in peace.

  It was a beautiful two years. Every relative except Clare visited Martha and the Sarge. The Aunts and Uncles took their summer vacations, with Martha.

  Gloria learned how to cook dinner for the family while Martha learned the Prosciutto business. She invented the home delivery service concept.

  Robert was the youngest cadet at the Soldiers Academy. He was only fourteen, but he was already six feet five and two hundred pounds of muscle. He now must spend two years underground on a dangerous expedition trying to find and capture an Ancient.

  Their last Date

  Robert told Alice, she better brings a coat it might get cold. They stopped at the base commissary he got a small bottle of Cognac and two large coffees. Alice picked up candy bars and two small bottles of Pepsi.

  The Drive-In was packed there wasn’t too much to do at the Fort accept make out with your girl. They found a suitable space put the truck on the little hill and set up the speaker while Alice was busy placing the booze in each one’s coffee. She then lay out the candy bars, not forgetting giving one to Lily Kemble who was in the back seat. Alice moved closer to Robert and sat back to enjoy the ‘John Wayne’ movie. Instead, to her amazement, she was picked up off the front seat turn around with her back to him and placed on his lap.

  Alice said excuse me Mr. Pick me up and put me down, what do you think you’re doing?

  “Alice, I’m preparing us for a making out session. Have you heard those car horns beeping at us?

  Alice said “no.”

  “Well, I have, that’s the locals saying hello to us, and I see you. The word around town tomorrow will be I saw Robert last night plowing Alice at the Drive-In.

  Your nuts Robert, but sitting this way is comfortable. I see why you brought the Cognac. They made out for an hour. Alice came up for air and pushed him away. Robert listen we had a lot of fun and passion tonight, and we could have gone all the way, but please be patient.

  Imagine the noises we would make Robert. And, I know those sounds would be imitated by the locals as they follow us around.

  “Out of nowhere, Robert tells Alice, I can’t tell you anything because I don’t know what going to happen. But it looks like people don’t want me to make it. Leaving you utterly blind for life. I am going to sneak out of here and work on Soldier stuff. Just tell everyone I go mad and just left you. When you sleep make sure that Rosemary is sitting next to you, and that here are Soldiers watching our relatives and friends. I will send you daily messages updating all my activities, and you can record them.”

  Robert everyone knows you’re slow, and that I am the brains so, go along with their nonsense, for now, I have an idea how to get even. Honey, we are sixteen, and you are seven feet tall. “Anytime you want to we could make a run for it,” Alice said.

  The make-out session lasted about another twenty minutes. We must go home now Robert, said Alice as she was buttoning her blouse. I pray your memories of us will last you until we could be alone again. Also, you are going to show me how you always get my buttons undone?

  The next morning Robert was gone with, Maria before anyone was awake. He didn’t say goodbye or even leave a note.

  “Alice heard him getting up and dressing, her eyes were open when he looked in her room, she got one last French kiss, and she was only able to whisper pig one last time, with a smile.”

  The Fort was going through a major rebuilding, every day Sarge had to bring Alice to work to check for spies. But Alice had to return to Brooklyn to continue medical school. She planned to come back to Fort Barlow next Summer with Robert.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Back in Brooklyn, the Princess got busy with school. Joeann who was also going to school at the Military Complex lived with Alice and took her to school and back. Alice rarely saw anybody. Since Joeann was going out with Steve, she was gone most of the time. But, Joeann made sure she was home every night.

  After a year, Alice threw in the towel; she was tired of being blind and lonely. She believed he was slipping away; he just returned to his base after a six-month assignment, that was dangerous and tough. Alice had a long talk with him, she believed he had aged and really needed some time off. It could be that the dead people are adding up. He is falling into depression, and she wanted her man back. Alice came home at night to blindness. Meanwhile, Robert had to stay in the barrack on the weekend because he was only sixteen was too stupid to be true. Alice contacted Elizabeth and told her how she and Robert felt and what they were planning to do.

  A few hours later, she was cutting up a corpse, in a class exercise. Her mind got a call, honey put your knife down and your nightgown on. I will be there about eight tonight.

  Alice smiled and answered out loud in front of her classmates and professors “Well you will have to feed and entertain me first.” She left the knife sticking out the body; with Rosemarie’s assistants, she was on the way home. The remaining students were smiling and laughing. As soon as Alice got back home, she grabbed the only one there, Gloria, and they went to the nearest department store. She needed a couple of hours in the steam room, sauna, and finally a massage before the final relaxing facial a few dresses, underwear, perfume, and finally a new nightgown.

  As their cab neared the house, Alice’s sight returned. A tear fell down her face. Her man was home. She ran to the front door, opened it, hug Maria and followed Maria to the kitchen, ended her journey by jumping on Robert. After the commotion stelled down, Gloria dragged Alice off what his name, everyone got dressed up and out to dinner on Robert. Robert and Alice spent the rest of the night in the backyard swing set taking and making out.

  Grandma made sure they went to their own beds.

  “Joeann went running into Alice’s bedroom the next morning and jumped on Alice. She found out that Alice was not alone. Alice pu
t a pillow in Joeann face and said Robert get back upstairs. Joeann was laughing as she was being pushed out the door by a pillow with a picture of a bear on it.”

  “As soon as, Joeann was able, she yelled Grandma you have to see this.”

  By the time Grandma, Lily got to the bedroom Alice was sitting up like a little angel.

  Grandma walked in and said, Alice you know what the rules are, you can’t have sex, if you do. Robert will be held in solitary confinement until you are twenty-one. Now let’s have breakfast, and we can then spend the weekend with the Uncles and Aunts they both have planned dinners for us.

  Chapter Seventeen

  It was Saturday morning, Robert had been coming home for the weekend for a few months. The Prince and Princess had to do a million things, wash the clothes, the bedding, fix his pants, clean the pets, Maria (his job), some food shopping and pick up a few personals’ items. Alice wanted to cook supper for the brothers and girlfriends. She had Veal Parmesan in her head. Robert would make the sauce; Grandma Lily will get a chef to put together an appetizer for dinner.

  Sunday (Tomorrow) was a big day, Uncle Joe and Aunt Mary were going to prepare supper for everybody, so they had to get a cake and a bottle of wine. They were walking up Flatbush Avenue. Alice was in a great mood every few minutes she had to stop and kiss her man the shop owners were smiling and waving at them.

  The Reporter was driving up Flatbush Avenue and got caught in the traffic. While stuck, he saw two teenagers walking up the street; the girl appeared blind, she had a cane and was wearing small black-sunglasses, every few steps the kids would stop and fool around. There was quite a crowd following them. Something told him to pull over and watch the kids and to protect the girl.

  He thought he was going crazy until he saw the five punks coming down the Avenue towards them. The creeps were wearing Nomad jackets, by far the foulest gang in Brooklyn. They were carrying bats and clubs, and they spread themselves out across the sidewalk so they could control who got by. I don’t know how but the blind girl picked up on them before the boyfriend did. The kids were talking to each other. They knew they were in serious trouble.

  Some news photographer left a camera in his car’s front seat. The Reporter grabbed it because he could at least get a picture of the bastards faces as they came down the street. He was scared for the kids, this world sucked. He didn’t know it then, but he would spend the rest of his life with these two kids.

  The fight was violence. The boyfriend pushed the girl, into a butcher shop, they were passing. He yelled at the Butchers to protect the girl and call the police. As I think about it now, the kid could have run away and might have made it. No, he would fight for his girl. He struck first, the moment he got the girl into the shop the first guy reached him. The kid kicked the massive guy in the balls, causing him to fall to his knees. He then picked him up as if he was a bowling ball and rammed his head into a fireplug. The guy dropped straight down into hell.

  He dodged the second man’s punch by a ½ inch grabbing the swinging arm, he, moved under it, put the creep in a headlock and punched him five times in the face before you could say “What happened?” The Third guy used a club to break the kid’s right hand. You could hear the bones cracking. The blind girl screamed when her boyfriend’s hand got smashed. How did she know?

  The kid put his right hand under his left armpit for some protection. He paid the third guy off with a kick to his throat, which was so brutal it killed the creep. The fifth man had run away which left the fourth guy. While waiting for his turn, the fourth guy got about five good hits in with his Babe Ruth on the boyfriend. The kid just took the bat away from the creep and pushed the man’s head into and thru the butcher shop’s window then he pulled the head straight down.

  People say, “on some nights; you can still hear the dead man’s screams when you pass the butcher shop.”

  The guy who had first run away from the fight circled back behind the boyfriend and blindsided the kid with a savage bat hit to the head. It was found out later that the nails in the bat contained a deadly poison. The boyfriend fell and didn’t move. The Punk followed up with a few more direct hits to the kid’s head. The Butcher shop’s door swung opened, and the blind girl came flying out, breaking the grip of two butchers and jumped onto the creep, preventing the goon from swinging his bat. The guy punched her a few times and still couldn’t get her off his back. Finally, the creep pulled the girl off him and held her up so he could smash her with the bat.

  I couldn’t get there in time. The boyfriend came out of nowhere and picked up the monster by his throat with his left hand and strangled him. I tried to help the girl, but I couldn’t move, the fight ended when a giant police captain came and took the fifth guy’s body from the kid. The boyfriend fell to the ground and didn’t move. The blind girl sat down next to him and put his head and right hand on her lap and rocked back and forth. She looked up and screamed at the sky.

  There were blood and bodies everywhere. You could now hear the police sirens. I saw something that shook me to the bone. Even though the guy was about dead, he took his broken hand and pulled down the blind girl skirt which had rolled up in all the fighting.

  The Police Captain, a giant of a man, was pouring sweat. He had been running. Why? For two teenager kids? He picked up the blind girl with one massive arm as if they made her of fine china.

  I could see the girl would make it. But, not the young boy. I got as many interviews and photos as I could.

  The next day Sunday, the Newspapers throughout the world ran the right front page. The page had a photograph of the girl holding the boy in her arms as the police were dragging away the dead bodies. Someone called me a hero. I replied you don’t know what a hero is. I saw two real hero’s yesterday.

  Sunday night I got lost driving around, and I stopped for directions. There was the man at a bus stop, and I asked him where the hospital was located?

  Chapter Eighteen

  He said you’re in front of the Neptune Hospital. I figure I check on how the kids were doing. She stopped a few massive bat swings, so she must be hurting. The boyfriend could be dead. The ward was closed to everybody. But the Reporter found a chair and sat down.

  About an hour later a gorgeous woman approached the Reporter. She sat down next to him and thanked him for his help. She said he was part of history and as soon as the Princess recovers, she will meet with him. The Reporter said he was only interested in the boy’s condition, but he couldn’t find out anything?”

  According to the family, he may be dead. Please come with me I work with the family and the U.S. Army, I have an office in the military complex, and we have a job for you.

  Uncle Carmine carried Alice into the E.R. from his squad car. He said to himself he was going to make the telephone calls to both of the ‘Kings.’ But the Soldiers had already contacted their Generals and transmitted the films of the fight.

  Carmine still called the Royal Family and had a brief conversation with each of the Kings.

  Soldiers were active later that day resulting in one hundred missing Normans gang members. The arrested gang leaders didn’t make it to their cells.

  Robert’s injuries were extensive and may cause his demise. Robert’s hands, back, some ribs, and collarbone were broken. Also, Robert suffered a significant head wound. One club had poisoned spikes sticking out of it. Robert was not responding to treatment. His parents were notified, and they called the priest.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Martha was preparing supper; she was also looking out the window thinking about when she used to wait for the kids to come home. She wiped away a teardrop. Thinking about the latest child who was late for supper. So, she grabbed his hat walked out to the front porch put in front of a sleeping (upside down), Maria. She gave the Mountain lion a push and said ‘Go.’

  The local Pub was packed when Maria crashed through the front window spreading broken glass all
over the place. She landed shrieking on top of the bar. Maria ran up and down until she stopped at Uncle Joe’s stool and growled.

  It was the most exciting thing that has ever happened to the place. The tavern’s name was changed to ‘Maria,’ no civil or legal charges were filed. Also, the customers found and an excellent reason to drink for, three days.

  “Joe yelled at the bartender, call Martha and tell her I am on my way.”

  Joe complained to Maria about Aunt Mary’s spending during the four-block walk home. An apple was waiting for the giant cat.

  Chapter Twenty

  The Princess was dreaming about the ‘Jerk,’ and the ‘Drive-In adventure: my adopted Mother Clare finally let me go to the movies with the gang. Tony, my brother, was driving Robert’s car, he was going to meet us at the Drive-in, he had a spot saved for us.

  Robert told me he had worked on our date for days. He had the car polished until you could see your face. A new stereo system was installed, it was so powerful it hypnotizes anyone who listened to it. Expense foods and various bottles of wine were stored (In coolers) in the car’s trunk. Robert found the darkest corner in the Drive-In. He had the maintenance people put broken signs on the speakers, so we were by ourselves.

  It was just getting dark when we arrived. We park next to Billy’s car. Robert got out slowly stood straight up to his 7 feet height and looked around; he caught me with my mouth opened. I was sitting in the front with Gloria and Tony. He climbed into the back said, ‘Hello Alice.’

  I said ‘Hello Robert ‘cute haircut.

  “Thank you, Alice. Would you like to sit in the back with me”, he asked?

  I didn’t say anything.

  “So, Robert trying to keep the conversation going, which was a mistake. He said, Alice, I love your lipstick, what is its named?”