8 Mile & Rion

by K. S. Adkins

  “Feel like getting dirty, sweaty and capping some fools?”

  “Depends,” he says, setting his cup down and eyeing me. “Is this legal?”

  “If it wasn’t?”

  “I’d still say yes,” he says and I swear he almost grinned at me.

  “Well damn,” I mutter, faking hurt. “It’s pretty legal. I mean some of the maneuvers probably aren’t but that’s the fun part. I like to wing it.”

  “Whatever it is,” he says, finishing his cup, “I’m in. What do I gotta do?”

  “Get your gear on and meet me in the second garage in ten minutes.” I advise him excited about this. “Oh and Loyal?” I throw out when I reach my room, “Where your big girl panties.”

  “My big girl what?”

  But I didn’t answer. Instead I stuffed my face in a pillow and laughed my ass off. Finally, I could show him I wasn’t a helpless female.

  ‘I think all males from Detroit have an obsession with cars.’

  ~Dax Shepard

  Suiting up is second nature for me and took less than two minutes. I didn’t know exactly how much was too much in this case so I dressed but packed up my bag in case it’s needed. I had a feeling we were going to do a B&E or some shit, hence the gear, but with her, I never knew. She’s a female in all the right places, but she ain’t into too many female things. This is why I’m pumped. With her it’s easy because she’s easy and if it’s illegal, I’ll watch her back.

  Walking through the door to the second garage, I see her bent over a plastic bin and I was too busy staring at her ass filling out that camo to pay attention to what she was pulling it out of it. Looking over and tossing me the keys she asks me to pop the trunk. Noticing the car for the first time because I’ve never been in here, I let out a whistle.

  “You got a Mercedes E-Class?

  “Yep,” she says, piling up more shit.

  “You don’t drive it?”

  “Not really,” she says absently. “I like my car.”

  “Your car is a Ford Taurus,” I remind her. “An old one. But what I’m looking at is a kick ass convertible.”

  “It’s just a car,” she says paying it no mind. “But you can drive it today. That’s why we’re taking it. As entertaining as it is watching you stuff yourself inside my car, I’m thinking you’d fit better in this one.”

  “You’d let me?”

  “Of course I would,” she says, standing up and putting her hands on her hips. “It’s a car, Loyal. An expensive one yeah, but I didn’t buy it. Senior and Rio did when I graduated. I drove it on occasion, but I like my Taurus. You can drive there and back, I don’t mind.”

  “Yeah but why don’t you mind?”

  “Someone should enjoy it before I sell it,” she says grabbing another bin.

  Turning her toward me I lift her chin. “It was a gift from them. Why sell it?”

  “We need the money. The new owner picks it up next week and I rarely drove it,” she says, pulling away. “Anyway let’s load up! Ready for a day in the life of Junior Reynolds?”

  “Should I be scared?” I ask, smirking and when she smacks me on the ass to drop a bin in the back, she laughs loud and deep. “I can’t see you scared of much Mr. Hart, especially not of a girl.”

  Getting in and starting it up, I almost got hard when I considered my position. I’m driving a fucking E-Class convertible with the most beautiful female I’ve ever seen. Am I scared? Fuck yeah, I am. Scared of the day I don’t have her in my life anymore.

  The drive itself took about twenty minutes. She said we went the back way so I could open her up and I did. Turning onto Telegraph then taking that to another road, I just open it up again when she squeals to make a left. Now I’m on a back road and it’s relaxing. All trees, nice houses and then she instructs me to park near the pavilion.

  Doing as I’m told, I park and follow her to the trunk to get her bins out. While she does that, I look around and what I see is close to a hundred guys of various sizes in all stages of military dress. Turning again I see them carrying rifles, handguns, wearing masks, goggles, gloves and…”Here,” she says tossing me a vest, “you wear this one. It holds the most grenades.”

  “Rion, what the hell is this?”

  “Oh,” she says, pulling my face down to hers and kissing me right on the mouth in front of everyone. “Did I forget to mention we’re playing airsoft?”

  “War games,” I mumble to myself now that the photo makes sense.

  “What?” she asks, stacking her weapons. In that moment I wanted her more than I ever wanted anything.

  “Nothing,” I tell her, reaching for the MP7. “You mind?”

  “Pssh,” she says, smacking my shoulder. “I’d mind if you didn’t.”

  As we gear up dozens of guys come over to say hello or razz her for the amount of firepower she carries. Feeling my jealousy rise, I decided to stow it and take it out on the field. I met one guy who they call ‘Pagan’ that runs shit. He’s a good guy, especially because he’s married and has a kid coming. But these other mother fuckers don’t get the same free pass he does.

  Pagan announces the rules but I watch Rion. She pulls her goggles over her eyes, adjusts her face mask and wraps a scarf around the exposed skin of her neck. “You’re beautiful,” I tell her not caring who hears.

  “I-I am?” she asks quietly.

  “Fuck yeah, you are,” another guy says but instead of getting pissed, I ignore him. Leaning down to her ear I repeat myself. “Most beautiful thing in camo I ever saw.”

  “You might not think so once you see me play.”

  She laughs then Pagan comes over, slaps me on the shoulder and asks if I’ve played before. “No,” I tell him, “but I think I can figure it out.”

  Nodding he looks over at Rion. “When the grenades start flying, get behind her,” he says laughing. “We all do. It’s safest there. When she gets worked up, no one’s safe. Ask her about the time she blew herself up.”

  I don’t correct him to tell him she will always be behind me because, this is a game. But game or not, I protect her and I would never hide behind her. But later, I do want to know how she blew herself up and I want to be sitting down when she tells me.

  After we walk a short distance to a makeshift castle someone built, I look over the op. We’re defending the castle so that means the others attacking have to cross the bridge, shoot from the trees, or come in from behind through the moat around it. Deciding I’d tuck her in a corner, she comes up to me bumps my shoulder and says, “Not my worst idea, huh?”

  “You like this, don’t you?”

  “Nope,” she says laughing, “I love it. Ready?”

  “Just stay behind me,” I advise her.

  She just giggles and takes off, leaving me with “Ha! You try and keep up with me, Marine, you’re in my world now!”

  When I started to sweat, I ignored it. Just a game, it’s just a fucking game. Following her over the bridge to get in position, I see her across from me but then she reaches for a grenade, tosses it and takes off running. Fuck! Is she trying to give me a heart attack? Getting to the wall she just left, I watch her with rapt attention. She gives signals, takes strategic shots, all the while covering her team behind her, therefore leaving herself vulnerable on the front lines. Taking a deep breath I settle in to see what she does next. Two feelings were fighting inside me of at watching in her: pride and lust. She was fucking magnificent.

  From behind the barrel protecting her, she calls out, “Cover me! I’m surrounded!” and that was the moment the game ended and saving her from a threat was my mission. Looking over my shoulder, I got bogies coming in hot a three and five o’clock with heavy fire. She throws another grenade to buy herself some time, but there’s too many and her rifle is jammed.

  Sacrificing my life for hers isn’t even a question. It’s what any good Marine does. It’s what a man who cares for a woman does. It’s what I would do for her.

  So that’s what I did.

  ‘M
en will do dumb shit to impress a woman; they’ll also do honorable shit to protect her too. Pay attention to who displays honor, Junior.’

  ~Senior Reynolds

  Wanting to impress my Marine, I took off like a shot getting in position on the far left interior wall. Once the other team started to advance there was a barrel just outside of the castle with my name on it. I look back once and see him across the castle watching me, so throwing him a daring smile I attempt to show off. I leave the safety of my wall for the advantage of the barrel. It’s true this was my world, but the man staring at me lived the real thing. I loved airsoft, it’s the best adrenaline rush I could get that was fairly affordable and fun. The weapons are made to look real but in reality they shoot pellets. Now if you get hit right they even sting a bit, mostly you hardly notice unless it’s a face shot. Airsoft is one of those hobbies where adults get to play dress up and shoot at people for fun. It wasn’t the real thing and I respected those that made the sacrifice.

  With my back to the barrel, I get my own rifle ready for the guys who will come up on my left side in an effort to take me out to gain entrance to the castle. Firing several rounds, I’m able to take out three players but then my rifle jammed and they used the delay to bring the waiting players in. Playing in a sports bra also sucked. Not only was gun jammed my boob fell out to, I could feel it overflowing. My hands were too sweaty to reach in there and now I had two problems, fixing my wardrobe malfunction and staying alive. Yelling for cover, I toss a grenade hoping to buy some time so I can get the pellet jamming my rifle out before I’m taken out. My team provides cover but when I look off to my right I see six more coming. Aw shit, I’m about to get blown up with my boob hanging out.

  Looking for another grenade and then looking for Loyal to toss me one, I see him on the wall I vacated and he looked miles away. Needing a better spot to fix my malfunction, I decided to take my chances at being hit in effort to fix my shit. Just as I prepare to make a run for it, from out of nowhere I’m literally thrown to my back by two hundred twenty pounds of pure Marine.

  Trying to move is impossible. I say his name but he doesn’t answer. Using one arm he reaches into his vest, launching grenade after grenade and though part of me wondered if this was a ploy to touch me, the other part knew that for him this was no longer a game. And it was that revelation broke my heart.

  Freeing my hands of my gloves I cup his face calling his name, but he still doesn’t hear me. All I can hear is heavy breathing and all I can feel is his body quaking over mine. I’ve seen this happen to Senior. Right now, Loyal, in his mind, was in combat. I was in danger and he was protecting me.

  Throwing my mask and goggles back, I yell for him again and get no response. With all my strength I pull his mouth to mine and gave him the most punishing kiss I could, hoping it would bring him back to me. Seconds went by and though he didn’t move he didn’t respond either.

  “Loyal,” I whisper to his ear after kissing his cheek and pressing mine to his. “It’s me. I’m okay. Look at me, Loyal.”

  The moment his eyes cleared and focused on me was one I would remember for the rest of my life. Because in those precious seconds, I saw the real him. He was scared, he was in combat mode, he was a warrior and no matter what it took to make it happen, he was going to be mine.

  “Under fire,” he says looking panicked, but I squeeze him tighter.

  “We’re not under fire, we’re playing airsoft with pellets and we’re okay. It’s just a game, Marine. It’s just a game.”

  When the panic left him he sunk further into me. When the reality of what he’d done hit him, I saw embarrassment cross his face. I knew I needed to make this better for him so I tried my best to do so. “You saved me,” I tell him. “You still got it, Marine.”

  He blinks but stays silent, still unmoving. I hear Pagan call ‘game’ so we needed to get up and get moving. “Game’s over,” I tell him kissing his lips. “We won, the castle wasn’t breached. Let’s go grab some lunch, okay?”

  “Did I hurt you?” he asks quietly with his eyes never leaving mine.

  “No, you didn’t hurt me,” I tell him honestly. “But if you like me on my back we can play cops and robbers at the house later.”

  “I thought it was---”

  “I know,” I tell him softly. “You protected me, Loyal. Thank you.”

  Moving off of me he stands up looking around seeing the castle and the woods for what it truly was. A game. “Fuck,” he mutters, offering me a hand. “You play. I’ll go wait in the car, I don’t belong out here.”

  I can’t let him quit. He’d hate himself for it later so I up the stakes a bit. “Then where do you belong?”

  “In the dessert, the ocean or---”

  “Last time I checked I have someone gunning for me, Loyal. I can’t think of anyone better at protecting me than you. If you leave, I’ll be a sitting duck. Who’s better than you are?”

  “No one,” he growls approaching me. Then he backs me into the wall of the castle with his nostrils flaring and his breathing heavy. “You ain’t supposed to know your charge. You ain’t supposed to give a shit. Your job is to rescue and protect then move the fuck on. How am I supposed to move the fuck on from you?”

  “You don’t have to,” I whisper to him. “I wasn’t asking you to and I had hoped even after, you’d stay…for me.”

  “I got nothing to offer you, Rion,” he growls again. “Look at me! Had any of those idiots got to close to you I’d have killed them with my hands, do you get that?”

  “I---”

  “Do you? No you don’t,” he says gripping me tight. “I’d have killed anyone that got close to you. That’s who you want? A killer?” Before I can respond, he pushes me away. “You deserve better than that. Because with me that’s what you’re signing up for.”

  Grabbing him back and switching positions, I let him have it. “I want you god dammit. However I can have you. Let me choose, let me make up my own mind. You want me too. You fight it, but you fucking want me. Now get your shit together and show me how a Marine would win the next match because you are playing. I won’t leave your side. Teach me, show me how it’s done and when we get home?” I growl covering his dick with my free hand, “I’m going to show you how it’s done.”

  When he starts to harden under my palm and his mouth crushes mine, I wanted to fist pump that shit out. He’s a warrior and fighting is what warriors do. “I want you under me, safe” he growls into my hair.

  “Then you’ll have to take out the enemy first,” I tell him, smiling. Then taking his free hand, I place it between my legs. “And once that’s done I’ll be your reward.”

  “All of ‘em?” he asks, rubbing me.

  “All of ‘em.” I agree and then he kisses me hard, takes my hand and during our next match single handedly took out every last one.

  Oh yeah, he’s the bad boy alright.

  ‘A true woman always loves a real soldier.’

  ~Belle Boyd

  Gotta fuck her. That’s all I can think about. I’ve been a slave to a lot of things. My parents, my government and then to Jill’s bullshit, but never to lust. This is more than lust though, this is Rion. She doesn’t want me to be a slave. She just wants to make me happy. What the fuck does a guy do about that? He takes out the enemy with pellets, that’s what he does. When it’s over she whistles out loud and when I turn to look at her, she looks so fucking happy that I forgot to breathe. No one has ever looked that happy about anything that had to do with me. I grew up with a Marine for a father. Our house was a well-oiled machine. I have six years on my brother so by the time he was born I already knew the rules. My father died when my brother was one and I was seven. From then on, my mother was a fucking drunk mess. Being the man of the house as a kid wasn’t easy. My brother did whatever the fuck he wanted because he was too young. Me though, I had to take care of both of them until she died and we were split up by the state. Over the years I tried keeping in touch with him, but as he got older and
got adopted I knew one thing. My brother was a fuck up, had it easy and I hated him for it. Hated the chances he was given that I wasn’t afforded.

  The woman talking to her team mates was loved by her old man. He raised her right and it showed. She was a good woman and she was too good for the likes of me, but if I could change even a little bit and could keep her, I sure as hell would fucking try. When her guys walk over to say goodbye, I watch everything she does. When she spoke she used her whole body, when she smiled it was with every muscle in her face. When she spoke of me personally, she was actually bragging in full detail and fuck if she didn’t look proud to be here with me. Shaking hands in goodbye and packing up I feel the urgency to get her home, under me and safe.

  I even let her do all the talking on the way back while I sorted my head out. Truth is, I could listen to her talk for hours. Mostly she replayed my killing spree from her point of view and I felt like a king that she thought I was somebody. She wasn’t doing it to bullshit me either, she meant every word. Once we’re back in the city she takes my hand and laces her fingers through mine.

  “Thanks for coming today,” she says looking down at our hands linked.

  “Thanks for inviting me.” I manage to groan out.

  “I don’t know what war’s like,” she says squeezing me, “but thank you for doing it so people like me didn’t have to.”

  Speechless, I replay what she said and was struggling with what to say back. No one’s ever thanked me before, that’s for damn sure. Parking in the garage, she said to leave the car in gear for later, so I did. She asked me to give her a few minutes while she checked her messages so I opted for a shower and made us both some dinner while I waited. The door opens, Rio walks in, flops on the couch and eats Rion’s salad. “Said she’d be a while, got a bunch of bets to place. You got me for a few.”

  “Wonderful,” I mutter making her another salad.

  “Airsoft, huh? She talked you into it, or did you lose a bet?” When I don’t answer he keeps going with his mouth full. Rio was a sloppy eater and didn’t seem to care in the least. “Went with her a few times but the girl never tires out and she’d shoot me when I wouldn’t follow the rules, so I quit going.”