Learn with Me

by Kris Jacen

  “Okay, Uncle D.” It didn’t sound to Carter they were going to actually do this but were giving their uncle the answer he wanted.

  He turned to Top and said, “Yes, she’s an ex and you were right in the car on the drive home from New Orleans.”

  “Knew it. See I told you,” Top told Doc Mac. “Are you going to stay in?”

  “Trying to figure that out, Top. Kinda floundering a bit these days.” Carter shrugged.

  Siah interrupted their conversation, “Hate to break this up but, Cal and Cam? Time to head back to the classroom. Say ’bye.”

  “Thanks, Uncle D and Liam. Dad? We know whatever kept you was important and know we’re important too,” Cam said, at least Carter thought that’s who spoke.

  “You showed up even late to remind us. Love you,” Cal said and ran to the line.

  Cam hugged his dad and ran off too.

  The sergeant major cleared his throat. “Damn, those boys are going to kill me one of these days.”

  “You and Debs have done a fantastic job with them, Mooney,” Liam said.

  “Oh, it’s all Debs. I’ve been gone,” Luna corrected.

  “You’ve done some. You know when to guide, when to hold the line, when to discipline,” Top pointed out. “In fact, it sounds like May could use you.”

  “I’m sure—” Carter started but Top just talked right over him.

  “You should take May under your wing and see if you can help him not flounder. I’m betting his platoon sergeant has his hands full with some that are, how should I put this nicely? Going out often? So May, who I’m assuming isn’t one of those, is slipping through the cracks? Come on, Mooney, you know it comes second nature to you,” Top chided him.

  The sergeant major looked at Top for a minute before nodding. “I’d be happy to give some advice. Share some knowledge. Let’s get together for lunch, May.”

  Siah interrupted. “This is awesome. As much as I want to stay and talk, the kids are getting antsy. Thank you all for coming today and sharing. It was great seeing you and Doc, Top. Make sure that we don’t lose touch again. Carter, give me a call and we’ll have dinner. Rafe, your kids are awesome—” Siah must have seen something going on because with a “Crap. Later,” he ran off.

  “All right, Mooney. Liam and I are getting on the road. It was great staying with you all this weekend. Next time? We’re bringing the dog.” Top slapped Luna on the shoulder and holding hands with Doc Mac, walked out.

  “Sergeant Major? I know your schedule has got to be jammed. Please don’t feel obligated to—”

  “May? Or do you prefer Carter? The only time I do something I don’t want to do is when Debs schedules me for it. Danny might be able to guilt me into doing things but this is something I’ve always enjoyed. Senior NCOs should always be available to counsel soldiers. I don’t want to step on your first sergeant’s toes but it sounds like you do need a sounding board with experience. You think about it and give me a call.” Luna handed Carter a business card. “My numbers. Use them.”

  Carter was left standing there in the empty room. Looked like Sergeant Major Mac was still taking care of him.

  Chapter Five

  Carter was bent over, hands on his knees, trying to breathe again. Staff Sergeant “Showing No” Love had tried to kill them this morning with their PT run. He’d decided some of them should do the Marine Corps Marathon in the fall and everyone was going to train for it. Ask Carter to do a road march with his ruck for twelve miles? Yup, not a problem, but run ten miles at a ten minute pace? Kill him please. He was much happier only running five.

  “May? Suck it up. Lover boy didn’t kill us today. Wait until we have to do fifteen,” one of the guys said.

  “Danner? Go. Away.” Carter turned to see Danner, Stevens and Price standing a few feet away. Danner was an ass of the highest order and so not one of Carter’s favorite “team mates”. He really needed to grow up.

  “Seriously? You need to get the stick out of your ass. Maybe you should come out with us tonight. Going to The Rabbit Hole. Be there at nine,” Danner said.

  “Not really my thing.” Carter would rather sit staff duty for forty-eight hours straight than go out with Danner.

  “We too good for you?” Stevens asked.

  “Maybe we’re just going to the ‘wrong type’ of place for him,” Price offered, even making the quotation marks as he said wrong type.

  There had to be a way for Carter to get out of this without starting something. Christ, he so didn’t need this crap on top of everything else. What could he come up with?

  “Gentlemen,” a voice said from behind Carter. Before he even turned, Carter knew it wasn’t Staff Sergeant Love. When he turned, he saw Command Sergeant Major Luna standing there with a look on his face that said he wasn’t impressed with those in front of him.

  The three next to Carter didn’t know him but they knew enough a command sergeant major wasn’t someone to fuck with even if he wasn’t theirs.

  “Sergeant Major, can we help you?” Stevens asked hesitantly.

  “Oh yeah, you can help me. All three of you.” Luna was nodding his head as he spoke. “You three…” pointing at Danner, Stevens and Price, “can report to your first sergeant’s office and wait for me there.”

  “Ahhh, Sergeant Major? What—” Price started to talk before Luna cut him off.

  “Now!”

  Carter watched as the three moved as if their asses were on fire. “Sergeant Major, I could have—”

  Luna interrupted him now. “Oh I know you could have handled those three but let me have my fun. I sit in way too many meetings these days. I was in the area for one of those blessed meetings and thought I’d see if you wanted to grab lunch.”

  “That would be great. I know I was hesitant when Top cornered you, but I really could use some advice and guidance.” Carter looked where the three disappeared to. “What are you going to do with them?”

  “Oh I think your first sergeant needs to have them assigned to some extra counseling sessions on sensitivity. Especially being assigned to this detail. They’re more in the public than most and they did not demonstrate to me just now having any.”

  “But—”

  “I’ve had a lot of experience dealing with ‘retraining’ minds and those three need some. If your first sergeant doesn’t realize it’s going on in his unit then he needs to— I’ll stop there. You change and I’ll meet you in the parking lot.”

  “Yes, Sergeant Major,” Carter said. He knew at this point, arguing would get him absolutely nowhere.

  § § § §

  Planning period, not. Siah was lucky to get thirty minutes after getting his class to specials then back to the classroom and organized. End of the year added so many extra things but he was glad the Career Day and the trip to Arlington seemed to have been a success.

  The phone in the classroom rang and Siah walked over to answer it. “Mister Kent.”

  “Hi Siah, there’s a parent here to see you,” the elementary secretary, Kendra’s voice came over the line.

  “A parent? I didn’t have a conference scheduled but I can come and meet with them. Planning period can wait. Is there anyone in the conference room?” Siah couldn’t think of anything one of the children had done. You never knew these days what parents were going to complain about. Yes, your child has to do the homework. No, they cannot be excused for a nail appointment. Why couldn’t parents be a bit more open minded about their offspring?

  Siah made sure everything was back where it needed to be and headed to the office. When he walked in, he was surprised to see the twins’ mother waiting for him. “Mrs. Luna? It’s nice to see you. What can I do for you?”

  “Mister Kent, thank you for taking the time to meet with me. I know time is precious during the school day,” Mrs. Luna said as she approached.

  “Go ahead and use the conference room, Siah. No one is scheduled in there until afterschool,” Kendra said.

  “Thanks. I don’t think we’ll b
e long,” Siah said as he looked to Mrs. Luna for confirmation.

  “Definitely won’t take long,” she agreed and they walked into the conference room, closing the door. “First, please call me Debbie. You’ve done so much with the boys this year. It’s been amazing. They have so many stories about Mister Kent every night. Having them take such interest in school this year has been a welcome change. They’re so energetic that teachers normally have a problem handling the two of them. We thought it was strange for them to be in the same classroom this year but it seems to have worked fantastic.”

  “Thank you. I’ve tried to not single them out and engage them in different ways. Most parents— let’s skip that and get to why you’re here. Did the twins have problems after our visit to Arlington and the gravesite? I hope not but they were insistent—” Siah cut himself off. Rambling wasn’t appropriate right now. Sitting across from a parent, feet from the principal’s office totally not the time to let his mouth go before his brain. Granted the conference room was a confidential room but still…

  “The boys are fine and were happy they got to visit the grave. I appreciate you taking the side trip for them. It’s hard to protect your kids from military life. My husband mentioned to me you wanted to get some training for working with military children. That’s why I’m here. To see what your plans were for the summer?”

  “Plans for the summer? I don’t have any definite plans yet. I try and take at least one continuing education class when there’s a break. Things for the classroom and early education are ever changing. Why?”

  “There’s going to be a few trainings over the summer through the Army Community Service and Children and Youth Programs that I thought would interest you since you talked to Luny,” Debbie said.

  “Really? I’d be able to attend? It would be fantastic. Watching your boys this year and especially talking to them at Arlington really brought home to me that children of service members are the real heroes. They don’t sign up for their parent to leave them but the parent left behind does so much to help them understand. What you and other spouses do is hard too, don’t get me wrong but how much does a child understand about what’s going on?” Siah knew military spouses were the backbone of the military; they had to be with their spouse gone in the blink of an eye to maybe not come back. The coping mechanisms they use— Time to think later.

  “Yes, I’ve checked and they’d like some area teachers to attend.” Debbie reached into her bag and pulled out a stack of papers and handed them over. “Go ahead and fill these all out and send them home with one of the boys and I’ll get it all arranged.”

  “You’ve learned a lot from your husband about getting things done, haven’t you?” Siah asked.

  “You can’t be a senior enlisted spouse if you don’t have a few things. A backbone, critical thinking skills, a support system, the ability to know when to keep your mouth shut and ways to keep yourself busy when they deploy. Took Luny quite a while to convince me I had what it took to be a military spouse, but to this day I’m glad I finally said yes.”

  “I know he’s glad you said yes. You can see it when he talks about you. I’ll fill these out and get them back to you ASAP. I can’t thank you enough.” Siah looked at the clock before wincing.

  “Time to get back to the kids?” Debbie asked. “Thank you for taking the time, Mister Kent.”

  “Please, call me Siah,” Siah offered.

  “Oh yes, Luny mentioned the shortened name and you’re the one Danny helped?”

  “I am. Top Glenn was amazing.”

  “I’ll let you get back to the classroom. I look forward to helping you expand your knowledge of the military and the challenges of a military child.”

  § § § §

  Sitting across from the sergeant major at Burger King was strange. Okay, yeah, they didn’t need to be on a pedestal but strange none-the-less.

  “So don’t tell Debs I had a Whopper. Please?”

  “Uh sure, Sergeant Major.” Carter really didn’t know what to say.

  “Call me Mooney or Rafe,” the Sergeant Major said before taking a huge bite out of his burger.

  “Mooney?”

  “It’s what the heptad started calling me years ago. Play on the last name. It’s what my friends call me.”

  “Ah, okay. Thank you again for your time.” Carter was playing with his French fries and catsup trying to figure out where to start. “Do we start big or small?”

  “Let’s start with the huge. Do you want to stay in the Army? Is it your passion?” Mooney asked.

  “I’m not really sure I do want to stay in. But I also have no idea what I’d do if I got out. What skills do I have now that I didn’t have seven years ago to support myself? I just…”

  “You have a lot of skills you just don’t realize you have. You’ve learned to focus on jobs and details. Leadership skills. Time management skills. Physical fitness goal setting. Didn’t realize you had learned all those, did you?”

  “Not really.”

  “So I asked Mackey about you.”

  Carter wasn’t sure he liked that idea. Granted, he learned a lot from Sergeant Major Mac when they were in Afghanistan and he’d always been supportive of Carter but still…

  “Not sure about that are you? Interested in hearing what he had to say?” Mooney asked.

  “I’m not sure and well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to hear what he had to say. I don’t think you’d bring it up if he said bad things?”

  “He had nothing but good things to say about you but did tell me what he thought was your weakness. Wait, I don’t like that word. He told me what he thought was your point you needed to work on the most. Said you impressed him with your thinking outside the box mentality, you seemed to be able to help soldiers think through their problems whether it was a personal or professional one. That your ideas, especially about personal growth, were outstanding.”

  There was a crash across the room made both Mooney and him jump in their seats slightly. Christ, would that stop any time?

  “You okay, Mooney? You look a little more unsettled than I feel. It’s understandable…” Carter trailed off realizing he was trying to counsel a command sergeant major about PTSD. He must have lost his mind.

  Mooney was sitting there with a big smile on his face though. “Right there. That is what Mackey was talking about. You reach out to help settle soldiers in those uncomfortable situations we all get after a deployment or two.” Carter started to deny what Mooney was saying before he continued. “Interested in knowing the point to work on? You just showed it to me.”

  “Point to… at a guess, I’d say education.”

  “Nope. Mackey said he observed you had a lack of belief in your own skills and talent. You didn’t give yourself enough credit.”

  “I don—” Carter stopped himself. Did he discount himself? Maybe? But he was just…

  “I can see I’m making you think. Take some time and think about what I just shared. I don’t know you well at this point but you spent a deployment with Mackey and I trust his judgement. Maybe you should too?”

  Somehow while they’d been talking, they’d finished their meals. Carter nodded his head and started to gather up his wrapper.

  “I can do that, Sergeant Major,” he corrected himself when he received a sharp look, “Mooney. I’ll think about that. Thanks again for lunch. Think we both have to get back.”

  Mooney looked at his watch and let out a big sigh. “As much as I would like to head over to the school and pick up the boys, promotion boards this afternoon. I do know that no matter what, I’m home for dinner tonight.”

  Chapter Six

  The last few weeks of the school year were always rough but for some reason this year seemed rougher. The kids were anxious to be done for the summer and ready to not be cooped up in a classroom. Siah had just as much excitement for the summer – taking courses to work with military children on post was beyond what he knew. Maybe he could have Carter take him on post beforehand an
d show him around?

  He was exhausted tonight and still had grading to do. Additional standard testing had pushed all the “normal” wrap up testing back. Carter was supposed to be here around six to go out to dinner too. Maybe they could eat in? Siah got up from the couch and went to see what he had to throw together. He didn’t think Carter would mind since he had mentioned he wanted to stop eating out as often.

  Hmmm, maybe grilled chicken? With a salad and rice? Something easy and no stress? As Siah was debating dinner, the doorbell rang. Absentmindedly walking to the door, he tripped over…nothing. Siah couldn’t see anything on the floor for him to fall over so he was shaking his head as he opened the door and stopped in his tracks.

  There was Carter in a tight pair of jeans and a T-shirt molded to his upper body. What Siah wouldn’t do to be that T-shirt, um, um, um. He must have stood there for a minute or two because the next thing he knew, Carter was chuckling at him.

  “Hey, you. Rough day?” Carter asked.

  “You have no idea what a group of sixth graders will do to NOT have to do anything the last few weeks of school. Any chance you’d mind if we just stayed here for dinner tonight? I’ve got some chicken breasts we could grill and salad fixings. Add in some rice?”

  “That sounds amazing. You know I said I wanted to stop eating out so much. What can I do to help?” Siah moved back and let Carter into the condo.

  “There’s not much to do. Season the chicken, start the grill, cut some vegetables. Take your choice,” Siah said as he led the way to the kitchen. “Want some music? Alexa, play ‘music mix three’.”

  Soon music filled the kitchen as they moved together making dinner. Siah didn’t think Carter realized he was humming along to Siah’s eclectic mix, everything from Broadway to Fifties to Country. Dinner was ready in no time at all and they were sitting across from each other.

  “Alexa, volume three. This way we won’t be competing with the music as we eat. How was your day?” Siah asked.

  “Same old, same old. We’re getting ready for the Fourth of July celebration. Not as hectic as I’m sure your day was.” Carter dug into his food with gusto.