Page 6 of Believe in Me
“Shelby’s dance teacher broke her leg roller skating and there’s no one that can take over the class. Apparently two in the afternoon is a hard time to find an instructor for. They were going to have to cancel them performing in the recital. I couldn’t let that happen,” Jess blurted out.
“And you couldn’t do it?” Trish asked, ignoring the fact that Jess had two left feet and couldn’t hold a rhythm if you put a gun to her head.
“Moi? The girl who you kicked off the stage in high school because I couldn’t shuffle to the left and take a step to the right?”
Trish couldn’t meet Jess’s eyes. The bitch knew that she wouldn’t let Shelby down. Her goddaughter was always dancing around, saying she was going to be like Trish when she grew up and dance on stage.
“Jess, I can’t. I haven’t danced since… since they notified me. I haven’t even put on a leotard. I don’t know that I can ever. I’d just gotten home and…” Trish trailed off as she felt her eyes water. She’d been good since her “episode” as she came to call it at the HEB.
“Oh hon, I know.” Jess moved around the counter and pulled Trish into a hug. “But you can’t stop dancing. Joe would haunt you forever. He loved watching you dance.” Jess paused. “I know it’s been hard and I know that something happened a few days ago but you need to remember that I’m not letting you crawl into Arlington with Joe.”
Trish closed her eyes and focused on getting herself under control — seemed to be the new thing for her these days. She could do this if for nothing else than she wouldn’t let Shelby down. She’d need to find her dance shoes and tights. They had to still be packed up in the spare room.
“You’re a bitch, you know that right?”
Jess laughed. “And you love me for it. Your first rehearsal is on Thursday. I’ve got a copy of the music in the car.”
“Jitterbug?” Trish asked. At Jess’s nod, she sighed. Well, at least Shelby wasn’t dancing en pointe.
§ § §
Mike walked through his door and tossed his keys, cell phone and wallet on the ledge between the entry and the kitchen. He really needed to get a bowl or basket or something for there. One day, he’d throw his keys and they’d end up on the stove. Bending over he loosened the laces on his boots, then stepping out of them, headed to the bedroom to change.
Today had been a long one. Starting with two specialists being late for PT — not completely buying the ‘oh there was traffic getting on post’ — then moving onto briefing Lieutenant Cassidy about the errors he’d found. Mike still couldn’t decide whether Cassidy was an idiot or clueless. Guess that was going to be up to Captain Bradley. Cassidy and Mike had sat down with Top after lunch to review the data. To say that he wasn’t a happy man was putting it mildly. Could part of the problem be with the first sergeant? He didn’t think that was it; he was of the mind that Flowers had just trusted his NCO and the LT a bit too much. Having Top stop Mike in the middle of the meeting to get up and grab Captain Bradley had turned Cassidy paler than Casper the Friendly Ghost.
Hearing the faint sound of “Spirits in the Material World” — speaking of ghosts — Mike ran for the phone. He’d set different ringtones for all the heptad. “Hey Spook, what’s up?”
“The sky which will be full of paratroopers soon. I’m sitting on the drop zone at Bragg, cooling my heels to drive some officers back to base,” Spook’s voice came through a bit staticky.
“Oh, that sounds like fun. Wait, Bragg?” Mike moved into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water before getting comfortable on the couch. If Spook was calling from the drop zone, he had time to kill.
“Yeah, brass needed a night jump and there aren’t any scheduled for Benning right now so instead of going there, we’re at Bragg. Still maintain active status so they need the jumps. So how’s the new base?”
“You wouldn’t believe the mess that I walked into. The first sergeant is pissed. The captain is pissed. And my lieutenant doesn’t know his ass from his elbow,” Mike complained. Maybe Spook had some advice on clueless officers.
“Is the LT a moron?” Spook asked.
“I’m not one hundred percent sure on that one. He doesn’t seem slow and I’d like to think with the extra chemistry classes he’d have to take that he’s got a brain. We need to implement new procedures and a tracking system, but I don’t want to do that without him on board. Got some suggestions?”
“Well, maybe try bringing him back to basics,” Spook said. “That tends to get them thinking and moving toward where you want to, then…” Mike jumped up and grabbed his notebook. He put his cell on speaker and started taking notes as they brainstormed.
They went back and forth with ideas for a while before Mike’s stomach growled. Looking at the screen of his phone, he realized they’d been talking for over an hour.
“Thanks a lot, Spook. I’ll give you a call if I can’t make these ideas work. Before your lovely wife smacks me, how is she?” Mike stood up and stretched. He now had a plan on what to do with Cassidy but sitting still for so long had tightened his muscles from PT.
“She’s doing just great. Deciding what she’s going to do when we PCS in a few months. How’s Denise? Has she moved down yet?”
Well, shit. What was he going to say to Spook? There was no way he was going to outright lie. He must have taken too long because the next thing Mike heard was Spook calling his name.
“Mike? You still there?”
“Yeah, I’m here. So Denise… she’s not exactly coming here anytime soon.” How’s that for a non-answer.
“Why the fuck not? Is she being a pain about leaving her job? I remember you saying something about her up for a promotion while you were gone. Maybe in an email?”
Mike sighed and started to pace. There was no good way for him to tell the heptad and he knew the minute the words were out of his mouth to Spook, the rest would know by the end of the day. Mike’s phone would explode and/or the heptad would be at his house by the weekend.
“Mike? What’s going on?” Spook demanded.
