"Private Richa Sharma, you are a poor excuse for a soldier, you don't belong in the Canadian Armed Forces, you belong in one of those ethnic restaurants, go ahead, make my frigging Curry," says Drill Sergeant Jeremy Tremblay, laughing merrily as he looked at the tall, slightly chubby, round-faced young Indian-Canadian woman who stood before him, clad in army fatigues.
Disgusted, the senior officer spat on the ground, dangerously close to the Private's boots. Richa Sharma blinked, quietly astonished by the senior officer's callousness. His hostility toward her was definitely palpable. When Sergeant Tremblay looked into Richa Sharma's doe-like brown eyes, she seemed positively cowed. The young woman's lip trembled, but she kept her big mouth shut. Another one I am going to have fun breaking, Sergeant Tremblay thought sadistically.
"What the fuck is wrong with you, cracker? You got no right to disrespect her like that," came a voice, and every head among the assembled soldiers, including the Drill Sergeant's and the female Private's, turned in the direction of the man who uttered those words. Andre Guerrier stepped forward, and the tall, burly and dark-skinned young Haitian-Canadian looked at the sergeant, and squared his shoulders. Facing racist old white dudes didn't faze him one bit, he'd been doing it for most of his life on the streets of Montreal.
"What the fuck did you say to me, Private?" Sergeant Tremblay said, and he actually flinched as the towering young black man walked up to him, massive fists balled at his side, brown eyes filled with righteous fury. Before the two of them could get into it, however, several Privates, along with lieutenant Gary Colley, stepped between the two irate men. Incensed at having his authority threatened, Sergeant Tremblay was literally foaming at the mouth, and he struggled against the other Privates, trying to get at Andre Guerrier.
"Easy there, Sergeant, the Private will be disciplined, but not like this," Lieutenant Gary Colley said, and the taciturn, middle-aged Nova Scotian officer laid a calming hand on Sergeant Tremblay's shoulder. The two of them went way back, having served in the Canadian Armed Forces everywhere from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Brandon, Manitoba, and finally, right here at the CFB Trenton Base.
"Dude had no right to speak to her like that," Andre Guerrier said, and Lieutenant Gary Colley closed his eyes, hard. He'd taken a liking to the tall young black man who recently joined them, having enlisted in the recruitment center in the City of Montreal, Quebec. This brother doesn't know when to quit, Lieutenant Gary Colley thought, wishing he didn't have to deal with such hardheads so early in the morning.
Private Andre Guerrier had spirit, that much was evident. Still, there was a time to be brave and speak up, and a time to shut the fuck up and keep your head down. As a black man who'd served in the Canadian Armed Forces for the past twenty five years, Gary Colley knew this all too well. If only he could get Private Andre Guerrier to understand that simple fact...
"Private Guerrier, be quiet, you're in enough trouble as it is," Lieutenant Gary Colley said, and he watched as two buff military police officer stepped forward, presumably to deal with Guerrier. The young brother looked at them and didn't flinch, nor did his demeanor change in any way. Like a lion about to battle a pack of hyenas in the Serengeti, Lieutenant Gary Colley thought, and he felt his grudging admiration for the brave but foolish young man grow...
"Officers, at ease, I'll deal with this young man personally," Lieutenant Gary Colley said to the arriving members of the military police, Officer Matt Jameson, a burly young man with red hair and icy green eyes, and Officer Kelly Winston, a tall, slender young woman with light brown hair and blue eyes. The military police officers eyed Andre Guerrier coolly, and Sergeant Tremblay stood there, a smug smile on his face.
"Aye, sir," Officer Jameson replied, and he looked at Lieutenant Gary Colley as if he wished the senior officer would reconsider. Lieutenant Colley dismissed the MPs and they drove away in their green jeep. That was a close one, the old officer thought, sighing in relief. Things could have gotten much worse if he'd allowed the MPs to do their job...
The Canadian Armed Forces was a self-regulated environment, with the various army bases functioning like small cities, with their own built-in government as well as an enforcing body tasked with maintaining law and order. The military police were that enforcing body, and they'd dealt with much worse threats than irate, brawny young men from the streets of Montreal. Andre Guerrier got off light...
"What is to be my fate, sir?" Andre Guerrier asked, an hour later, as he stood in Lieutenant Gary Colley's office, in the Administration Building of CFB Trenton. Colonel Jackson O'Neill was in charge of the army base, and fortunately for all involved, he was on leave, attending his daughter Bridget's wedding in Oakville, Ontario. Lieutenant Colley hoped to resolve the matter and sweep it under the rug long before the old man returned. Otherwise Andre Guerrier could kiss his military career and his freedom goodbye...
"Private, speak when you're spoken to, and what you did earlier wasn't brave, it was stupid, I know that you and private Richa Sharma are close, but dammit, you weren't helping her with that macho display, Sergeant Tremblay is going to be after the both of you from now on, is that what you wanted?" Lieutenant Gary Colley shouted, and he smiled with satisfaction as Andre Guerrier actually flinched. Perhaps this one does feel fear after all...
"Sir, if I may speak freely, Sergeant Tremblay is a racist old fool who thinks black folks and brown folks got no business being Canadian soldiers, he's like a Klan member in green," Andrew Guerrier said hotly, and Lieutenant Gary Colley sighed. If this young brother thinks old guys like Sergeant Tremblay were bad, wait till he meets the top brass of the Canadian Armed Forces, Colley thought grimly. Those guys still thought of women soldiers and minorities in general as lower life forms...
"Andre Guerrier, you can have a long and rewarding career with the Canadian Armed Forces, or you can go back to the streets of Montreal-Nord and get shot either by gangs or trigger-happy Quebecer cops, it's up to you, my brother, choose carefully," Lieutenant Gary Colley said sharply. Andre Guerrier fell silent, as if considering the older black man's words...
"Sir, I joined the Canadian Armed Forces because I was tired of working as a cart guy at Provigo, and nobody would hire me even after I got my police foundations diploma from Dawson College in Montreal, I want to make something of my life," Andre Guerrier said softly, and there was a hollow, haunted look on his dark, handsome face. Now we're getting somewhere, Lieutenant Gary Colley thought with a smile.
"Good to hear that, young man, now, I'm going to do my best to make sure you don't get kicked out of the army, but I can't spare you from all of the punishment that you righteously earned, I'm afraid that you and your pal Richa Sharma are going to be doing clean-up duty, among other menial tasks, for the next three weeks, you'll report to me, I'll assess your work personally," Lieutenant Gary Colley said, and then he stood up, and held his hand out.
"Thank you sir, I won't let you down," Andre Guerrier said, and he smiled and shook Lieutenant Gary Colley's hand. After saluting the senior officer and being dismissed, the young man headed out of the administration building. That was a close one, Andre thought, and then he saw a familiar feminine silhouette standing in the distance and his heart skipped a beat.
