This story is the property of the writer Kalimaxos.
One of many military related stories in the works.
FYY. What is an Operator. It's what members of special forces teams are called in the services. Delta Force, Green Berets, Marine Force Recon, Navy Seals and some others.
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The World - Ft Bragg, NC - Leila
Jake knows. I can sense it. His mother is refusing my calls. That means one thing. She told him what I told her about Todd and I and Jake made her promise not to call and warn me. I may not have Angie's Sloan's High I Q, but I am smart enough to figure things out. Or am I?
Looking back at all this, I have no one but myself to blame. I was weak. It all started when I let my guard down by letting Todd into our apartment. Everything else stems from that. I knew what Todd wanted when he rang our doorbell. He and I had dated before I met Jake. Dated... what a crock. We just used to fuck. Booty call for both him and I. I never liked his personality, but he is built solid and has a nice cock. And yes, he is good to fuck. Very good. But as a person...Todd Manson. Was just eye candy and a good fuck.
At that point in my life I wanted nothing, but sex and I found it in Todd and some other guys. But while they were not good enough to be repeat visitors to my bed, Todd was. Still, I saw no future in him. His last name, Manson, might as well have described his personality and outlook on life. He just didn't give a shit about people. I realized it when I heard him talk about his teammates callously. Other guys in Delta took care of each other and were loyal. Not Todd.
When I met Jake, all thoughts of Todd vanished. Jake was everything as a person Todd could never be. He was loyal, honest and trustworthy. I knew that he and Jenny had a brief thing with each other, but he never gave me reason to worry since we met and started being together. And definitely not since we got married. Jenny was in Jake's rear view mirror and everyone knew I was his woman and his future. Everyone. Including Todd. Or so I thought.
It's hard to explain Jake to people. I knew him a mere five weeks before I married him. It took him three weeks to propose. It took me less than five seconds to say yes.
I knew the first time I met him in the team dayroom that he was special. It wasn't just his sexy looks...OK, that was the first thing I noticed. But there was something in those green-brown eyes that told me he was sincere and serious. Later when he and I started spending all our time together, I realized he was a great lover. And more than that, he seemed a great fit to me; sexually and otherwise.
I have always loved sex. Ever since I turned eleven, I think. I used to get turned on by boys. When I started touching myself, I would cum quickly and be ready to do so again soon after. But unlike other girls in school, I did not turn in to a slut. Unlike other good looking girls, I did not use my looks to get boys and teachers to do things for me. I found such behavior demeaning. In my mind I was good enough to get things to happen for me on my own merits. My grades were good because I studied, not because I batted my eyelashes or flirted with my teachers. And while I did not shy away from looking good and dressing girly, my future aspirations were not typical for a teenage girl.
My parents had the money to send me to college. Daddy and mom were both alums of Cincinnati University and assumed I would go there after high school. My older sister and brother had. But I wanted to do something that was mine. Something that said Leila on it. Not Gordon and Lana Van Der Burg's daughter. Not Andrew and Janet's little sister. My life was going to be my choice and it was going to be what I wanted. So on my eighteenth birthday, four days before high school graduation, I walked into a recruiting office and joined the Army.
I had been an army brad as a young child. Dad had left the service and settled in Ohio with mom. I had little memories of it, but hearing stories form my dad made me wonder if that would be a place for me. That is where the interest had started. As years passed, dad and I used to watch war movies with my older brother. My mom and sister were more into Hallmark stuff. Can you imagine a young girl playing with army men instead of Barbies? That was me. Leila and her G I Joe dolls.
To their credit, my parents understood and watched their little girl go off to basic training. My original plan had been to become an Army nurse. It took very little time for me to realize that was not for me either and last minute I switched to be an armorer. A 92 Yankee.
After training at Fort Lee I was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia, but was quickly transferred to Fort Bragg to fill a slot for one of the 82nd Airborne line companies. I not only kept my nose clean and focused on my work, but I was soon promoted to E-3 and then E-4. All that in two years since joining the service.
I had a few boyfriends and enjoyed my time with them. Let's face it they were young and healthy and so was I. The sad thing is that like most guys, they were quick on the draw cumming to quick. I met a guy that was good at it and lasted long. The sex was good. Until I found out he was married when his wife tracked me down outside the base PX. I stopped seeing him and learned my lesson. People lie and cheat. Something I refused to be a part off. From then on, I went out of my way to check on who I was dating or sleeping with.
My good record led to me being sent to the NCO academy and then to the sergeant's board. Most of the sergeants were polite to me with the exception of the one female sergeant on the board. She grilled me to make sure I was not a woman using her looks and sex to get promoted. I could tell the male sergeants were uncomfortable, but I found her questions a challenge. More than that, I was convinced that my time in the service was going to be as Sergeant Lindstrom wanted me to be. I don't remember the other sergeants on the board. But I remember her because she had high expectations of me. Expectations I had of myself.
The proudest moment of my army life was when I became a sergeant and wore those stripes. I had not flirted or whored my way for them. I had earned them the hard way and stood proud the day I walked into my new position as armorer of three Delta teams at Pope Field. Earning the respect of the Delta operators was my ultimate goal. One that I worked hard and long to achieve. If one of them went out with a defective weapon, it was my fault. If they came back without a single weapon malfunction, they would nod to me and I would take pride in that.
They were all young and at the peak of the Army infantry ladder. Every infantry soldier wished they were Delta. Many tried. But few made it to the top of the woodpile. Being around them as their armorer was a big responsibility and source of pride. The sad thing was that much of what went on that I overheard was secret and I could never discuss it with anyone but them. It made them and those of us that supported them a family.
Platoon Sergeant Ruben Jefferson was like a father figure to me. A big black man from Alabama, married with three children, he always treated me with respect and watched out for me. When one of his guys got out of hand he would straighten them out. He was the one that warned me about Todd Manson.
"Morning Sergeant Van der Burg," he said walking into our weapons bay.
My crew was busy servicing weapons from one of the returning teams after a mission which kept me busy supervising and doing paperwork.
"Morning Sergeant Jefferson. What can I do for you this fine Army morning."
He snatched a cup of coffee and came to the point.
"I won't sugarcoat it Leila," he said. Using my first name told me this was not army business. "You need to know about Sergeant Manson."
I stiffened as his name came up. We had been discreet in our liaisons by not being seen together in public. But somehow Sergeant Jefferson knew. I wondered who else was privy to this.
"What about him?" I asked.
"He spreads it around and has a thing for married women," he said in a low tone so my crew could not hear him. "That can be an issue down the road. An issue that can cause you...complications."
"Why?" I questioned. "I'm not married."
"Leila," he said in a fatherly tone. "The Delta community is like a small village. Sooner or later, everyone knows everyone's business. We don't do it intentionally, but it's a community where we all hold each other's lives in our hands in one way or another. People hear Delta or the Unit and think we come out of the wind and pull off miracles. They don't know how much work goes behind each mission. How much work is done by you, and all the other support staff."
I knew all this but let him continue. I knew Platoon Sergeant Ruben Jefferson and he did not speak idly. There was a reason why he had come to me and I wanted to know what it was.
"Everyone in Delta, from Operators, the command officers and the wives know of you. They know that your team holds the operators' lives in your hands. They have to trust you and depend on you. So far, you have worked hard to earn a good reputation. I hear the support NCO slot is opening up and the Captain wants you to fill it."
"That's an E-6 slot Sergeant Jefferson," I replied. "I'm just a buck sergeant."
"You can be promoted if given the chance and shine. But all hinges on you being squeaky clean and on the ball. Do you understand what I mean?"
I knew what he meant about appearances when it came to promotions. I was not even twenty five and was being considered for a position some in the army would not attain until their late twenties at best. But why bring up Todd? He and I were what? Fuck buddies at best. I went for days and often a week not seeing him. That he had other girlfriends was a forgone conclusion on my part. It was why I made him wear a condom each time and never went anywhere in public with him.
"Sergeant Jefferson..."
"You can call me Ruben when we are talking privately," he said with a polite smile.
Not once, before that day, during this conversation or after, did I feel like Sergeant Jefferson was flirting with me. He was a mentor and fellow soldier. A respectful one.
"Ok Ruben," I replied. "What does Sergeant Manson have to do with this?"
"He can taint your good reputation Leila," Ruben advise me. "He hasn't been here long and already the wives know he is trouble. The wives have their own network in the Army. You know that. It's as old as ancient Greece and the wives of warriors."
