Oh Suzannah, Don't You Cry For Me

Chapter Eleven: It's Miller Time

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Here's my gift to you! :D It's a little shorter than usual, but I think it's an interesting chapter.

Chapter Eleven: It's Miller Time

Luck ran out the day before Christmas.

The first week at Camp Barkeley focused on marching and classroom training sessions. Each day started at six o'clock, several hours of training, and ended with a meal, a shower, and lights out at nine o'clock. The training sessions and meals sailed by smoothly. The showering part, however, became a problem.

Still showering at eight-forty-five, when most of the soldiers were already finished, Suzie kept using her towel to cover herself. Nobody paid her any heed the first few days until the Friday of Christmas Eve. The usual four to five men who showered at the same time as Suzie must have considered Suzie's actions weird and decided to confront Suzie's behavior.

In her defense, Suzie never caused any problems. She kept to herself unless instructed to interact with her unit members by Stone or Hassen. She worked hard during the training sessions, ensuring she did not stand out in any way. Uncle Henry suggested falling in the middle of the group, not to draw attention either by becoming accomplished and talented or struggling to complete any request by higher ranking officials.

Despite all her efforts to remain an average soldier, some of the soldiers in her unit noticed Suzie's showering habits—the one time Suzie stood out.

Instead of reporting the "strange behavior" to Stone or Hassen, two of the five regular men who showered around the same time as Suzie cornered her in the shower building Christmas Eve.

After drying off and changing into her sleepwear, Suzie gathered her belongings and started to head to the door when Walter Lemay and Dennis Garcia, the two oldest recruits in the unit, jumped in front of Suzie. At six feet four inches—two inches below the minimum height requirement for the army—Walter Lemay leaned his bulk up against the door, blocking that building's only exit.

Dennis Garcia, who stood a few inches shorter and several pounds lighter than Lemay, stepped closer to Suzie, his brown eyes gleaming with excitement. Running a hand through his short, dark hair, Garcia licked his lips and grinned. His pearly white teeth shone against his honey-colored skin.

"So, Barnes," Garcia said, rolling his shoulders back and nodding at Lemay behind him. "We've noticed how you've been acting."

Raising an eyebrow, Suzie took a step away from the two, her heart rate picking up speed with each passing second. Glancing between Walter "Hillbilly" Lemay and Dennis "Perfect Teeth" Garcia, it seemed like the odds were not in her favor. Sure, she could handle herself in a fight, but between Lemay's hulking form and the outline of abs on Garcia's bare stomach, Suzie did not stand a chance.

Staying silent, Suzie waited to see what Garcia and Lemay planned to do. Lemay crossed his large arms against his broad chest, letting Garcia take the reins. Garcia kept walking forward, to the point where the back of Suzie's legs bumped against a bench, causing her to sit unexpectedly on the wooden bench.

"What do you want?" Suzie asked, moving to stand up. With a rough shove, Garcia forced Suzie back down while Lemay strode over to tower over Suzie.

"You need a little reminder that we're in the army," Lemay said, his deep voice rumbling in the empty room.

"And in the army," Garcia added, "we act like men, not like some broad. Your towel business is making us look bad. The army doesn't let some man-loving, broad-acting, fathead join. We're not letting you off the hook for the way you've been acting."