The Soldier Next Door

…Ana POV…

They say that reality comes to bite you when you least expect it. Well, a ghost from my past has just surfaced its head. In a way, I knew that he would one day come. I knew that he should find me, and then it will just start all over again.

But there is a question that begs, how did he know that Ethan will not be here. Does this mean that he has been watching me this whole time, just waiting for his gap to step from out the darkness?

What I also know is that he will not leave until he came here to say what he has to say. Knowing him though he has not come to talk, he has so to say, come to claim his prize. Or what he always comes for.

Am I glad that Ethan is not here to see this playoff? I can honestly say yes. But what I also know is that Ethan is going to be furious if he ever has to find out. I have hidden it very well up until now; I just hope he leaves before Mary and John comes.

So for once again, I ask him, “What do you want?”

With that stupid ass smirk that he always used to get on his face, “Now is that how you treat your husband.”

“You are not my husband.”

“Ana, the last time I checked, we are still married, so guess what?”

“No, but I bet you are going to tell me.”

“You cannot marry your little boy toy.”

Then the anger sets in all over again, yes, I am still married to this asshole, and I know that he will never give me a divorce. Now wait until he finds out that I am pregnant, then all hell is going to break loose.

“Mark, why did you come here? You know that you are not allowed on any military base. Why they did not lock up your ass is beyond me.”

“Come on; you know that they said they made a mistake.”

“Bullshit! You changed your tags on purpose.”

“Now, Ana, how can you accuse me of doing such a thing.”

“Mark, I am not accusing you of anything; I am merely telling you the truth. You ran your ass in trouble with that bookie and were looking for the easy way out.”

I watch as he is getting rather frustrated. One thing that Mark did well, was tell lies, and another is gambling. Even though he found him on base or deployed, he always had a way to find himself in some sort of gambling debt. That was a part of his life that I was not part of, yet it came to haunt us both. After we lost the baby, instead of feeling grief, he spiraled deeper into his addiction. We were like strangers, but yet when he needed help, he always steps forward.

The day the Marine Corps find out that they had declared the wrong man dead, they swept it under the carpet. They asked Mark to disappear and to never speak of it again. I think the total embarrassment is what drew them to make such a rash decision. With this, in return, the very bookie that was looking for him stopped his search as he too was under the impression that Mark was dead.

It took Mark about a month, once again after getting himself into trouble, to seek me out and ask for help to getting him out of the miserable mess that he found himself in. That day I vowed to myself that I will disappear and that he will never find me again. Well, it seems that he has found me again. Now I do not think he is here to rekindle our love; I am yet to bail him out again.

Now, will I do this? Will I do this to hide the truth from Ethan? That I do not know, for Mark will keep on coming back now that he knows where to find me. And he knows now that Ethan will be away for the next six months. Do I even dare and play along until he finally gives in and allows me the divorce that I have been seeking so desperately for years? I was hoping that he would stay away long enough for me to declare him missing. Yet, I will not be afforded this luxury. So what am I left to do?

“Mark, you have not answered my question. What do you want? Do you need money?”

“No, Ana, I am afraid not this time; believe me, I have closed that chapter, and I have not gambled for over a month now.”

“Then what is it that you want?”

“You, I came back for you. I came back for my wife.”

…Ethan POV…

So we have just arrived at camp, and everyone is settling down. To say that this is not completely scary and intimidating would be a lie. I have never seen so many Marines in one place, well, perhaps for training at Pendleton, maybe not even then. To describe the mood, there is excitement, but this is overpowered by the alertness that one should feel for fear of being attacked at any moment.

The battle opps tent is abuzz as the platoon leaders are going about planning which squad shall make their way on a tour to Fallujah to sweep the city for any resistance. This in itself is a whole new level of danger that awaits them. Being out there is a question of life or death; the saying an eye for an eye is definitely a reality.

But there is a new set of fear that sets over me; I am in charge of the lives of fourty-three men. I shall simply fall into an abyss if anything happens to them because of a decision I have made. Their lives are now in my hands; I only hope that I can be the leader that they can look up to and trust with their lives.

Pushing my fears behind, I take my place, very odd but somewhat proud that I am in the center of where everything happens. Amongst the Platoon leaders, I surprisingly see the face of Lopez. I have not seen the man in years, so I make my way over to him to say my hellos.

“Hey, you shit, what are you doing here?”

“Hunter, I thought they were shitting with me when they told me that you are here.”

“You know how it goes; just can’t keep me away from the action.”

He bursts out laughing so deep from his belly that he nearly topples over, “Just don’t get yourself blown to shit this time.”

Now I know that it is only his way of joking, so I only but laugh him off and slap him on the shoulder, “And don’t get one of yours sent in a bag in pieces,”

He only but chuckles, and it is as if there is a light that goes on in his head. At first, he seems somewhat uncomfortable, yet he carries on to ask, “So I heard you are seeing Ana Jenkins?”

“Yes, man, she is the best thing that has ever happened to me. In fact, I just asked her to marry me.”

He gasps, and, somewhat stuttering, he looks at me, “Ethan, you know the woman is still married?”

“Mark is dead, so it is not a problem. I mean, she is technically a widow now.”

Then he moves closer to me, “Come, let us go for a walk. There are too many ears around here.”

As he leads me out of the tent, my mind starts racing in a thousand directions. What can possibly be so hushed that he needs to take me away from everyone. What bugs me the most, though, is the look on his face. It is hard to place if it is shock or fear, perhaps even both. What on earth has this fearless Marine so spooked all of a sudden.

So as he drags me deeper out into the camp, away from every single person that can possibly hear, I turn to him and stop, “Lopez, what is going on?”

“Hunter, the thing is, there was a big mess up with the tags the day that Jenkins was in the accident.”

“What do you mean mess up?”

“Fuck, I am going to get killed for this, but you did not hear this from me.”

“Hey man, you are starting to scare the shit out of me.”

He lowers his voice and starts to whisper underneath his breath, “Jenkins is not dead.”

“What the fuck?” My voice echoes to every corner, making a few Marines raise their eyebrows.

“The tags on the body was his, but it was not him.”Property © of NôvelDrama.Org.

“How the fuck did that happen.”

“I don’t know. Some say that he swapped them, and others say it was a mistake. All I know is that they decided to sweep it under the rug and asked Jenkins to disappear.”

“Do you know where he is?”

“The last I heard, he was looking for Ana.”

“Okay, just step back a minute. Does she know he is alive?”