Chapter 8
CHAPTER 8
F leur walked into the daily debrief and sat in the rear of the tent. Miller mandated the debriefs for the staff so they could talk about their day and raise any concerns they’d encountered during their shift.
“Who’s first?” Miller asked.
“I have an issue.” Tammara Boyle raised her hand. “I lost my interpreter over a month ago, and I need help in the group sessions. My Arabic is at a toddler’s level.”
Fleur scrunched her face. Tammara was exaggerating a bit. She could keep up, but someone should be available to translate if Tammara missed something in such emotional situations. She raised her hand. Miller pointed to her. “Fleur? ”
“Rana could translate. I can spare her from registration for the group therapy hours. But I’d want to ask her if she would first since she’s a volunteer resident.” Since she was no longer coordinating convoys, she could manage the check-in tent's registration table. Her Arabic was passable and, over the years, had gotten better.
“Would that work for you, Tammara?”
“Thank you.” The woman stood up. “Thanks, Fleur. I know I’m missing things I could be helping with.”
“Not a problem. I’ll ask her tonight.” She smiled at the psychologist. Rana was always willing to help, but she’d ask first.
She leaned back and listened to the sanitation crew’s issues. Then, the internal affairs group brought a new problem to light. They monitored sheltering and food dispersal. Civil engineering reported a new hole in the fence line adjacent to the medical tent. The links had been cut, not bent up, so it was probably smugglers. Miller turned and pointed at her. “You’ll let Guardian know?”
“Yes, sir. Was it repaired?”
Todd Floyd, the man in charge of the engineers, stood up and looked back at her. “Patched.” He shrugged. “If they have cutters, nothing we do will stop them.”
She nodded. “Does Shelly and the crew over there know?”
He nodded. “Told her right after we found it, and she did an inventory. Nothing there was gone. I wouldn’t doubt we have a few turn up missing. There were a lot of tracks to and from that hole.”
“Damn it.” Fleur sighed. The woman next to her, who she didn’t know but by sight, nodded in agreement.
The meeting lasted longer than it needed to, but it always did. People needed to be able to raise concerns and have them acknowledged. Tammara also invited anyone who needed to talk to her to come to her work tent to see her. She was available for camp staff from five to seven every night. There were small groups for the staff on Wednesday nights so they could come to grips with the suffering they witnessed daily. Overall, the camp was structured like every other IDP camp, but as they drew down and staff were reassigned, they became closer. The nightly debrief was mandatory, and most of the staff attended regularly.
When the meeting was over, she walked over to the hospital tent. “Knock, knock, Shelly. Are you here?”
“Yep. In the back,” Shelly called out to her. Fleur headed back to the small portion of the tent that was tarped off, which was where Shelly slept. “Girl, you had a hole in the fence not far from here.”
Shelly looked up from the small trunk she was kneeling in front of. “Yeah, I know. Scares the shit out of me, too. If they come in here to get something, what will I do?” She sat down on her butt and waved at the small trunk. “I was just looking for something to use as protection.”
“What in the name of Methuselah’s grandma are you talking about?”
Jug’s voice from behind her made her gasp and spin around. “Dude, you have to announce yourself.” Fleur bent over and grasped her knees. “Holy hell, I’m going to die of a heart attack.”
Jug was not impressed by her drama and dismissed her comments, saying, “Yeah, sorry.” He sure didn’t sound it as far as Fleur was concerned. He turned to Shelly. “What are you talking about?”
“The hole in the fence.” Shelly pointed toward the back wall of the tent. “About ten feet in that direction. ”
Jug spun and walked out of the tent. “Did you hear him come in?” Fleur still had her hand on her heart because the man had scared the daylights out of her.
“No. He’s awful quiet for a big guy, isn’t he?”
Fleur widened her eyes. “Yeah. Anyway, you can sleep in my tent. We can move your stuff over.”
“I might.” Shelly shut her trunk and extended her hand. Fleur grabbed it and helped her up. “I like being here, though, in case someone needs me at night. It saves time.”
They walked into the clinic area, and Fleur sat on the exam table. “I was going to tell Ronan about the cut in the fence as soon as I made sure you weren’t freaking out, but I guess I don’t need to do that now.”
Jug walked back in. His expression was dark, and his jaw looked like he was grinding his teeth. He looked at Shelly and said, “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
She lifted her arms in the air. “When was I supposed to do that? This is the first time I’ve seen you today.”
Jug’s eyes narrowed even further, and he turned his accusing look at her. Fleur shook her head and held up her hands. “I just found out and came over to see if Shelly was okay. She’s not. She’s looking for a weapon.”
“Fleur!”
“Well, it’s the truth!” Fleur defended herself.
Jug’s frown deepened. “A weapon?”
“I sleep here,” Shelly said, which explained everything.
“Why?” Jug said. “Why don’t you have a tent?”
“Because it’s stupid to have a tent all to myself when the people here are sleeping on the ground out in the open. Both of us gave up our tents.”
“But my cousin sent me a small two-man tent. She can stay with me.” Fleur thought that would make the big guy happy, but … no …
“This is unacceptable.” Jug shook his head. “I’ll sleep out here so you can stay.”
“What?” both women said at the same time.
“You need to be here for the people of the camp, right? That’s why you’re set up back there.”
“Well, yeah.” Shelly frowned.
He pointed to the far corner. “I’ll sleep there. Nobody will bother you or your supplies. I guaran-fucking-tee it.”
Shelly shook her head. “I can’t ask you to do that. ”
“You didn’t. I’m off watch at eleven. I won’t disturb you.” He turned and walked out of the tent.
Fleur turned her wide-eyed gaze at her friend. “Well, that kind of settles that, doesn’t it?”
“Holy shit, he’s intense, isn’t he?”
“Ah, yeah.” Fleur cocked her head and looked at her friend. “Your crush is going to be sleeping with you.”
Shelly blinked and then laughed. “No, not with me.”
Fleur lifted her hands and teased. “Same tent.”
“Stop.” Shelly’s face turned red. “You know nothing can happen. There’s no privacy here.”
“Believe me, I know.” She pulled her braid over her shoulder and started messing with it.
Shelly smiled. “Girl, do you have something to share?”
Fleur couldn’t hide the smile that spread across her face. “He kissed me, and I almost died. He’s …” She fanned herself.
Shelly gasped. “Oh, wow.” Her eyes went to the empty doorway. “I can’t imagine what it would be like to have a moment or two with a gorgeous man. It’s been forever.”
“Years.” Fleur sighed .
“Yep,” Shelly agreed, and they looked at each other.
“We’re complete messes, aren’t we?” Fleur asked.
“Total wrecks.”
“They’ll only be here for two months or so.”
“Then we go back to the States,” Shelly agreed.
“Are you going to take another tour with your NGO?”
Shelly shook her head. “Not right away.”
“Hot showers,” Fleur said dreamily.
“Fast food,” Shelly added.
“A glass of cold wine.”
“Oh, man, air conditioning,” Shelly added and sighed. “I love what I do here, but maybe it’s time to refill the well.”
“I think you may be right.” She’d fulfilled her contract obligations. It was probably time to return to the States and find a job there. She could probably impose on her cousin until she found a job and got an apartment.
“Dr. Shelly?”
A voice at the tent entrance broke them out of their silent reverie. “Come in,” Shelly greeted. “Got to go.”
“I’m outta here.” Fleur jumped down from the exam table. “Have fun tonight. ”
“Stop,” Shelly reprimanded her as she met the little girl and one of the shelter workers. Fleur headed to the admin tent and found Rana. She called the woman out to speak with her.
Rana lifted an eyebrow when she saw her. “What are you up to now?”
Fleur laughed. “Nothing diabolical. Tammara was wondering if you could help translate during the group sessions. She gets most of the context but thinks she’s missing things, which bothers her.”
“I can, but who will …” Rana glanced back at the registration table.
“I’ll relieve you or free up someone if I’m busy.” She shrugged. “The word seems to have gotten out that we’re closing. We don’t have the masses of people we used to have.”
Rana nodded. “This is true. I’ll talk to Tammara tonight and find out where she is meeting and when I’m needed.”
“Perfect. Once you get that settled, let me know. I think I still remember how to fill out the registration forms.” She winked at her friend.
Rana smiled for a minute, then said. “I’m glad you aren’t meeting the men. Thank you for changing your mind.”
“Shelly told you. ”
“Of course, she did,” Rana said. “I don’t feel bad about talking to her. You were putting yourself in danger needlessly.”
“I agree … now.” She glanced over to where the Americans were camped. “They’re working hard to get the convoys going again.”
“Did you notice the militia are actually at their posts today?” Rana nodded toward the posts outside the perimeter of the camp.
“Not surprising. The Americans are fierce.” Which reminded her that she needed to ask Ronan what had happened at his morning meeting.
“And handsome,” Rana said, lifting an eyebrow.
“Are they?” Fleur batted her eyes comically. “I hadn’t noticed.”
Rana laughed and shook her head. “I’m going to finish my forms. I’ll bring them by the tent before I go find Tammara.”
“Thank you.” Fleur headed back to her tent. She wasn’t sure when Ronan would be available for dinner and didn’t want to interrupt his work. She glanced up at the sky. How was it possible that the arrival of a small team of men could change so much?