Chapter 6
SABBY
F riday was one of the late nights for the bowling alley, a night when the alley stayed open until eleven and Sabby did a lot of business.
She didn't mind, it meant that she wasn't the only worker at the alley, and it was more interesting than when she could count the number of patrons on her hands.
She was surprised though when Jess came in at eight.
While her sister wasn't a frequent patron of the alley, Jess would sometimes come in on a Friday night to hang out with her sister, often scarfing as much "dirty bulk" food as she could get her hands on before her weekend long rest period.
But normally Jess was in earlier, not much later than seven or seven thirty.
And judging by the way Jess groaned as she sort of half waddled, half old lady walked her way up to the counter and leaned on it, her elbows firmly on the smooth acrylic coated top, Sabby could guess why Jess was late.
"Why do I think I can do this?"
"Because you still think that you should be the strongest person in your squad even though you've got that moose Bron in there with you," Sabby said with a grin, putting a soda down in front of her sister. "Here. Drink up. I assume you've already finished your post-workout recovery?"
"Thanks," Jess replied, lifting the cup and drinking deeply. She drained half of it before setting it down, gasping lightly.
"You need the sugar, and soon enough I'll fill you full of fats and carbs too," Sabby said. "So you went at it hard tonight?"
"Yeah, after my lifting event," Jess said.
Sabby nodded, remembering the few times she'd gone with Jess to her gym.
It was an old warehouse with bare brick walls and black rubber flooring, with regular equipment in the front for casual lifters and a section in the back with specialized equipment for the serious athletes.
"And why did you abandon your training plan for this?" Sabby asked. As long as she'd known her sister, Jess had been methodical about her workouts, planning them with precise attention to detail.
"Just the new doofus in the fireteam," Jess admitted, and Sabby relaxed slightly. "We got delayed getting off work because he got mad, charged in like a damn fool, and the rest of the team paid the price by catching a paint grenade along with getting blasted by crossfire."
"Well I'm glad you're okay," Sabby said before going over and ringing up a pair of games at the register. "So this new guy's still being a pain in the ass, huh?"
"He's got some talent," Jess admitted grudgingly, "his drill sergeants at Benning did a decent job of teaching him the basics. And he's in good shape. But dammit he's hard headed."
Sabby laughed. "Yeah, Manheim came in and told me a bit about it. Said that Hollywood doesn't seem all that bad, just a bit green. Isn't green good in the Army?"
Jess snorted, shaking her head. "Not in my fireteam it isn't."
"Also said that you just need to relax, you're pushing yourself too hard," Sabby added.
"You don't need to prove yourself the biggest badass every day, Jess.
You've earned your spot, and if you don't take your foot off the gas a little bit, you're going to burn yourself out.
You're also going to burn your team out. "
"Manheim said that, huh?" Jess asked.
Sabby shrugged. "He said you were trying to re-prove yourself constantly. That being a woman in infantry, you're worried about people not giving you credit for your achievements."
Sabby knew better than to share Brian's comment that Jess could be a bit of a bitch on duty. Still, her sister scoffed.
"Easy for Manheim to say. He's a Sergeant First Class, and he's already got enough accomplishments that he doesn't need to prove a damn thing to anyone. The man's basically waiting on a slot to open up for him to become a First Sergeant."
"It's not all easy for him," Sabby pointed out. "I mean, think about what he's been through in the past year."
Jess nodded, taking a deep breath. "I know. And I'm not saying that Manheim's got it easy. I'd never want to lose someone the way he lost his wife," she said. "And I'm glad that he seems to be coming through it okay. But I still feel pressures he doesn't. He can't."
"Well, how about you tell me more about this new guy, Hollywood," Sabby said, not wanting to get into comparing who had more troubles, Jess or Brian Manheim. She'd prefer to not have either set of issues, in her opinion.
"Hollywood... like I said, he's got some talent," Jess said, "but he's a gentleman-ranker."
"A what?"
"A college boy who could have, hell, probably should have gone through Reserve Officers' Training Corps or something and become an officer," Jess explained.
"With a degree in math of all things. I mean, with a degree like that, he could have maybe even gone straight to Officer Candidate School or warrant officer school.
Space Force probably would have straight up pinned some butter bars on him and made him some sort of geek analyst. I wouldn't have been surprised.
But he signs up to become a grunt of all things. "
Jess paused, her brow furrowing in thought. "And he still approaches everything like he's solving a problem set. It's like he thinks everything should fall into place if he just follows the right steps. That doesn't sit right with some of the lower enlisted."
"Is he getting bullied?" Sabby asked, concerned. "I didn't think you allowed that, Jess."
"No... although I had to privately pull Tom Franklin aside and tell him to back off on the country boy bullshit," Jess admitted.
"I'm not exactly a fan of the man's music choices either.
But Franklin needs to keep his critiques of Hollywood to duty level shit.
What a man chooses in music isn't my concern. "
"I sense a big 'but' coming," Sabby said, and Jess nodded.
"Hollywood's got all the tools," Jess replied, "but he charges too hard, tries to look too perfect, tries to be... it's hard to put a finger on it."
She drummed her fingers on the counter, searching for the right words.
"He acts like the job is a game with set rules.
Move here, shoot there, problem solved. But combat isn't like that.
It's messy, unpredictable. He seems to feel like right is right, wrong is wrong, and rank doesn't matter in that regard.
That attitude's either going to get him promoted quickly. .. or run right out of the Army."
"Is that good for you and the Army?" Sabby asked. "I mean, I remember the last guy who you got rid of. From what everyone said, he was a bad apple. It's too bad you couldn't just kick him out of the service, I heard."
"I wish I could have, and I don't know yet," Jess admitted.
"Hollywood's a natural leader, he's charismatic, and even though he doesn't know it, I have a problem staying on his ass.
At least when he's not fucking up, I actually sort of like the guy.
But it doesn't matter, he's in a position where he can't lead yet, and isn't deserving of it anyway. You know the old saying I've told you."
"Yeah, I know. To be a good leader, you first have to be a good follower," Sabby sing-songed, making Jess laugh.
"So why not see about getting him into officer's school?
He sounds like he'd make a good one, and you've told me second lieutenants are sort of like puppies anyway.
Until they get housebroken, they tend to chew things up, but they're so cute you can't help but follow them around and help them out. "
"Shhh!" Jess replied, laughing. "Jesus bitch, you're going to get me in trouble saying shit like that!"
"What? You're off duty."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that's the sort of things officers like to hear," Jess whispered.
"Fuck, all it takes is some officer hearing that, and calling the battalion.
Then Colonel Remsburg talks to Major Kota, they call Major Kirk, Kirk calls Lieutenant Parker into his office, and eventually the whole shitball rolls back onto me.
Piss off my entire chain of command? No thanks. "
"So send Hollywood to officer's school."
Jess laughed. "He's too good to be condemned to becoming an officer, and I get the vibe that he doesn't want to be one anyway. Nah, I'll figure it out. I just don't want to break him in the process. Or worse, break the team."
"I can understand that," Sabby said, watching Jess closely. There was something in her sister's voice when she talked about Hollywood, a subtle tension that suggested more complex feelings than simple irritation. "So what's gotta happen?"
"He's going to have to earn some respect," Jess said. "First from the rest of the fire team after today's fuckup, and then from me."
Sabby laughed. "Tall order from such a short woman. What about Franklin?"
"I'll deal with Franklin if I have to," Jess said, "but really Hollywood's going to have to learn to deal with him too. Country music and all."
"Well, it could be worse," Sabby said. "I mean, imagine if Hollywood liked that country redneck shit too?"
Sabby laughed at her own question. Then again, this new guy sounded like a handful for Jess. An in-shape nerd, probably with glasses, and a big mouth.
Throwing country boy on top of that would have just been too much.
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