“Sheley and Smith,” the sergeant calls out. Everyone is
being paired with their battle buddy and Gunther looks around nervous to see
who he has been paired with. A tall man stands up. He looks like he is in his
twenties, but it’s hard to tell when everyone has the same haircut and glasses.
Gunther
walks over to introduce himself. All his limbs are shaking and he feels as if
he is doing the chicken dance while crossing the aisle. Sheley looks calm and
confident as he procedes. He must have
been born into the military, Gunther thinks to himself.
“Ethan
Sheley,” the private states and holds out a steady hand.
Gunther
swallows, “G-Gunther Smith.” He shakes Sheley’s hand in what can only be
described as a dead fish handshake. He swallows hard knowing Sheley must be
dreading this match-up.
Sheley
sits on the bench and Gunther follows suit. He studies his new partner and can’t
help but feel out of place. This was a
mistake. He feels tears well up and a lump forms in his throat. No, stop it! You don’t see your partner getting weepy. Man up!
Gunther
takes a big, albeit shakey, breath and continues to study Ethan’s posture. He
is sitting straight and proper. His uniform is neat and tidy. It as if he didn’t
just spend a bunch of time on the same smelly bus ride over. Gunther shudders
remembering the smell of what can only be described as a bus full of jocks who
forgot to wash their jock straps. Gunther tries to position himself identical to Ethan, but forgets that he is holding his newly issued glasses in his left
hand. He pushes down on the bench with all his might as he re-positions and hears
a gut-wrenching CRUNCH followed by
shards of plastic sprinkling to the ground. Shit.
“Smith,”
a drill sergeant yells and Gunther lets out a horrified shriek. Great, Sheley really did draw the short straw.
Gunther looks up feeling his entire core shake. “Did you just break your
glasses?”
GULP. He just nods. His throat has gone
entirely dry and he fears what might come out if he tries to speak.
Sheley watches the exchange.
“Drop and
give me 50 pushups, private,” the drill sergeant yells at Gunther drawing the
attention of the entire platoon.”
Gunther
slides off the bench and gets in position. Out of the corner of his eye he sees
Ethan move and join him on the cold concrete floor. Gunther looks at the ground
and begins.
“Sheley
stand up! This isn’t your punishment.”
“All
due respect, Sir, but he is my partner and we are in this together. Are we not?”
The
drill sergeant adds another twenty pushups for Sheley’s rebuttal and they
complete the punishment as a team.
Gunther
looks at his battle buddy and hopes to be a man like him by the time he
finishes basic.
