Illoia was sitting on a bunk in ‘her’ dorm, a bunk currently unused because it’s occupant was busy simming, busy re-arranging ‘her’ OOB, when she became aware of a particular presence, out of all the chaos around her, and looked up to see the two buddy-taped lads standing in front of her.
“Ma’am,” the lad with the free right hand said, saluting. “Reporting as ordered.”
“… As ordered?” she asked, confused.
“Yes, Ma’am,” the other lad said. “Hero Tomirosh, he commed us and said we were to report to you today, as he was busy.”
Tom was busy, she knew that. Some kind of mandatory ‘all leaders’ meeting regarding new army regulations or some such. She hadn’t known she was to handle the daily meeting with the buddy taped lads though. He probably didn’t think it was very important and so had pawned it off on her… No. He probably thought it was very important, and that it was also very important that she learnt to do things like this. That would be just like him.
“Very well,” she said, trying to imitate Tom’s tone. “Let me see… how have your scores been doing?”
“We have been improving on all of our scores,” the one with the free right hand, the lower class lad, said with a hint of a grin. “Our running is doing much better.”
“It took us a while to learn to run with our hands taped,” the other lad said, swinging their joint hand as if running. “Our shooting has also been improving, altho not as quickly.”
“Your’s has,” the other lad insisted.
“That’s because I am having to learn to do it with my left hand, so my first scores were so terrible,” the other lad replied. “You’re doing better too.”
“How do you two do the obstacle course?” Illoia asked, more out of curiosity than anything.
“Oh, it changed it for us!” the middle class lad said. “It not only made it wider…”
“But it added some new stuff, stuff that is hard for us, that we have to get around when, you know, taped together,” the other lad finished, holding up their joint hand.”
“Very well, and what have you… how does he put this question?”
The lower class lad flushed, “What has being taped together taught us?” he finished for her. “Well, we’re not exactly sure what he meant it to teach us…”
“I don’t know either,” Illoia confessed. “But when he was buddy taped…”
“He was buddy taped?!” the middle class lad blurted out.
“Please excuse the interruption, Ma’am,” the other lad said, poking the first lad in the ribs… which lad quickly repeated his words.
“Oh, yes, he was,” Illoia said, ignoring the by-play. “Back when he was just your age, or so I understand. Not for the same reason… I don’t think he had an issue with Article I.”
“Certainly not, Ma’am!” the middle class lad said, his eyes wide.
“But he didn’t have your problem, either,” Illoia said. “He wasn’t a snitch.”
The lower class lad's eyes had grown a bit hard when the other lad had said ‘Certainly not’, but at these words both of the lads flushed and grew still. “He was… well, he had a hard time growing up… a hard life. I can’t share it all…”
The lads both shook their heads and Illoia noticed that several other rankers, and even one Mid Ranker’s wife were surreptitiously listening to the conversation. “But he had had a hard life and didn’t really know all of the right things to say, socially. He still doesn’t, for that matter, much of the time. And another lad was teasing him about it. So his leader buddy taped them.”
Much of the room was now silent, so the middle class lad's next comment seemed very loud. “What… what did he learn, Ma’am? From being buddy taped, I mean.”
“He learned a lot about how to deal with other people,” Illoia said. “But I think his partner may have learned even more. His partner learned that it was better to help someone get better at, you know, social stuff, than to tease them. They became really good friends, as I understand it. I hope I will get to meet that other lad… well, he’s not a lad anymore.”
Everyone laughed a bit at that, and then the silence stretched…
“I think I’ve been learning the same thing, or something of the same thing,” the lower class lad said. “Charles, here… can’t even imagine someone from my burg going by the name ‘Charles’, can I? Charles here is the kind of kid that we would have made fun of, back home. Would…” he flushed…” would break the articles around him just to see him turn all red and run back home to Mamma. Not going to work in the Army, I think.”
“I…” Charles said. “I’m still not sure quite what I am supposed to be learning, but I think I am learning it.”
“Learning to work together, aren’t you?” Lassin said. “Learning to sit and play and talk with us and not go off and read all the time?”
“Yes…” Charles said. “Do you think that is what Hero Tomirosh wants me to learn, Ma’am?”
“Well, I can’t just give you the answer, can I?” she said. “But I can’t see how that can be a bad thing to learn. Lassin here makes a good point. In the Army lots of different people have to learn to work together. Upper class, lower class…”
“Not many uppers in the Army, Ma’am,” Lassin put in, and then flushed at interrupting.
“Not too many,” she admitted. “But some, like me, get drug in. And I think I heard that one of the other leaders is from an upper class background?”
“Leader Gregory, Ma’am,” Charles said. “One of the best, so I’ve heard. Five children, married as a ranker.”
“And there will be lots of middle class lads as well, whose parents aren’t rich enough to buy exceptions… or who are must very patriotic. So I guess we all need to learn to get together and work together.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Lassin said.
“Well, I can’t think of anything else to ask you,” Illoia admitted, “So I guess our meeting is over. I’ll see you tomorrow, lads.”
Lassin saluted and the two left, only getting a few steps before Charles leaned over and whispered urgently in Lassin’s ear, who nodded and whispered back. Well, that seemed to be working.
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Von also writes as ‘Arthur Yeomans’. Under that name he writes children’s, YA, and adult fiction from a Christian perspective. His books include:
The Bobtails meet the Preacher’s Kid
and
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Thanks again, God Bless, Soli Deo gloria,
Von