Down the hall, she could hear Mahoney yelping. There was a roaring sound, and Linda realized that Kordy was giving his drunken squad member a very strong, very cold shower to try and get him washed up and possibly a little less drunk.
Linda shook her head, and picked up the King book again. Her stomach did a slow roll, and she set the book aside for a moment, taking deep breaths before it settled down and she picked up the book again. Maybe, just maybe, she could get through most of the story before the end of her shift.
22
BRUTUS
"Welcome home," Brutus greeted Linda as she came through the door of the house.
Sure, it wasn't really home, but after the past week of seeing her come in from duty, it felt homey for sure.
He was freshly showered and shaved, having started his Saturday with a light workout. He'd made sure to be ready for Linda, wanting to make her feel welcome and cared for after her shift.
He'd had the idea of snuggling her to sleep, but one look at her face as she came through the door put all that aside immediately.
"What happened?" he asked Linda, taking her hand and leading her over to the recliner. "Here, get comfortable, sit back. I'll get your boots."
Linda nodded, unzipping her top and sitting down in her brown t-shirt while Brutus knelt down in front of her, untying her boots and easing them off. Reaching up, he cupped her calves through her trousers before easing her socks off, setting them next to her boots before he started massaging her calves again. She kept so much tension and stress in her calves, some days Brutus swore the woman had rocks in her lower legs.
Linda hummed. "That feels good."
"I figured you'd enjoy it, I remember how my feet ached after a day in combat boots," Brutus said. "Although I've still got mine. Really useful for yard work."
Linda chuckle. "I bet."
"So what happened?" Brutus repeated. "You look more than tired."
"You're paying a lot of attention to me," Linda said with a small smile. "It really was nothing. About midnight one of the soldiers came back to the barracks drunk. Started pissing on the basketball court."
Brutus made a face. "Yuck."
"When I went out to get him to go back inside it got… physical," Linda said softly.
Brutus's hands stopped. Noticing, she looked down at him and shook her head.
"I'm okay, Brutus. He was drunk, I ended up hitting him with an elbow to the head, and his squad leader was there a minute later to take care of business the rest of the way."
"The son of a bitch wasn't arrested?" he asked. "Why?"
Linda shook her head. "Because it was a drunk enlisted soldier, not a big deal. Yeah, he was a little gropey, tried to push his cock against my butt, but I…”
"He what?" Brutus recoiled in anger. "He…"
"Brutus, stop," Linda said firmly. "Look, I'm not saying it's all good. Yeah, it's sticking with me a little. And for about an hour or two, I had a few flashbacks to what happened to me in Bayamon. But his squad leader's handling it, and I guarantee you that this kid's going to regret what he did by the time he transfers out of here. He'll learn his lesson, and he'll be able to make a change to himself and his life. That's a lot better than getting arrested, court martialed, and given a Big Chicken Dinner which'll haunt him for the rest of his life."
"Big Chicken Dinner?" Brutus asked, and Linda nodded. "What's that?"
"A Bad Conduct Discharge. It's... not good. It would ruin his life."
"I… still, it pisses me off to think of anyone touching you that way," Brutus admitted. "Linda, I know you're a warrior, but still, you're my girlfriend. Only person I want touching you is me. Well, and yourself."
Linda leaned back in her chair, nodding tiredly. "I know."
"Is there anything I can do?" he asked, knowing it was a silly question as soon as it came out of his mouth. "Never mind."
"It's handled, but there might be a few tough times up ahead. Like I said, I had some flashbacks, and we haven't talked about what happened to me in Bayamon, but… I might need to talk about it."
Brutus swallowed, and nodded. "I'm ready to talk, to listen, to… whatever. What can I do to help you?"
