made a guy feel good.
He sat on his rack and glanced over. "What'd you get?"
"All sorts of shit. It's like Trish bought out the store." Zippy pawed through the sizable box.
Trish. That piqued Crash's interest in the box further. "Yeah? Anything good?" Christ, that had sounded a little too interested.
Zippy starting unloading the contents onto the desk. "Peanut butter. Crackers. A couple of DVDs. Box of cookies."
"Oh, that's nice." The cloud of disappointment darkened over Crash.
"Here." Zippy turned and tossed a smaller box toward Crash.
As it came sailing across the room, Crash reached out and caught it between his fingertips. "What's this?"
"I don't know. Open it. It's got your name on it."
His eyes widened when he turned the box in his hands and saw it did indeed have his name written on it in bold black marker. CRASH. Nothing else, but he knew who it had to be from.
"Trish sent me something?"
"I guess so." Zippy didn't look surprised or suspicious. He was too busy tearing through the rest of the box.
If Zippy wasn't concerned that Trish was sending Crash things, then Crash figured he needn't worry. He couldn't beat down the excitement as he tore the packing tape off and opened the flaps of the cardboard box. He smiled at what he saw on top. A note, in handwriting he didn't recognize because they'd never written to each other before. Strange that he knew the feel, the taste, the scent of this girl, but had never seen her writing until now.
Crash.
I remembered you said you liked these so I thought I'd send some along. FYI, don't know how you can eat that stuff!
Trish
He peered into the box and found half a dozen cans of sardines, a box of crackers and a bag of beef jerky. His favorite snacks on earth. They'd talked about food that weekend they were together. He remembered she'd made the funniest face when he mentioned the sardines. He'd teased her because she'd never even tried one, but had already decided she hated them.
His heart clenched as he tried not to make more of it than there was. She'd been sending stuff to her brother. She'd probably just thrown this in as an afterthought.
The falseness of his rationalization echoed through him. Trish had remembered their conversation. She'd taken the time to search out and find exactly the things she knew he liked. This was no afterthought.
"That was real nice of Trish. If you're on with her later and I'm not here, tell her thanks from me."
Zippy had a habit of logging into Skype while Crash was at the gym. Or sometimes while Crash ate at the chow hall, Zippy would come back to the can for a nap or to call home on the computer. Crash had been in the room only once while Zippy had been online with Trish, but even that brief glimpse of her on the monitor and the sound of her voice had brought back vivid memories of that weekend.
"All right. Will do." Zippy's flip answer didn't seem like enough. Besides the fact Crash didn't trust him to remember.
Crash wanted to thank this amazing woman properly. "You know what, give me her email so I can say thanks myself."
"Okay. Whatever." Zippy shrugged. "Remind me later when I'm online and I'll shoot you her email address."
"A'ight." Crash blew out a breath. The deception was starting to wear on him.
Otherwise occupied, Zippy didn't seem suspicious at all. That was good, because as he peeked inside his box again at the odd assortment of things she'd sent him, and then at the note on the mattress next to him, Crash couldn't help his goofy grin.
CHAPTER 10
Camp Leatherneck/Bastion
Helmand Province, Afghanistan
August 2013
Crash pushed through the door of his CLU mid morning to find Zippy on the computer for his usual lunchtime break.
Guiltily, Crash glanced at the screen to see if Zippy was online with his sister. Crash and Trish had exchanged a few casual emails over the past few weeks. Him thanking her. Her responding and asking how he was. Him replying.
Nothing serious, nothing much, but enough contact to keep
He sat on his rack and glanced over. "What'd you get?"
"All sorts of shit. It's like Trish bought out the store." Zippy pawed through the sizable box.
Trish. That piqued Crash's interest in the box further. "Yeah? Anything good?" Christ, that had sounded a little too interested.
Zippy starting unloading the contents onto the desk. "Peanut butter. Crackers. A couple of DVDs. Box of cookies."
"Oh, that's nice." The cloud of disappointment darkened over Crash.
"Here." Zippy turned and tossed a smaller box toward Crash.
As it came sailing across the room, Crash reached out and caught it between his fingertips. "What's this?"
"I don't know. Open it. It's got your name on it."
His eyes widened when he turned the box in his hands and saw it did indeed have his name written on it in bold black marker. CRASH. Nothing else, but he knew who it had to be from.
"Trish sent me something?"
"I guess so." Zippy didn't look surprised or suspicious. He was too busy tearing through the rest of the box.
If Zippy wasn't concerned that Trish was sending Crash things, then Crash figured he needn't worry. He couldn't beat down the excitement as he tore the packing tape off and opened the flaps of the cardboard box. He smiled at what he saw on top. A note, in handwriting he didn't recognize because they'd never written to each other before. Strange that he knew the feel, the taste, the scent of this girl, but had never seen her writing until now.
Crash.
I remembered you said you liked these so I thought I'd send some along. FYI, don't know how you can eat that stuff!
Trish
He peered into the box and found half a dozen cans of sardines, a box of crackers and a bag of beef jerky. His favorite snacks on earth. They'd talked about food that weekend they were together. He remembered she'd made the funniest face when he mentioned the sardines. He'd teased her because she'd never even tried one, but had already decided she hated them.
His heart clenched as he tried not to make more of it than there was. She'd been sending stuff to her brother. She'd probably just thrown this in as an afterthought.
The falseness of his rationalization echoed through him. Trish had remembered their conversation. She'd taken the time to search out and find exactly the things she knew he liked. This was no afterthought.
"That was real nice of Trish. If you're on with her later and I'm not here, tell her thanks from me."
Zippy had a habit of logging into Skype while Crash was at the gym. Or sometimes while Crash ate at the chow hall, Zippy would come back to the can for a nap or to call home on the computer. Crash had been in the room only once while Zippy had been online with Trish, but even that brief glimpse of her on the monitor and the sound of her voice had brought back vivid memories of that weekend.
"All right. Will do." Zippy's flip answer didn't seem like enough. Besides the fact Crash didn't trust him to remember.
Crash wanted to thank this amazing woman properly. "You know what, give me her email so I can say thanks myself."
"Okay. Whatever." Zippy shrugged. "Remind me later when I'm online and I'll shoot you her email address."
"A'ight." Crash blew out a breath. The deception was starting to wear on him.
Otherwise occupied, Zippy didn't seem suspicious at all. That was good, because as he peeked inside his box again at the odd assortment of things she'd sent him, and then at the note on the mattress next to him, Crash couldn't help his goofy grin.
CHAPTER 10
Camp Leatherneck/Bastion
Helmand Province, Afghanistan
August 2013
Crash pushed through the door of his CLU mid morning to find Zippy on the computer for his usual lunchtime break.
Guiltily, Crash glanced at the screen to see if Zippy was online with his sister. Crash and Trish had exchanged a few casual emails over the past few weeks. Him thanking her. Her responding and asking how he was. Him replying.
Nothing serious, nothing much, but enough contact to keep
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