Chapter 3

Cam

Mrs. Hyndley arrived on the dot and I showed her where everything was for Emmy who had luckily gone sound asleep already. I kissed my fingers and touched her forehead as I left her in the capable hands of Myra.

“Just call my cell if you need me,” I said.

“Go on, go and have fun, Emmy is safe with me,” she replied as she placed her knitting bag on the couch.

I left the house and walked to my car. This was a new experience, well new in the past two years since Stacey died.

God, I hope I can handle it.

I headed off the base and made the short drive toward Mikey's house. I turned into the division where Mikey lived and could instantly tell it was a community of enlisted SEALs who lived off base. All the vehicles were four-by-fours, and the motorcycles that sat on the driveway, were surreal.

I could see these SEALs spent more money and effort on their play-things than they did on their homes. The houses themselves looked pretty non-descript, and were just basic, two-story homes, mostly subsidized for Navy personnel. So no real effort was placed on design features.

I had the car window down and could hear the music before I spotted Mikey’s house. He was lucky that it was in a Navy housing division, or there could be cops all over the place.

I parked the car down the street away from the multitude of cars that were parked at all angles toward the end of the road. As I walked toward the house, I saw what my younger days had been like. The front drive was full of girls clad in bikini tops and the smallest shorts I had ever seen; they looked eye-popping. Fuck, they were hot.

I entered the house and fought my way through SEALs holding cans in one hand and a girl on the other. It looked like testosterone was on tap this evening.

I could see the back of Owen’s head, so I headed in his direction and entered the kitchen.

“Attention!” I screamed into his ear.

Owen turned to me and shouted above the din of the music. “Well, look what we have here, ladies and gentlemen. The living legend. The one and only Cam Cross.”

“Hooyah,” the kitchen erupted in unison and beer cans were held aloft.

“I’m glad you made it, I needed some company,” Owen said. He handed me a beer.

“It’s been a while. I had forgotten how rowdy these sort of parties were,” I replied as I cracked open my can.

“You need to mingle, loosen up a bit,” Owen said, patting me on the shoulder and vanished deeper into the house.

As soon as I saw Mikey’s house, I noticed it was much bigger than the others. The difference in pay grade had definitely made a difference to him, and he would have a huge amount of cleaning to do in the morning, the way things looked. And, it was still early.

I walked around the living room and the dining area and chatted with a few guys from the base. Then, I noticed Owen outside by the pool, becoming acquainted with a pair of shorts and a bikini top that were sparsely attached to a chick.

I banged on the large glass window, but Owen never heard me. So, I left the living room and walked down the side of the pool to where he was. I stood next to them and the girl locked her eyes onto mine, made her excuses and left for a while.

“Owen, what the fuck are you doing man?” I asked as I placed my hand on his shoulder.

“Cam, it's not like you think it is,” he replied.

“Well, that’s not how it looked to me. Have you not forgotten what you have going on at home?” I asked in my warning voice.

“Cam, Madison had an affair while I was overseas,” he replied with his head bowed slightly.

“Aargh Fuck, man. I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was that bad, but doing this while you’re going through a separation isn’t going to help your cause.”

“It’s killing me, man. I have given everything, and I get this shit dumped on me,” he said.

“I have no idea how you feel. I have never been in that situation,” I said trying to choose my words.

Owen stood tall. “If it is good enough for her, it’s good enough for me. Call it payback.”

I have never seen Owen sound this down.

“Once you head down this road, you know there isn’t any going back,” I said, glancing over my shoulder.

“Cam, this won’t affect anything, it’s over,” Owen said with clear heartbreak in his eyes.

“It isn’t over till the fat lady sings. I’m sure you can work it out. Loads of couples go through separations and then make it work,” I said as I held my head close to Owen’s ear.

“Not this time, it is really fucked. Kelly has filed for a divorce. I got served the papers last week,” Owen said with glazed eyes.

Owen told me everything, and I could really feel for him. He was a natural tough guy out in the field, but this situation, with his separation and impending divorce, had just rendered him useless. He looked broken, and this behavior appeared to be a way of proving his manhood to himself.

“I’m sorry for making that crack about your ex babysitting this afternoon. Fuck, if I had of known, I would have said things a bit differently.” I ushered Owen toward the table full of beer.

“Here’s to a fucked up life, and a bitch of a wife,” Owen called out. He raised his can in a toast.

“Whatever, but I got your back,” I said as we touched cans.

We stood and chatted some more about his situation, and I got to know how cut up Owen was about the situation. And he adored Kelly, and she appeared to love him. Maybe it was just too much for him to go through on his last tour. Maybe she’d had enough. Owen, I could see, had put on a brave face, but his emotional wounds ran deep inside of him.

As we chatted, his newly found girl strutted back to us and placed her hands on Owen’s armS she smiled at me and batted her eyelids, so I made a swift exit.

Damn, that girl looks the spitting image of Kelly. He's gonna make himself ill.

I headed back into the kitchen and picked at some of the food which was on the table. I watched all the SEALs getting rowdy as they partied like only SEALs can. I thought back to my past and wild nights like this. I had been one hell of a party animal, Owen and I just blazed our way through them. Had it not been for Stacey, I would have probably ended up in so much trouble. She used to let me explore my wild side, but she tugged me back into line and drove me home when she could see I had enough.

Those days had long passed, and I had a new woman in my life to keep me on the straight and narrow. Emmy couldn’t talk much, but she made me see a lot of sense, and I had promised myself and the memory of Stacey… I would never let anything harm her, no matter what it cost me.

I placed my empty can in the trash and heard a commotion from the bottom of the stairs. The music faded and the shouting got louder. I headed through the dining area doorway and could see a circle of people standing there. I forced my way through to see what was going on.

Well, would you believe it, the Admiral’s daughter?

I could see the back of the guy, and he had hold of Katie's arm as she screamed at him to let her go.

“You’re a fucking tease,” he shouted as he pulled on her arm.

“Just fucking let go of me, you asshole!” Katie replied.

I could see the guy was nearly six feet tall and Katie was tiny in comparison. She would have no way of defending herself against someone so big. I looked around at the group of people; they all watching as if it was entertainment. I could even see cell phones recording the event. I started to see red; no guy should ever treat a woman this way, no matter what they had done.

“You’re all talk. You make yourself look a wild child all the time, but it’s just bullshit,” the guy said.

He started to turn and I could see he was from the base. Peter Drake; he had been fast-tracked up to Junior Officer in charge of Charlie-Five platoon. He had proved himself to be handy in a battle scenario, but he had come from a wealthy family, and it had been his dad’s money that bought his position. I was sure of it.

I watched as they argued more, and I could see, if he did not let her go anytime soon, I was going to shove that silver spoon he was born with right up his ass.

“You’re a total dick! You know that, Peter?” Katie shouted.

“I do love a good screamer,” Peter yelled as he pulled her toward the stairs.

I placed my hand on his shoulder and pulled him to face me. “Let her go,” I commanded.

Peter faced me. “Well, if it isn’t the real life Captain America come to save the day again.”

“You heard me, just let her go and go home,” I said.

“Always the God-damned hero. Do you never get tired of saving people?” he asked, trying to stand up to me.

“You're only going to make a fool of yourself,” I replied. I sensed he was going to attempt to take this further.

Try it and see how far you get, jerk-off.

“You're just as full of shit as she is, you’re a fucking coward. You took an easy job training the cadets instead of manning up again and getting on the field,” he replied offensively.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about; you know shit,” I replied.

I had not been at the top of all my classes and become a certified war hero twice for nothing. I had an inbuilt desire and the urgency to protect my country, including the ones closest to me or the people in need. No piece-of-shit rich kid was ever going to make me see differently.

And it was unfortunate for Peter. This just happened to be one of those very moments where I did what I did best; I protected.

Peter pulled his arm back and lunged forward with his fist. I had seen this move five minutes earlier and had stood in proximity to him on purpose. He had no power, and his aim was off. I ducked to the side as his attempted punch just pushed a fist past my ear. As I stood, I followed through with my elbow and could feel his nose shatter as I struck his face dead center.

“Sayonara motherfucker,” I murmured as I watched Peter fall back with his arms outstretched, blood pouring from his nose.

I never looked for trouble, but in a scene like this, it always found me. I never made a show by fighting. I did what was necessary to end it as quickly and clean as possible. Peter found out the hard way; and this shit was gonna be posted all over the internet, again.

Sorry, Stacey, she needed my help.

I stepped over his unconscious body and could hear the murmurs from the ring of SEALs and women who stood in silence.

“Did you see that shit,” a voice said.

“Damn, I’m never going to upset that dude,” another voice whispered.

“Who is that guy?” I heard one voice.

“This, my friends, is the one and only living legend, Cam Cross,” Owen said as he stood looking at Peter sprawled on the floor.

“Come on Katie, I’m gonna take you home,” I said, taking her arm.

As my hand touched her, something inside of me stirred to life.

It should not be like this.

Katie looked up at me as she tried to free her arm. “Like hell you are!”

I ushered Katie from the bottom of the stairs into the front garden.

“You’re not my dad or have anything to do with me. What gives you the right?” she bawled at me.

“Don’t you think you have been in enough trouble tonight?” I asked. I walked down the path, pulling on her arm to make her see sense.

“I said it to him and I will say it to you. Let go of my fucking arm,” she screamed.

“There is no need to make a scene. Tonight is over, trust me!” I stood between Katie and the house.

“You think you now have the right to order me about?” she spat at me. “Well, think again.”

God, she looked divine.

I had heard rumors about Katie being a wild child, but I had my doubts. If she was wild, she would have dragged Peter’s sorry ass up the stairs and fucked the living shit out of him. She was feisty though, and would make any man think she was just out for a good time.

“Katie, listen to me. I’m not ordering you; I’m just telling you it is better for you to go home now,” I said.

“What happens if I don’t want to go?” she asked with her arms crossed.

“Well, I would have to make you,” I replied as she tried to walk back toward the party.

I grabbed her arm softly, and she started to beat her fists against my body. I could see she had become upset and would argue on everything I said to her. I could see what had to be done, but she wouldn’t like it, and would kick like a mule once I did it.

“Katie, this is your last chance. Let me take you home,” I said.

“If I go, you will have to carry me back. There is no way I’m going to walk,” she said.

I scooped Katie up and threw her over my shoulder. Her legs kicked and she beat her fists on my back. I laughed and held her tight. I walked to my car and the sound of the party faded into the night air, replaced by the sound of Katie sobbing from behind my shoulder.

“Katie, you’re alright with me.”