A Promise Kept Ch. 02

"Damn," I gasped, when I was told about the BUD/S class before mine, "That's drop-out rate of well over ninety percent, guys."

"Ns shit, Mike," Sam laughed, good-naturedly teasing me, "That's almost as high as your class's drop out rate," and then continued to chuckle as we made our way to Administrative office where we could talk to the last class's instructors, Lieutenant Bryan Peterson, and Master Chief Keno Kaniakoa...

~~~~~~

"Hey Keno," Brad grinned, as we sat down with him in the conference room while we waited on Lieutenant Bryan Peterson to arrive, "Who was your best man in this class? I need a new swim buddy."

"Yeah, I was real sorry to hear about Johnny Lee," he said, then looked at me and grinned, "Well, I'll be damned, if it isn't Mike Walker. Ya made it, kid. How the hell are ya?"

"Pretty good, Masterchief," I respectfully replied, "Thank you for asking."

"Relax Mike, you're one of us now," Kaniakoa smiled, "Call me Keno, like everyone else around her does, okay?" "Okay, Keno," I widely grinned, as we shook hands, "And you can call me Mike," which brought laughter around the room.

"ATTENTION ON DECK," Sam suddenly shouted, making us all rise to our feet as Lieutenant Bryan Peterson walked into the conference room grinning.

"Come on, you guys," he quietly grinned, eliciting snickers throughout the room, "Knock that shit off, it's just me, as you were, gentlemen," and then we all took our seats.

"I don't believe we've met," Lt. Peterson smiled, his hand extended towards me, "I'm Bryan Peterson, Lieutenant Bryan Peterson."

"Mike Walker," I politely replied, shaking his hand, "Seniorchief Mike Walker, sir."

"It's just plain old Bryan when the big wigs ain't around," he jovially chuckled, "But if White, or any of his people come around, it's sir, or Lieutenant, okay?"

"He's cool, Bryan," Keno grinned, "Besides he's been in the Navy a lot longer than you have and he knows the ropes, sir," he looked over his shoulder out the conference room door and saw Captain Thomas Chamberlain, Senior Director of BUD/S, approaching from down the hall. "You've got brass at your six, Bryan," Keno whispered, "It's Chamberlain."

"ATTENTION ON DECK," Bryan announced, making all of us rise to our feet as Captain Chamberlain walked into the room smiling.

"As you were, gentlemen," he grinned, "What's going on in here, guys?"

"I'm here to recruit a new swim buddy, sir," Brad respectfully replied, "I was going to ask Lieutenant Peterson and Masterchief Kaniakoa for some input."

"I think we might have just the man you're looking for, Masterchief Mullins," he smiled, "And I want you all to feel free to call me Tom, fellas."

"That's fine and dandy, sir," I spoke up, "But you're a Navy Captain, almost a flag officer, sir."

"And if my memory serves me correctly, your name is Seniorchief Mike Walker," he grinned, "I've heard a lot of very good things about you...what do you think Masterchief Mullins should do about choosing his partner? Do you think he should go with the man I'm about to recommend to him, or do you think he should go with his gut instinct and choose his own partner, regardless of my recommendations?"

I thought for a moment, as every eye in the room was upon me. Then after a moment's consideration, I looked Captain Chamberlain directly in the eye and told him, "I mean no disrespect, Captain, but as an active Frog, it's been my experience that listening to your gut keeps you alive in a lot of really tight situations...sir," and the room went deathly silent...

All of a sudden I heard a familiar voice emanating from down the hall, saying, "You now owe me a hundred bucks so; pay up, Tommy boy," and then not ten seconds later I saw Dave's smiling face at the door, laughing like a high-school boy, while Danny came in behind him, laughing so hard that he had tears coming out of his eyes, as he held his stomach, trying to recover his breath from laughing.

"Shit," Tom, chuckled, grinning at me, "I never could get over on that shit head of a C.O. you've got."

"I don't know, Tom," I grinned, "I kinda like having him as a C.O."

"Is that right?" he chuckled, "Why's that?"

"He ain't too hard to work for," I teased, imitating the southern Texas accent I'd heard my whole life, yet refused to use it, "And he also ain't bad fer yer average white boy either."

"You were right, Dave," Tom smiled, standing up and reaching into his wallet to retrieve five twenty dollar bills; and ten handing the money to Dave, he grinned and told him, "I'm damn sure glad that he's fighting on our side. Aren't you?"

"Hell, yeah, Tommy," Dave laughed, "I might've been born at night, but it damn sure wasn't last night..."

~~~~~~

No one had taken leave from BUD/S Class 105 so; everyone was in their barracks room in the UDT Barracks. As far as the quartermaster knew, no one had left the barracks to go off base so; that meant for certain that the whole class was there.

"Rack class on-oh-five out onto the grinder right now," Captain Chamberlain ordered.

"Yes, sir," The Quarter Master grinned, and then laid down on the alert alarm, ringing it three time, and then picking up the microphone that was connected to the public address system that ran throughout the building, he loudly announced, "NOW HEAR THIS, CLASS ONE-OH-FIVE IS ORDERED TO MUSTER ON THE GRINDER NOW!" and then in less than ninety seconds, seventeen bright eyed young men stood on the grinder, with every single one of them wearing their BDU's.

"Class one-oh-five," Tom ordered, "Atteeennntion," and every single man stood as still as a statue at attention.

"Okay, Brad," Tom grinned, "Go find your new swim buddy," and then he stepped away, allowing Brad access to walk among the men.

I watched Brad walk around this group of young men, all of them still fresh, and untainted by the way that doing this type of work makes you feel sometimes. Still though, I thought it was funny as hell watching him call the men out one at a time to talk to them. However, it was even funnier when he first walked up to the men and asked, "Raise your hand if you're an officer," and after three of the men raised their hands, Brad laughed and said, "You're excused, gentlemen, this is for enlisted only so; hit the bricks, sirs," grinning as the three officers quickly hustled away, going back into the UDT barracks.

"Alright, gentlemen," Brad said, to remainder of the group, "Which one of you is the oldest?"

"That would be me, Masterchief," a man said, stepping forward, "I turn thirty-five tomorrow."

"Yeah, right," Brad laughed, "Seriously, how old are you?"

The man said nothing more other than to hand Brad his military I.D. card, verifying that he would, indeed, turn thirty-five the next day.

"According to you I.D., you're name is Chief Petty Officer Mason Leeks," Brad proudly smiled, handing Chief Leeks his ID card back, "So, you're gonna try to tell me that you went through BUD/S at thirty-four?"

"I'm not trying to tell you anything," Leeks grinned, "I'm here, aren't I?"

"Yeah, you are," Brad admirably replied, "Pack your gear, you're gonna be working with me from now on, Mason, is it?"

"Yeah, it is," Leeks replied shaking Brad's hand, "And your name is?"

"Brad," he grinned, "Brad Tarkington, welcome to SEAL Team Three, UDT Twenty-Six," and suddenly Leeks' class mates gave him a loud, resounding round of applause, before Tom dismissed them.

Damn," Brad proudly grinned at us, while Mason went into his old barracks to get his gear, "Can you believe that he humped that "O" Course at thirty four years old? Holy shit, what a tough motherfucker...man..."

~~~~~~

When I got home around five that evening, and because of her class schedule on Monday, I knew that Jill wouldn't be home until somewhere right around six-thirty. I went to the refrigerator and grabbed a cold beer.

Then I took off my boots, grabbed my beer after putting my feet on the coffee table, and then turned on the T.V. to try and catch the news. All of a sudden the couch started to feel very comfortable, and before I knew it, I'd fallen to sleep.

I dreamed of Jill and the fact that we'd made love all weekend long, thoroughly enjoying one another's bodies. I dreamed that we were out at the beach, and for some reason, I could hear Danny and Dave's voice coming from somewhere. The next thin I knew, was that the weather had suddenly become pitch black, so black that I couldn't see my hand in front of my face.

"JILL!" I called out, "WHERE ARE YOU, BABY?" and still no answer.

All of a sudden the darkness turned back into daylight, and when I looked where Jill had been standing, I saw that she was gone. I suddenly panicked, and when I called out her name again, my body started to involuntarily shake, it shook so hard that I couldn't seem to speak anymore, all I could hear was Dave and Danny calling my name...

...and when I opened my eyes, I found out that Dave had a hold of my shoulder and had been shaking me, trying to wake me. I sat up, looking at Danny's and Dave's faces, both of them clearly had tears un their eyes. All of a sudden an extreme feeling of dread began to wash over me.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, "What is it, please tell me."

"It's Jill, Mike," Danny sniffled, "She..."

The End For Now

*

I hope you liked this chapter. I guess it's going to go into three chapters...sorry about that. Oh, hey, I had this one edited for me, by a friend of mine, thanks Dolby! Until we meet again...

MoogPlayer