Confessions From An Affair Ch. 05

(The year is 1941 as our newlyweds arrive at Fort Riley where Jack will begin his basic training in the army)

*

The dirty old busses carried us away from the train station, across vast wheat fields that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see. The view of the countryside was not anything unusual for Jack and me. However, the passengers from the big cities like New York and Philadelphia looked upon it with wonder.

Jack nudged me with his elbow and whispered quietly, "Look at who the rubes are now."

I smiled and fought back a giggle as I remembered how we must have looked when we were first arriving in New York City. All around us the other passengers were making derisive comments.

"Geez! You gotta be kiddin me"

"Doesn't nobody live here?"

"Maron! Whatta we supposta do out here?"

I noticed that the lightheartedness that had been on display during the train ride was disappearing, the closer we got to our final destination. I glanced at Jack and noticed that he too was staring intently out of the front window of the bus -- as if he could somehow develop super seeing powers like those characters in the comic books that my brothers were always reading.

I reached over and held his hand and waited for him to turn and look at me.

"This will be our first home together," I said, "Isn't this exciting?"

Jack smiled and seemed to relax just a bit, "I'm looking forward to it too, Honey. I just wish we would hurry up and get there already."

At long last, our bus entered through a large gated fence and continued on for perhaps another half a mile. We came to a halt in line with the other seven busses that had made the journey with us and we all filed out to get our first glimpse of what would be our new home.

"Is it too late to go back to Queens?" someone joked and there were snorts of laughter all around.

The laughter was cut short presently, as a jeep slid to a stop on the dusty road right before us. Four soldiers wearing khaki uniforms climbed out of the jeep and one of them called out, "Alright! All you men -- fall in line right here."

Jack gave me one last glance, then released my hand and moved into position with the other men. As soon as he took his hand away, I suddenly felt all alone. This was becoming real much faster than I had imagined.

Another of the soldiers from the jeep approached us and said, "Will all of you ladies please gather your things and board this bus over here?"

We did as we were told and the other two soldiers that had come to greet us helped to load our belongings onto the bus. We all found seats on the bus. The soldier that had addressed us climbed onboard as well.

"My name is Lt. Daniels," he said, "I'm here to take you to your quarters and give you a quick tour of the facilities.

"Don't worry about the rest of your luggage. The busses will meet us when we reach our destination."

I turned to look out the window and -- sure enough, the other busses were pulling out. "How were the men supposed to get to our new homes?" I wondered.

There was no time to figure it out, as our bus roared to life and we were off once again. All around the bus necks were craned to catch one more glimpse of our husbands before we left them behind.

The first part of our trip was completely silent except for the loud noise of the bus engine. I looked around and counted thirteen other women besides myself. The young lady seated next to me was a tiny little thing. Her hands was clenched in fists in her lap so tightly that her knuckles were turning white. She had jet black hair and very dark eyes that looked as if they wanted to spill tears.

I was feeling very much the same way inside, but I waited until I caught her eye and told her, "Everything's going to be alright. You just wait and see."

She looked at me hopefully and said, "Do you think so? I've never been away from home before."

I wondered how many of the other girls were in the same boat. I managed a smile and a nod, "I'm sure the army is going to take good care of us."

Lt. Daniels Pointed out, "To the left you will see a brand new hospital which is almost finished and just up ahead is the Commissary where you will be able to get your groceries."

I smiled to myself at the sudden memory of my father always referring to Johnson's Market back home as The Commissary. When I was little I had always wondered where that bazaar word had come from. Now, I knew it must have come from the days when he was in the service, himself.

We continued our tour and the Lieutenant pointed out various other places of interest. All around the base you could see construction going on as buildings were hastily being thrown up to accommodate the swarms of new arrivals that were pouring in everyday. Lt. Daniels would point to a building that was barely begun and inform us, "This is the Post Office," as if it were a completely functioning operation already.

When they let us off of the bus to have a better look around, one of the other wives said to me, "You had better not stand in one place too long. They may build something right over the top of you."

I was to learn later that Fort Riley had been around since the days of the Indian Wars. However, looking around at all of the construction that was taking place, you were struck with the notion that, up until a week ago, none of this had ever existed -- that it was being built just for us.

"I think you're right," I replied, "Maybe Rome would have been built in a day if the U.S. Army had been in charge."

The tour was enlightening, but all around me I kept hearing whispers from the others women about when we were going to see our new homes.

"I hope it's a big house"

"Let's get on with it, already"

"Do you think we'll be near each other?"

I don't think that my expectation were quite as high as the others. My father had warned me about army housing. I knew we weren't going to moving into some big old farm house like we had back home.

My suspicions were confirmed a short while later when the bus came to a stop in front of several rows of long, narrow buildings. They looked a lot like cheap motels that you might see along the interstate nowadays. Just like everywhere else on the base, there was still construction going on here, too. Building materials and tools lay scattered everywhere.

"You've got to be kidding me."

This is it?"

"Oh, Lord"

It seems that far too many of the women had been expecting way more than they were now seeing. Lt. Daniels was leading the way towards the first of the buildings, but most of the women held back. Maybe they thought that if they didn't follow, they would instead be taken to some finer accommodations.

Three or four of us weren't so disillusioned. We followed the Lieutenant -- eagerly looking forward to seeing what our new homes were going to look like. I certainly hadn't seen anything to dampen my spirits. It may not have been the home you always dreamed of, but it was still going to be ours.

Lt. Daniels motioned to the stragglers, "Ladies -- if you would?"

The rest of the group reluctantly joined us and we were shown into the first home. The entryway opened into a small living room. The walls were all white and still smelled of fresh paint. There was no furniture in the room, so at least it appeared to be slightly more roomy than it would eventually become.

Off of the living room was a small kitchen. I thought to myself that it sure would be cramped by the time we moved a table in there. Some of the other girls busied themselves with opening the cupboards and trying the spigot on the sink.

"Well, at least we have some running water," someone said.

We all filed back into the living room and were shown down a short hallway. On one side of the hallway were a closet and one large bedroom. The other side of the hall contained a bathroom and one smaller bedroom. I smiled to myself while viewing the small bedroom.

"This will make a wonderful room for our babies," I thought to myself.

Like the living room, the walls throughout the entire home were uniformly white. "Looks like the army must have found a good sale on white paint," remarked one of the tour members.

Lt. Daniels announced, "Ladies -- See Sergeant Richards outside. He will issue your keys to you."

He was immediately bombarded with questions from everyone.

"What about furniture?"

"When will our husbands be getting here?"

"How do we get everything moved in?"

The officer held up his hands to silence us and said, "Furniture should be arriving at 1500 hours," he paused, then said, "That's three o'clock for you civilians. The soldiers should be joining you shortly. In the meantime, the other busses have arrived and you can move your luggage into your quarters. Sergeant Richards will be here to assist you with any other questions."

With that, he straightened up to attention and saluted us, "The U.S. Army welcomes you to Fort Riley." He then spun on his heels and departed, leaving all of us women speechless.

There was a moment where we all looked at each other uncertainly. Then we scrambled outside to get our keys. As we rushed towards who we assumed to be Sergeant Richards, I felt a small tug on the back of my blouse. I turned to find the young woman that had been seated next to me on the bus pinching the material of my blouse between her little fingers. She quickly pulled her hand away as soon as she realized that I saw what she was doing.

"I'm sorry," she said sheepishly, "I was only hoping that we might live next to each other."

These were the only words that I had heard her utter since our brief exchange on the bus. She looked so lost and frightened. I couldn't help but like her immediately.

"Sure," I said while taking her hand in mine with a smile, "I'd like that, too."

With that, we both took our place in line. Sergeant Richards was methodically passing out keys and recording each person's name.

I turned to my new friend and extended my hand, "I'm Margaret Hawthorne. Everybody calls me Peg."

She looked up at me with those coal black eyes and replied meekly, "Maria -- Maria Gonzales."

"It's nice to meet you, Maria," I said, "Where are your from?"

"The Bronx," she answered, "But originally from Puerto Rico."

I had never met anyone from anyplace but Vermont in my whole life. I smiled at her and told her where Jack and I had come from. There was no more time for any further conversation because Sergeant Richards was handing me my key and asking for all of my information.

I stepped aside and waited while Maria went through the same process. She kept glancing over as if to make sure that I was still there. I looked down at the key in my hand and it suddenly hit me -- This was the key to our very first home!

When Maria had completed giving the sergeant her information, we turned and went in search of our places. Sure enough, they were right next door to each other. We each split up to go to our own doors.

"I'll be right next door if you need anything, Maria," I called over.

She gave me that uncertain smile of hers and nodded. I placed the key in the lock and went inside. This apartment was exactly like the one that we had been shown -- right down to the solid white walls. I closed the door and leaned my back against it. I was beaming with pleasure as I looked about. This was it! This was our first home!

I walked all through the place just to satisfy myself that nothing major was missing and then I went out to retrieve the small bag that I had brought on the bus. After depositing that inside the apartment, I went in search of our other luggage.

Several soldiers were busy unloading the baggage compartments of the other busses and making one big pile. There were a few complaints from some of the girls, but we all set about sorting through the mountain and trying our best to drag the heavy bags to our homes. As I strained to carry just one of our huge suitcases, I felt sorry that I had made Jack carry everything all by himself up until now.

It took a while, but I managed to get both of our bags into the apartment. In one of the cases, my mother had carefully wrapped two dishes and some silverware. I carried them proudly to the kitchen and put them in the cupboard. Lord, I felt just like a queen!

We had also brought along some family photographs. I carefully unwrapped them from their newspaper padding and placed them on a couple of the window sills. Don't laugh, but I stood back and decided it didn't look right. So I tried them in several different locations. Just as I had then just right, there came the sound of someone calling out what sounded like marching orders.

I rushed to the window and peered out. There were all of the men that had arrived together at the base marching in formation. Somewhere along the way they had been given uniforms to wear and they looked so grand! I, along with all of the other wives, rushed outside immediately.

The officer that had been calling out the marching orders brought them to a halt. He then saluted and barked out, "Dis-Missed!"

Most of the soldiers in the formation approached Sergeant Richards to get their new keys. Our husbands headed towards us uncertainly until each picked out the sight of his own wife waving her arms and calling. Then they broke into a run towards us. Jack rushed up to me and swept me off of the ground in a big bear hug. When he set me down, I stepped back and brushed the front of his new uniform.

"Let me look at you," I said.

He stood up straight and exaggeratingly pushed his chest out. He sure did look handsome. You know what they say about a man in uniform?

"Look at you!" I exclaimed, "You look so good in that uniform."

"That's right ma'am. I'm genuine, grade-A Army now," he said. Then with a twinkle in his eye, "And if you think I look good in this uniform -- "

Jack made a sudden reach for me. I shrieked and batted his hands away playfully. He made another lunge and I turned and ran back towards our door laughing. Jack was right on my heels the whole way. As soon as we got through the door he swept me up into his arms again and kicked the door shut behind him. This time I didn't try to fight him off at all. I wrapped my arms around his neck and returned his kiss with passion.

One of his hands slipped down to my bottom and he pulled me against him. I could feel his excitement as we pressed our hips together. I could hear his breathing getting heavier and I have to admit that mine was as well.

I managed to pull my lips free for a second and gasped, "Jack...windows...no curtains".

He looked at me uncomprehendingly until I nodded with my head towards the windows and the group of his fellow soldiers who were still being issued their keys right outside. "Oh," he said as he finally realized what I was saying. That didn't deter him much. Jack picked me up easily and carried my down the hall -- checking to see which one was the bedroom.

When he found the right door, he carried me through it and came to a stop. I think it might have just dawned on him in that instant that there wasn't a stick of furniture in the whole house. That wasn't going to stop Jack Hawthorne, though!

I felt his hands slip underneath the back of my blouse as he bent to kiss me once again. Before I new it, he had it pushed up to my shoulders and was fumbling with the catch to my bra.

"Jack...Jack!" I said in an attempt to stop him.

He looked at me again questioningly, "What, Peg?"

I didn't say anything. I just held my hand up and pointed towards the open window. I saw a look of such pure frustration pass over his face. I was sorry, too. It had been over forty-eight hours since the last time we had made love and Jack did look so scrumptious in that uniform!

"Hey," I whispered. I waited until he looked at me and then I took his hand. "Come with me."

I had to give his hand a tug to get him into motion. I led him across the hallway and into the bathroom. Jack looked at me quizzically.

"Look," I said as I pointed, "no windows."

Jack looked over at the frosted glass that served as a window and then he turned back to me with a smile.

"Mrs. Hawthorne, I love you!

From there, our raging hormones took over. Jack quickly ran his hands back up under the back of my blouse while my fingers busied themselves with the buttons of his new uniform shirt. He was much better this time. He got my bra undone in an instant and pushed my blouse and bra up over my head -- mussing my hair before letting it fall to the floor.

I got the last button undone on his shirt and he helped me shuck it from his shoulders. Before he even had it halfway off, I was already raising his t-shirt and exposing his body. The sounds of our heavy breathing echoed off of the walls in that small room as we each reached for the others belts. While our hands were flying to undo each others pants, our feet were busy kicking off our shoes.

In just a few short moments we were struggling out of our pants and coming together for another deep, passionate kiss. It felt so wonderful to feel Jack's skin against mine once again. Our hands roughly pulled our bodies together. The feeling of my breasts being squashed against his chest was driving me insane as our hips ground against each others.

There was an awkward moment as we looked around each other.

What do we do?

It had been my idea to come in here, but now we were faced with the realization that this cramped bathroom left very little room to do what we had come in here for. There wasn't enough room to lie down on the floor and we hadn't had time for much experimentation with other positions since we got married.

For the moment though, we were content to just kiss and grind against each other. Our hands eagerly explored each other and that was bringing us each a lot of pleasure all by itself. I leaned back against the door as Jack's hand went between my slightly spread thighs. I moaned as I felt his finger easily slip inside my moist entrance.

For my part -- I had both of my hands wrapped tightly around Jack's thick shaft. He felt so warm and powerful in my grip as I slowly stroked his entire length. I let one hand fall to tenderly cup his swollen balls and heard him moan deep in his chest. I could feel his first drops of seed forming at the tip. These were quickly smeared against both of our bodies.

Just when I thought we were going to have to satisfy each other in this manner, Jack removed his hand from where he was making me feel so nice. He placed his hands around my waist and gently turned me so that I was facing the door. I felt so naughty with my bottom facing him like that, but my thoughts were cut off as he moved his hand back into place -- only this time from behind.

I wasn't sure what I was expected to do. Jack's fingers probed a couple of times until they once again found their way inside me. I closed my eyes and placed my hands against the cool surface of the door for support. He wrapped his other am around me and I felt his big hand cup my breast. I wasn't sure what was happening, but it sure felt so wonderful!

After a moment or two I started to rock my hips against his hand as he pleasured me down below. I could feel an orgasm gathering steam inside me. The next thing that I felt was Jack's foot gently urging my feet farther apart. I happily obliged him and his finger was able to sink even further inside me -- causing me to moan loudly.

Higher and higher the feelings inside me rose. I knew I was only an instant away from my release when Jack removed his hands from where he were making me feel so good. Before my mind could grasp what he was up to, I felt Jack guiding his engorged, hot member between my legs.

I had no idea how he was going to do this, but I leaned forward as much as I could to help him in any way that I could. He probed a couple of times, except his angle was all wrong and he couldn't get in. I felt him shifting around behind me and he tried once more. The places that his member was hitting did feel really nice. All of a sudden I wanted him to succeed more than anything in the world. I wanted to feel him inside me.