Marine Jake

By: Jeff B
(© 2012 by the author)

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 2
Train Ride 

We were pulling out of the station in Berlin, Jacob was looking out of the window watching the city go by and I was watching Jacob.  I had to stop this or I was going to get busted.

“So, Lance Corporal Jacob, how long have you been in the Marines and how long have you been stationed in Germany?” I asked.

I had broken him out of his reverie but he recovered quickly.  “Sir, I’ve been in the Marines for 2 years and in-country for 4 months.”

“I’ll make you a deal.  You quit calling me sir and I’ll quit calling you Lance Corporal Jacob.  I know you address everyone as sir and ma’am in the Corps, but it makes me feel old,” I said, chuckling.

He smiled.  “Sorry Sir.  Oh shit!”  He and I both laughed.  “Sorry.  That’s a deal.  I go by Jake.”

“Jake.  I go by Mike.”  I smiled at him and he smiled back and nodded.

“So, Mike, do you live in Sindelfingen or are you just here on vacation?”

“I’m here on business actually.  I did spend a week in Berlin playing tourist, but I guess I have to bite the bullet and do some work now.  I live in Colorado, so we’re actually neighbors of sorts.”

Jake broke into a big grin.  “Really?!?  That’s cool; meeting someone from almost back home when I’m 4,000 miles away.  I miss being home and I miss my family, but I love Germany, it’s great here.  I have 8 more months here and then I don’t know where I’ll end up.  I’m really hoping they keep me here for my remaining time in the Corps.  My parents were so excited that I wasn’t going to the war zone, and I have to admit, I was kind of relieved myself.”

“Well, I’m glad you didn’t go, too.  Yes, we needed to do it, but it’s time to bring our boys back home.  So, did you always want to join the Marines or were you prompted by the war?”

“I’ve always wanted to join the Corps.  My grandfather was a Marine and 2 of my uncles.  My dad wasn’t able to serve because of health issues, and then we lost him 5 years ago.”  He got a little misty eyed at that last statement.

“I’m really sorry for your loss, Jake.  You have my condolences.  I’m glad you carried on the family tradition and joined up.  We need brave men like you to keep us safe.”

Jake smiled a little.  “Thank you.”

“So, I take it you were in Berlin on leave?” I asked.

“Yeah.  I’ve watched and read everything I could about the war in Europe and I really wanted to see Berlin and where it all kind of started.  I figured I’d never have a better chance now that I was here in Germany.  I wish I’d had more than 5 days; I could spend a year just seeing all the places I’ve read about.  I had a blast, but I also learned some new things and also had a few moving experiences that damn near brought me to tears.”

“Me, too, Jake; me, too.  I’ve come here several times over the years doing the exact same thing.  It’s like a calling or something.  To find out the secrets, I guess, about the war.  To see the battlefields, to try to get some understanding of why and how it all happened, and to try to understand how 20 million people died during that time.  It can be overwhelming if you let it consume you,” I said, looking deeply in his eyes.

“I know what you mean.  Every time I went to a new place and learned something new, I had to learn even more.  I felt like I was on a mission.”

“Well, did you get to have any fun while you were on leave?  Grab a beer and a fraulein maybe?” I asked, grinning at him.

He smiled but looked just a slight bit embarrassed.  “No, I didn’t really give myself time to do any of that.”

“No worries,” I said.  “Sometimes it’s more important to complete the ‘mission’ and get some of your questions answered.”

“True” he said, and then he kind of drifted into his own thoughts.  I decided to just look out the window for a little while and leave him with his thoughts and memories of his week in Berlin.

We had 6 hours together on the train, so it wasn’t really necessary to hear his life story in the first 20 minutes.  I figured about an hour had passed with both of us in our own thoughts when I started getting very thirsty.

“Hey Jake, would you like something to drink?  I’m starting to feel like I swallowed a pair of long underwear and I need fluid.”

He actually laughed out loud.  Cute laugh too.  “Wow, I haven’t heard that expression in a while.  My grandfather uses it.  That’s funny.  Yeah, I’ll take something to drink, but you don’t have to buy it, I did save enough money for a couple of cokes for the ride back to base.”

“Keep your money Jake.  The Marines doesn’t pay that well.  You have to save up for your next trip to Berlin.  What’s your poison?”

“Well, actually a coffee sounds kind of good right now” he replied.

“Coffee it is then.  You want a cappuccino, a latte or just a plain ole cup of Joe?”

“Joe will do fine, thanks,” he said, smiling.

Wow.  Was there innuendo there, or am I just being a dirty old man, I thought to myself.

“Joe it is.  I’ll be back as soon as I can.”  I got up and left the compartment to find where I could lay my hands on some coffee.

I found a lounge two carriages down from where we were and ordered a coffee for Jake and a cappuccino for myself.  When I returned with the coffee I found Jake sitting at a 45 degree angle in the corner of the seat with his right foot on the floor and his left on the seat, basically with his legs spread open at a really appealing angle.  I damn near dropped the coffee.  I handed Jake his coffee and then sat back down across from him.

“Thank you, Mike.  I hope it’s OK if I took my shoes off.  I promise … my feet don’t smell; I just took a shower an hour and half ago”, he said looking at me for approval.

“Make yourself comfortable, Jake.  This is it for the next 5 hours or so, you may as well be as comfortable as possible.  And, you’re welcome.”

He smiled back at me and nodded.  “I guess you’re right, huh?  So, is it OK if I ask you what kind of business you have in Sindelfingen?  You buying a new Mercedes and picking it up from the plant?” he asked, chuckling.

“You can ask anything you like; and no, I’m not picking up a new Mercedes.  I already have 4 from that plant.  I’m here about investing in a company that is on the verge of bankruptcy.  They’ve had crappy management over the past 3 years and they’ve run the company into the ground.  I know, unusual for a German, but it does happen.  I have other business interests that rely on that company, and I also don’t want the people that work there to lose their jobs.  If they accept my offer I can install my own management people and see if we can save some jobs.”

“Wow!  So I guess you do earn a little more than a Marine.  That’s nice that you want to save those people’s jobs.  Yes, you also have your own self-interests, but you care about the people, too.  I admire that.  Four Mercedes, huh?  Isn’t that a few too many?”  He paused for a minute, then looked really worried.  “I’m so sorry about that last comment; it’s none of my business.  Please forgive me.”

I smiled at him.  “Don’t worry about it.  And you’re right, it’s probably a few too many.  Three of them are kind of collector’s cars for me, and one is my daily driver, though I drive the other three quite a bit, too.  I have a thing for S-Class Benz’s but only the ones where the engineers were in charge of the company.  All of the newer ones are nothing but toys built by accountants with a design from KIA.”

He laughed.  “Yeah, an $80,000 Kia; I’d like to see that.”

“Look out the window.  There’s one going down the autobahn” I told him.

He looked out, saw a newer E-Class and started laughing.  “That’s funny.  But it’s not a Kia, I saw the star on the truck lid.”

“OK, it’s only a $45,000 Kia.  It wasn’t an S-Class.” I said smiling at him.

“You’re funny.  I’d still take one.  I have a 1998 Chevy Malibu with over 180k miles on it.  Let me drive the Kia with the star on the trunk.  Fuck, let me drive the new Kia; it’d be an improvement.”  He was smiling and his eyes were laughing and I was entranced.

“How old are you Jake?” I asked him shyly.

“20.  How old are you?”

“40.  Act 12, look 60, but just plain old 40.” I said smiling.

“You don’t look anywhere near 60, not even 40.  But, yeah, I can see you acting 12 sometimes.”

“Gee, thanks.”  I smiled.

“You’re welcome.”  He smiled back at me.

He was still smiling as he went back to looking out of the window.  I decided to do a little work on the proposal and pulled out my laptop.  He looked over and smiled at me again.

“I’m terribly sorry if I’m being rude, and I won’t be long, but I need to add a couple of things to my proposal while I’m thinking of them.”

“Mike, don’t worry about it.  I know you have work to do.  You’re not here to entertain me.”

“I just feel bad dropping our conversation.  I’ve been having a hell of a good time talking to you.  Like I said, I’ll just be a couple of minutes,” I said.

“Please don’t feel bad, Mike.  I completely understand.  We’ll talk some more when you get caught up.  Don’t sweat the small stuff.”  He smiled at me again. I smiled back and then opened my laptop.

It only took about 15 minutes to finish my proposal and I was back in the zone with Jake.  We basically spent the remaining 4½ hours of the train ride talking, laughing and smiling at each other.  I got to know several things about him, and I shared more with him than I had with anyone in a long, long time.  We were comfortable with each other and I found him incredibly easy to talk with.

We were about 15 minutes out from our station when the announcement came over the P.A. telling us just that.  We both started getting our things together and put shoes back on.  I’d taken mine off not long after he had.  I started getting kind of melancholy; thinking I may never see this young man again.  I’d grown very attached to him in the last 6 hours.  I think he noticed my face and how quiet I’d become.

“Mike, are you OK?  You’re not gonna throw up are you?”  he smiled.

“No, Jake; no puking this time.  No, I’m fine.  Just a little sad is all.  It’s possible I may never see you again, and it just made me sad.  I’ve never enjoyed a train ride more than this one with you.”

My statement wiped the smile right off his face.  Now I felt bad.  He looked at me and tried to comment but nothing came out.

“I’m sorry, Jake.  I didn’t mean to bring you down.  It just popped into my head all of a sudden that this was ending.”

“I know what you’re saying.  I was thinking the same thing but trying not to think of it.”  He stopped talking and just looked around the compartment checking to see if he had everything.

“Jake…”  He turned and looked at me.  “Have you ever heard the expression about never having regrets?”  He nodded.

“I used to have a lot of regrets about things I’d done, things I didn’t do, chances I’d missed.  I promised myself a few years ago that I’d never do that to myself again.  Not take chances.  Not do the things I wanted.  Not do the things I shouldn’t do…”  I just looked at him trying to screw up the courage to ask him what I so wanted to ask him.  I felt the train slowing down.  We were both standing in the compartment looking at each other.

I finally managed to start talking again.  “Jake, I don’t want to spend the next several years wondering what if.  Why didn’t I ask?  Why didn’t I take the chance?  I don’t want that regret.  I don’t know how you feel about it; we never really hit on the subject.”  I paused and stumbled again.  “Argh, fuck it, here goes.  May I kiss you goodbye?”  I finally blurted out.

Jake stood there for a few seconds looking into my eyes.  He looked nervous as hell.  Then he nodded yes.  I didn’t smile, even though I wanted to so badly.  I walked to him within about 8 inches of his face.  I reached out with my right hand and touched his cheek, running 2 fingers up and down slowly for about 3 seconds.  I then reached up with my left hand as well and held his face in both of my hands.  I leaned in closer to his lips, praying he wouldn’t pull back.  I tilted my head left, he tilted his to his left and our lips finally met.  I felt him shudder, or maybe it was me.  His lips were so soft and yielding, I felt I could stay here forever and be happy.  We held the kiss for about 45 seconds to a minute.  No tongue, just a soft, tender heartfelt kiss.  That kiss spoke volumes in my mind.  When we separated, I felt drained, happy, weak, excited…  I still had his face in my hands and I didn’t want to let go.  We just stood there staring in each other’s eyes.  The corner of his lips quivered up into just the faintest of smiles.  I almost collapsed I was so relieved.

I smiled back at him and ran the two fingers on my right hand along his cheek again.  He didn’t say a word.  He didn’t pull away.  He just stared at me with a faint smile on his perfect lips.

We felt the train stop and there was a knock on the door.  We both jumped about a foot, then laughed.  The conductor asked if there were any bags to take.  We both said no and he walked away, closing the door behind him.  The moment had been broken, but we both still just stood there in front of each other.  I couldn’t stand it any longer.  I pulled him into a tight hug and wondered if I could bring myself to let him go.  He wrapped his arms around me and squeezed so tight I thought I’d run out of air.  We stayed that way for about 2 minutes, just holding each other, not wanting to let go.

People were walking by in the corridor but neither of us seemed to care about the outside world.  We finally released each other, then I put my finger under his chin, gave him a quick kiss, and we finally separated.  I bent down to the seat, grabbed my briefcase, struggling to open it my hands were shaking so much.  I finally got in it, pulled out a business card, found a pen and wrote my cell number, the hotel name I was staying at, the number of the hotel, and then I wrote, “You’ve captured my heart, please call when you can”.  I closed the case, turned around and then just stuffed the card in the front pocket of his jeans.

“Never lose that card Jake – it’s good for life.”  I smiled at him, then reached down, grabbed my bags and turned around to open the door.  I stood to the side and let him out first.  I followed right behind him and we got off the train together.  We followed the crowd to the terminal, walking side by side, not looking at each other but bumping arms every once in a while.  When we reached the terminal, there was a man there holding a sign with my name on it.  I nodded to him and he walked over to me.  I told him in German that I would be a couple of minutes, then handed him my baggage claim check.  He nodded and told me in German that he would be waiting for me out in front of the terminal.  I said ‘thank you’ and turned back to Jake.

“Damn…  I don’t want to say goodbye.”

Jake looked at me like he was about to cry.  “Don’t say it then.  Just say ‘see ya later’; OK?”

I nodded.  “Do you need a ride to base?  I have a car waiting for me; I’ll take you wherever you need to go.”

“No, Mike, that’s OK.  There’s a base bus that comes here every 20 minutes or so.”

“OK then.”  I couldn’t do this any longer; it was killing me.  “See ya later Lance Corporal Jacob.”

“See ya later, Sir!” he said, trying to smile.

I smiled back and then I touched his face one last time, then turned and walked towards the front of the building where my driver was waiting.  I felt like crying.  I felt like running back in there and grabbing him and never letting him go.  The driver was holding the door open for me and I just got in quickly and wanted him to close the damn door.  The driver got in the front and was just starting to pull away from the curb when I looked out the window and saw Jake coming out of the building.  He looked so handsome and so sexy and so sad, it made my heart break all over again.  The driver pulled out into traffic and I was convinced I’d never see my Marine again.

To be continued...

Posted: 08/17/12