Gray Girl by Susan I. Spieth Page A

into a paper bowl and passed it to her.    Another specialist pushed a paper
plate with cornbread toward her.   She
picked up a pint of milk, passed on the chips and brownies, and walked out of the
other end of the vehicle.  
    At Lake Frederick, the cadre ate with
cadre and the new cadets ate with their squads.   Both Dogety and Jackson, sitting on a patch of grass near the exit of the serving station,
looked up when she emerged.
    “What’s on your plate, Wishart ?”   Jackson asked.
    “Chili, cornbread and milk,” she
answered.
    “Chili, cornbread and milk,
WHAT?”   Dogety demanded.
    “Sir!   Chili, cornbread and milk, SIR!”   she said with attitude as her mother use to
say.  
    “Do you really need to eat that
cornbread, Wishart ?”   Jackson asked again.  
    Suddenly she had had enough.   “Sir, you can have my damn cornbread,”
she said as she threw it at him.  
    “What the hell!”   Jackson jumped up and stormed toward
Jan.   
    Dogety got
to her first.   “ Wishart ,
go inside the mess station, NOW.”   Jan turned and ran up the three steps.   Dogety stood
at the bottom of the steps while Jackson tried to push past him.   “Markus, leave it alone, ”   she heard him
say quietly to Jackson.
    “What the hell are you doing,
man?   You saw what she did,” Jackson
yelled at his friend.
    “Yeah, I saw it, and I’ll deal with
it, ”   Dogety said.
    “Like you’ve been doing?   Your plan ain’t working so well, Sam?   I’ll deal with her myself.”
    “Settle down, Markus.   She’s in my squad.   I’ll take care of it.”   Jan had never heard Dogety defend her before.  
    Jackson stared at Dogety in disbelief for a moment.   Then he
said, “You’re pussy-whipped, aren’t you, Sam?   She giving you something, is that it?”
    Dogety grabbed Jackson by his shirt with both hands, “I said that’s enough.   Let’s not make this worse than it
is.”   Jan watched as the two firstie friends seemed locked in a trance.   Then Dogety let go of Jackson’s shirt.  
    “You’re an idiot,” Jackson mumbled as
he turned away.  
    Dogety looked into the mess station and said,   “ Wishart , come here.”   Jan ran down the three steps, still
holding her mess tray with the chili and milk.   “Don’t ever pull that kind of shit
again, you got me?”
    “Yes, Sir.”
    “You could have been in a truckload
of trouble if Jackson wanted to push it.   I plan to finish Beast with my entire squad intact.   That includes even you.”
    “Yes, Sir.”  
    “If you pull another stunt like that,
I will not be able to protect you.   You got me?”  
    “Yes, Sir.”
    “Now go eat with the rest of the
squad.”
    “Yes, Sir.”

 
    She approached her squad, nine male
new cadets sitting nearby on the grass, all of whom had witnessed the mess
station incident.   Without an
opening in their circle, she sat down just outside the loop.   She hoped someone would move over,
making room for her to join, but that didn’t happen.   After an awkward minute of silence, they
resumed their talking and laughing.
    Well,
now they must love me even more.
    She observed the other squads with
women.   Wright laughed in the midst
of her squad.   Plowden and McCarron seemed fully engaged with their squads.   And
here I am sitting by myself, talking to myself.   Maybe it’s just me .   Maybe I'm just never going to fit in
here.
    At that very moment, New Cadet Hambin turned around. “Hey, Wishart ,
what the hell just happened?”
    “Oh, I just threw my cornbread at
Jackson.”  
    “Whoa!   That’s gutsy—throwing your food at
Jackson!”
    “Yah, well, I just got sick and tired
of his shit.”  
    “Did Dogety save you?”   Hambin asked.
    “I guess so.   He’s never done THAT before.”  
    “Maybe he feels bad about the pugil boxing.”
    “Well, he should.   That was miserable.”   Jan admitted.
    “I thought you did fine.   I mean , I
wouldn’t want to go up against