Her Invisible Soldier: A Military Romance with a Twist

by Grace Risata

  “Do not hold me back when someone speaks like that!”

  “She’s not worth it. The bitch just wants to cause drama and that’s not why we’re here. Let it go.”

  Suddenly Brooke popped her head around the corner and said, “It’s okay. I told Desi I lost an earring and had to come back and look for it. She went ahead without me. I am so, so sorry you both had to hear that. Especially you, Alyce. Sometimes I don’t even know why I’m friends with her.”

  I brushed off my dress and acted like it hadn’t bothered me. Some people were assholes and that’s just life.

  Brooke sat down on a nearby bench and took a long look at the both of us, her eyes going back and forth between Dixon and I.

  “You two really care about each other, don’t you? I can tell you have something special.”

  “Yes, Brooke,” Dixon replied. “Alyce is my world. There’s no way anything will ever happen between you and I. It’s time to move on.”

  Brooke shrugged, as though his confession didn’t faze her in the slightest. Poor Dixon must have thought he was about to be the prize in a game of tug-of-war, but it couldn’t have been further from the truth.

  “Dixon…aren’t you afraid to be with her?” the woman asked politely. “I’m sure Alyce is a wonderful lady, but your parents are going to disown you if you keep seeing her. When you come from a certain background such as we do…things are expected of you. I would give anything to have the freedom of a normal person.”

  Brooke looked down and played with a non-existent string on her glamorous green party dress. The woman was truly beautiful and anyone would be lucky to have her on their arm.

  Then it hit me. She didn’t give two shits about Dixon because she had a man of her own.

  “Is there someone in particular that caught your eye?” I asked.

  She slowly nodded and sadly admitted, “Yes, but I can’t be with him.”

  “Why not?” Dixon asked. “You’re a wonderful girl with a great heart. It never would have worked with us, because we’re just different people. Don’t let that stop you from finding love.”

  “I’ve found love!” she wailed. “My parents are having an addition added on to their house. Leroy is one of the workers on the project. He treats me like a queen and really listens when I talk instead of staring at my chest like all the other guys do. We talk about everything under the sun and he tells me that I’m smart. No one in my life ever told me that before. To everyone else, I’m just a pretty face and nothing more.”

  “Then go get your man, Brooke! What are you waiting for?” Leroy sure sounded like a decent guy to me.”

  “You don’t understand, Alyce,” Dixon replied. “It’s not that simple. Her parents will cut her off if she doesn’t do what they want. Am I right, Brooke? Is your whole life pretty much mapped out? Marry one of their friend’s rich sons, pop out a couple babies, and live unhappily ever after? Her husband will cheat on her with several mistresses, she’ll grow old and bitter, and eventually get an addiction to pills in order to cope with the misery of day-to-day life.”

  Brooke nodded her head in complete agreement.

  “That about sums it up.”

  “Unless…there’s another way,” Dixon suggested.

  “What? I’m all ears. Help me out here. I want what you have with Alyce. If there’s a way to be with Leroy, I’m taking it.”

  “A wise old woman once gave me some advice on love. She told me that I should hold on tight when someone special comes along. I believe the exact advice was something about life being similar to a boat floating in the ocean. Sometimes you have no choice but to jump ship and live to sail another day…but other times you batten down the hatches, wrap a rope around your wrist, and ride out the storm.”

  I was stunned that he actually remembered my words.

  “While that’s extremely heartwarming advice, I would hardly call myself an old woman. What the fuck?”

  “Hey, I figured she’d appreciate the sentiment more if it sounded like age old advice.”

  Brooke got a starry look in her eyes and nodded her head.

  “I love Leroy and I’m not willing to give him up. I’m going to sit him down, confess my feelings, and see where it leads. Maybe he’s only after my money and he’ll decide to leave when I explain that my parents will not condone our relationship and they’ll kick me out of the house. Or maybe, he’ll tell me that he loves me too and we’ll run away together. At least…either way…I won’t be so torn up inside.”

  She dabbed at a stray tear and I got up and gave her a hug.

  “I’ll say a prayer that everything works out for you, Brooke. You’re the only decent person I’ve met all day. If this Leroy fellow doesn’t see what a fine woman he’s got, then he needs to get his head out of his ass.”

  Her sniffling got louder as my words sunk in.

  “Thank you so much, Alyce. You make sure to take good care of Dixie, okay? He’s a good guy when you look beneath the surface.”

  It was totally ironic that Dixon’s ex-girlfriend is the kindest person out of the entire lot. I truly hoped she got her happy ending with Leroy.

  “Does your guy know how to you keep you happy in bed?” I whispered into her ear. “It’s worth giving up a fortune if he knows his way around down there…”

  “He’s the best I’ve ever had. I’m literally sore for a week it’s so huge. Trust me, I’m not letting that go without a fight.”

  That’s my girl. I had a feeling Brooke would be just fine.

  “Now that we’ve settled that,” I said confidently, “I think it’s time to go. I want to get home before dark.”

  “Why? Don’t you like to drive at night?” she asked.

  “It’s the fourth of July. Fireworks go off starting at dusk. I have to get Dixon safely home before then. He’s not going to handle things well at all.”

  “Oh,” Brooke sighed as realization hit home. “I can see how that might be an issue.”

  “I’ll be fine,” Dixon insisted, even though we both knew that was not the case at all.

  The three of us walked back to the party and I managed to grab a couple mini cheesecakes and wrap them in a napkin before we were spotted by Dixon’s father.

  “Let’s go,” he demanded, eager to avoid another confrontation. “Abandon the desserts, Alyce. I’ll buy you whatever you want when we get home.”

  But we didn’t make it.

  “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Arthur asked. “You don’t leave until I give you permission. You will stay for the fireworks like everyone else.”

  Who did this guy think he was? Enough was enough.

  “We’re leaving,” I insisted, puffing out my chest and getting right in Arthur’s face. “He can not handle the blasts of the fireworks. Have some respect for your son and acknowledge that combat changes people.”

  Dixon took my hand and attempted to pull me behind him in anticipation of his father’s reaction to my disobedience.

  “Are you serious? The big baby is going to piss himself and hide under the bed if we let off a few roman candles? It’s about damn time he quit using the old ‘post traumatic stress disorder’ excuse and got off his lazy ass. No one believes that’s even a real thing. It’s just mumbo jumbo made up by doctors to explain why some men come back pussies and can’t get a decent job. That’s not a problem anymore. Dixon will come to work for me at Wade Construction. I will not take ‘no’ for an answer. That’s the end of this discussion. No more excuses.”

  My jaw dropped and I abandoned my whole ‘be passive and not aggressive’ attitude of the day. I planned to go rabid dog on his ass, complete with biting and foaming at the mouth.

  “No one talks to him that way,” I snarled, getting ready to throw down.

  Just as I was about to rain hell upon the entire family, I heard an unholy war cry from Dixon. He ripped off his tie and long sleeved shirt, fully exposing his inked skin to the world.

  “This is who I am,” he screamed. “I
’m a tattooed piece of crap that is finished putting up with this family and all their bullshit. I am denouncing every last one of you rotten bastards. My father, my mother, my brother, and my sister are all racist, entitled, snobbish assholes. There will be no more invitations to parties, no more family holidays, and no more including me in anything. I am done. I served this country and lost my best friend in battle to ensure the right for you arrogant pricks to waste money on lavish affairs and show off how rich you are. I came back broken and flawed and nearly took my own life in order to end the pain that I suffered with on a day to day basis. Everyone treated me like I was invisible. ‘Just pretend he’s not sick and everything will be fine.’ Guess what? It didn’t work. You can’t sweep me under the rug. The problems didn’t go away. Do you know how I survived?”

  Clearly that was a rhetorical question, because no one dared speak up. I noticed we were drawing quite a crowd and they were all hanging on Dixon’s every word.

  “It was her,” he answered, pointing to me. “She refused to give up on me when every single person in my life wrote me off as a lost cause. If it wasn’t for Alyce, then I might not be here today and I certainly wouldn’t be in as good of a place as I am now.”

  Dixon turned to look directly at me and continued, “I felt invisible to the world…but finally someone sees me. I’m glad it’s you. I couldn’t ask for a better partner in crime. Let’s get the fuck out of here and go home.”

  He held out a hand, I took it, and we marched right past the stunned onlookers. Not surprisingly, Arthur Wade took a step forward to block his son from leaving.

  “You have brought nothing but shame to this family,” he growled.

  Dixon’s father was soon joined by his mother, and I waited for her to agree with him.

  That’s not what happened.

  “Leave him alone, Arthur. You’ve done enough harm for one night. Can’t you see he’s hurting? Let them go live their lives. It’s the least we can do after the way you’ve treated poor Alicia tonight.”

  Although she still hadn’t gotten my name right, I decided to let it go. Close enough.

  Dixon nodded his head at his mother in some unspoken acknowledgement for her act of courage, and we walked out the door and never looked back.

  Even though I sped home as fast as the mustang could handle, we didn’t make it before the fireworks went off. An accident on the highway forced us to take a detour that added time onto our commute.

  Dixon was in full panic mode by the time he was safely inside his apartment. The stress of the horrible reunion with his parents and the way they treated me, coupled with his fear that I would leave him, was bad enough. Once you added the random explosions of every neighbor’s fireworks, it created a massive ball of anxiety with no place to go.

  I had to watch him alternate between throwing up and trying to bury his head under twelve layers of pillows and blankets to block out the sound.

  But I stayed and held him and did whatever I could to ease the pain. The night seemed to last days instead of hours, and I gave a silent prayer of thanks when the sun rose in the sky and signaled the end of my nightmare.

  Some days were just harder than others. That’s life, I guess.

  Chapter Thirty Seven

  Dixon

  Two Weeks Later…

  Call me crazy, but I was actually looking forward to my appointment with Dr. Goldberg today. Things had definitely improved since the last time I’d seen him.

  After walking into the room and closely studying my face, he nodded his head in approval.

  “You look dramatically different, Dixon. More like a human instead of a walking zombie. I’m glad to see a positive change. How have things been going?”

  Of course he was referring to my last visit on the fifth of July. My meltdown the night before had shaken me so badly that I had no other choice but to see the Doctor. I needed to ask him if it was normal to react so violently to fireworks. Were they such a severe trigger for other soldiers suffering, or was I just fucked up in the head?

  “I can honestly say that my life is falling into place.”

  It was true. If Alyce hadn’t left me after meeting the assholes I call ‘family’ and taking care of me while I had an epic panic attack, then I was pretty sure that nothing would bother her at this point. There was a tremendous weight lifted off my shoulder to know that she was sticking around.

  “That’s good to hear. How’s your job? My nephew has called to thank me profusely for letting him hire you. Evidently you’re one of his best workers.”

  “I actually really do enjoy the work. It feels nice to be outside and get my hands dirty. At the end of the day I’m exhausted and sleep comes a lot easier than it used to.”

  I mostly attribute that to the fact that Alyce has gotten into the habit of staying over at my place most nights.

  “What about your family? Have you spoken to them at all since the party?”

  Dr. Goldberg was absolutely livid when I told him the story of their behavior and how disrespectfully they treated Alyce. It was a bit of a comfort to have someone else enraged on my behalf. Yeah, I already liked the guy, but this made me appreciate him even more.

  “Nope. Not one single word. I have no plans to contact them again. It’s a lot less stressful when they’re not in my life. Maybe I’ll give them another chance in five or ten years, but that’s all I can say.”

  Part of me had hoped my mother might have made some effort to call me and apologize, but that never happened. It was no great loss as far as I was concerned. I had someone who mattered to me. That was all I needed.

  “And let’s not forget about Alyce. How are things going with your lady friend?”

  “Very well, thanks for asking. She has horrible vision and has to go to the eye doctor to get a contact lens exam every year. Last time she was there they made small talk about what Alyce did for a living with medical billing and stuff. It turns out that the eye doctor’s office person just abruptly quit to move out of state for her husband’s job transfer and they were suddenly short staffed. My girl had an interview a day later and got hired on the spot! It’s only been a few days, but she likes it so far. I’m proud of her.”

  “That’s excellent. It sounds like your relationship with her is also going well then?”

  I smiled and nodded my head. We were perfect together. Although I would change the fact that she seems to have given me a new nickname. Ever since the fucking party, Alyce will randomly glance in my direction, call me ‘Dixie,’ and then burst out laughing. While that’s not the worst thing in the world, it’s very annoying when she does that right in the middle of sex.

  “I don’t suppose there’s any chance you’re taking my advice and not rushing into things? You haven’t proposed yet, have you, Dixon?”

  “Nope. Not yet,” I said, becoming very interested in studying the wall and avoiding all eye contact with the man. “I did sort of ask her to move in with me, so there’s that…”

  “Some people never listen, do they?”

  “I know what I want, Doc. I have a strong personality. Don’t worry. It’s a good thing. Alyce seemed agreeable to the idea and she’s at my place more than hers anyway. It’s a very practical move for both of us.”

  “I won’t argue with you, because it won’t do a damn bit of good anyway. Are you still talking the Prozac?”

  “Yes,” I insisted. It hadn’t killed me yet, so I saw no reason to quit. “I’ve come to the conclusion that sometimes your body chemistry gets out of whack and you just need to help it return to normal. There’s no shame in taking pills to get better. Recovering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder takes time, Doc. It’s not a one step solution. I’m learning to take things slow and not expect too much change all at once. I’ll have good days and bad days. As long as I have hope for the future, things will sort themselves out.”

  “You don’t say…” he mumbled with slow shake of his head. Yeah, I know I was repeating most of his words back to him, but this
time I actually believed them.

  A few months ago I never thought I’d see a light at the end of the tunnel. Well, I figured it would be a freight train coming to run me over. But now…now I realize that life might be worth living. All it took was a feisty woman who refused to give up on her invisible soldier…

  THE END!!!!

  In Case You Were Wondering…

  Yeah, the story isn’t over yet. We have a few loose ends to wrap up. Namely, a couple minor characters that need to be mentioned…

  Nina finally quit her job at Conway Dental and is now currently working at a certain veteran’s charity. Debbie might have begged Nina to take Kassie’s old job, Nina happily accepted, and the two are getting along great. They drag Alyce out at least once a month to take line-dancing lessons at ‘Badlands.’ Sometimes Dixon even joins them and busts out his old routine.

  Debbie lived the single life for a little while and then quickly grew bored with the dating scene. Fortunately for her, she accompanied Nina during one of her visits back home to see family…and promptly fell head over heels with one of her friend’s brothers. They’re currently involved in a hot and heavy long distance relationship.

  Dixon scoured the vintage car ads on Craigslist until he found the perfect 1971 Mercury Cyclone that needed a little bit of tender loving care. He made the owner an offer they couldn’t refuse, and now he’s happily restoring the vehicle under the watchful eye of Grandpa Cliff. They both realized it was a good idea to ask Alyce to help and not treat her like a girl.

  Kassie got fired from Conway Dental for lack of attendance, stealing dental tools to sell on Ebay, and general disobedience. But don’t feel bad for her. The woman finally found a job she loves and managed to keep it for the last six months. Kassie is now known as ‘Chesty Cherry’ and she performs four nights a week at an upscale strip club. In addition to making a small fortune in tips, the man-crazy minx has attracted not one but two sugar daddies. Kennedy is nothing but supportive of her twin’s new career, especially since their rent gets paid on time every month due to an overabundance of cash on hand.