War Zone: Homefront

by Thomas A. Watson

  A hopeful smile sprang up on Bill’s face. “Really?”

  Like a switch had been flipped, anger filled Nathan’s face and he snarled, “Yeah, and if anyone says anything about it, teasing him, you deal with me.”

  Bill spun around to the others. “Anyone talks about that, I have explosives,” he warned.

  “You were supposed to give them all to Nathan,” Rusty said, coming out of his shock.

  “Needed to keep some for emergencies,” Bill replied, turning back to Nathan. “So? Go run those other girls off, so Robin and John can talk alone,” Bill commanded.

  Stepping back, Nathan stared at Bill with a confused expression. “What the hell is wrong with you doing that?” Nathan asked.

  Looking back at the range, “I don’t want to scare John off,” Bill admitted, and Vince gave a hiccup before he spun around and walked off laughing.

  Jasmine and Sherry walked over to the group and saw Lanny, Tim, Aiden, and Rusty staring at the back of Bill’s head in shock. Seemingly in a catatonic state, Nathan was staring right at Bill’s face, but Bill was looking toward John’s group still talking. “What’s this about?” Sherry groaned, holding Leeann’s hand.

  Having no clue, Jasmine just shrugged as she adjusted the SAW on her back and held Chip’s hand. “What’s wrong?” Jasmine asked when they stopped beside Nathan.

  “Jasmine,” Bill said, spinning to her. “Go run those other girls around John and Robin off, so they can talk.”

  Without a doubt, that was the last thing either woman had expected. Jasmine’s jaw fell open and Sherry’s legs gave out. Landing on her rump, Sherry gaped at Bill as he gave Jasmine a pleading expression. Slowly, Jasmine turned to see Robin hanging on John’s left arm while he talked to the others in the group. “Bill, you hurt my boy, and I’ll skin your ass alive and roll you in salt,” Jasmine warned.

  Shaking his head, Tim moved over and helped Sherry up. “Get Nolan, I’ll get Chip and Leeann. We’re going inside,” Tim told her. “The natural order of the universe has shifted, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Earth falls into the sun right now or pigs start flying.”

  Numbly, Sherry stepped over, taking Nolan out of the baby carrier on Nathan’s chest and he never moved. Still in shock, Nathan’s eyes never left Bill’s face.

  “Jasmine, I wouldn’t hurt John,” Bill stated emphatically as Tim and Sherry left with the kids. “Go make those other kids leave,” he repeated. “Mainly, the girls.”

  Glancing back at John, Jasmine shook her head and stormed over to Bill. Shoving Nathan to the side, Jasmine stood toe-to-toe with Bill. “Listen here, buster. John’s a sweet young man. He’s never even held a girl’s hand,” Jasmine spat out, shoving her chest into Bill’s. Well, Jasmine’s chest pushed Bill’s belly. Not even feeling the push, but hearing what Jasmine said, Bill just grinned wider. The more he heard about John, the more he liked. “Your daughter breaks my son’s heart, I’ll break your dick off and shove it down your throat,” Jasmine finished in a growl.

  Bill just nodded, never taking his eyes off the two. “You can have Janice and Tyler, if you help me fix John and Robin up,” Bill offered.

  That did take the anger out of Jasmine’s sails and she stumbled back. “Your wife and son?” she mumbled.

  “Yeah, go make those other kids leave,” Bill almost cheered.

  Not sure what emotion he was experiencing, Nathan turned away and started walking off. “I’m taking a nap with doodlebug,” he called out as he stumbled off. Pausing her babbling, Emma waved ‘bye’ to her subjects while Nathan walked away.

  “Jasmine, make Nathan go over there and run those other girls off,” Bill moaned.

  Hearing ‘girls’ for the first time, Jasmine glanced over her shoulder and saw another girl easing up on John’s right side. The glare Robin was giving the girl, Jasmine was sure she would’ve run away if it’d been directed at her. “Bill, Robin hurts my boy and we’ll have words, but only after I stomp your ass,” Jasmine warned.

  Spinning around, Jasmine walked over to John and the group. “John, I need you and Robin to go to the house and help clean guns,” Jasmine called out. Robin seemed to glow hearing that, and several of the other girls scowled at her.

  “Okay, Jasmine,” John said with his customary smile on his face. Robin never let his arm go when John shouldered several range bags and started off toward the house.

  “I clean my own weapons,” Amanda decreed, coming over.

  Closing her eyes, Jasmine let out a long sigh. “Amanda, don’t start,” Jasmine moaned. “You can clean your weapons, but make John check them.”

  “I don’t need him to check behind me,” Amanda snapped. “I could field strip an AR before he could.”

  “Amanda!” Jasmine barked, and Amanda jumped back.

  “What crawled up your butt?”

  “Amanda, you will go back and make sure John and Robin clean the weapons we let the women who joined us use,” Jasmine told her, hoping Amanda would like that.

  Happy she was the boss over something, Amanda perked up with a smile as she spun around and skipped over to Casey and Natalie. Closing her eyes, Jasmine just shook her head. “Being a momma sucks.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Early the next morning, Nathan was pouring a cup of coffee when he heard a knock at the door. Glancing into the living room, he saw all three dogs just looking at the door. “It’s one of the posse,” Nathan yawned, heading for the door.

  He opened the door and found Bill standing in shorts and a tank top, with his family behind him in workout clothes. “Hey, Nathan. You mind if we start working out with you guys in the morning?” Bill asked with a grin.

  Blinking the sleep from his eyes, “You hate working out,” Nathan stated in a groggy voice, then saw Robin bouncing on her toes behind her dad.

  “Well, it’s time for me to get over that shit,” Bill replied.

  Turning around and heading for the coffee he’d left in the kitchen, “I don’t care,” Nathan droned. Robin shot by her dad, nearly knocking him down, and stopped beside Nathan. Wrapping an arm around Nathan’s waist and putting her head on his arm, she gave him a hug from the side.

  “Is John… and the others up?” she asked.

  Grabbing his cup, Nathan cut his eyes down to Robin and saw she seemed too wide awake and eager for this time of morning, especially for a fifteen-year-old girl. The last time she and Tyler had spent the weekend with him, which was only a week before he’d left for Atlanta, Robin had slept until noon both days. He had known her since the day she was born and in truth, looked at Robin like a little sister. “Yeah, they should be out in a minute,” Nathan answered, seeing Janice and Tyler stop at the counter. Both looked like one should at five in the morning.

  Turning to Bill when he walked up, Nathan saw he was wide awake like his daughter, just not bouncing with excitement. “Coffee?” Nathan asked, pointing at the pot.

  “Thank you,” Janice moaned, shuffling over. Still half-asleep, Tyler followed his mom in the same shuffle.

  A small screech sounded, and everyone turned to see a butt-naked Emma running out of Nathan’s bedroom. Heading straight for Nathan still screeching, Emma latched on his leg. Jasmine came out of the bedroom with a washcloth in one hand and a pullup in the other. “Emma, come here, so I can clean you up!” Jasmine snapped and Robin let go of Nathan and turned to look down the hall where the other rooms were.

  Stopping her screech, Emma tried to climb Nathan’s leg like a tree. Setting his coffee mug down, Nathan looked up at the ceiling. “God, I know you’re testing me, but remember, conduct was always my lowest grade, and at the best of times, I was a C student,” Nathan stated as Emma latched on his leg hard with her legs when Jasmine reached her. “I have learned humility, God, so please stop,” Nathan begged.

  Letting out a long sigh while Jasmine tried prying Emma’s arms and legs from around his legs, “I got her,” Nathan stated with no emotion.

  When Nathan grabbed her, Emma let go w
ith a smile. As Nathan turned, Emma looked at Jasmine with a scowl while Nathan carried her toward the bedroom. “Stick your tongue out at me and see if I don’t cut it off,” Jasmine dared with hard eyes, and Emma jerked back. “Nathan, just wipe her off,” Jasmine groaned as he entered the bedroom.

  For a brief second, Nathan really thought about it. “She peed in her pullup, so she needs a bath,” he called out in a flat voice.

  Tossing the washcloth into the sink, Jasmine looked up at the ceiling. “Hey! I told my momma I was sorry, so you can exorcise that demon from Emma anytime, God!” Jasmine cried out.

  Lowering her gaze, Jasmine gave a startle to see Bill and his family. “How did you get here?” Jasmine asked.

  With a big smile, “Nathan let us in,” Bill said.

  Before Jasmine could respond, the door to Tim and Sherry’s bedroom opened. Stepping out while putting her hair up in a ponytail, “Who was killing Emma?” Sherry asked, and Leeann followed her out.

  “Nobody,” Jasmine huffed, then mumbled, “not yet anyway.”

  Walking out from the back hall, “Jasmine, what the hell did you do to Emma?!” Amanda barked with Casey and Natalie behind her.

  Rolling her eyes up, “God, you can lighten up anytime,” Jasmine mumbled, dropping her eyes to Amanda. “Amanda, I’m in a bad mood, so don’t even start,” Jasmine warned. “Emma wouldn’t let me wipe her off with a rag.”

  Showing attitude as only a teen could, Amanda scanned the kitchen and noticed Robin first, then Bill, Janice, and Tyler. “What’re you doing here?”

  “Dad said it was time for all of us to get in shape,” Robin practically beamed, then cut her eyes down the hall behind Amanda.

  Already in a bad mood, the first thought in Jasmine’s mind was Bill was pimping his daughter, but wisely kept her opinion to herself as Amanda walked past her and stopped at the bedroom door. “Nathan, Emma doesn’t need to have a bath every time she gets pee on her!” Amanda shouted into the bedroom.

  “I washed your naked ass when it was dirty, so shut it!” Nathan yelled back, and Amanda turned instantly red.

  Lifting her chin, eyes squinted in a gunfighter’s glare, Amanda strolled over to the coffee pot. “Anyone repeats that, and you won’t wake up the next day,” Amanda told everyone, grabbing a coffee cup.

  Hearing a sharp intake of breath, Jasmine turned from Amanda and traced the sound to Robin, who was looking down the back hall. She didn’t even shift her gaze, knowing John was the reason for the gasp. “Hey,” John smiled at Robin. When John walked past her heading for the coffee pot, Robin never missed a beat walking sideways, keeping her front toward him.

  “We are going to start working out with all of you in the morning,” Robin told him. As John poured a cup of coffee, rolling her weight from one foot to the other subtly, just enough to make her ponytail slightly sway side to side, Robin gave John a demure smile.

  Feeding Nolan a bottle as he joined the group, Tim saw Chip walking in with John and Tom. “Chip slept with the boys?” he asked, rather shocked.

  “Yeah,” Jasmine grunted harshly. “He said he was a big boy now.”

  The harshness left her face when Chip ran toward her with his arms out. Scooping him up, Jasmine smiled at his small face. “I guess you are a big boy now, sleeping in the boys’ room,” she told Chip, nuzzling in his neck.

  “Right,” Tom yawned, moving around John who seemed to be avoiding looking at Robin. “He crawled in my bed not five minutes after John turned the light out.”

  “Aw, poor baby,” Jasmine mumbled, hugging Chip tight. “How did you know what time to come over?” Jasmine asked, turning to Bill and found him grinning.

  Not looking away from Robin and John, “Tyler, what time does Nathan start working out?” Bill asked.

  “Five thirty in the morning every day, except Wednesdays and Sundays,” Tyler responded with no enthusiasm.

  Pushing through the crowd, Jasmine grabbed a mug. “Guys, go start warming up,” Jasmine said and everyone left, leaving only Tim feeding Nolan and Jasmine still holding Chip on her hip.

  “Never thought I’d see the day Bill would be throwing his daughter at someone,” Tim chuckled softly.

  Not finding that funny, Jasmine just sipped her coffee. “Nathan did make sure John knows the facts of life, didn’t he?” Jasmine asked, and Tim gave a loud snort stopping an outburst of laughter.

  “Yeah,” Tim croaked. “John and Tom.”

  “Natalie’s mom already talked to her and Tom,” Jasmine said, very thankful. “What’s so funny?”

  “Nothing,” Tim snorted, turning away.

  Taking a deep breath and rolling her eyes, “What did Nathan do?”

  Turning around, but not looking into Jasmine’s eyes, Tim coughed and chuckled. “He put on a porno, telling the boys that’s how a girl got pregnant. Then gave a play-by-play description of what was going on.”

  Hearing that, Jasmine’s body instantly became numb with shock. A small part of herself, minuscule in fact, thought that was somewhat smart. But the vast majority of her conscious didn’t even find it amusing. “He still has juvenile tendencies,” Jasmine sighed.

  ***

  Riding on Nathan’s hip, Emma let out a squeal when they entered the dining hall, to let all her loyal subjects know she was there. When Nathan put her down, Emma ran around babbling to each table, thanking them for being loyal subjects.

  Setting his mug down, “Emma, you aren’t the queen,” Nathan blurted out.

  “What?” Jasmine asked, putting Chip down.

  “Nothing,” Nathan sighed.

  Watching Emma run to each table, Jasmine couldn’t help but grin. To say Emma was tiny was an understatement. At two and a half, Emma wore twelve to eighteen-months toddler clothes. Jasmine knew this because Sherry had tons of baby and kid clothes. When she first saw this, Jasmine was confused, seeing both girl and boy clothes. Picking some up, Jasmine saw they still had price tags. Sherry informed Jasmine, Nathan had bought those before Nolan was even born. After Nolan was born, Nathan kept asking when Tim and Sherry were going to have another baby.

  Stepping close to Nathan, “Nathan, did you really show the boys a porno to explain the facts of life?” Jasmine whispered. She had wanted to wait, but she just had to know.

  Giving a scoff, “Yeah,” Nathan grunted.

  “May I ask why?”

  Looking down at her like she was insane, “Didn’t you do that for the girls?” he asked, and Jasmine’s mouth fell open. “That’s how my dad told me,” he said, seeing the shock.

  “Your mom let him?”

  “No, Dad got back from deployment and Momma told Dad it was time for my talk, and left to go shopping. Dad pulled out a porno and gave me the talk,” Nathan shrugged. “What did you do for the girls?”

  In a low voice, Jasmine told Nathan what she’d told the girls. When she was done, Nathan just shrugged. “I did the same thing, but just had moving pictures.” Feeling Emma getting into something, Nathan spun around scanning.

  “Ruth! Quit leaving the damn cakes out!” Nathan shouted, breaking into a run.

  Wanting to go back to bed and restart the day, Jasmine sat down as Bill walked over. “You worked out with Nathan?” Aiden asked, sitting with his wife across the table.

  “Yeah, Nathan’s right. We need to be in shape,” Bill said with a smile.

  Turning to Penny, “Maybe we should start going over,” Aiden offered.

  Watching Gina run around the table to the other kids, Bill saw Robin still beside John who was just smiling, but still not looking her in the eye. With a contented sigh, Bill turned to Aiden and leaned over the table. “Let’s get something straight, John’s mine,” Bill snapped in a low voice. “I mean, Robin’s. So find another one for Gina.”

  Penny froze in shock, staring at Bill while Aiden just shook his head. “You need help,” Aiden told Bill.

  As Bill walked off, Penny turned to Aiden. “Honey, what the hell did all you do to Bill yesterday?”

/>   “Not a damn thing,” Aiden sighed as Rusty and Libby sat down.

  “Jasmine,” Rusty whispered across the table. “Is Bill pimping Robin to hook up with John?”

  Glad she wasn’t the only one who’d thought it, Jasmine just shrugged while Libby elbowed Rusty in the ribs. “Robin and Gina spent the night at Nathan’s a lot, right?” Jasmine asked, not sure what she was feeling.

  “Yes,” Penny answered, noticing Jasmine studying all the kids at the end of the table. “Jasmine,” she said, and Jasmine turned to her. “Not one day, has Nathan ever treated Robin or Gina like little girls. I’ll give you an example. At Gina’s tenth birthday party at Chuck E Cheese, a little boy was being mean to Gina. When she ran from the room filled with those small balls crying, Nathan picked her up. He found out what was going on, and he told Gina to go back in there and just where to kick the older boy. Then, he showed her how to make a fist, and told her to climb on top of him and hit him in the face a few times,” Penny paused, cutting her eyes at her husband. With a straight face, Aiden just looked across the table at nothing.

  Taking a deep breath, “Well, Gina loves her Uncle Nathan and did just what he told her. Running back into the ball room, she kicked that boy between the legs as hard as she could. The boy fell down puking, and Gina climbed on top of him and started wailing away with her tiny fists,” Penny said, and Aiden’s face broke into a smirk as he tried not to laugh. “All three families and Nathan were banned from Chuck E Cheese,” Penny finished. “Jasmine, Nathan sees all of his ‘Little Posse’ as younger brothers and sisters, and they look at him like a big brother but sometimes refer to him as ‘Uncle Nathan’.”

  Hearing this story made a lot of things click with Nathan in Jasmine’s mind. Feeling better, Jasmine saw Emma running over babbling. Not seeing Nathan chasing, she turned and found him and Bill talking to Vince. “No, Emma,” Janice said, running over as Emma pulled Nathan’s mug down.