Time of Gifting

by Taki Drake

  Overall, the dealings between the soldiers and the women were minimal. For the most part, that interaction was Mary’s communications with Lieutenant Hampton and Corporal Simmons. The platoon medic also visited at least twice a day, but the women were determined to supervise their invalids themselves. At this point, the medic was just being courteous. Further treatment would be done when the women were transported out of the area.

  Mary thought to herself, At least he stitched up Jumal’s wounds, something that none of us were anticipating with any level of comfort. I am just glad that he knew how to locate and extract the little pieces of glass that were still in Jean’s leg. That was something that really worried me and, even though it was painful for her, I feel a lot better about his ability to help her.

  Her fever looks like it is coming down after the antibiotics he gave her, and the IVs that he started on all three of them have definitely helped with the hydration issue.

  Other than those three men, the remainder of the soldiers tried to avoid them. Mary caught sideways glances as the soldiers appeared to be trying to figure out who and what their group comprised. Most of the men seemed to be befuddled and confused, and those expressions were clearly seen on their faces whenever they look at the women.

  Mary was amused to see that most of them seemed a little intimidated by her. She had always considered herself a nonintimidating caregiver, one that was a reliable presence at bake sales and PTA meetings. The soldiers’ wary looks when she cheerfully greeted them threatened to send her off into peals of inappropriate laughter.

  Remembering how fragile Matthew occasionally got when he was nervous about something or someone, Mary vowed to herself not to take note of their submerged fear but simply chose to pretend it was not there. She continued to chat with them, even if their big eyes repeatedly reminded her of a nest of baby owls.

  Almost every time Mary looked up, one or more of the soldiers were staring at the women. Their whole attitude was practically screaming the men’s need to understand why the women were not hysterical or more fragile. This both amused and angered the group leader because this meant they expected this group of older women to need constant attention and minding.

  There were a few men that had a significantly different response to the presence of the women. Several of them seem to believe that the women were an incomprehensible and unexpected alien species transported to their world. Their watchful attention was not judgmental but appeared to be that of scientific observation.

  Again tickled by a curl of mirth deep in her chest, Mary could almost hear the television announcer saying, “Yes, Jim, we now have rare footage of the newly discovered species of xenogravitus afghanisaurus. Although not particularly predatory, this omnivore appears to be calm in nature and exhibits more of the hunter-gatherer profile. It is typified by gray-dappled hair and wrinkled skin.”

  The group leader’s thoughts were interrupted when the two young soldiers responsible for meals came up to Mary and asked her if there was a problem with their food. They had noticed that many of the women were not eating much. Instead, they were eating a small amount and then taking their leftovers someplace else.

  One of the young men was especially concerned, asking if his cooking was so bad that they couldn’t eat what he had made. Mary reassured him and told him that Pam and Patty would be happy to give him a hand. When he demurred, Mary pushed the point, telling him that it would provide them with something to do. Capitulating, he agreed to let the two women assist.

  Relieved, the men went back to their mess duties, not even noticing the pot of soup that Patty had cooking on the fire. When she and Mary exchanged glances, they both smiled in wonder at the lack of awareness that the two cooks had shown.

  A short while later, Geri and Mary were walking slowly around the outside of the campsite while still staying well inside the perimeter. The day had started to cool off, and they needed another familiar pattern to keep them from feeling so alienated. They were used to evening walks at home, and just the short stroll they could safely make was comforting.

  As two friends rounded a massive boulder, they stopped in surprise. One of the soldiers was standing at stiff attention while the platoon Sergeant yelled at him.

  Both women had to conceal a smile at the soldier’s posture and expression. It reminded both of them of things that their sons had done. When the boys were caught doing something that they had every intention of repeating, each had worn identical expressions and had stood in similar postures. That look of “I hear you, but I’m going to do it again anyway” was a whole story by itself to any parent that had raised a son.

  The story’s missing part was supplied by the dusty-covered and filthy animal crouched by the soldier’s feet. It was a spotted dog with ratty fur and thin sides. Clearly frightened by the loud voice of the Sergeant, it still clung to the young soldier.

  “We don’t have enough food for the humans right now, Private Wilson! What part of short rations do you not understand?” yelled the irritated noncom. Noticing the women’s approach, he nodded in acknowledgment and left abruptly, taking the Private with him. The dog remained huddled in place, visibly trembling.

  Geri looked at Mary and crooked her eyebrow in question. Mary smiled, and Geri grinned back, both of them remembering days of teenage sons. A moment later, those smiles turned bittersweet as familiar grief once again touched their hearts. After a few minutes, once their vision had cleared, they moved on.

  Returning to camp, Mary stopped briefly in her tent before returning to the campfire area. One addition that all of the women greatly appreciated was that the young soldiers had provided them with a couple of extra tents so that not everybody had to be crowded into two shelters.

  Somehow, the group leader had been given her own, which initially Mary thought was totally unnecessary. She was now beginning to understand its advantages as she left the things Geri and she had found on their hike safely inside the zippered enclosure.

  Most of the women were around the fire when they saw Connie hurrying back toward them. She was holding something in her hand and smiling. That smile changed to shock and then disappointment when one of the soldiers bumped into her, knocking what she was holding onto the ground. It was the man that most obviously resented the women’s presence.

  He stood there and looked disdainfully at Connie, staring her in the face while he deliberately stepped on what she had been carrying and grounded it into the dirt. Connie’s eyes were filled with tears at the combination of collision and cruelty.

  “Oh. Sorry. Guess you’re going to have to wait for your treat until you get out of here. Or maybe it was a beauty treatment,” he sneered.

  At that moment, Mary lost all thought of a resemblance between this man and her son. She would never again feel a pang of remembrance when seeing this man with similar hair and posture. The woman thought, He is a mean-spirited and angry soul, aching to spread his pain to everyone around him. My son was never like that! Looking like Matthew does not mean that they are the same. Such a person would never have a place in someone’s living heart, but that may be why he is so cruel.

  Naomi hurried over and put her arm around Connie. Talking comfortingly to her friend, she guided the now crying woman back to the protection of the fire and the rest of the women.

  Patty summed up their overall feeling, “Men! You can try to housebreak them, but teaching him not to bark, bite, and pee in corners is almost impossible!”

  The laughter became general as they relaxed together, wrapped in their friendship and caring.

  Chapter 20 – Christmas

  Christmas Day dawned clear and cool. Soldiers emerging from their little tents were greeted by the sight of three small, stunted trees, each propped up by a ring of rocks around their trunks and decorated with little fabric ornaments made of scraps. Each tree had a carefully written squad name on a piece of paper torn from Geri’s notebook. Beside each tree was a fabric sack, bulging with irregular objects.

  The
men were silent, staring in confused wonder at the decorated trees’ incongruous appearance in their camp. Lieutenant Hampton and the platoon Sergeant joined them in the amazed inspection. Before any of the men could voice a coherent thought, another sense was overwhelmed as the swirling air of a light breeze carried a mouthwatering aroma to tease their noses.

  “Come on, come on! Do not let this get cold or go to waste!” The voice was Pam’s, and it drew the soldiers’ attention as if all of their heads were on strings. Mary thought it would have been funny to have taken a video, but she did not dare. On the other hand, the woman carefully filed that memory away, along with her gleeful appreciation of the looks of complete confusion and surprise. She knew that anytime she pulled that memory out to experience it again, it would fill her with warmth and joy.

  Patty came out from behind one of the boulders balancing four filled plates. She smiled broadly and pointed with her chin toward several other rocks that had been arranged to form a rough table and draped with one of the lengths of cloth from the never-ending textile stash. “Breakfast is served! Don’t make me throw it away!” she said.

  It was obvious that Patty and Pam had been cooking. They were wrapped in makeshift aprons, flushed and sweaty even at this early hour. Handing two of the plates to her sister, Patty took the others over to the two young men who had been cooking all of their other meals. She handed them each a plate, saying, “For the cooks, a special gift. A meal that you do not have to make as a thank you for all the ones you have done for us. Merry Christmas!”

  Pam delivered her two plates, one to Lieutenant Hampton and the other to the platoon Sergeant. Grinning at Mary, she added, “You need to get your own, girlfriend.”

  “But… But… How?” stammered the Lieutenant.

  Mary took pity on the poor man and explained, “Patty runs a Michelin-rated restaurant. One of the things we have been doing was finding interesting spices and herbs on this trip. We decided to make the meals on Christmas Day for you guys. After all, it is our fault you are not back at your base right now.”

  The soldiers needed no more invitation to get their food. There was a rush to form a line, and Patty and Pam were soon very busy filling plates and answering questions on the meal. The smell and appearance of it were different than what the soldiers had been used to. Much of it felt like home, and Patty was thanked repeatedly for giving them the pancakes and bread that they had missed so much. She had even managed to create some form of syrup that was a big hit.

  The soldiers had almost finished breakfast when Mary turned to Lieutenant Hampton and asked, “May we give them their gifts now?”

  The poor man almost choked on his mouthful of food, managing to gulp it down with the aid of a big swallow of water. “Gifts?” was all the speech he could choke out.

  “Yes, gifts. We are all far from home and family this Christmas. Sometimes there are people we wish were here with us, and other times people with us fill the holes in our hearts that the missing left. This trip was grief therapy for us. We have all lost loved ones recently. Taking a trip away from the constant reminders of those that have gone was supposed to help us recover.”

  All around her, the soldiers were listening. Forty-one of them and six women all focusing their attention on her words as they dropped into the pool of their consciousness.

  Mary continued, “A day of traditional gifting and family feels even emptier when those customs are not observed. So today, we are standing in the stead of your family. Sharing not only what we have to give but who we are so that you have a family with you on Christmas.

  “We know that you already have brothers in your patrols and your platoons. So we are standing in for the ones that cannot be here, hoping that our small gifts will let you know that it is not always the family you are born into that can care for you, but the ones that develop along the way.”

  Rivulets of tears were running silently down Mary’s face as she talked. The same healing moisture wet all of the other women’s cheeks. There were damp eyes and scattered sniffles elsewhere, covered up by manly gestures of eye rubbing and coughing, but no one else said a word.

  Wordlessly waving her hand at the other women, Mary moved toward one of the trees. She opened the bag lying next to it and started pulling out small fabric-wrapped shapes from inside. Each had a handwritten tag on it with the soldier’s name. The other women came and took Mary’s packages and delivered them directly to the man named on the label.

  Lieutenant Hampton was amazed as each item was handed to precisely the right person. He saw that it was not a random gifting. Each present had been specifically targeted toward the man, not an anonymous soldier. Even Private Isaac received a gift wrapped in the blue-and-white of Hanukkah.

  Mary had rejoined him and Sergeant Brown. The Lieutenant asked her, “How could you possibly have learned everyone’s names?”

  Smiling cheerfully at him, Mary responded, “PTA. If you’ve ever had children in school, you have developed the ability to accumulate names like saving pennies. With this many women, all mothers, it actually was not very difficult.”

  Mary appeared to be watching something important to her. So the Lieutenant and Sergeant found themselves looking in the direction of her gaze. They all watched in silence as Connie carried a package over to the man that had been so cruel to her earlier. She handed him a gift, and he stared at her helplessly. The woman looked him straight in the face and asked him, “Are you not going to open it?”

  As he fumbled the opening of the package, removing its contents, she added, “I heard you talk about your grandmother’s sugar cookies. So we decided to make a small batch for you. I hope you enjoy them, but I’m afraid they’re a little crumbly. We ran short of butter.”

  Connie then turned and walked back to the other women, a small smile appearing on her face once she had moved a few steps. It was not a mean smile but instead one of forgiveness and mischievous pleasure. The man behind her stared down at the gift and gazed after the woman, regret and apology drawn on his face.

  The rest of the day was filled with a strange mixture of normal patrols and standing watch, interrupted by Christmas carols, storytelling, and family games. The arc of the day was recorded in a series of mental snapshots for Mary. As she looked around, her brain recorded special moments, and the woman stuffed them into a vault in her mind where she could re-experience them when the grief overtook her again.

  Geri crowing in triumph as she won the fourth straight chess game against a stunned Lieutenant Hampton before jumping up and dancing around like a madwoman with a surprised but pleased Sergeant Brown.

  Patty crowning the winner of the impromptu backgammon tournament with a woven garland, only to see him set it on top of his helmet as he went out on patrol.

  The poker game that went on for hours, changing players as they went on and came off duty. Jean laughing as she collected a huge bet of seed pods from the table as her bluff worked, chortling again as she showed her cards to the disbelieving men.

  Some of those flash memories were personal. Holding the large hands of the awkward Matthew look-alike as she guided him through the actions necessary to purl stitch with her larger knitting needles.

  The awkward hugs from various soldiers that the women received, the men inarticulate in their gratitude, and the combination of tears and smiles on the woman’s faces.

  Connie’s circle of intent RPG players as she ran a classic Dungeons and Dragons game using the dice that she took everywhere with her. The cheers as the party took down monsters and found treasure. The unalloyed joy on Connie’s face as she once again found people to share her love of the addictive pastime.

  Naomi acting as the official photographer and taking pictures of each soldier as they showed off their gifts, participated in games and other activities. She was particularly sure to capture their embarrassed laughter as they received the kisses awarded by Geri and Connie under their “mistletoe.”

  Mistletoe was not native to the region, but that h
ad not stopped the inventive pair. The first soldier to see their construct stared at it for a few seconds before laughing so hard that he almost did not notice when Geri, smiling, kissed him on his cheek. As he walked away, Mary saw him holding his hand up to his cheek, smiling in a gentle expression of remembrance.

  The cylindrical shape was painted red and white, with a paper cone front and a trio of fins attached to the back. Suspended from the area just above the fins was a stuffed toe sock with most of the body tucked inside, leaving just the toes to swing in the air. ‘Missle–toe’ was a visual joke with family kindness and mirth attached.

  The feeling in the camp was more like a large family get-together and less like a military camp. Although the soldiers’ usual functions and structure were maintained by the platoon command, the Christmas Day celebration’s warmth affected all of them.

  As the women got ready for bed, Mary heard laughter and content voices. The woman could detect no sad or grief-stifled speech, nor could she see the agonized emptiness of remembered pain. As she drifted off to sleep, the exhausted woman thought to herself, This is the best Christmas present that I have ever had!

  Chapter 21 – Family of Many Sorts

  Medevac was expected in three hours, and all of the women were packing up. There were last-minute decisions on what to take or leave. Mary made sure that she had the master list of the names, emails, and other details for each soldier, promising that they would be hearing from the women again. She looked around, seeing shadows of the camaraderie that had been built the day before.

  Geri was talking intently with Lieutenant Hampton and two other chess players. She handed the platoon commander her travel chess set and hugged the astounded man. She gave each of the others one of her ever-present chess books with firm admonishments to read specific strategies.