Tired of Teaching

Cheri knew he had at least a bachelor's degree and as she smiled she asked him if he'd majored in psychology.

"No. Not at all," he told her with a laugh. "Not even close."

"Sociology?" she asked with a little shrug of the shoulders and a laugh.

"I uh, I have degrees in mechanical and aerospace engineering," he said in a modest way she found refreshingly different from the man he reminded her of.

"Oh, wow. May I ask you a personal question?"

Mike laughed then said, "Why am I in the Marine Corps with two degrees in engineering?"

"Well, yes, actually."

"My dad is a retired Marine colonel. I've looked up to him since I was, well, a kid..."

Cheri winced and said, "Ouch!" before Mike laughed and continued.

"So even though I chose a difficult major, the thought of going to work in some cubicle every day and wearing a shirt and tie made me ill."

Cheri laughed again but didn't say anything.

"I got an aviation guarantee from the Marine Corps when I signed up, and after finishing OCS and TBS I headed to Pensacola for flight school."

Cheri knew what 'OCS' stood for: Officers Candidate School.

"What's TBS?" she asked.

"The Basic School. Its a six-month course every Marine officer goes through. You basically learn how to be an infantry platoon commander (platoon 'leader' in the Army) so that every officer understands how to either be one or support them."

She understood and thanked him for explaining it.

He told her it was his pleasure then asked if he'd been any help.

"Yes. As a matter of fact, I feel a whole lot better, so thank you very much."

"I'm glad. It'd be a shame for you to give up on the other kids due to one..."

He leaned closer then said, "Asshat."

Cheri laughed so hard, mostly out of sense of relief, she had to cover her mouth then told him she agreed.

Their check came, but when Cheri tried to pay half Mike told her to forget it.

"But I did all the complaining and now I'm taking your money. That's just wrong," she told him.

"You did as much for me as I did for you, and for that, I'm very grateful."

Before she could ask what he meant, Mike pushed back and said he really needed to be going.

"Oh, sure. And thank you again. For everything."

"No. Thank you," he told her, only deepening the mystery.

When they got outside, Mike insisted on walking her to her car, and Cheri gladly let him.

"I uh, I really needed this, Mike. Thank you—again—for listening and for your suggestion about compartmentalizing things."

"I'm just glad I could help. And it was really quite pleasant talking with you, too, Cheri."

"Well, I suppose this is goodbye then."

She hit a button on her key fob, and when the door unlocked, Mike opened it for her.

"You take care, Cheri. And don't let this...student...get you down."

"I'll never live down calling you a kid, will I?" she replied with a nervous laugh.

After she got in, Mike said, "It may be unfair, but we...men...are always willing to cut a beautiful woman a little slack."

Knowing she would never see him again, she decided to say something just as nice back.

"Considering how handsome you are, Mike, that's very kind of you to say."

He closed her door, smiled at her, then waited for her to back out. She put the car in gear, waved back to him as she drove off then found herself wondering how it was possible she could feel like her old self after spending no more than an hour or so with someone she'd just met.

But because she felt so good she didn't try and analyze it to death. She just took his advice and put her time with Mike in a box then locked it up and put the key in a safe place.

The next day at school she put Eddie Markham in a box, too. A tiny, little box, and even his snide comments had no effect on her. Her friend and fellow teacher, Tina, noticed and commented on it.

"I had the nicest talk with a young man I met," Cheri told her.

"Oh? And?"

The 'and' clearly meant, "Was he hot and did he ask you out?" but Cheri ignored it.

"And...he gave me some real perspective on several things. Like Eddie."

"Wow," Tina said before asking her friend directly if he was hot.

"He was."

Then came another 'and?'

"And...nothing. We just talked."

"Did you at least get his number? You know, for me?"

Cheri laughed and told her friend she didn't.

"We really did just talk."

"Hey. If it helped, I'm glad. Really glad. I've been so worried about you lately."

"Honestly? I was worried about myself," Cheri said. "But after talking with Mike, I feel..."

She remembered the feeling as she drove home and said, "Like my old self again."

"Mike, huh? And you're sure you didn't get his number?"

"He's too young anyway. But that's another story."

Tina had no idea about the 'kid' comment, and Cheri didn't volunteer any information.

That weekend, Cheri was home and had the television on. She wasn't really paying attention until she saw a Marine in the same uniform Mike was wearing. She only glanced at the screen, but her brain told her to look again. When she did, she felt like her knees were going to give out on her.

"We've been covering the court martial of Marine Captains Michael King and Shaun Murphy, accused of murder for the deaths of two Afghani children during an airstrike King led earlier this year. The defense will be making its closing arguments tomorrow after which deliberations will begin, and we'll be at the courthouse when the verdict is delivered."

The reporter tossed back to the anchor, but Cheri didn't hear another word. Her blood ran cold and her brain swirled with confusion as she tried to make sense of what she'd just heard.

"Murder. Oh, my God," she said quietly out loud to herself, unaware that her body was trembling.

She barely slept at all and had trouble concentrating in the classroom. The trial was the only thing she could think of, and by her planning period at 1:15, there was only one thing she could do.

"Yes, hi. WJBT? I...I'm looking for a reporter of yours. She's covering the court martial at the Marine base."

"Do you mean Stefanie Lopez?"

"Yes. That's her. Is there any way I can talk to her?"

"She's out on assignment. Why? Do you have information about the case?"

"No. I...I just wanted ask her a few questions."

"I can take your name and number and ask her to call you."

Cheri provided the requested information and thanked the woman as she tried to square the seriousness of the charges against the kindness of the man she'd talked to and eaten lunch. None of it made sense, and until she could understand the reasons why, she knew she'd be incapable of focusing on anything else.

It was just after the final bell when her phone rang.

"Cheri Caulfield?"

"Yes. Ms. Lopez?"

"Stefanie, please. I understand you're looking for information on the court martial."

"I am. I guess I was wondering if I can...be there. During the trial."

"I'm afraid it's over after closing arguments were made today. Except for the jury's deliberations and the verdict."

When she didn't respond, the reporter asked if she knew either of the defendants.

"Yes. One of them."

"Captain King or Captain Murphy?"

"Captain King," Cheri repeated, only now learning Mike's last name.

"Are you a close friend?"

"What? No. I'm...I teach. High school."

"Were you his teacher at one point? If so, I'd love to get your reaction to the verdict."

"I wasn't, but I'd very much like to be there. Is that possible?" Cheri asked without answering the question.

"Anyone can request to be in the courtroom. But you have to go through the base legal office. However, I can get you in as my guest if you have a personal connection."

"No. Nothing like that, but thank you for your time."

Another hour passed as Cheri tried to make the pieces of the puzzle fit. The only way she was going to resolve this was to talk with Mike again, and yet she wasn't sure she could even find him. She was very aware that her obsession with this case wouldn't make sense to anyone else. But it did to her, and she had to have an answer.

The next morning she called in sick again, and after eating breakfast and getting dressed, she drove to the New River Air Station for the first time in several years. She stopped at Pass and ID and picked up a visitor's pass then showed her drivers license and the pass to the Marine gate guard who welcomed her aboard.

While in Pass and ID Cheri picked up a map of the base and headed toward the law center. It was no surprise to see vans from local TV stations parked outside as the verdict could come at any time.

She found a parking spot then headed toward the front door. She was wearing a dress today and the cold air hit her stocking-clad legs as she hurried along.

There was a sergeant sitting at a desk who asked her if he could help her the moment she looked his way.

"Yes. I was wondering if I could go in the court room."

"Ma'am? We have several court rooms. Which one are you looking to enter?"

"Oh, sorry. Yes, I...I'd like to see about getting into the courtroom where Captain King is..."

She wasn't sure how to end the sentence, but the young sergeant understood.

"That's already filled to capacity, ma'am. So unless the defense or the prosecution requests your presence, I'm afraid that's not possible."

"I understand," she replied quietly.

The Marine looked away just as she asked a follow-on question.

"Has Captain King arrived yet?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that," he said.

"You can't because you don't know or because you're not allowed to?" Cheri asked as nicely as she could.

She saw him turn to his right and the large, plate-glass window in a way that indicated something of interest was going on outside, so she looked that way herself. A white van pulled up, and just as she looked she saw two Marines in their full dress green uniforms get out along with four other Marines wearing the same uniform.

While they all looked roughly the same, Cheri spotted Mike immediately. Her heart rate sped up when she saw him, and as he entered the building, she heard reporters calling his name along with Captain Murphy's. Neither of them so much as looked their way as they made a beeline for the entrance.

Once inside, they moved en masse toward the other side of the building. Afraid he would be gone if she didn't do something, she called out his name.

"Mike!"

He stopped and turned to look, not sure he recognized the voice. Very few Marines would address him by his first name, and even fewer would be female. He did a quick scan of the room then saw her.

He turned toward his lawyer, a Marine lieutenant colonel and said, "Give me a minute, okay, sir? I'll be right there."

Mike stepped through the half dozen or so Marines he'd entered the building with and moved toward Cheri.

"Cheri. What a pleasant surprise," he said, smiling at her as he did.

"Hi," was all she could think to say as he stood in front of her.

"I guess you heard about the trial."

"I...I had no idea."

"You must not watch the local news then," he told her, a gentle look on his handsome face.

"Not very often. I don't watch national news much, either, though."

"Why don't we go somewhere more private where we can talk?" Mike suggested.

"Oh, sure. That would probably be better, huh?" a very nervous Cheri said as he led her down a long corridor to a room that was unoccupied.

He opened it for her and motioned for her to go in. She thanked him then stepped inside.

"Please have a seat," Mike said as he waited for her to sit down.

He pulled out a chair and sat about three feet away then asked her if she wanted to talk.

"I...I do, but I don't know what to say or where to even begin."

"You're probably wondering why I didn't mention this," he said, venturing a best guess.

"No. Not at all. I've never even thought that," she told him immediately and sincerely.

"Then perhaps you're wondering how...such a nice guy could be accused of something so horrible?" he said in his self-deprecating way.

"It...it doesn't make any sense to me, Mike. You don't owe me an explanation, but since I saw you on television, I haven't been able to think about anything else."

"So no luck with compartmentalizing things?" he asked, trying to keep the mood light.

Cheri smiled nervously when he did then told him it had worked quite well for her at school.

"But not after you learned about...this, right?" Mike said quietly.

"Yes. And I...I couldn't help but wonder if you were going through this alone."

"No. My parents are both here, and they've been unbelievably supportive. But I have to say I'm very glad you came today, Cheri."

"I am, too," she told him as she felt a rush of emotions ranging from compassion to sadness to...

"I'll give you the short version if you'd like to hear it."

"Only if you feel like doing that."

Mike looked at his watch and told her he did.

"We were in northwestern Afghanistan earlier this year. I'd just become a section chief meaning I could be in charge of two Cobras on any mission."

"Cobras as in helicopters?" she asked, pretty sure she was following.

"Yes. Cobras are helicopter-gunships and one of the missions we often fly is called a 'CIFS' mission for Close-in Fire Suppression. My section was airborne responding to a call from ground forces when we got diverted to a higher priority mission."

He paused to see if she had any questions then continued.

"An Army-Marine joint task force was ambushed in a small village about 30 clicks—kilometers—from our location, and we immediately changed course and headed that way. As we approached, the Marine FAC—forward air controller, the guy who gets on the radio to talk to us and tell us what's going on—let us know they were in deep sh...trouble."

Cheri was mesmerized by his words and didn't even notice he avoided swearing for her benefit.

"Half of the convoy was trapped in the kill zone—the area the enemy wants you in in order to, well...kill you—and they needed immediate help. The FAC told us where the good guys were and also the bad guys and where they wanted fire from our 20 millimeter cannons."

Mike didn't bother explaining what two, 20mm guns could do to what were essentially mud huts as that wasn't important.

"So we rolled in on them and picked up a visual on the situation. I was in the lead with my wingman on my left. I was going to take out the buildings on our right, and he had the left. In the middle were Humvees with US soldiers and Marines fighting for their lives."

Again, he waited to give her a chance to talk then continued.

"Just as we got in range, I heard the FAC on the line screaming at us to abort. The shitheads...sorry, the jihadists, had grabbed two children and pulled them inside one of the buildings on the right. No one had any idea where they came from in the middle of this huge firefight, but they showed up."

"Oh, my word," Cheri said so quietly he barely heard her.

"They talk about 'the fog of war' a lot, and no matter how well trained you are, things can still go wrong. And in this case, my hack—the guy in the backseat, the gunner who fires the gun—didn't hear the call. He lit up the row of buildings, and the string of 20 mike-mike chewed up the side closest to the street. Well, 'street' is misleading, but the dirt path through the village."

Mike managed a wry smile then finished up.

"The FAC is now screaming, ABORT, ABORT, ABORT!!" and I veer off hard to the right, but the damage has been done. We killed a half dozen or so of the bad guys in the attack but..."

Cheri caught the hitch in his voice, and also saw a tear well up in his eyes.

"They uh, both of the children were also killed," he said as his voice trailed off.

"Mike. Oh, my God! I am so, so sorry!" she said as her hand stretched out for his.

"So am I," he told her as he used the back of his wrist to remove the salty liquid from the corner of his eye before taking her hand.

"Even if I'm acquitted, those kids are still...dead. Nearly every pilot I know has told me to forget about it. Sh...stuff happens in war and all that. But...I can't. I'll never be able to forget about it."

He looked at her, but this time, his eyes looked different. They had no life in them, and Cheri felt sadder than she could ever remember.

"Anyway, that's the long and the short..."

The door opened, and when it did both of them turned to look.

"Your attorney's looking for you, son," an older man with a square jaw and short, gray hair around the temples said before nodding to Cheri.

"Dad. This is Cheri. The woman I was telling you about."

The man smiled, walked over and introduced himself.

"I'm Paul King. Mike told us about recently meeting a beautiful woman. Now it makes sense."

"Oh. Thank you. I...I'm Cheri. Caulfield."

"Pleasure," he said, as a woman about his age came in.

"Paul? They need Mike right now," she said before also acknowledging the other woman in the room.

"They'll wait another 30 seconds," the man, who was dressed in a suit, said. "Honey? This is Cheri, the woman Mike was telling us about."

Cheri stood up to meet Mike's mother, who came over and introduced herself.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Cheri. I'm Linda. Mike's mother."

"I'm happy to meet you, but I don't want to hold you up," Cheri said as she looked at each of the Kings one at a time.

"The verdict's in," Mike's father calmly said.

He could tell his son wanted another moment alone with Cheri and said they'd be right outside.

"I have no idea how this is going to go, but no matter what happens, I can't thank you enough for coming here today. I uh, I think I...I think maybe I've kind of been crushing on you a little," he told her with a boyish smile that made her heart flutter and her eyes fill with tears.

Cheri hadn't realized that she had similar feelings because she'd been so wrapped up in what was going on. And her extremely negative attitude toward life in general, due to her ex-husband's infidelity, had also served to suppress any feelings she might have had. Lastly, he was just so young that she hadn't allowed herself to really even imagine anything more than a pleasant conversation had taken place between them. Well, she might have done a little bit of imagining, but it hadn't been much.

Not sure what else to do, Cheri put her arms around him and hugged him.

"Good luck, Mike," she whispered before letting him go.

"Captain King? Let's go!" she heard a man wearing the same silver oak leaves her former husband had worn the last time she saw him in uniform say as he poked his head in.

"On the way, sir," he said before smiling at Cheri and turning away.

As he left she realized she had tears running down her cheeks and reached for a tissue in her purse. To her extreme surprise, the same Marine officer came back and called for her to follow him.

"Mike would like you to be in the courtroom. If you don't mind," he told her.

"I...I don't mind," she said as she followed him.

"I'm Ron McClain, by the way. I'm Mike's lead defense attorney."

They got to courtroom #3 and Ron motioned for her to go in. He caught up and directed her next to Mike's parents who smiled nervously and moved aside for her.

"All rise!" Cheri heard someone saw as the military judge, a Marine colonel, entered the room.

"Please be seated," he said as he sat down himself.

"I understand the jury has reached a verdict?" he said, looking toward the panel of Marine Corps officers who were sitting as jurists.

"We have, your honor," another colonel said.

The judge asked for the verdict then asked the foreman to read it out loud.

"We the jury in the case of The United States versus Captain..."

Cheri was momentarily confused when she heard the name Murphy.

"Find the defendant guilty of the lesser included offense of involuntary manslaughter."