The Army's buyin' my coffee now.

I woke up feeling stupid. Last night on leave and I get too tanked to tell the difference between the girl I came with and the one I left with. Even sober I wasn't sure of which one was worth my time. Or if I was worth either of theirs. 

There were cigarettes in my bed, and a cork. I guess the party didn't stop when we came here. I looked around, maybe still drunk. Wheres the girl? 'Christ,  bet I pissed her off ' I thought. I shook off my sleeping face and scratched my head. So much less complicated when I'm shooting at someone. Soon enough. I had about 3 dollars left and decided even though I wasn't hungry I ought to eat and sober up before It was time to get on a Plane. 

There was a cafe' in the bottom story of the hotel I was staying in. A lot of my gang were here. It was a big hotel and the Army had thankfully snatched it up before those Navy dickheads did. We needed a place to go get drunk and take the townie women before we went and got shot by Jerry. A band had set up in the lobby the night before and everyone was dancing and forgetting. A few service boys, a few locals. They played the songs they all jointly knew over and over but the repetition wasn't a bother. It was good to hear horns.

Now it was morning and as I entered the lobby, my feeling that as a Sgt. I should have put on more than an undershirt and last nights slacks was flaked.  The floor was covered with uniforms, soldiers, women. It was like the field of battle except this time the smell wasn't their blood, but the wine stink on their breath. I had to take this chance to bust their balls. I enjoyed it.

The drums were still set up so I grabbed one of the empty bottles of wine and began smashing it on the biggest cymbal I could see. "Rise and shine you stupid sonsa' bitches! Hitler's on our goddamn  doorstep and he's given it to Lady Liberty like you never seen! On yer feet you drunk shit-bags!" It was like kicking an anthill. The whole ground began moving. The young ones were on their feet and rifling through the endless caps and jackets on the floor for their own. The girls mostly just curled up and plugged their ears. The room got real loud, real quick. I didn't quit beating the cymbal until all my boys were on their feet. "thats the idea fuckers, go get some coffee, its on the President. Germany aint' waitin' for your girlfriends to wake up C'mon get outside!" they all started shuffling out the door. Great kids. Great fighters. They were young enough to not know any better, or anything else. 

One of the girls got up, pissed. She was a real looker with those eyes that are always half shut. Maybe they were sad eyes, maybe inviting, sultry. Right now they were hung-over and angry eyes, angry for me. "Who the hell do you think you are! Im a lady I don't need some asshole with no shirt tellin' me what to do! yellin' at me this early!" She was right in my face. Maybe she was a Sgt. too.

"Im Sgt. Baker, and these are my boyfriends." I replied. Two cups, 3 stogies, one sandwich later we were on a plane. Then it'd be a boat. We weren't going to be hearing any horns for a while.