Troy

Troy Stratton stepped off the bus from in his military fatigues and looked for a familiar face. He broke into a grin when he saw his Mom and girl, Miranda Weber. A shadow of sadness whisked across his face momentarily when he realized his dad and lazy ass brother obviously had better things to do than meet him at the bus stop.

Troy shook his head to break away from that memory from yesterday. He stretched his legs out, flipped his feet back and forth to restart circulation and then pulled them back into the cross legged style. He looked at his Miranda and smiled to himself. She was so beautiful and had been so adamant that he not join the Marines, but he had to do something. He could no longer tolerate that his dad would not be fair with him no matter how hard he worked. Twenty years he worked to please his dad to get one sign of love or pride. Sometimes when he was very young, his dad attended to him, but that all stilled when his little brother was born.

He watched Miranda rise and stretch to get the blood moving again. He liked watching Miranda do her poses and he liked the way she carried herself in public places. Miranda also knew she looked good. She knew how to move when she caught the eye of a good looking man or a jealous woman, and like to take the digs to get any reaction. Maybe she would have been more conservative if Troy were around. But he had been in Parris Island Boot Camp and Marine Combat training for the past four months, and she used that time to whittle down the list of men she wanted to date.

Once Miranda was rewarded with three icy stares from resentful women who could not keep the attention of their companion, she returned to the spot beside Troy and kneeled beside him so that she could gaze at his profile.

Troy felt a lump in the back of his throat. He needed to tell her what was next, but could not talk while looking at her without getting tongue tied. He took a deep breath and just blurted it out.

Troy felt the steady thump of her head on his shoulder. He heard her mutter “No” with each thump. She quite consciously knew how to present herself in the most positive light. Troy was very trusting and would not know this was all for show.

In his unquestioning fashion, Troy believed her actions were all for him. He let her vent while he stared at the stone wall across the street. “Babe, the decision is already made. It won’t be for long. Six months tops. I’ll be back before you know it. I swear.”

Miranda’s forehead came to a rest on his shoulder and she let it rest there. “You are delusional. You know you will be out there for at least year, maybe more. You know I hate you for this?”

“You know why I had to join up.”

Miranda let out an exasperated breath, “Yeah, yeah, your dad hates you and you got in a fight with him and the Judge gave you a choice of military or jail. Why would your dad hate you so much you would fight with him?”

“I don’t know. But I know this; I’m treated better in the Marines than I ever was by that bastard. I may have to work like a dog, but I got money in the bank now. That’s more than he ever gave me.”

“Troy, stop it. Please just stop it.”