#jhenou castain

[soldiergirlscorned]

Call Me Rio and I’ll Call You Jack Ch 2

Call Me Rio and I’ll Call You Jack Ch 2

  December 1945

 “What am I doing?” Rio muttered, staring at the doors that will change her life.

Her father looked at her sideways, but it was Zhen who leaned back from her place in front of Rio, “There’s still time to back out of this. I have a car around back and a bag thrown into it. We can leave right now.”

Rio studied her friend, still finding it hard to recognize her without all the dirt and grime on her face. Now makeup replaced blood and a dress replaced uniform and flowers replaced a carbine.

“No. No, I made a promise. I’ll do it.” Then, she straightened herself up and took her father’s arm.

“It’s just nerves, sweetheart,” he said, smiling and patting her hand.

“I know,” she said. And then softer, “I know.”

Jhen sent one more worried look over her shoulder, before the doors opened and they started to walk.

The wedding was a blur of worry and anxiety. Stand up straight, but don’t lock your knees. Don’t trip on the dress. Don’t topple off the heels.

Strand wore his uniform, even though Rio had told him that he probably shouldn’t. She wished she could have worn her own, had thought of asking her mother, but had never gotten up the courage. A uniform did not fit the people they were trying to fit into, but she would have felt less like a liar.

Nothing about their appearance was true. Strand had deserted and didn’t deserve the privilege of wearing his uniform around like a hero. Rio should have been the one in the uniform. But, mainly, she shouldn’t be wearing white right now.

But no one knew that. Yet.

Jhen’s memoir comes our next month and then everyone would know that Rio was not only a fallen woman, but also somewhat of a cheater. Of course, Rio had read over the whole thing, and had given Jhenou the go-ahead to publish it, to publish everything, but it still didn’t change the fact that everyone would know who she had become, and what her husband was too.

Everyone would know. And everyone would judge.

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 Rio saw the memoir sitting on Strand’s bedside table, so she knew he was reading it. She had thought of hiding it and saying that it must have gotten lost in the move to the new house, but she knew that wouldn’t stop him.

So, when she laid in bed next to him as he read, she knew what would come. And a month and a half into their marriage, she didn’t have to wait anymore.

He had come home, tired from helping his uncle recreate his company, to find a bored Rio on the couch. Dinner had been okay, if a little lackluster and silent, and Strand had gone to bed early, leaving her to do the dishes.

When she finally came up stairs and started pulling off her earrings, she saw the book laying with him in bed. And he was staring at her.

“What’s wrong?” Rio asked, even though she knew full well what was wrong.

“You kissed him.” It was a simple statement, but it sounded like he was having a hard time believing it.

“I was drunk,” she replied, trying to act nonchalant, “I barely remember it.”

“Yet, you seemed to remember it enough to tell Jhen about it. About what you talked about. How many times you kissed him.”

She reached behind her to unzip her dress, breathing a sigh of relief when it finally came off.

“What do you want me to say, Strand?”

“I don’t want to say anything now! I would have wanted to know then! My God, Rio! I should have known before we got married!”

“So, you wouldn’t have married me if you knew I made a mistake when I was drunk?”

“Don’t say it like that, Rio! You know exactly what I meant! People have read this faster than I have. How many people knew that my wife cheated on me before I did?!”

“What do you want me to say, Strand?! Tell me!”

“I want you to say that you had no feelings for him! That you didn’t care for him the same time you were fucking me!”

Rio looked at him for a second, “I don’t like you reading that book.”

“You can’t tell me that you didn’t love him, can you?”

Rio, still in her bra and underwear, reached out and took the book from the bed, placing it on her shelf. Then she crawled into bed, pulling Strand so that he was straddling her, “I don’t want to argue with you, Strand. I’m married to you. And he’s in a different country, half a world away. You have nothing to worry about.”

She pressed her lips to his, submitting to him and letting him forget his worries by using her body.

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 “I hope you’re buying today. You’re making a lot of money off me right now.”

Jhen smiled at Rio over the menu of the same place where they had decided to join the army, “Absolutely. The book has seemed to take off these days.”

“Yeah. Yeah, it has.”

Jhen put the menu down, grabbing Rio’s hand. “How are you doing?”

“Well…a lot better than Strand is doing.”

“That’s his own fault for deserting. And….”

“Not being as good of a soldier as his dear, little wife?”

Jhen grimaced, “Yeah.”

Rio waved her hand, wedding ring shimmering in the light, “Don’t worry about it. He’ll get over it. I just have to figure out what I can do until the mean time.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, my job is waiting on his hand and foot now, isn’t it?”

Jhen’s face scrunched up, “It doesn’t have to be.”

“What else would it be, then?”

Jhen leaned forward a little, “A lot of college applications are due in late February.”

“There’s not a college in Gedwell, Jhenou. You know that.”

Jhen shrugged, “There’s a big college in New York. I think in a town called West Point.”

“No, Jhen.”

“You’re bored, Rio. And you miss the army. Don’t tell me you don’t. You miss the order of it, the fullness, the purpose. If you don’t want to be a housewife, then don’t be a housewife. Strand can take care of himself.”

Rio remained quiet.

So, Jhenou pressed on, “I’m going up to New York anyway. I have to go talk to the publisher, meet some people. Fly up with me. While I’m dealing with snobbish book people, you can go take a look and see if you would like to go.”

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 “I don’t understand why Jhenou wants you to go so badly,” Strand said, watching Rio pack the food she had made into the ice box.

“Well, I kind of am one of the main characters in her book. The publishers want to meet me. Make sure I actually exist.”

“They have newspaper articles for that.”

Rio ignored him, closing the ice box, “That’s enough food to last you until I’m gone. Breakfast on the right, dinner on the left, lunches in the middle. All you have to do is heat it up.” The doorbell sounded, “That’ll be Jhen. I love you.” She kissed him goodbye, grabbed her bag, and almost ran out the door.

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 The building in front of her was just as imposing as she thought it would be. Yet, it didn’t seem like a threat. It seemed like a challenge.

“It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?” a voice said from beside her.

Rio looked over at the man who had come up to stand at her side. He was silver-haired with kind, yet stern blue eyes. They looked familiar, his eyes, yet she couldn’t put her finger on exactly what made them familiar.

“A vet, I reckon,” he said, looking her over. How he had guessed that, Rio had no idea. She was in a pink dress and loafers. The most un-soldierly thing imaginable.

“Yes, sir.” She said.

He smiled, “We all have the same look. Captain Bernard Lester. I teach here.”

He shook her hand and she ended up genuinely smiling at him, “Sergeant Rio Richlin. Well, Braxton now, I guess.”

He looked at her closer, “Sergeant Richlin. Silver Star?”

“That’s me.”

“Wow. And the memoir?”

“Unfortunately.”

He laughed, “No, Sarge. Not unfortunately. I have a class in an hour, but I can show you around until then if you’d like.”

Rio smiled again, “I would like that very much.”

[soldiergirlscorned]

Friendly Reminder:

Jhenou Castain is now a soldier