Read Online Soldier Girls by Helen Thorpe - Free Book Online Page B

the navy.
    â€œWell, can I ask you a question?” Jeff said.
    â€œOf course,” Debbie said, figuring he wanted tips on how to approach T.J.
    â€œI understand that you’re dating somebody,” Jeff said.
    â€œWhat? No. Have you ever seen me in here with somebody?”
    â€œWell, no, but Diane says that you have a boyfriend.”
    â€œReally,” said Debbie. “I don’t have a boyfriend—I have an acquaintance. If you say boyfriend, that means commitment. And I don’t have commitments.”
    Jeff looked quizzical.
    â€œWhy are you asking anyway?” Debbie wanted to know.
    â€œWell,” said Jeff, “I’ve wanted to ask you out for a really long time. I kept trying to tell Diane, I want to meet the other girl. But I really don’t want to ask somebody out that’s already in a situation—I don’t believe in that.”
    â€œWell, let me tell you,” said Debbie. “First, I don’t have a serious boyfriend. Second, I don’t want a serious boyfriend. And third, T.J.’s not interested in you. You don’t have enough hair for her. I’m sorry to say that, but you just don’t.”
    â€œYeah, I already figured that out,” said Jeff. “I’m not interested in her. I never have been. But if I like somebody, I only like to see them one-on-one. I don’t like to see multiple people at the same time.”
    â€œWell, suit yourself,” said Debbie.
    They chatted a little longer and then decided to leave. Right before they departed, however, Jeff had a change of heart. “You know what?” he said. “I think I am going to ask you out. Would you be willing to go?”
    â€œYeah,” said Debbie. “I’m not making you no promises, but I’ll go with you.”
    Debbie never dated another man again. Jeff kept his home spotless. He washed the dishes, made the bed, and scrubbed the shower stall before he left for work. Mr. Clean, she called him. Debbie worried that Jeff would reject her as soon as he saw that she was a bad housekeeper. After her refrigerator had broken, Debbie had taken to living out of a cooler, which she kept full of beer and ice; she had stopped buying food, and just picked up meals when she was out. Jeff asked if she was ever going to invite him over, and she said no, because she was not aSuzy Homemaker. Then Jeff’s landlord sold the home that he had been renting, and Jeff moved in with his mother. One night Debbie and Jeff had sex in the basement with the heating vents wide open. Jeff’s mother announced that Debbie was no longer welcome to spend the night.
    â€œMy God, I’m forty years old,” said Jeff. “And my mother’s not letting me have a sleepover!”
    â€œHoney, she’s Pentecostal,” said Debbie.
    Jeff spent the following night at Debbie’s house. The next morning, he gave her one of his looks.
    â€œYou have no food in the fridge,” he observed.
    â€œWhy would I have food in the fridge?” Debbie asked. “It’s just me.”
    â€œI guess you don’t have to have food,” said Jeff.
    He moved in that year. He offered to help pay the bills, but Debbie declined, saying she would feel obligated. Debbie remained entirely faithful to Jeff, but she still logged many hours at Shorty’s. Debbie rarely acted drunk, but in the diary that she kept on an intermittent basis, she carefully noted what sort of alcohol she consumed and what effect it had upon her. When Debbie and Jeff took a trip to Belize, after Debbie was named “manager of the year” by the company that ran her salon, Debbie wrote in her diary that they ordered shots of Baileys with their coffee at breakfast. Debbie explained to the waitress that this was their “get up and go” drink. In the afternoon, they drank multiple piña coladas, and afterward, Debbie noted, with obvious regret, “Can’t get a buzz.”