You Get What You Ask For Photo of Marie.

Marie Botchie
© Copyright 1998 by Marie Botchie

I know what you must think of me right now, hearing just one side and all. I am sorry for any inconveniences really.

No, I don't want to have a seat thank you, I want to leave and get back to my unit. How long will you be keeping me here?

Why did you have to bring me here? Couldn't I have answered your questions at the barracks?

Why do you need to read me my rights?

I don't understand how I could be accused of something like that.

Why? Because I don't see how what we did was all that wrong.

Look, you don't have to get pushy, I am cooperating. It's just that I'm nervous and pacing helps.

I was with Miss Watson last night - if that's her name, all of us were.

I understand the charges and my rights.

No, I'll cooperate.

Look, I did what I did and I know that I have to own up to it, but it wasn't "me" that did that. I'm not like that. I like women. My mother always told me to respect women and too never hit them because that would make me less of a man if I did. I saw my dad hit on my mom sometimes when he was drunk, and I always thought he was a real ass for it. That's why you'd never see me beating on a girl. I'm better than that. Yes, I remember the events of last night. Hey, Sergeant Harrison, can I bum a smoke? Thanks. Gotta a light?

I was real drunk though, I will say that. We started out just drinking beer, but by the time we got to the motel we started drinking the Mad Jack that Vance and Quincy went in on together. What was really weird was that the whole time it was happening, it felt like I was outside myself watching. You know what I'm talking about don't you? Like the stuff you see on TV and hear people talk about.

It's strange, that's for sure. I never experienced anything like it before and I can't say I'd like to again either.

Have you talked to the other guys yet?

Why do you have them in other rooms, wouldn't be easier talking to all of us at once? I'm still not sure I'm really comfortable here - do I need a lawyer or something? No I don't think I did anything wrong, but it could end up looking that way.

Why? Hell, I don't know, it just could.

No, I said I'd cooperate, you just make me nervous, that's all.

Last night? Well, everything started out normal. Me and the guys went to the Flaming Mug.

The guys… you know, Quincy, Halverson and Vance. The same guys you brought in with me.

No, it was just us. The Flaming Mug is that GI bar at the end of town. We like to go there because until recently most of us haven't been allowed in a bar because of our age. I must admit it made me feel a lot more grown up being there. The crowd is rowdy, the music is good and loud, and the women there are friendly. The first night I ever went to the Mug, this women who had to be thirty man, I'm telling you, came over and sat on my lap, just plopped herself down like I was a chair or something. She grabbed my face in her hands and planted a big French kiss on me. Hell I was half embarrassed and half turned on. I remember thinking I was glad she was good looking, considering her age and all. I felt like a dumb hick, sitting there with this school boy grin on my face after she got off my lap. The guys gave me shit for a long time over that one.

My mouth is dry. It seems like I've been here for hours.

No, I don't care for Dr. Pepper much.

A Coke will work, thanks.

How long have we been here?

Only an hour? Damn, seems longer.

Yes I'm in a hurry. I've got a couple of inspections I have to be ready for by tomorrow morning. And to be honest, I'm not prepared at all. My butt is going to be in big trouble by my First Sergeant tomorrow that's for sure. He warned me after the last inspection, that I had better do a lot better if I wanted to get promoted to Specialist. Looks like I'll be a PFC for a few more months.

You guys can tell, can't you? I'm not a bad person.

Did I plan last night? Hell no! I didn't plan last night to happen, none of us did damn it! I was just going along for the ride.

Well, we left the Flaming Mug around 2300 hours for the motel because Quincy said he had a surprise for us all.

No. She came on her own.

Knocked on the door around midnight I guess. I remember thinking that Quincy had better hurry up with his surprise because I was getting tired and felt like I wanted to pass out. When she walked in, I sobered up real quick. I remember she had on a school girl outfit with knee high socks, pigtails and her blouse unbuttoned down to her belly button. Yeah, but that was Quincy, not me. Quincy has always had something nasty to say about women. One night at the Mug, a girl refused to dance with him when he asked and he back-handed her in the face.

I just stood there with my mouth open. She called him a few choice names and ran to the bathroom crying.

How would I know why he hit the girl last night and the girl from the Mug. I guess some girl he loved burned him bad. Maybe that has something to do with it. Well I guess Quincy's girlfriend sent him a video while he was in Saudi of herself and some other guy "doing it". I remember thinking, that that really had to suck, because he'd put the tape in the VCR and watched it in front of his whole unit. They all had to share a TV and he never expected anything like that to be on it. A simple Dear John letter would have done the job, don't you think?

He's not usually violent. Every time we go out with Quincy he makes a lot of sarcastic or rude remarks about the ladies though.

Things like, how he was going to "Do" this one, or "Fuck" that one. Excuse the language Sergeant, but that's what he said. He says that's all they are good for, so he was going to screw them all.

Of course I didn't have to listen to him. Hell I figured he was just burnt from that one girl and that someday he'd meet a girl and would feel differently in time. That's how Quincy saw it, not me. I like girls.

We never talked about that stuff personally. Halverson told me about what happened to Quincy and what made him the way he is. Quincy and I didn't have a heart to heart about it or anything. He's kind of hard to get close to anyway. He's the oldest and I'm the youngest, so we don't have a lot of things in common. Usually he gives me shit about being the baby of the bunch and calls me a "Mama's Boy". Halverson is about the only one I know who ever gets anything personal out of him.

This gets a little embarrassing, but I told you I'd tell you guys everything, and I want you to know I'm not a bad person. I'm not very experienced with women myself. The guys all think I was some kind of high school heart throb because I let them read my yearbook. There were few girls who wrote some pretty nice stuff to me, but that's only because I had a girlfriend at the time, and for some reason they wanted to piss her off. Girls are funny that way, don't you think?

Can I bum another cigarette from you Sergeant Harrison?

No, I've still got the matches you gave me. Sorry to ask again. I ran out last night and your Corporal picked me up this morning before I had a chance to hit the PX to get more. Here, I'll give you a couple of bucks for your pack.

Thanks Sergeant, appreciate it. I owe you one.

Anyway, I've only been with three girls. Well four after last night. It's embarrassing because to hear the other guys talk they've been with dozens. That's one reason why I let them think what they want. These guys can ride you hard once they have something on you.

See, you've been there Sergeant Wood.

One time I made the mistake of telling them I had never went down on a girl before. They actually went to the trouble of going to a porn shop in Fayetteville, bought a rubber pussy, and actually put it in my cereal at the mess hall when I went up to get a glass of juice. They laughed so hard they almost pissed themselves, and Vance actually fell out of his chair laughing. I must admit, it was a good one, but being on the receiving end sucked.

I can give you the names of the other girls I've been with and you could question them. That way you'd know I'm not that kind of a guy.

I want you to talk to them.

Well because, that way there won't be any misunderstandings.

I know it doesn't have anything to do with last night directly. It just seems important. I know if you talk to them, you'll see that I wouldn't hurt a girl.

Yeah, character references.

One of the girls, I met in Advanced Training. Her name was Kara and this girl was wild, that's for sure. I knew if I hung around her too long she was going to end up getting me in trouble.

She tried to get me to "do it" under the bleachers one time at a co-ed dance they had there at Fort Dix. She saw a few of her friends going there and thought it would be fun. I was scared shitless of my Drill Sergeant at the time and thought for sure I'd be sent to Leavenworth for fraternization if we were to get caught, so I chickened out. I feel stupid about that now, because later I found out she ended up screwing him in a fox hole during one of our training exercises.

Where's he going?

What kind of progress?

Oh.

Anyway. Jackie Johnson was my girl friend in high school. We dated for almost a year and I guess you could say I loved her. But, by the time we met, I had already joined the Army, you know, the delayed entry thing, and Jackie wanted to go on to college to study Business. I didn't blame her for not wanting to follow me here. She's a smart girl. We're still friends. I even get a letter from her now and then. Now, if I was such a bad person, or treated her bad, would she still write?

I can show you her letters. She knows me better than anyone.

I'm just trying to help.

Quincy set me up with my last girl. He said I needed a "Real Woman" and hooked me up with this girl named Denise. She liked doing it with everyone I guess. He wanted to make sure I had the opportunity to go down on a girl and to "do it the right way". I made sure I wore protection that night. I never told the guys this, but I didn't go down on her either. Just didn't seem right with her being with so many guys. Grossed me out to tell the truth. I'm not stupid about things like that either. You hear enough lectures about Aids, it makes you think.

I wore protection last night too.

I never did figure out the difference between the other two girls and this "Real Woman" Quincy set me up with, except she was a lot less emotional about it maybe.

Can't you guys see I don't belong here? I'm not like those other men who rape women. Men who rape women are sick. I'm not sick.

I'm not a Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde.

I'm not trying to play a role, honest.

Hell no! I told you, it was Quincy who hates women, not me.

Yes, she did say no. I admit hearing her say no.

I did it anyway because I figured she must want it or why would she have been there? She came to an all guy party in a motel for Gods sake.

No, Quincy set it up, and he said she knew what was expected of her before she even got there.

When she started putting up a fight and Quincy and Vance held her down I just figured it was all a part of it or something.

You don't have to whisper to each other, I'm sitting right here.

I don't believe you. There is no way Vance would say that about me.

Because, I don't hit women, I told you that. Look, I know this sounds bad, but we were all drunk. It was our first full weekend off in over a month and all we wanted to do was have a little fun and let off some steam. I sure as hell never set out to hurt anybody. Well shit, what the hell did she expect. She was dressed all sexy and flirted with all of us.

She did say she was only there to dance, but what did I know, Quincy had arranged her being there not me.

No, I didn't even know there was going to be a girl there until she showed up. Jesus, haven't any of you guys ever got drunk and things got a little carried away? God! She was taking off her clothes, wiggling her ass to the music and bending over in front of us. Now tell me that girl wasn't asking for it.

I know she was hurt.

I do feel bad about that, but I didn't hurt her.

I said I'm sorry for that.

Look, Halverson and I were the ones to take her to the hospital. That ought to count for something right?

Well, if we're such assholes, we'd have just dropped her off on the street like Quincy told us too.

What made us take her to the hospital? She started bleeding all over the car seat. Made a real mess too. Halverson, he damn near passed out from the sight of it and started to panic. Said she was going to die and it was our fault. He was telling her how sorry he was. Holding her in the back seat and stroking her head. She was pretty out of it by then and Halverson just kept hollering at me to do something.

I felt bad and figured if we just dropped her off on the street she might bleed to death or something. So, I drove her to Womak Army Hospital's emergency room, and Halverson and I put her in a wheel chair and left her at the admitting desk. We figured she'd be fine from there. Hell Sarg, I stop and help animals on the side of the road, why would I just leave her wounded?

No, I never thought she'd get the police involved. Why would I? She came there on her own free will and I know Quincy paid… well, I'm not sure, but I know he arranged things.

That was all Quincy, you'll have to ask him.

Then why do you keep asking me?

Well I figured after a while she would relax and start getting into it.

No, she never did.

Yes she was hit, kind of obvious wasn't it. Quincy slapped her a few times to get her to shut up because he didn't want her screams to draw attention to us. The hotel wasn't the best in town so we weren't to worried that anyone would give a damn, but Quincy said he wasn't taking any chances. Look, I'm going on record right now, I did not hit her! I told you guys what my mom said about that. I did hold her arms down while Vance and Quincy took turns with her. Vance was cool about it. He told her how good she felt and how pretty she was, you know mushy stuff women like.

Quincy, he went at her hard and long. Hell, the way he was riding her you'd think he had just mounted a rodeo pony or something. Come to think of it, I think he use to ride in the rodeo. Seems kind of funny when you look at it that way. He was the last one to have her since Halverson didn't want a turn. She started bleeding down there after Quincy got done.

Halverson didn't screw her, but he did hold her down for a while. I think her tears got to him. They started to make me feel a little uncomfortable for awhile, but then I remembered something else my mom told me. She said to "beware of women with crocodile tears". I never knew exactly what she was talking about, but figured that must have been them that night, and tried to ignore them after that.

What I figured was she had to know what was going to happen. When she started getting upset saying "I only dance" Quincy grabbed her and said she had better do a lot more than that because of their agreement. That told me, it was all pre-arranged and she just got out of the mood or something.

You know I did her. I was quick about it because like I said, I don't get it very often and even with the alcohol I didn't last long. God this is embarrassing. No man likes to admit to these things, but since I'm sure the others are telling you everything too, I might as well tell you about it now. Seems kind of a personal thing to be letting everyone know about though.

No, I wasn't aware she was only seventeen. She looked older.

I know she was in a school outfit. I thought it was a costume.

Drugs? I don't do drugs.

Was she? I never paid any attention. I know Quincy can get them, because Vance needed some for an old girlfriend of his once and Quincy took him to some guy in Spring Lake to score.

I think it was cocaine, maybe some pot too. I've tried pot, and some speed in high school, but that's all.

I'm too afraid of getting busted. Hell, they piss us every three months now. They say it's suppose to be random, but it never fails, I'm always called to do it.

Can I go now? I've told you everything I know and more.

You can see I'm no rapist. Isn't obvious that she knew what was going to happen? If my parents find out about this they are really going to be pissed. My old man won't give a shit, but my mom will cry and get all upset. I honestly can't deal with that right now, I've got to much going on with these damn inspections and trying to get promoted. I know you guys can relate. Don't they put the same pressure on you Corporal? It's hard to deal with sometimes ain't it?

I am sorry she was hurt, but you said she would recover, so what's the problem?

Her name? You said it was Watson. I think her first name was Tammy, Terry, something like that, I'm not sure, why?

Kimberly Watson. Boy I was way off. We didn't do much talking.

She told you I drove her to the hospital didn't she?

See. I still can't believe Vance said I hit her. Did you ask her?

What did she say?

No way! I'm telling you it didn't happen that way. Well she must have been on drugs to say I hit her. Look, at the most I may have slapped her when she started screaming when I got on top of her. Quincy used his fist on her when she still wouldn't shut up. I didn't hurt her, I just wanted her to quit screaming. It was hard to concentrate and the guys were cheering me on. I just wanted her to do what she was suppose to do.

Well, be willing I guess. Cooperate with us. It sure as hell wasn't to put up such a fight. She wouldn't have gotten hurt if she had went along with everyone. She probably would have had a good time.

Well Vance is full of shit. Why don't you ask him about him forcing her to give him a blow job? Just because he talked nice to her the whole time doesn't mean he stood by and did nothing. Out of all of us, he probably got the best end of the deal. I've never had a girl get me to come that way. She even had to swallow most of it because he wouldn't pull out. I don't see how he had the guts to do it. When I thought about it I was to afraid she'd bite it or something.

I guess after Quincy knocked her around a bit she figured she didn't have much choice. I don't remember seeing her drink anything, but she could have been high for all I know. If she told you I beat her, she must have been high.

Quincy introduced her as the "Good Time Girl". I guess she was suppose to have a friend meet her at the motel, but the friend never showed up.

I don't know the "friends" name, just that Miss Watson seemed to get pretty nervous when she didn't show right away. Hell, I can't even remember hers.

Her parents want to talk to all of us? They aren't allowed to do that are they?

I don't want to talk to them. I have the right to refuse that don't I?

Her dads a what? A Battalion Commander from 7th Transportation! You're kidding me right?

This is not good!

This is not good at all! Shit!

Hey wait a minute, that's not fair. You can't lock me up. It wasn't my fault. I'm not a rapist and you know that.

She shouldn't have been there if that wasn't what she wanted.

I don't care what she said, Quincy was the only one hitting on her. He's the one that made her bleed down there. I was the first one to do her, not the last.

Do they have to go on so tight?

I don't care who her dad is.

You can't be serious.

I don't deserve this.

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Another story by Marie: Where Have All The People Gone

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