The Colonel Came Home With Her Chapter 03
Within a few days, people in the housing area were calling me jealous bitch behind my back.
The first time I heard it was in the laundry room around noon.
I was walking up when I heard the wives inside talking loud, the tap running unattended.
“Colonel Hayes’s wife stares at that girl’s belly all day long. What does she think she’s going to see?”
“Even if she saw something, so what? Men are deployed six months at a time. These things happen.”
“Walking around with that face on — what’s it for? That poor girl is having enough of a rough time as it is, and she’d rather see her out on the street.”
I walked in carrying my laundry basket.
The room went silent.
The three wives dropped their eyes into their baskets and filed out in single file. The last one didn’t even shut off the tap.
Lily, meanwhile, was a picture of good behavior.
Every day she helped out wherever she could around the housing area.
Whenever she saw me carrying Sam, she’d reach out to take him. Whenever she passed me, she’d bow her head and murmur, “Ma’am,” so carefully.
The older wives in the neighborhood all praised her — such a sweet girl, so well-mannered — and then, after “well-mannered,” they’d always add “poor thing.”
One old lady grabbed Lily’s hand and said to my face, “Sweetheart, don’t be scared. Nobody in this place is going to bully you.”
I tried asking her directly, once.
She was doing laundry. I walked over, crouched down, and helped her wring out a shirt.
She looked up at me, her eyes brightening.
Watching those bright eyes, my confusion only deepened.
The way Lily looked at me — it wasn’t the way a mistress looks at a wife.
Seeing that the moment was right, I took the opening.
“Lily, where are you from?”
Her hands paused.
“Just… just a small town.”
“What are your parents’ names?”
“My parents died a long time ago, ma’am.”
“How did you meet Ethan at the resettlement camp?”
She dropped the shirt back into the basin.
She looked at me, pressed her lips together, and her expression turned strained.
Then, like she’d made up her mind about something, she said in a shaky voice:
“Ma’am… do you resent me?”
And then she turned and ran out of the yard — not fast, since her belly made her waddle — but just fast enough for Mrs. Miller next door to see it happen.
I was floored.
That afternoon Mrs. Miller and her three wives were camped on my front porch.
Four of them lined up like collection agents.
Mrs. Miller crossed her arms and laid into me — accused me of hounding a pregnant woman to tears every day, asked whether I had any humanity left.
Sam hid behind my leg, clutching my knee, and called out for me in a small voice.
I pulled Sam behind me and looked at Mrs. Miller and asked, out of nowhere:
“Since you love her so much, how come I haven’t seen you file the paperwork to take Lily into your house?”
Mrs. Miller froze.
“If I’m the one taking her in, then the rest of you — who don’t pay a dime or lift a finger — can keep your mouths shut! Bunch of gossips!”
Before she could get her response out, I closed the door.
At the end of the month, the battalion held a family briefing.
Mrs. Harding stood up front to speak.
Toward the end, she pivoted:
Some spouses put personal drama above unit cohesion, and drag the entire community down with them.
In the assembly hall, dozens of heads turned to me in unison.
I straightened up, ready to stand and speak.
From beside me, Ethan reached under the table and pinned my hand down hard.
I tried to pull free. Couldn’t. I turned to look at him and he shook his head.
Anger surged up. After the briefing, I marched over to the S-1 records office.
Corporal Bailey, who ran records, sat behind the counter. When he heard I wanted to see Lily’s file, he looked pained.
“Ma’am, that’s against regs. Dependents can’t pull operational files.”
I asked who had processed Lily’s placement paperwork.
Bailey hesitated, then said Mrs. Harding had handled it herself. The documents were locked in the safe.
I gave him a look but didn’t press. I turned and left.
I went to Mrs. Harding.
She looked at me with a complicated expression and sighed.
“Nora, take my advice. Let this one go. Don’t put people in a difficult position.”
I clenched my teeth and said nothing, turned, and walked away.
At the gate of the battalion HQ, I saw my brother driving up from the other end of the base.
Even from a distance I could see him rolling up his ACU sleeves, veins standing out on his forearms, his face like a thundercloud.
“Nor, hold on. I’m going to go beat the hell out of that Hayes bastard right now.”
I grabbed his arm.
“Don’t hit him yet. Help me look someone up first.”
Jake stopped, one sleeve still bunched at his elbow.
“Look up who?”
“Lily Carter. Everything you can find.”
Jake studied me for a moment, then rolled the sleeve back down.
“Three days. Three days and I’ll have something for you.”