Chapter 5 - The Room Remembers
Nolan glanced around the chow hall after Erin’s warning.
A corporal near the wall met his eyes instead of looking away.
A lance corporal who had been staring at his plate slowly set down his fork.
A female sergeant near the coffee station folded her arms.
The room was changing.
Nolan tried to laugh.
“You threatening a senior staff NCO now?”
“No,” Erin said. “I’m giving you an opportunity to stop.”
“You don’t give me opportunities.”
Mercer stepped away from his table.
“Nolan.”
The staff sergeant turned.
Mercer’s voice remained calm.
“Lower your hand.”
Nolan looked between them.
Only then did he study Erin’s uniform properly.
His eyes reached the insignia on her collar.
His face tightened.
The Marines closest to him noticed.
Erin had not concealed her rank.
He had simply seen a woman standing alone and decided details no longer mattered.
“Major,” he said slowly.
The title moved through the room in whispers.
Erin did not react.
“You understood the shove was unacceptable before you saw my rank.”
Nolan’s jaw flexed.
“I thought you were cutting the line.”
“No, you didn’t.”
Mercer stopped beside them.
Erin turned toward the Marines seated across the chow hall.
“How many of you have seen him put his hands on someone before?”
Nobody moved.
Nolan smiled again, though it no longer reached his eyes.
“You see? Nothing.”
Then the young private he had mocked near the entrance stood.
“I have, ma’am.”
Another Marine rose.
“So have I.”
The female sergeant near the coffee station lifted her hand.
Then a corporal.
Then two more.
Nolan’s smile disappeared completely.
May you like
The chow hall did remember his name.
It also remembered everything attached to it.
