My Indescretion

I began talking to this bartender everyone called Manny. He was a German national that had been cleared to work on the base. I had learned that he had worked there for several years. Anyone who was not military had to undergo a background check in order to work on the base. This was due to the work that was done there, no one was permitted on or off the base either without being waved on and off by the guards, and this meant showing ID cards. If you did not have an ID card you had to register with the MP’s the station by the front gate. Security was a big concern for us, it had to be, it paid to be careful, but maybe careful was not enough.

Manny spoke English very well, he explained he learned it all from working at the bar; “bar English” he called it. Words and phrases he had picked up from the soldiers, airmen and sailors who had passed through the doors of the club over the many years. Funny though in some aspects his English was better than mine and it was my native tongue. I think perhaps this was because he knew all of the slang words and phrases and I had been sheltered from a lot of this in my youth, not knowing what a lot of things meant or even heard of things until I had joined the Army. I guess that was a drawback from living in a small town, or perhaps it was no drawback at all and was a blessing I just refused to see at the time.

As drinks and conversations began to flow freely I somehow found the nerve to ask Manny if he would consider going out with my friend. He was not interested to say the least, as he remarked “that short shit? The only thing she would be good for is sitting a beer on the top of her head.” I could not hurt my friends feelings as the comment was rude and uncalled for, but I thought he must have been joking. No one could really be that hurtful of another person, or could they? I walked away and back to my group of friends and just said he was busy for the night and perhaps some other time. I just am not the type of person to intentionally hurt someone’s feelings. We closed the club down that night as we had so many others and called for a cab to take us to town. It was the normal routine of hitting the clubs in town until they too closed and then back to base we came to party at someone’s room until we could not stand up or passed out.

The cab dropped us at the front gate and we began our trek back to our barracks, our base was not very big so our journey was not a large one, although with alcohol in our system a few feet seemed like miles. As we crossed the bridge I could see the parking lot of the club and there were still cars there, not at all unusual since, many times people were unable to drive home after a night out, but tonight there was something a bit off that I just could not place. As we walked closer I could see a figure leaning against one of the cars. A few moments later I heard my name being called in a voice that I recognized but was still a bit foreign to me.

Manny had just got off work from the bar. It had been a late night of cleaning and restocking so he was later than usual leaving. We began talking about our precious conversation regarding my friend and I explained to him that she was crazy about him and would do anything to go out with him. I was trying hard to sell her to him, I would have done nearly anything to have convinced him to go out with her. Just then he told me that if it meant that much to me for him to go out with her he would agree if I would take a ride through the country with him. I was game, after all it was 4 am and I was intoxicated, I did not see what it would hurt.

We began our ride through the base gate and through the small town on Meitraching. I had not been to many places off base, other than to clubs and down town shopping so I welcomed the chance to see the country especially through the eyes of someone who had lived there all of their life. Germany was a beautiful country and especially Bavaria, where we were; the foothills of the Alps, the snow covered mountain tops; I cannot recall a more beautiful scene in my life.

We ended our ride in the small town of Tuntenhausen, which is just a few kilometers from the base. I quickly learned this is where he lived; in a small apartment above his parents. This had not been the plan, or not the plan I was aware of, but I did not argue; I was in no shape to argue. We went in to the studio apartment, it was small with the kitchen and living area combined a small bath and a bedroom. After talking for a few, we went to the bedroom. I remember I needed to lie down. My head was spinning, it was late, and I had to work tomorrow afternoon and I was off base with no way back but this man.

I am human, and with the consumption of alcohol I become a person I am not so proud of. I begin letting go of myself and exposing my needs and my desires, and this night was no different. I seemed to have forgotten about Sgt Airforce and about my friend, and I let myself go. I will not say I made love to this man, because I did not know him. He was a man I know of because he worked on the base. He was a man I was trying to fix up with a friend of mine. He was a man that I had just slept with while I had feelings for someone else.