When the World Falls Down, chapter 6
"Corporal, Corporal wake up, I want to hear a story," I heard someone whispering to me. I opened my eyes to see Battle's little sister, Molly, shaking me awake.
"Molly don't," Battle hissed. I smiled at Molly and Battle as he blushed.
"It's ok Battle, I was about to wake up in a little bit anyhow." I got off of the couch, careful not to wake up anybody up. Some people were waking up already and I got out some donuts and whatever kind of drinks the teens wanted.
"Which story do you guys want to hear?" I asked them while taking a donut of my own.
"The one where you just arrived in Baghdad," someone suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement. So I just shrugged and told them about how hot it was there. Then I told them about how I got stabbed in the shoulder, you would think Molly would be scared, but she was tough like that, like me.
Yeah, I was in the Marines, so sue me. I did it for my country and I knew my family would be proud of me. By now, everyone was up and I was passing around my purple hearts for people to see. They were making a big deal out of a piece of metal, when the real encouragement was the scar on my shoulder and arm.
"Why didn't you tell us you were in the military?" Billie Joe asked me, kind of angrily.
"You never asked me," I said coolly.
"Don't give me that!"
"Give you what exactly?"
"I'm totally anti-war and you're all for it, what kind of person are you!?"
"Look, the Marines were my choose, I don't support wars, but when the worst comes to the worst, I do what I can."
"If you don't support wars, then why go into the Marines?"
"Because they needed me!"
"They have plenty of people, you could've died!"
"I almost did, but if I had, I would've died for God and my country!"
"What about your family?"
"My family died for me."
Everything went silent as Joey hugged me while I was almost in tears.
"You don't deserve anything if they died for you, you were probably a brat on tight wad hill," Billie Joe sneered.
"My mother died giving birth to me! My father and my uncle were shot right in front of me! I didn't have anything! The Marines took me in as one of their own because my grandfather and my father were in the Marines. And then my best friend in the Marines went to battle and never came back! Don't tell me about not deserving anything! Whenever I hear Are We The Waiting, I cry myself to sleep, you don't know how much pain I've endured through my lifetime, don't call me a spoiled brat when I didn't get anything my whole lifetime! So to waste away the time, I trained, and trained, and trained with the Marines until I could finally be one of them, Then I went to Baghdad where I was stabbed once and shot twice! I bet you don't even know what it feels like to be stabbed once with a crooked dagger, it made me want to die, right there and then."
Everyone just stood still while I was in a puddle of tears, talking about my testimony.
"I still have the scar," I said while pulling up my sleeve and showing Billie Joe. It was a huge scar that was about three inches in width. Soon everyone was hugging me while I was just curled up and crying.
"Look Iris I.." Billie Joe started but I just came up to his face and smacked him. Clear across the face, where was a red mark there and I was satisfied.
"I probably deserved that," he whispered.
"You bet you did," I said while grabbing my coat and walking out into the rain. Everyone just kind of sat there for a moment, then Jason came after me.
"Iris, wait a moment, don't do that," he said while taking my hand and pulling me to him. I just cried onto his shoulder and since it was raining, you couldn't tell if I was crying or not. But Jason knew, he softly took my head in his hand and kissed my tears away. We walked back to the Outsiders where everyone was sitting around, just looking at the door.
"Look Iris, I'm so sorry, you don't even know how sorry I am, I really am," Billie Joe said while getting on both of his knees. I helped him up on his feet and kissed his cheek.
"Listen to me Billie Joe, if you ever do that again, I will have to go all Marine Corporal on your butt got it?" I asked seriously.
"Um, how do you do that?" he asked.
"NO!" everyone yelled while I just laughed evilly but decided not to do it today.
"Ok, you guys, I'm going to go get some more breakfast, see ya in a little bit."
No one's P.O.V.
"Billie Joe, you're a rock legend, I love your band, I practically love you, but trust me when I say that Iris won't be so forgiving if you ever do that again," Battle warned Billie Joe.
"Yeah Dad, you need to be a little more careful around her, she's been through enough," Joey added.
"What did she mean when she said that she'd have to go Marine Corporal on Billie Joe?" Mike asked.
"Well, as you know, Iris was in the Marines, they're tough, and she moved some excellent self defence and wrestling moves that saved her life once, that's what she meant."
"Um, ok then," Billie Joe, said questionably.
"No, seriously though, Iris is our best friend, and we'd do anything for her," another girl said. Everyone sat around in a circle as they began to talk about Iris.
"She sounds like a saint to me," Tré said.
"In a way, she is," someone said.
"How?" Green Day asked.
"Well once, she bailed three people from jail that were regulars here, she had a total expense of about sixty five thousand dollars and she paid every single penny off the bat, I was one of them, but we were totally innocent and she came and got us when our parents wouldn't," Battle explained.
"What were you accused of?"
"Raping a girl."
"That's tough man," Mike said.
"It is, it really is, but we were proved innocent thanks to Iris, she hired a lawyer for us, a really good one at that, it's like she would do anything for us."
"Should would do anything for us, she told us so herself," Joey said while sitting next to his friend, Battle.
"What else did she do for you guys?" Mike asked.
"One time, I called Iris at four o' clock in the morning and she just sat and listened to me ramble, she didn't even get mad about it or anything," a girl said.
"Yeah, and when I was in the hospital, she came and visited me everyday for about an hour then always left me a gift for two weeks," Molly said. Battle smiled at his younger sister, as Green Day was just kind of awestruck on how much Iris really did with these kids.
"Then one time, Johnny Cash came here to see her for all that she did for us, and she was too modest, she said it wasn't her at all," Joey smiled.
"Wow," was all Jason said that entire time.
"Jason, don't break her heart by the way, she's one of a kind, you'll never kind anyone like her in you're life, I tried," Battle warned Jason.
"I won't, but just a question for you," he asked everyone.
"What's one word to describe Iris?" Jason asked.
"There are no words to describe Iris, sometimes I feel like she's just a figment of a dream, but then I do something stupid and she's always there, there to fix it. If the whole world fell down, she would pick every single one of us up," Joey said. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Wow, no wonder you like it here Joey," Billie Joe said in amazement.
"She pays for everything, nothing here costs anything, and she still has her job as a tattoo person you know?" Battle said to them.
"Wow, that much pays pretty good."
"Somehow it does."
"Sometimes I feel like she isn't real, like she's here one second and gone the next, like she's just a figment of imagination that I share with a load of people," Battle said.
"I think we discussed that already didn't we?" Mike asked.
"Well yeah, but still, it's amazing what she does, how much she cares about us and the lengths she would go to just to make sure we're happy."
"But she says she isn't a saint, just a generous person," Joey said.
"She's probably one of the nicest people you will ever met, you better be glad you even got to meet her, much less make friends with her."
"Molly don't," Battle hissed. I smiled at Molly and Battle as he blushed.
"It's ok Battle, I was about to wake up in a little bit anyhow." I got off of the couch, careful not to wake up anybody up. Some people were waking up already and I got out some donuts and whatever kind of drinks the teens wanted.
"Which story do you guys want to hear?" I asked them while taking a donut of my own.
"The one where you just arrived in Baghdad," someone suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement. So I just shrugged and told them about how hot it was there. Then I told them about how I got stabbed in the shoulder, you would think Molly would be scared, but she was tough like that, like me.
Yeah, I was in the Marines, so sue me. I did it for my country and I knew my family would be proud of me. By now, everyone was up and I was passing around my purple hearts for people to see. They were making a big deal out of a piece of metal, when the real encouragement was the scar on my shoulder and arm.
"Why didn't you tell us you were in the military?" Billie Joe asked me, kind of angrily.
"You never asked me," I said coolly.
"Don't give me that!"
"Give you what exactly?"
"I'm totally anti-war and you're all for it, what kind of person are you!?"
"Look, the Marines were my choose, I don't support wars, but when the worst comes to the worst, I do what I can."
"If you don't support wars, then why go into the Marines?"
"Because they needed me!"
"They have plenty of people, you could've died!"
"I almost did, but if I had, I would've died for God and my country!"
"What about your family?"
"My family died for me."
Everything went silent as Joey hugged me while I was almost in tears.
"You don't deserve anything if they died for you, you were probably a brat on tight wad hill," Billie Joe sneered.
"My mother died giving birth to me! My father and my uncle were shot right in front of me! I didn't have anything! The Marines took me in as one of their own because my grandfather and my father were in the Marines. And then my best friend in the Marines went to battle and never came back! Don't tell me about not deserving anything! Whenever I hear Are We The Waiting, I cry myself to sleep, you don't know how much pain I've endured through my lifetime, don't call me a spoiled brat when I didn't get anything my whole lifetime! So to waste away the time, I trained, and trained, and trained with the Marines until I could finally be one of them, Then I went to Baghdad where I was stabbed once and shot twice! I bet you don't even know what it feels like to be stabbed once with a crooked dagger, it made me want to die, right there and then."
Everyone just stood still while I was in a puddle of tears, talking about my testimony.
"I still have the scar," I said while pulling up my sleeve and showing Billie Joe. It was a huge scar that was about three inches in width. Soon everyone was hugging me while I was just curled up and crying.
"Look Iris I.." Billie Joe started but I just came up to his face and smacked him. Clear across the face, where was a red mark there and I was satisfied.
"I probably deserved that," he whispered.
"You bet you did," I said while grabbing my coat and walking out into the rain. Everyone just kind of sat there for a moment, then Jason came after me.
"Iris, wait a moment, don't do that," he said while taking my hand and pulling me to him. I just cried onto his shoulder and since it was raining, you couldn't tell if I was crying or not. But Jason knew, he softly took my head in his hand and kissed my tears away. We walked back to the Outsiders where everyone was sitting around, just looking at the door.
"Look Iris, I'm so sorry, you don't even know how sorry I am, I really am," Billie Joe said while getting on both of his knees. I helped him up on his feet and kissed his cheek.
"Listen to me Billie Joe, if you ever do that again, I will have to go all Marine Corporal on your butt got it?" I asked seriously.
"Um, how do you do that?" he asked.
"NO!" everyone yelled while I just laughed evilly but decided not to do it today.
"Ok, you guys, I'm going to go get some more breakfast, see ya in a little bit."
No one's P.O.V.
"Billie Joe, you're a rock legend, I love your band, I practically love you, but trust me when I say that Iris won't be so forgiving if you ever do that again," Battle warned Billie Joe.
"Yeah Dad, you need to be a little more careful around her, she's been through enough," Joey added.
"What did she mean when she said that she'd have to go Marine Corporal on Billie Joe?" Mike asked.
"Well, as you know, Iris was in the Marines, they're tough, and she moved some excellent self defence and wrestling moves that saved her life once, that's what she meant."
"Um, ok then," Billie Joe, said questionably.
"No, seriously though, Iris is our best friend, and we'd do anything for her," another girl said. Everyone sat around in a circle as they began to talk about Iris.
"She sounds like a saint to me," Tré said.
"In a way, she is," someone said.
"How?" Green Day asked.
"Well once, she bailed three people from jail that were regulars here, she had a total expense of about sixty five thousand dollars and she paid every single penny off the bat, I was one of them, but we were totally innocent and she came and got us when our parents wouldn't," Battle explained.
"What were you accused of?"
"Raping a girl."
"That's tough man," Mike said.
"It is, it really is, but we were proved innocent thanks to Iris, she hired a lawyer for us, a really good one at that, it's like she would do anything for us."
"Should would do anything for us, she told us so herself," Joey said while sitting next to his friend, Battle.
"What else did she do for you guys?" Mike asked.
"One time, I called Iris at four o' clock in the morning and she just sat and listened to me ramble, she didn't even get mad about it or anything," a girl said.
"Yeah, and when I was in the hospital, she came and visited me everyday for about an hour then always left me a gift for two weeks," Molly said. Battle smiled at his younger sister, as Green Day was just kind of awestruck on how much Iris really did with these kids.
"Then one time, Johnny Cash came here to see her for all that she did for us, and she was too modest, she said it wasn't her at all," Joey smiled.
"Wow," was all Jason said that entire time.
"Jason, don't break her heart by the way, she's one of a kind, you'll never kind anyone like her in you're life, I tried," Battle warned Jason.
"I won't, but just a question for you," he asked everyone.
"What's one word to describe Iris?" Jason asked.
"There are no words to describe Iris, sometimes I feel like she's just a figment of a dream, but then I do something stupid and she's always there, there to fix it. If the whole world fell down, she would pick every single one of us up," Joey said. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Wow, no wonder you like it here Joey," Billie Joe said in amazement.
"She pays for everything, nothing here costs anything, and she still has her job as a tattoo person you know?" Battle said to them.
"Wow, that much pays pretty good."
"Somehow it does."
"Sometimes I feel like she isn't real, like she's here one second and gone the next, like she's just a figment of imagination that I share with a load of people," Battle said.
"I think we discussed that already didn't we?" Mike asked.
"Well yeah, but still, it's amazing what she does, how much she cares about us and the lengths she would go to just to make sure we're happy."
"But she says she isn't a saint, just a generous person," Joey said.
"She's probably one of the nicest people you will ever met, you better be glad you even got to meet her, much less make friends with her."
