The Fort Halbrook mess hall was packed when Specialist Derek Vaughn kicked the corner of Private Lena Mercer\u2019s table.<\/p>\n
Metal screeched across the tile.<\/p>\n
Her tray flipped.<\/p>\n
Food scattered across the floor.<\/p>\n
Lena went down beside her overturned chair.<\/p>\n
For one second, the room was silent.<\/p>\n
Then soldiers started laughing.<\/p>\n
Vaughn stood over her with a satisfied grin.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooks like you picked the wrong table, sweetheart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Several phones appeared immediately.<\/p>\n
Lena stayed on the floor.<\/p>\n
No crying.<\/p>\n
No shouting.<\/p>\n
No attempt to argue.<\/p>\n
Vaughn leaned closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you gonna do now?\u201d<\/p>\n
He laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cFile a report on me?\u201d<\/p>\n
The laughter continued.<\/p>\n
Then Lena slowly looked up.<\/p>\n
Her expression was completely calm.<\/p>\n
She opened her clenched right hand.<\/p>\n
Inside was a neatly folded official military complaint form.<\/p>\n
Derek Vaughn\u2019s name, rank, and unit were already printed across the top.<\/p>\n
The laughter stopped.<\/p>\n
Lena unfolded it.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked directly into his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI already did.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vaughn\u2019s smile vanished.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the hell is that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Lena stood slowly.<\/p>\n
Food covered her boots.<\/p>\n
Her chair remained on the floor.<\/p>\n
But suddenly she no longer looked like the person being humiliated.<\/p>\n
She looked like the only person in the room who knew exactly what was happening.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s my third complaint.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vaughn froze.<\/p>\n
\u201cThird?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Fort Halbrook mess hall was packed when Specialist Derek Vaughn kicked the corner of Private Lena Mercer\u2019s table. Metal screeched across the tile. Her tray flipped. Food scattered across the floor. Lena went down beside her overturned chair. For one second, the room was silent. Then soldiers started laughing. Vaughn stood over her with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","class_list":["post-625","sr_chapter","type-sr_chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/sr_chapter\/625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/sr_chapter"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/sr_chapter"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/sr_chapter\/625\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/fantatv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}