Chapter 7 ~ cover boy ~

                                    

                                          

When the guy's got back from town they had brought dinner for Paitoon, they'd been out for steaks and bought him back a mixed salad with no dressing and a selection of fruits. They hadn't known each other a long time but they had taken note of his dietary requirements and understood why he had to maintain his weight.
They asked him if he felt any better and he thanked them saying yes but even so, they could sense a change in their friend. He seemed colder somehow, not unfriendly but as if he had become bitter in the space of a few short hours.
They chatted for a while and talked about what they had done in town before bunking down to get some sleep. The following morning Paitoon was up at 4.30am as usual but he didn't go for a walk, instead he took a chair and sat outside their hut until the sun began to rise and he heard movement from within.
He was surprised at roll call when Officer Chit appeared with a soldier to inspect their hut, they all stood by their beds and saluted when he entered and after inspection he approached Paitoon and asked him how he was feeling.
"very good Officer" he replied staring straight ahead.
"still wearing your face cream Cadet" Chit sniffed trying to get a rise out of the younger man.
"yes sir" another formal reply.
"are you sure you are feeling ok Cadet, you may be excused to visit the Doctor if you're not well" Chit said.
"I am very well Officer" Paitoon replied continuing to stare ahead past Officer Chit.
"ok then, get to breakfast everyone then come to the rifle range" Chit said stomping out of the hut.
The guys went to breakfast but they all knew something was wrong with Paitoon he wasn't as chatty as usual and wasn't smiling as much in fact it was almost as if he were a different person, Kit pulled him to one side.
"bro' I know somethings going on with you, I just want you to know we're all here for you when you're ready to talk" he said and the only sign that his word's had got through were the sparkle of tears in Paitoon's eyes.
"thank you Kit but I really am ok, if I seem a bit off it's not you guys, I'm just dealing with some personal stuff, I'm sorry if my mood is getting you guys down" he replied.
"we're ok Paitoon, we just want you to know you can count on us" Kit said patting him on the back.
Paitoon nodded and they all went to eat breakfast before heading to the rifle range where they found it was Officer Chit instructing the class.
"ok, listen up people, today we're going to be field stripping and that's not getting naked in the middle of the countryside, it's stripping your fire arm down without the use of tools and then you've got to learn how to clean it and put it all back together again and it still has to work, when you've practiced enough you should be able to completely strip your weapon down in less than a minute so pay attention then you can have a go yourself"
Officer Chit proceeded to demonstrate field stripping and then the cadets were all given a fire arm to practice on their own. Paitoon took an elastic hair band out of his shirt pocket and pulled his fringe up into  a small ponytail before tying it up.
Curious as to how he was going to perform, Officer Chit lingered close by to keep watch over him while observing the other cadets. Paitoon got ready by warming up his fingers then he began expertly disassembling the firearm in front of him until all the parts were laid out neatly.
He hadn't done it in a while so it took him 53 seconds but everyone was amazed at his prowess.
 "it seems you have done this before cadet Pinamakhorn" Chit said.