One day, a PSD rolled into the academy to drop off a new instructor, sent over from the Adnan Palace. When Becky stepped out of the SUV those of us sitting around the fire pit immediately took notice. Becky was a very attractive and very well-built young lady in her mid to late twenties. That alone, in a compound where we had not seen many females at all, much less attractive ones, was enough to get our attention, but Becky also wore a small diamond stud on her nose and carried herself in a way that exuded confidence. Our first impression, from a distance, was that she looked like she had her shit together. We would soon learn that she did indeed.
Needless to say, the three of us sitting around the fire pit leapt to our feet and headed over to welcome the new addition to the Baghdad Police Academy. We even sucked in our guts as we approached the new arrival, though none of us were able to hold that for very long. That’s why you have to keep moving around, it helps cover up your stomach hanging over your beltline a little bit.
Once introductions had been made, we escorted Becky over to the Tin Hut, where she would be staying temporarily until a room opened up for her in one of the newer barracks. By this time all the females had moved out of the Tin Hut, and since Becky was by herself, it didn’t make much sense to tie up one whole set of bathrooms in our place just for her. Becky turned out to be a sweetheart and fit in well with all the rest of us old curmudgeons. We all pretty much took her under our wings and tried to look out for her, even though we knew she was a big girl in her own right and had military experience in Iraq.
Surfer Boy must have sniffed something in the air because he showed up around our fire pit that first evening, after Becky had joined us there. Surfer Boy, who never gave any of us the time of day and who had a reputation for being very hard to find, had never before joined our nightly ritual. He made sure that Becky knew he had an opening as a firearms instructor if she was interested, and that he could use her with his group of instructors. It was no surprise to any of us, and we were pretty certain he’d be hanging around like a tom cat from then on, but as I said, Becky was a big girl and could take care of herself.
Becky had actually been in the military police and her unit had been assigned to the Baghdad Police Academy back in 2003–04, so she was well acquainted with the place, though she had never met Surfer Boy during her previous stay. She had completed her enlistment and returned to America, and then decided to apply for an instructor job with ICITAP, this time at a much higher salary. Who could blame her? After all, for the most part that’s why we were all in Iraq.
Becky was initially assigned to be teamed up with Wallie. According to him, the first day she showed up in class the reaction from the cadets was noticeable. They sat up straighter in their chairs and seemed much more attentive. During breaks they almost fell over themselves trying to be the one to hold the door open for Becky as she stepped outside of the classroom. My guess is there were a few who sucked in their guts as well. Later that day, after class, Wallie stopped me as I was walking across the compound.
“How much do we charge for our women?” he asked, with a wry smile on his face.
“What in the hell are you talking about?” I said, looking at him quizzically.
Wallie explained to me that during one of the class breaks he had been approached by two cadets who asked, through the interpreter, “How much to buy her?” Apparently, they wanted to know what the price would be to purchase Miss Becky at some point in the future. I guess once they graduated from the academy and became full-fledged Iraqi police, flush with money, they would be looking for a wife, and Miss Becky suited them just fine. What was surprising is that only two cadets approached Wallie. My guess is that they were probably the two who drew the short straws and had to check the price for everybody else and negotiate a deal. As a courtesy to Becky, we shared the information with her and she laughed about it. Little did she know that we were all discussing among ourselves just how much we might be able to get. Just kidding!