Mitrano! Only faggots and sailors are called Mitrano! From now on youâre
Fatbody
!
âSIR, YES, SIR!â
âDo you think Iâm cute, Fatbody? Do you think Iâm funny?â
âSIR, NO, SIR!â
âThen wipe that disgusting grin off your face!â
And on and on, until Mitrano kneels down and offers his neck to Cederna, who pretends to strangle himâand actually does choke him a little, enough to make his face turn a bit purple. Mattioli urges him not to quit; the others laugh like madmen, even though theyâve seen the performance dozens of times. Cederna is able to quote the first forty minutes of
Full Metal Jacket
from memory, line by line: Mitrano is his Private Gomer Pyle, his designated victim, and like the soldier in the film, heâs not enjoying it one bit. When theyâre done, he climbs back on the cot and curls up, minding his own business. If he doesnât go along with the game, Cederna slaps the back of his neck so many times it gives him a crick.
Now that Cederna has everyoneâs attention he can continue getting dressed. The senior corporal majorâs equipment includes: a TRU-SPEC combat shirt, an eggplant-colored Defcon 5 armor carrier vest with coordinated accoutrements, a Kevlar helmet, an ESS Profile TurboFan mask, a pair of Vertx pants with a gusseted crotch and articulated knee (theyâre the most expensive and fit decidedly better than any other tactical pants), Quechua socks and briefs, a Nite MX10 quartz watch with GTLS whose dial and hands are illuminated fluorescent green even during the day, a pair of Otte Gear waterproof gloves, a keffiyeh, a pair of 12Ã25 binoculars, a Condor T&T belt, elbow and knee pads of the same brand, an ONTOS Extrema Ratio knife with a 165-millimeter steel blade, a GLX grenade launcher, a CamelBak canteen, a Beretta 92FS tucked into a thigh holster, a Beretta SC70/90 assault rifle, Lowa Zephyr GTX HI TF task force desert boots, monocular night vision goggles with IR illuminator, and seven magazines with appropriate ammunition. Aside from the firearms and the helmet, the items have all been ordered via the Internet. In the inside pocket of his jacket there is also a photo, a selfie that Agnese slipped into his backpack as a surprise, a three-quarters shot in which sheâs wearing a thong and barely covering her breasts with one arm, enough to make your eyes pop out of their sockets. Sixteen kilos and two thousand eurosâ worth of equipment: when he has his weapons on him Cederna feels different, more clearheaded, more alert. More fit. More cocky.
âIâll buy you some peanuts,â he says to his buddies on his way out. He goes by the cot where Ietri is still lying in his skivvies, green with envy (though his nose, ears, and shoulders are red from the severe sunburn he got), slaps him sharply on the thigh. âBe a good girl,
verginella
.â Ietri raises his middle finger.
Cederna sits up front in the Lince, on the right, and sees to communications. Camporesi drives. In back are Pecone and René, with Torsu in the middle, standing on the turret. The convoy of three armored vehicles is commanded by Captain Masiero. Thereâs bad blood between Masiero and Marshal RenéâCederna knows it and he sometimes likes to tease René about it.
Heâs not afraid. Not at all. Instead, heâs excited. If they were to be ambushed, he knows that his reaction time to load the rifle or draw the pistol and take aim at the target would be less than two seconds; he also knows that less than two seconds might be too long, but that thought is a waste of time, so he sets it aside and focuses on the positive.
Nothing happens. The patrol rolls along without a hitch. They park the vehicles near the Afghan police barracks, which controls the road to the market. The soldiers take a guided tour inside to familiarize themselves with the place, since starting the following week theyâll have to go
Fatbody
!
âSIR, YES, SIR!â
âDo you think Iâm cute, Fatbody? Do you think Iâm funny?â
âSIR, NO, SIR!â
âThen wipe that disgusting grin off your face!â
And on and on, until Mitrano kneels down and offers his neck to Cederna, who pretends to strangle himâand actually does choke him a little, enough to make his face turn a bit purple. Mattioli urges him not to quit; the others laugh like madmen, even though theyâve seen the performance dozens of times. Cederna is able to quote the first forty minutes of
Full Metal Jacket
from memory, line by line: Mitrano is his Private Gomer Pyle, his designated victim, and like the soldier in the film, heâs not enjoying it one bit. When theyâre done, he climbs back on the cot and curls up, minding his own business. If he doesnât go along with the game, Cederna slaps the back of his neck so many times it gives him a crick.
Now that Cederna has everyoneâs attention he can continue getting dressed. The senior corporal majorâs equipment includes: a TRU-SPEC combat shirt, an eggplant-colored Defcon 5 armor carrier vest with coordinated accoutrements, a Kevlar helmet, an ESS Profile TurboFan mask, a pair of Vertx pants with a gusseted crotch and articulated knee (theyâre the most expensive and fit decidedly better than any other tactical pants), Quechua socks and briefs, a Nite MX10 quartz watch with GTLS whose dial and hands are illuminated fluorescent green even during the day, a pair of Otte Gear waterproof gloves, a keffiyeh, a pair of 12Ã25 binoculars, a Condor T&T belt, elbow and knee pads of the same brand, an ONTOS Extrema Ratio knife with a 165-millimeter steel blade, a GLX grenade launcher, a CamelBak canteen, a Beretta 92FS tucked into a thigh holster, a Beretta SC70/90 assault rifle, Lowa Zephyr GTX HI TF task force desert boots, monocular night vision goggles with IR illuminator, and seven magazines with appropriate ammunition. Aside from the firearms and the helmet, the items have all been ordered via the Internet. In the inside pocket of his jacket there is also a photo, a selfie that Agnese slipped into his backpack as a surprise, a three-quarters shot in which sheâs wearing a thong and barely covering her breasts with one arm, enough to make your eyes pop out of their sockets. Sixteen kilos and two thousand eurosâ worth of equipment: when he has his weapons on him Cederna feels different, more clearheaded, more alert. More fit. More cocky.
âIâll buy you some peanuts,â he says to his buddies on his way out. He goes by the cot where Ietri is still lying in his skivvies, green with envy (though his nose, ears, and shoulders are red from the severe sunburn he got), slaps him sharply on the thigh. âBe a good girl,
verginella
.â Ietri raises his middle finger.
Cederna sits up front in the Lince, on the right, and sees to communications. Camporesi drives. In back are Pecone and René, with Torsu in the middle, standing on the turret. The convoy of three armored vehicles is commanded by Captain Masiero. Thereâs bad blood between Masiero and Marshal RenéâCederna knows it and he sometimes likes to tease René about it.
Heâs not afraid. Not at all. Instead, heâs excited. If they were to be ambushed, he knows that his reaction time to load the rifle or draw the pistol and take aim at the target would be less than two seconds; he also knows that less than two seconds might be too long, but that thought is a waste of time, so he sets it aside and focuses on the positive.
Nothing happens. The patrol rolls along without a hitch. They park the vehicles near the Afghan police barracks, which controls the road to the market. The soldiers take a guided tour inside to familiarize themselves with the place, since starting the following week theyâll have to go
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