The Difference Between You And Me {Petekey}

Chapter nineteen

He didn't let himself continue that thought. He was, honestly, tired of thinking like that. 

He entered the cafeteria then, Gerard and Bob already in the line up for food, chatting. Gerard liked to talk with his hands a lot, and Bob usually remained stoic, unmoving. It was rare that you could get so much as a facial expression out of him. Mikey approached the line, keeping track of what Gerard looked like he was talking about. His hands were flying around in the air, it was entertaining to watch.

"Hey Mikes," Gerard said when he got close enough. Mikey slid between Gerard and Bob, catching the eye of the guy behind Gerard and trying to convey his apology for skipping the line in his face. The guy didn't seem to care at all, for which Mikey was so relieved. He hated having to justify himself to the dudes around here who thought they could push him over like that. "Why're you late this time?"

Mikey shrugged. "Running drills. Officer Kirk wanted to keep me later to yell at me for being slow." 

Gerard rolled his eyes. "You were keeping up just fine, I swear, they all must hate you. And for no reason!"

"Yeah, they do that," Bob said. "They'll pretend they have a reason for doing it but they really don't. And it's always guys like you, Mikey, tall, skinny. Never happened to me but tons of my friends would get called out like that. Sometimes, if I was feeling brave, I'd pick a fight with the officer, but that never ended well. I'm surprised they even wanted me back after how much the officers hated me."

The guy behind Gerard piped up. "They'll take anyone they can at this point. I mean, if they're letting women in..."

Bob quirked an eyebrow, pulling on his tough guy persona. "Oh? And you don't think women aren't just as capable as men at doing this?"

The guy snorted. "It's basic biology. They aren't made to fight."

"A woman pushed you out of her and you don't think they can shoot a gun and march? I'd like to see you come anywhere close to what a woman is capable of," Bob said, rolling up his sleeves.

"Is that a threat? You know I could have you reported for that," the guy told him, his lips twitching into a frown momentarily. He was scared of Bob, Mikey could tell. When Mikey tried to show Bob he could be tough, Bob backed down eventually. But he didn't look like he was backing down here. Mikey admired that about him, that he was willing to not only stand up for women, who were severely discriminated against in this time period (Mikey tried to remember when women got the right to vote but couldn't. His got said 1960, but that seemed too late). 

"It wasn't, but I'd say that reporting me for threats would be a lot more cowardly than actually putting up a fight. I bet any woman in your situation would have me beat in a second. But nice to know you'll throw an entire sex under the bus just to preserve you egotistical fantasy," Bob smiled nonchalantly at the guy, then turned back and stepped forward in the line. 

Bob was a good man, Mikey observed as he looked at Bob's back, pointedly not turning around to talk with Mikey and Gerard again. Mikey didn't mind, he knew that looking back would give the asshole a chance to say something again.

Mikey couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he told Bob he was into guys. Would he take it well? Standing up for women when they were well on their way to equality and supporting someone who experiences same-gender attraction when it was probably illegal were two entirely different things. He could get discharged if anyone wanted to report him. 

It was a stupid thought, anyways. There was no way Bob could ever be fine enough with it that he'd keep it a secret. He had some values, sure, and Mikey admired that, but he wasn't the best guy around. He was still an alpha male-type guy, he hadn't necessarily shown himself to be completely trustworthy, especially not for a situation like this.