The Road to Haifa - Chapter 6

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The Road to Haifa
Chapter 6 — Parting the Red Sea.
by Alyssa Plant 
Her hackles raised, Sarah stared at the Sergeant. “Are you just a misogynistic old bastard or are you saying I’m some man in a dress?
Whatever it is, fucking spit it out to my face!” She growled getting to her feet.

Chapter 6 — Parting the Red Sea.

The door creaked open and Sarah slowly stepped into the mess. As she closed the door behind her, she balled her fists up and walked across the room towards the coke machine.

She could feel eyes burning into her as she walked. It was all the courage she had to continue walking.

As she reached the machine, she fumbled for a coin in her pocket before shakily slotting it into the machine and hammering any button her hand landed on.

Behind her she heard a faint chuckle and some voices.

She crouched and recovered her drink from the vending machine and turned to find Peter Shiloh standing before her quietly.

“Um, Hi David.” He said quietly.

Looking mildly unamused she replied tersely; “It’s Sarah, please.”

“I…oh… sorry.” He blushed. “Um, you want to join us and talk?” he continued.

Sarah simply nodded and followed Peter across the room to a group of sofas that seated six of her unit. Amongst them, she saw Ari.

This made her heart skip; she had one ally at least.

Nervously looking around the group she sat down on one of the sofas to one end of the small seating enclave and tucked her leg under her bottom.

Looking around the group, she slowly opened her coke and took a sip. Pausing to collect her thoughts she spoke; “I guess you guys are wondering what the deal is?” she said hesitantly.

Snickers and nods from the group suggested that was indeed their reason for being present.

Ari caught her eye and smiled reassuringly; urging her on.

“You know me as Corporal David Yakobavitch…” She started

“When I was little, I guess I was a normal quiet kid. I went to Synagogue and helped my parents with chores, my school work, the usual…

Don’t get me wrong, I love my parents, and they love me, but I just never felt I fitted in with the family. Even school, I just felt like I was a spectator … watching it all happen; life pass by.”

Clearing her throat, she continued, not put off by the silence that had befallen the group.

“I guess I realised I was different when I started high school. All the boys and girls began developing and changing, and I felt like I was missing out.”

She laughed darkly. “I know I never went down quite the same path as all of you clearly. But it was enough to make things seem unjust….

I finally realised it when I was about 14. I wasn’t a boy. Sure, I had boy parts down there.” She sighed, gesturing at her crotch.

“But I wasn’t one up here.” She said touching her hand to her head.

“Yeah, I know what you’re thinking….” She grimaced. “It sounds bizarre at best, even deluded. I know what the Torah says. It’s not possible to change sex…. But that’s the thing… I’m not doing.” She almost pleaded as she looked around the sceptical faces.

“I was born a girl; A girl with a birth defect. I had the body of a boy, but I wasn’t. I was always a girl from the moment my mother gave birth to me. At least up here.” She whispered; touching her head once more.

“I feel like a liar.” She continued. “I joined the army when I was conscribed to endure my 3 years service. I didn’t want to. Cutting my hair when I joined nearly broke me. But I grew to love the army; I was good at what I did. I excelled, and most of all, I feel proud to say I am a defender of our nation." she said, for the first time drawing nods from the group, the first reaction of any sort.

“I joined Sayeret Matkal because I could excel, and defend this country more directly and because it allowed me to be more free with my appearance whilst remaining in the army.

Like I said; I feel I need to apologise to all of you now; because I’ve lied to you all for so long.” She sobbed, a tear rolling down her cheek.

“I wish I could have met you all as me… the real me… The me that sits here now. Sarah Yakobavitch. I am the same person, I don’t ask you to treat me any differently you have. I’m still you’re friend. The shell just matches the person you were friends with now.

I have never been a David in anything but name.” she whispered; wiping a tear from her cheek.

She looked around the group, trying to gauge some reaction from her peers

“I never really thought about it that way,” mused Peter, “It’s still a bit sudden though…. I mean, I had no idea.”

Ari broke out in hysterics at that moment causing the group to turn and face him with a mixture of questioning and confused stares.

“Seriously?” he laughed. “How can any of you have considered her one of the guys before today? The only thing she’s changed right now is she’s wearing a bra! How can you tell me that you are SURPRISED?” he shook his head in disbelief.

There were several nods and mutterings of agreement around the group at Ari’s comments.

Sensing he had their favour he continued; “We’re soldiers, and she showed today that she can still fight just as hard, if not better than some of us. As much as we are brothers in arms, I’m perfectly happy to consider her my sister in arms…” he said proudly smiling at Sarah.

Hearing her friend defend her like that lifted her sense of dread as she waited for reactions from the rest.

Her eyes fell on Sergeant Goni. He looked intently thoughtful sitting there with his arms folded and a frown on his face, intently studying his shoe.

The others seemed mostly reserved, while nodding along with Ari’s comments, keeping their own mouths shut.

Peter finally spoke: “I guess we saw what we wanted.” He began hesitantly. “I mean, you were a guy to us, so we saw you as a guy… if that makes sense. But Ari is right. You never really were… its like you were told and we were told that you were a guy, and we all just accepted it without really questioning it.”

Peter looked around the group.

”You have my support Sarah. Man or woman, you are one of my team, and a friend. You aren’t changing who you are, just the covering, um… slightly” He blushed. “Anyone says anything against you, they have to go through me.” He said smiling reassuringly at Sarah.

“That means more than you can imagine Peter, thank you,” gushed Sarah. “And you Ari, just anyone accepting me is more than I could have hoped for.” She said, staring down at her lap.

“Why were you out in town dressed up like that?” Sgt Goni said flatly.

“Like what?” Sarah frowned looking up.

“Like a woman.” The Grizzled sergeant replied. “You’re a soldier of this unit, and you go parading around town in a skirt?”

“So?” replied Sarah; her frown deepening. “Nearly every female soldier in the IDF does it.”

“You are MEANT to be Sayeret Matkal.” Growled the sergeant.

Her hackles raised, Sarah stared at the Sergeant. “Are you just a misogynistic old bastard or are you saying I’m some man in a dress?” whatever it is, fucking spit it out to my face.” She growled getting to her feet.

She stood there with her hands on her hips staring at the sergeant with a ‘well answer me’ expression on her face. She was well aware this was the only time she would look down at him.

The sergeant realised his eyes to meet Sarah’s and chuckled with a shake of his head.

“What’s so fucking funny?” she spat with venom that shocked even herself.

The Sergeant just smiled. “Never mind, I guess I’m just a misogynistic old bastard.” He chuckled.

“You just proved you’re a woman by completely over reacting and miss-interpreting what I was saying. And sit down little one, don’t be under any impression that you look tough or intimidating like that.” He laughed. Something that even made Sarah crack a small grin.

Flopping back into her seat she scowled at the sergeant. “This isn’t an excuse for you to treat me like I’m less.” She sneered.

“keep dropping ragheads, and I don’t care if you fight in a bloody tutu.” He replied with the hint of a smile.

“Just don’t let this affect your work.”

“Far from it.” Sarah replied.

“I ‘m going to go out on a limb here and speak for everyone,” said Mark, the SAW gunner as he looked around the group. “You watch our backs on missions, and its time we did the same for you. David or Sarah, man or woman, you are a human being in our eyes, and in god’s… Anyone gives you shit, talk to me.”

There were emphatic nods from around the group. Sarah finally relaxed in the seat, taking only the second sip from her coke that had been untouched since the discussion began.

“Just make sure to tell us when you start wearing your combats like the other girls, so we can move you from sniper to point.” He grinned stupidly.

“Men!” Sarah sighed with comic exasperation.

With that the group broke down into silliness. The uncertainty cleared and the bond between warriors reformed.

Sarah was glad that her friends had so far been supportive. But she was not naive enough to believe it would be the same in every case. The religious hardliners could be vicious.

As she sat with her team-mates and friends, her phone bleeped, bringing her back to reality.

Flipping the cell open, she opened the new message. It was from Ben;

‘Are we still on for tonight? B’

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Comments

While I'm enjoying the story

I find it hard to believe how quickly she's being accepted.I know several Ts combat arms vets and am one myself storys of acceptance from fellow vets are few and far between even considering the more tolerable countrys.I don't know of any other country then perhaps Russia that has allowed women to serve as Snipers and I'm not sure that Israel does currently.American service women are being more and more exposed to combat thru the use of military police in enforcement of occupying and enforcement of martial law but a ban still does exist barring them from combat arms.Amy.

well

Israel does currently have female combat troops in most aspects of thier militery. A case of needs must... literally.
America is miles behind israel in that aspect.

As for how fast she has been accepted. You have to consider this is a tightly meshed special forces unit... they are not regular grunts, nor are they idiots. BUT, im not saying her path will be smooth. I'm afraid the main aspect of the novel is yet to come :)
thanks for the comments.
Alyssa

Israel defense force

http://israelnationalnews.com/news/news.aspx/124558 Is an Israelly news article about women in the Israel defense forces and explains the roles they are allowed.Knowing what I know of the American position on women in combat verses what this article states about Israels there really isn't that much difference in what women are allowed to do in combat.While the US doesn't allow women in Infantry,Field Artilery or tank units they are more and more allowed in MOS's that allow them to work more closely with these units or to perform operations similiar to these.Neither country allow women to serve in special forces units.I was in a weapons squad as a 60 gunner and carried weights up to and above 150 pounds on a regular basis for long distances and was around many Rangers.At the time I served only the Rangers and my unit specialized in urban warfare and carried the 90 mm recoiless rifle.Amy

well

Its called fiction.
it allows the writer to bend reality a slight bit for the sake of a story.
A, your link does not work
B, special forces units have been known to accept females that meet the grade... i suspect that it depends largely on the unit, and its internal politics. The israeli militery does have females in infantry roles. that much is fact. Thus im allowing myself to flex reality slightly for the sake of a good read.
if you dont like this, dont read it.
Alyssa

I tried to fix the link

For some reason I can't get it to work.It's fairly easy to find by using yahoo search womens roles in the idf.It's under the Israel national news link and I do like your story Belladonna.

Case Sensitive

The link is case-sensitive. You can't just use lower-case letters and expect it to work. The correct link is:

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124558

I didn't read the whole article very carefully, but the upshot of it seems to be the Orthodox Rabbinate whining about IDF sex-integration in general. Whether anyone is listening to them is another issue entirely. The article says that in some infantry units men and women today do indeed fight side-by-side and also that women serve freely in the Artillery.

Bear in mind that Orthodox Jews in Israel are a small minority, with much less political power than Evangelical Christians have in the U.S. With proportional representation, there's no such thing as a "swing state". An excellent argument for dumping the arcane and archaic Electoral College.

This is fiction

Your role in combat is not being challenged here. And I am sure that no one is trying to devalue your contribution. I'd like to personally thank you for all the hell you survived.

When I was in Bankok, I met a woman who had served a role in the military that you will never see documented in the history books. I know this happens.

When I served in the Military Police in 66-69', I was so small, that I eventually wound up on the desk so I did not get beat up.

Yes, I know we do not have women in combat, but still they lose both legs and get shot just like the men.

Gwen

ROFL - waht an ending...

You have an uber serious chapter - and then "break" the tension with that text message at the end!

Okay, the tension was broken a bunch earlier by the sergent and others, but still that last line. LOL

All that said, I do share the concern expressed about the realisticness of the situation. Glad you at least aluded to the difficulties the "hard liners" will through in her path.

Thanks,

Annette

Great episode

Nice flow, well written. Can't help but wonder if there're a few in the bunch that are withholding private, negative thoughts on Sarah's coming out, but I'm sure we'll see as the story develops further....

"Ragheads", huh? I suppose if you have to fight and kill them, the first step is to dehumanize them, belittle them... I wonder who'll be the first to start behaving that way towards Sarah?

YW

He conquers who endures. ~ Persius

Total acceptance?

We shall see.

Another well-paced episode. No one has yet mentioned any physical aberrations like blood so maybe that will be a future feature.

I did pick up on the IDF being conscripted rather than the 'prove otherwise' reason trans women often join the military. I know of people for whom conscription in the UK was an absolute hell. Thank God I missed it due to age and vision deficiency.

Susie

I'm very pleased

with having been pointed to this wonderful story to read. Its a fresh shock to my system just like The Unicorn's Gift had done for me. Its different and beautiful in its own wonderful way of presenting who we are and how we come out in a unique tale. I can FEEL Sarah within the story and her awkwardness around others. She reacts as a woman would and feels as one. I have come to find that through the 6 chapters written so far, Alyssa, you have done an outstanding job writing this tale! Excellent dialogue, scenery, and narrative. The acceptance and Sarah's treatment by her unit and CO did let a few tears escape my eyes whilst reading it. It has actually made me feel better today for having read it!

Thank You for Writing this story Alyssa!
*Warm Loving Hug!*

 
Sephrena Lynn Miller
BigCloset TopShelf

terrific

kristina l s's picture

Just caught up with this and it is a great story. Believable people in harsh situations dealing with stuff as it happens. I might have a few very minor niggles, but they are minor. This hangs together very well, great work Alyssa.

Kristina

Don't let the naysayers get you down

Even the US who say it is not legal for women to be in combat have bent it due to expediency. The 'lioness' program where female soldiers in Iraq helped to enable the searching of Muslim women is such an example.

Technically these ladies are in combat as they are always the last ones into an home invasion as an example, plus they had the job of guarding the interpreter. They did a vital job in Iraq.

Please see link: http://www.defendamerica.mil/articles/may2007/a051807tj1.html.

Point is, in war, you do what you need to do, law or no law.

Kim

The Road to Haifa - Chapter 6

Sarah has some great team mates.

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine
    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine