1.
"So where are you running off to for a week?"
We had been such good little soldiers in Bolivia that Col. Ryan had told us to go away for a week. Go anywhere, he didn't care. Just be gone for a week.
God I loved my job.
Gone I would be. I'd drop off the face of the Earth for a month. Be unreachable by means of communication. The only way you'd get hold of me was telepathically.
I pulled the band out of my hair and dug around my locker for my hat. I needed a hat. "No clue. When do you leave for the journey out west?"
I knew exactly where I was going.
Behind me Hector snorted at my answer to Bob's question. The married man was taking the wife and kids to go see family in Texas. It was admirable. The wife would be happy with him and he might get lucky. Go Bob.
Bob checked his watch.
Then looked to Hector and I, "As soon as I leave. You gentlemen behave yourself and don't do anything I wouldn't do."
I cocked an eyebrow at young Bob, which was stupid cause he was around the same age as me. Just with more responsibility. "Well that seriously limits my itinerary then."
"Have fun," Hector ordered him, splayed out on the bench behind me. He would take a Greyhound south. Down to somewhere in Alabama or on the Bible-belt to visit the family too.
I hated Greyhounds. I was no fan of flying standby, but, it was much quicker then the alternative of driving and I wanted to maximize my vacation. As Bob waved farewell I found my hat. Ha! I knew it was somewhere in my locker. With my elbow I closed the locker and grabbed my pack from the floor.
"Tell babycakes I said hi."
Babycakes.
Last summer I had taken Hector with me to visit 'babycakes' in some hope she would sway to my will. Didn't work. All she got was an extra babysitter for Bambi. Maybe this time I would luck out. The devil on my shoulder told me there was no way, but I could still try. Perseverance was some sort of admirable quality.
"I'll think about it. You going to have your cell phone?"
A laugh crossed his face.
"Don't worry Chuck, I'll be able to bail you out of jail. Do you have protection?"
That was a stupid question, "Always."
The look he gave me was priceless. It was a look only Hector could give. He then rolled his eyes and folded his hands over his chest, "I meant a actual weapon. You'll be flying civilian airlines, right? They have rules now about guns."
Oh…that had slipped my mind.
Wise as always, Hector added, "Unload it and put it underneath the plane. You'll have to buy bullets for it when you land."
Three flights, one cab ride, and a pretty intense screening by airport security later in Miami…
Babycakes lived on a houseboat bigger then my apartment. She shared this houseboat with her toddler 'Bambi' the little girl had a name, but she had the biggest brown almond eyes in the world. Adopted from China a few years back, she was just the best thing on Earth since sliced bread. Spoiled beyond all belief too. Therefore I just called Bambi.
The houseboat was anchored in a yacht club.
They thought they had good security. I had no problem getting past the front gate, through the club, and out the back on the docks where the boats were anchored.
Her houseboat was quite easy to find. Seeing as it was the only one with playground equipment and a kiddy pool on the dock. I easily traversed the Toys'R'Us explosion and boarded the boat.
The dog, a Rott the size of a small horse lifted its head from the pool raft it had been sleeping on. I patted its head having forgotten its name from the last time I had seen it when it was a puppy, over the summer when Hector was with me.
It was close to dawn and there was no moon. Which made my trip around the deck cluttered with children's toys a challenge. One that I easily completed. I found a sliding glass door and spotted a 2 by 4 stopper on the inside of the track.
Simple, yet effective.
Her husband had taught her well.
With no intention of permanently damaging her door, I dug my cell phone from my jeans and dialed her number in. From inside I could hear the phone ring and ring and ring. Figures, it was like her not to answer the phone.
After seven rings the machine picked up.
It was a mechanical voice that told me to leave a message. Which I did. "Nikkoletta…come open your door. I don't want to sleep out here with Spongebob and Pooh. It's close to dawn, I don't understand why you're not up already swimming, your father would have been up by now and…"
Then she came strolling into the area where I could see her through the sliding glass door. Sleepily, in short shorts and a shirt that didn't have sleeves. Her dark hair hung almost to the small of her back. At the sight of me a smile curled on her lips and she scurried to the sliding glass door. She lifted the piece of wood out of the door track and then unlocked the door.
There was little time to waste.
I opened the door and got in what looked like the living room, that had suffered an explosion of toys. I grabbed hold of her and promptly began a thorough inspection of her lips. A very thorough inspection. My fingers wove in through her hair and she managed to get my bag off my shoulder and direct me towards the bedroom.
Past mountains of toys.
Down a hall that had pictures painted covering close to every inch of wall space. We made it into the bedroom and on the bed. There was one thing I had to do first.
I lunged toward her dresser across the bed where she had pictures.
I turned down the framed picture of her father, Admiral Leonardo Nassir. I turned down the picture of me, Hector, and Bambi from over the summer. Then I turned down the picture of her and her husband on their wedding day.
That picture being the reason we couldn't be together.
She didn't want to be married to another man in combat. She didn't want to be another military wife and get another midnight phone call. She didn't want to bury another husband.
I could understand that.
So I had to wait.
When I got out she would be with me. It was going to be a while before I got out. So I had to settle for this and whatever action I could get on the side.