pIt was a beautiful day. The warm breeze brushed against her tanned skin as the sun left kisses. The only noise was the heavy waves of the Pacific rushing against the sand beneath her feet. Her dark eyes were bright as they looked up at the clear blue sky. Everything was wonderful. Perfect. She closed her eyes and fell back into the sand, a small smile on her lips. Her long fingers dragged through the tiny glass beads and shells, feeling as though she was meant to be part of it./p
pThere wasn't a blemish in the sky./p
pThat's why it confused her when a darkness flashed quickly over her closed eyelids as something momentarily blocked out the sun. Her dark brows furrowed as she opened her eyes to spy what was ruining her perfect day. It was the most terrifying thing she had ever laid eyes on. Six large, grey birds with red circles of fire printed onto their flapping wings circled above. Their calls were loud, shrill hums that went off every time they set their shiny black eyes upon her. It disrupted her soul. She tried to get up and run, but she couldn't. There was something wrong with the sand. It was restraining her. She jerked her head to the side and saw that it wasn't sand any more. The tiny glass beads and shells had each turned into burned severed limbs. Hands that had been ripped from their arms were holding her in place as the birds got closer and closer./p
p"emIpo/em." A distorted voice came from all around her. She looked around for the source, all the while yanking against the fingers that started to burn her skin. "emIpo/em." She jerked her head forward, staring with wide eyes at the bloated severed head sitting between her ankles. It was that of a woman's. Her eyes were swollen shut and she wore blood as lipstick over blue lips. It looked as if someone was making it talk, "emIpo. span title="You will die"E ka make ʻoe/span/em."/p
pThe giant avians above began to call relentlessly, each time they opened their mouth a word sounded, "emIpo! Ipo! Ipo!/em"
Her shoulder was suddenly shoved hard, "Ipo, wake up! We're here." Her eyes snapped open and she jerked to an upright position on her bunk.
"Have that dream again, huh?" Eugene Sledge asked. He asked that every night since the second week of boot camp. She grunted in response. She tried to always just grunt around fellow marines. Not so much with Eugene, since he knew. Eugene Sledge was a smart man who knew what it was like to want to be in the war so bad that the insides itched and the heart ached. That's why she told him the truth. Ipo Kaheikekonikoni was a woman who deceived the government into thinking that she was a boy. Getting into the Marines was the easy part, thanks to her willing younger brother. It was during boot camp that was the tricky part. She had her breasts wrapped tightly at all times and even then it made her look like she had a defined chest. Eugene and her traded clothes so that it'd be easier to hide her womanly curves that were always praised during hula class. She was short, only 5 feet, but many men were short. Her voice, however, was a higher pitch. That couldn't be hidden. The men in bootcamp were used to it. They accepted it.
However, they weren't in bootcamp any more. They were heading off to Pavuvu to be in the presence of Marines who had already seen the horrors of war. Not that Ipo hadn't seen it. It would be the first time she was participating. She just had to hope that none of the men on that island would do more than glance twice at her before accepting that she must be a boy, since she was a fighting Marine. Not a Marine who packed ammo and made 50,000 pancakes, but one who fought face to face with the enemy. All she had to do was keep to herself and stick with Eugene.
"Let's go out on deck." Eugene tossed her boots at her. Ipo quickly shoved them on her feet. Eugene's eyes lingered on the tattoo that ran from the back of her right hand all the way up to where it disappeared behind the sleeve of her white cotton shirt. He had never seen the rest of the tattoo. He used to guard the showers when she had snuck in there late at night to clean up from prying eyes and Eugene's eyes never pried. He was raised a gentleman. That's why Ipo considered him to be her best friend. All of her friends back in Hawaiʻi were taken by the government and sent off to live inside walls that were no better than a prison's. The only reason her family wasn't one of them was because they were kanaka maoli- pure Hawaiian. They were even some of the very few that still spoke Hawaiian. English wasn't her first language. Her accent spooked people at first. That with her smaller eyes made people think she was Japanese at first, but she straightened that out real quickly. Most of all, she looked like a woman. Not even her short hair that was no longer than Eugene's could cover her soft features. She had to adopt a look of stone.
Ipo shrugged on her green jacket and followed Eugene through the narrow steel halls and up onto the deck. She loved the smell of the ocean. Eugene and Ipo stared out at the small island where they were going to stay for who knew how long. It made her simultaneously happy and nervous, thanks to that dream of hers.
"Looks like Hawaiʻi." Bill Leyden said.
"No, it doesn't." Eugene responded.
"You trying to insult me, Leyden?" Ipo said jokingly. Her voice was melodic, which is why she should just keep her mouth shut for the duration of the war, no matter how long it lasted. Leyden laughed. If Ipo had to pick another person to have the knowledge of her gender, it would be Bill Leyden. He's an easy going guy, but would most definitely tell the higher-ups if he felt that she was in danger. Nice guys were annoying.
The sand made her jittery. She expected the microscopic pieces to grab at her feet at any moment as they walked down it. The people that filled the tents around her were veterans. Veterans that Eugene found necessary to ask in what general direction he would find his friend at. His name was Sid. Eugene used to read her the letters that he sent. He seemed like a good guy; always gently trying to warn Eugene away from war. The redhead never read into that part too much. Ipo sent letters, too. She sent them to her brother, Inoke, and her baby sister, ʻAuliʻi, who had just turned five last week. She also sent a letter to Analu, the man who she thought that she was in love with. She told him that, after what had happened, she had to get away. That she was touring the mainland. He didn't send a letter back. Eugene and Leyden stopped to watch a marine fight an imaginary enemy, but Ipo kept going. She didn't want to get lost on this island full of trigger happy men.
They were eventually all directed to where they were supposed to go. Leyden, being the kind of man he was, barged into the tent with Ipo, Eugene, and Oswalt following. "Hello." He said. There were three men in there; one cleaning his rifle, one playing a card game, and one picking at a blistering scab on his foot that he probably shouldn't have been messing with. Much like the rest of the men on the island, they didn't give the new guys a second glance.
"This K Company?" Eugene asked, "We're supposed to be in 60 Mortar, Second Squad."
"Jesus," The man playing cards chuckled, "These men are supposed to be 60 Mortars."
The one cleaning the rifle spoke, "This is Second Squad."
"Robert Oswalt." Her fellow private began the introductions. Him and Ipo weren't that tight with each other. Mostly because she had told a joke about his mother that he didn't particularly find funny. They were civil, though.
"Eugene Sledge."
The man with the rifle spoke again, "You 60 Mortars, too?"
Leyden answered, "Rifleman. Third Platoon. Bill Leyden."
"Then we'll ignore you." The guy with the rifle must've had a higher rank than the rest. Either that, or he fancied himself a ringleader. He began introducing the people on his side of the tent, starting with the man picking at his foot, "That's Snafu." Snafu grunted and if it weren't for the fact that he was shirtless, Ipo would've wondered if he was pretending to be a man, too. The ringleader gestured to the man who kept chuckling at them, "That man's De L'eau. And I'm Corporal Burgin. Find yourself a bunk." Corporal. He was the boss.
As soon as Eugene turned and dropped his rucksack on a bed, Snafu threw his helmet onto the bouncing surface, "Taken." He threw his sandal on the other one, his face becoming cocky, "Taken."
De L'eau threw his cards down with a smile and stood up, "Come on, I'll show you around. Find you another tent."
Ipo was the last to follow her friends out, Snafu calling out, "Hey little man! What's your name?" She didn't even pause. She pretended like she didn't hear him and left. Keep her mouth shut. That was the plan.
Ipo didn't really listen to De L'eau as he spoke. She was too occupied with taking it all in. Men were boxing each other, playing card games, betting money. It was almost just like boot camp except that no one was as fresh-faced and wide-eyed. De L'eau pointed to a tent for them to take and Eugene once again asked for H Company. At least he kind of got an answer that time. "You coming to see Sid with me?" Eugene asked as they made their way to the first tent they sat eyes on.
"ʻAe. The man's legendary." Ipo grinned. They followed Oswalt and Leyden in to find that there was only enough room for three bunks.
"Looks like we'll have to be separated." Leyden said.
"Who's going?" Oswalt asked.
"Not me." Eugene answered, throwing his stuff onto the cot next to the door, "This is mine."
"Let's draw straws." Oswalt suggested.
"We don't have any straws." Ipo informed.
"Rock, paper, scissors." Leyden suggested. They all held out their fists and started. Eugene won immediately, choosing rock when everyone else went with scissors. Then, Oswalt won because, apparently, Ipo and Leyden were both thinking 'paper'. It was just down to them and Ipo was determined to stay with Eugene because that was the plan. Destiny was against her, however, as Leyden stuck with paper and Ipo chose rock. Maybe she was predictable. Leyden grinned, throwing his bag onto his newly acquired bed, "Sucks to be you, Ipo."
"Where the hell am I supposed to go?" She couldn't help the sneer that came across her face.
"We can look for a place after we find Sid. Come on." Eugene patted her shoulder and lead the way out of the tent.
"Bye, Ipo!" Leyden and Oswalt sang jokingly just to rub it in her face a little bit more.
"Fuck you!" She called back. She was answered with barking laughter.
"Don't worry about it." Eugene told her, walking in the direction that De L'eau had gestured, "You'll be fine."
Ipo took off her helmet and shoved it in her rucksack, "I know. I'm just annoyed, is all. If I start yelling in my sleep, there won't be anyone there to wake me up."
"I'm sure half of these people yell in their sleep." Eugene replied, looking this way and that, turning backwards and sideways. Ipo heard the loud footsteps before Eugene was tackled to the ground. Ipo jumped back and watched, not knowing if there was any danger.
"Something's wrong," Said the tackling man with a Southern accent, "Something's very wrong if you made it through boot camp." It was Sid. Ipo couldn't help but grin. It dropped when two men walked up and she stood at attention.
"Give me a break, you ol' greaser, come on!" Eugene struggled to say.
"Get up off my deck." Captain Haldane ordered. Eugene and Sid then joined with reality again. The Captain gave them a hard time, Sid stuttering his answers.
Captain Haldane turned to Eugene, "Who are you?"
"Private Eugene Sledge, sir."
"And you?" Haldan asked Ipo. She couldn't not answer the Captain, "Private Ipo Kaheikekonikoni, but everyone calls me Ipo, sir."
He stared at her for a second before turning back to the boys, "You fellas know each other or is this some type of conflict resolution?"
"Old friends, sir." Eugene answered, "From Mobile, Alabama, sir."
"Mobile?"
"Yes, sir." Eugene was sweating bullets. He probably thought he'd be in trouble.
"Old friends? That explains it. As you were. But, try not to dislocate a shoulder or break an arm. We need both of you men healthy."
"Yes, sir." The old friends said in unison.
"Carry on."
Captain Haldane was about to walk away when Ipo stopped him, "Captain Haldane, sir?"
He paused mid-step before turning back, "Yes, private?"
She suddenly felt like the biggest idiot, "There's no more bunks left. It seems that I'm out of a tent, sir."
"No more bunks? That can't be right. What company you in?"
"K Company. 60 Mortar, Second Squad, sir."
He rose his eyebrows, "60 Mortar? Alright, walk with me. Let's see if we can find you a place." He was nice so far. He could still throw her out in the dirt if he chose to, however. Ipo just looked back at Eugene and nodded her goodbye. She didn't get to meet Sid. As they walked along, Haldane asked, "Where are you from, Ipo?"
"Hawaiʻi, sir."
"Oh. I'm sorry."
Ipo didn't know how to answer, "Me too, sir." It wasn't her home island that had the bombs dropped on it.
He lead her down a familiar path and, to her dread, into a familiar tent, "K Company, Second squad?" Snafu and Burgin were the only ones left in the tent. They snapped up and stood at attention, answering with 'yes, sir's. "You have any free bunks for Private Ipo, here?" Thank God that Ipo already knew the answer to that.
"Yes, sir." Burgin surprised her, "Both of these bunks are free, sir."
Haldane turned to her, "Well there you have it. A place to rest your head."
She didn't want to say it, but she had to, "Thank you, sir."
Immediately, Burgin and Snafu's eyes burned holes into her head. Or, she was being extremely paranoid.
"You're welcome." He turned to Snafu and Burgin, "Take it easy on the new guy."
"Yes, sir." They chorused. Haldane said his goodbyes and left her alone with them.
Burgin let out a scoff, "Welcome back."
"Had to go tell daddy on us, huh?" Snafu sat back down in his chair. Ipo sat down her stuff on the bed that Eugene was going to take and left the tent to go find her friend again. She briefly heard Snafu ask, "What's his fucking problem?" Before she was out of earshot.
It started raining and men started getting undressed around her. She ferociously tried to ignore it. This didn't happen at bootcamp. Before it even stopped raining she found some familiar faces making their way somewhere, "Leyden, Oswalt." She stated when she had jogged up to their side.
"Hey, Ipo, long time no see!" Leyden grinned as it ceased raining, men's balls still dripping with soap that they didn't get to rinse off.
Oswalt looked at Leyden, jutting a thumb in Ipo's direction, "Isn't he missing something? He looks different."
Leyden tapped his chin, "Hm. Yeah, now that you mention it, didn't he used to have a six-foot-tall tumor with red hair named 'Eugene Sledge'?"
"Yeah, that's it!" Oswalt declared.
Ipo snorted, "Fuck you. We got separated. You'll never guess who I got bunked with."
"Oh, please, do tell." Snafu came up beside her, making her jump, "Really, I'm all ears." She didn't know what accent he had, but it was stranger than her's.
"Hey, Snafu." Leyden said in a deflated greeting.
He nodded at them, "Marines. Gotta run. See you at the tent, roommate." Snafu clapped his hand down on Ipo's shoulder hard before walking in a different direction.
"You're right." Oswalt shook his head, "I would have never guess it."
"Thought they were all full up?" Leyden asked as they turned into the little cafeteria area.
Ipo immediately felt relief when her eyes fell on Eugene, who was sitting across from Sid. "They're liars." Ipo stated before plopping down next to her friend, "Hey, Shark Bait, there's a free bunk in the tent I'm in." When Ipo had first called him that, he asked what it was supposed to mean. She had no problem telling him that his skin was so white that sharks would confuse him for an exotic fish.
Eugene shook his head, "You ain't tired of me, yet?"
"It's not for me, it's for you. You'd go crazy without me telling you how much of a lōlō you are all the time."
"What does that even mean?" Leyden asked as him and Oswalt sat at the table.
"If you knew, it'd be no fun." Ipo grinned.
Eugene pointed to her, "Sid, this is Ipo, my new best friend, since you decided to leave me. This is Oswalt and Leyden. They're not my friends."
"Fuck you." Leyden said, laughing anyway.
Sid pointed at her, his eyes not lingering in silent wonder like everyone else's, "This is who you replaced me with? It's a downgrade, if you ask me."
"Good thing no one did." Ipo knew he was joking. They all laughed. She was speaking freely with Sid because he was rotating home and his friend was Eugene, which meant that he must have some goodness in him. Oswalt, Leyden, and Ipo went and got some food on the insistence of Sid. He said that it was good to eat while they had food. "You're surrounded by an ocean." Ipo said, "Plenty of fish."
"No fishing poles." Sid said.
"You have hands." She answered.
"You can catch a fish with your hands?" Eugene didn't believe her.
"There's not a lot to do on an island." Ipo ate her slop as Leyden and Oswalt teased Eugene about his baby food. Sid launched into some war advice. Never trade your pistol. She flinched a little when he spoke about taking down Japs. It wasn't because she was against the thought of killing them. It was just a reaction to the word in general. It reminded her of her dream and her dream reminded her of things that she never spoke of. Eugene didn't even know. He just knew that she was from Hawaiʻi and that she had nightmares.
"Working party!" The Sergeant barked as he stopped by the table, Ipo's new best friend right behind him, "Three of you boots go with Snafu. Hurry up!"
"You heard the Sergeant." He looked amused as Eugene, Oswalt, and Leyden scrambled to get up, "Now." He nodded at Oswalt, "No, not you." His eyes slid to the still-seated Ipo, "I want little man here." Oswalt hesitantly sat down as Ipo stood up, waiting for Eugene to finish packing his baby food. Snafu and Ipo stared at each other, her in defiance and him in amusement. She wasn't going to take any of the shit that he wanted to throw at her. Sid was stealing their food, also amused.
As they were following Snafu, Eugene mumbled to her, "Don't start nothin'." She just grunted.
Leyden heard and chimed in, "I think he should. I have a bet going on with Oswalt to see how long it takes for Ipo to break someone's nose."
Eugene shook his head, "No one's breaking anything." They arrived at an area that was filled with old oil drums and a sign nailed to a tree that read, "No smoking!" Snafu immediately lit up a cigarette and pointed to the drums, "Well? Get to scrubbing." He hopped up on a full barrel of oil and watched them as they began. He commented every now and then, telling them to scrub harder or that they missed a spot. She rolled the sleeves up after a while just past her elbows because of the heat and caught Snafu for a split second staring at her tattoos. When she came home with them, her mother was angry. She thought that Ipo was too young to have them. Ipo diffused the situation by saying that it was traditional and that that was how they ran their household. And, hey, at least she didn't get a tattoo on her chin like Aunty Iolana.
"What's your name again?" Snafu asked her, finally getting on with the inevitable picking, "Earpole?"
Eugene looked at her, irritation on his face before looking at Snafu and answering for her, "His name is Ipo."
"I wasn't talkin' to you, Eugene Sledge." Everything Snafu said was drawn out as if he didn?' care if his words ever finished. He was quiet for a few moments before he said, "How come you look like a girl, Earpole? You sound like one, too. You sure you ain't one?"
Ipo's jaw tensed as she stood up straight and look at Snafu in the eye, ignoring Eugene's quiet voice of warning. She didn't listen to the thought in the back of her head that was demanding her to keep her mouth shut as she spoke, "Your mother is damn sure."
Leyden started laughing, trying to muffle it behind his greasy forearm. Eugene shook his head in disappointment, but smiled anyway. Snafu hopped off of the drum he was sitting on and walked up to her, "The fuck did you just say to me?"
"I said," Ipo had to keep herself from yelling, "That your mother was sure when she was riding my fat cock." She gave all the credit to the men at bootcamp who really let themselves loose. When she was herself, she had never heard a man talk like that before. Get a few men in a group and it's 'dick' this and 'cock' that. Leyden let loose a bark of laughter.
"Ipo!" Eugene said sternly.
Snafu's fist was tensed and he wanted to punch her really badly, that much was certain. "Hey!" Hillbilly had been walking by, "Something going on there?"
Snafu's face relaxed and it gained it's ever-present overly-confident expression, "No, sir."
Ipo scowled, "No, sir."
"Then, get back to work!"
Snafu slowly backed away from Ipo, who only went back to scrubbing the barrel when he had sat back down.
Eugene looked at her, "Control yourself."
"span title="No"ʻAʻole/span." She answered. Eugene knew what that meant, but he acted like he didn't.
Snafu lit up another cigarette and began speaking like there wasn't just a conflict, "You assholes gon' miss cleaning out oil barrels pretty soon. You're gonna be humpin' up some fuckin' hill or across a beach. Japs pouring shit for fire." Ipo flinched again. She wondered what she was going to be like when she actually saw one. Snafu continued, "Pissin' your pants, crying, "Boo-hoo". Wishing you were back here with nothin' asked of you but to scrub oil outta drums."
Leyden was nearly through with Snafu's shit. He threw his brush into his barrel before uprighting it with anger, slamming it onto the ground, "Why don't you grab a brush and give us a hand?"
Snafu's lips formed a half-smile, "Fuck that shit, I scrub drums for no man."
Eugene had gained some courage as he looked at Snafu, "Can we take a break?"
"Do whatever you want, this ain't my detail." The smile was full-fledged now, happy to piss them off, "I was supposed to dump ya'll off and report back to the C.P."
"Then why are you still here?" Ipo asked. She knew she wouldn't have been able to keep her mouth shut.
Snafu smirked at her, "I like to watch the new guys sweat." He had a face that was asking to be punched and Ipo felt like answering, but she didn't. Instead, she walked off. She had to go back eventually and finish the barrels, but she wasn't going to let him win at that moment. She had had problems with people before in bootcamp and what would always end up happening was either a physical fight or she had to come up with a way to terrify them enough to make them stay far away from her.
Eugene ended up following her to the beach. He sat down to look at the crab as she traveled far down onto the beach, stepping the toes of her boots in the water. Ipo looked out over the Pacific and wondered if Inoke or ʻAuliʻi or even Analu had their toes in the same water. She didn't know how long she stood watching the water hit her toes, but eventually she heard her name being called. Eugene had been joined by Sid and she didn't even notice. They went back and scrubbed the rest of the barrels. By the time they finished, it was dark enough for Ipo to feel comfortable about taking off her green jacket and tying it around her waist. All of the men were moving to one end of the island. Ipo, Eugene, and Leyden met up with Sid and Oswalt on the way and were happy to see that they were going to play a movie. Well, that was until she found out that it was a romance movie. Ipo made a noise and turned around. She?d rather scrub oil drums. However, Eugene blocked her path, "Where do you think you're going?" He shoved her forward, forcing her to sit right up front. She couldn't watch this movie with these marines. She hadn't watched a romance movie in a long time, but she knew that she always cried at the end, whether it was stupid or not. She made it through most of the film with minimal comments until:
"emI don't know how to kiss or I would kiss you/em."
A loud snort ripped out of her, making half of the men look at her at shout for her to shut up. Quietly, Eugene asked, "What's so funny?"
Ipo whispered, "She's playing him."
"What?" Leyden leaned forward, "What do you mean?"
Ipo pointed at the screen, "Look at her. Blond hair, blue eyes. She's been kissing boys since the day she turned twelve."
"No way." Eugene stated.
Ipo chuckled, "Girls aren't stupid. She knows he's playing games to get with her and she's letting him."
"How do you know all of this?" Sid asked.
It was like the concept of women having the upper hand was absurd, "... I have a twin sister. She told me all of this stuff."
"I can't believe it." Oswalt said breathlessly, staring at the dirt under his feet.
The couple on screen kissed and men started acting like men. She heard, "What are you waitin' for? Fuck her!" and Snafu's voice faintly floated above the crowd, "You think she's blond down there?" Whistling, laughing, and clapping. Even Ipo couldn't help but smile. The end of the movie couldn't come quick enough in her opinion and she held in the tears as best as she could. Thank God it was dark. They all began shuffling back to their tents. Ipo accompanied Eugene to his tent to get his things and relocate himself to her tent. He could never say no to her.
As the two walked to their sleeping quarters, Eugene asked quietly, "Have you been kissin' boys since you were twelve?"
Ipo snorted, "No. I grew up on an island." When they were close to the tent she grinned at him, "I've been kissing boys since I was nine."
Eugene gaped at her as he followed her into the tent. He hadn't been paying attention to what tent he was entering until he was faced with the awful truth.
"This isn't a party tent, private." Burgin said. He was already laying propped up on his cot.
"There's no more room." Snafu said from his own bed.
Eugene and Ipo looked down at the still empty bunk that was across from her's. Ipo addressed Burgin, ignoring Snafu, "You lied to the Captain, then?"
Burgin's jaw tensed as he stared at Ipo for a moment before saying, "Welcome to the tent, Sledge."
In the middle of the night, as everyone was sleeping, something woke Snafu. At first, he thought it was something in his dream. It was a woman moaning. It was a good ass dream. But, as he opened his eyes, the woman was still moaning. Then, she whimpered. It turned from sexual to fearful very quickly. He turned on his cot and propped himself up on his elbows, eyes training on the source. Ipo was laying on his back, legs twitching and whimpers coming from his parted lips. It wasn't an odd occurrence on the island, but it was odd that this particular marine would have nightmares. This marine hadn't been in war, yet. Suddenly, a jacket flew through the air from the cot next to her and hit Ipo in the face. Eugene Sledge grunted, "Ipo!"
Ipo sat up quickly, eyes wide and breaths heavy. Eugene didn't say anything. He just rolled over and went back to sleep. He was used to it. The nightmares were reoccurring. Ipo's eyes glanced around, dazed until they fell onto Snafu's. He relaxed then, aware of where he was. Ipo grunted and threw himself back on the cot and flip around so that he was laying on his stomach. Within seconds, Snafu could tell that he was back asleep. Ipo didn't make a noise for the rest of the night.
What the fuck?
In the morning they were awoken by reverie. Ipo had the dream again, but she felt more drained than usual. She was silent while getting ready and during breakfast. The new guys had to get up earlier than the rest for extra training.
"You alright?" Eugene asked her. Ipo waved him off. Sledge, Leyden, and Oswalt all glanced at each other awkwardly. Immediately after breakfast they were ordered to the shooting range where they spent a few hours shooting at different targets. It wasn't until Gunny started yelling at one of the privates did she realize what was wrong with her. The head's eyes were open this time. They were open and faded and bulging out of the sockets. The image that flashed before her eyes was so realistic that she faltered back a step and squeezed her eyes shut, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers. Eugene's head jerked towards her, "What's wrong?"
Ipo shook her head, "Nothing."
"Everything alright down there?" Haldane yelled down the line at them.
"Yes, sir." Ipo shouted. She hated that she sounded like a girl.
Haldane nodded, "I think that's enough for today." Everyone was dismissed.
Ipo sat in the tent on her cot. She was alone in there, writing in her little book. She wrote songs. She never wrote more than a couple of lines at a time, thinking that a better line might float through her head sometime later. Eugene came in and sat down on his cot across from her, watching her. After a few minutes, he asked, "It's the dream, right? It's getting to you?" She didn't answer. Eugene sighed, "It might be better if you talk about it." Ipo finally glanced up at him. Maybe he was right. Maybe she should talk about it. Ipo closed her notebook and put it inside her rucksack. She leaned her elbows onto her knees. She absentmindedly rubbed at the tiki tattoo that took up half of her forearm.
They were quiet for a couple more minutes before Ipo spoke, "... I was at Pearl Harbor."
"I figured."
"Don't talk." Ipo fixed her sharp gaze on him for a moment, silencing him. She let out a sharp breath, "My family and I went there because my mother was a Hula dancer and she was supposed to greet the sailors coming in. My brother and my dad went to go look at the shops while I stayed with her. ʻAuliʻi was being watched back on Kauaʻi by Aunty Iolana. My dad and brother had been gone for about an hour, so she told me to go find them..." She paused, staring down at the small crack by Eugene's cot between the bottom of the tent and the floor, "... I barely got one foot off of the beach before I heard the buzzing of the airplane engines. I looked up and got a glimpse of the planes with the big red dots on the wings before there were huge blasts behind me. I fell to the ground and just laid there, covering my head. I felt that I should've went and found my mother. To get her to safety, but... I was terrified. Explosions after explosions were happening all around me. People were screaming and crying. I didn't think it was ever going to stop." Ipo's voice cracked at the end, but she wasn't crying, "It did, though. I stood up and when I looked back at the beach it was littered with body parts. There was only a couple of people still standing. My ears were ringing and... I think I was in shock.
I went back onto the beach, stepping on hands and toes that still twitched. I was looking for my her." Ipo looked up at Eugene, who wore an unreadable face, "I found her head. It was sitting in the exact same spot where she had been standing. Like her body was blown out from underneath her. I picked it up and started walking around with it. I remember thinking that I needed to know the color of her lipstick to find the rest of her because she painted her nails bright red to match. I just started picking up hands and legs. I don't know what I was thinking. I think I was holding three pairs of legs and four arms at one point. Eventually, I guess I thought that I had all of her and I started walking off the beach to go look for my family. I only made it half-way down the street before running into them. My dad took one look at my mother's head sitting on the pile of limbs in my arms and he started screaming. He never stopped. He had to be sent to an insane asylum." The air in the tent had thickened a thousand times as she paused and looked back up at Eugene's face, "Every night I dream that I'm being held down by severed limbs with Japanese birds circling me and my dead mother's head between my legs telling me that I'm going to die." Eugene looked uneasy. He'd know what she was talking about soon enough. After a bit, she asked, "... Do you wish you didn't ask?"
Eugene swallowed, "... A little."
Ipo grinned, "Well, get used to it, span title="friend"hoaaloha/span. You're in the war now."
Eugene cleared his throat and stood, "I'm going to go find Sid before he ships out."
"Aloha." Ipo swung her legs back up onto her cot and dug her book back out to continue writing.
Eugene exited the tent quickly, running smack dab into Snafu. "How long have you been standing there?" Eugene immediately asked. He felt like he had just ran a marathon from listening to that story. The way she could just easily smile afterwards chilled him to the bones.
Snafu just stared at him for a moment before lightly shaking his head, "I just got here." Eugene didn't believe him, but he needed to get away from the tent. He walked around Snafu. Eugene had seen a picture of Ipo before she decided to chop off her hair and fight in the war as a man. She kept the picture tucked away in her notebook. In the picture, she was looked very happy, her eyes bright and her smile was wide and she stood next to her long-time boyfriend, who looked like he fought great white sharks for a living. It was hard to imagine that girl with the long black hair and the hula skirt carrying around body parts.
Snafu walked into the tent, much to Ipo's dismay. He gave her a long glance before sitting down at the end of his cot. She felt him staring at her. She tried to ignore it, but it made her not able to think of anything to write. Ipo looked up at him and he quickly looked away, his chin resting awkwardly on his fist. It was obvious that he wanted her to know that he was staring. She rolled her eyes, "What?"
Snafu looked at her with raised eyebrows, "Me?" Ipo just stared at him. Snafu shrugged, "Nothin'."
Ipo lowered her gaze back to her book and started scribbling something- anything- just to avoid the anger that was slowly bubbling. She ended up starting to sketch a picture of a humuhumunukunukuapuaʻa- which was her little sister's most favorite thing in the world- in the few moments that Snafu was silently looking around the tent while occasionally glancing over at Ipo. Finally, he said, "Heard you in your sleep last night. Any girls in it?"
Ipo didn't care if he thought that she was having a wet dream,"Yeah."
He paused for a moment before saying, "... Between your legs?"
Ipo's eyes shot up to look at him. He heard. It was hard enough for Eugene to know, but now this guy? This fucking no good asshole heard everything. The anger rose at a dangerously fast pace. She had to leave. Ipo tossed her notebook onto her rucksack and stood up, exiting the tent without a second glance towards Snafu. She heard the door swing barely two seconds after she left as he followed her, saying loudly, "Come one, don't be mad! I was joking!" Many of the lingering marines stopped to watch him walk quickly to catch up to Ipo, who was walking incredibly fast despite the shortness of her legs. Snafu's hand gripped her shoulder, "Everyone on this island seen someone blown up. You're not special, so get that fucking chip off your shoulder."
A ringing burst through her ears. Ipo spun around and gripped Snafu's dog tags, yanking him forward. He jerked forward quite easily, not expecting Ipo to react, and her hard forehead was at the perfect height to crack against the bridge of his nose. Blood spurted out of his nostrils and she shoved him away hard, making him fall back onto the dirt. The ringing faded and she heard the hooting and hollering of the marines around them. They were clapping and she heard Oswalt in the distance yell, "You owe me three packs of Lucky Strikes!"
Snafu sat up on his elbows and wiped the blood onto the back of his hand. He grinned up at her, "Fiesty."
"Hey, hey! What's going on over here?" Captain Haldane walked over quickly, not happy.
Snafu stood up, letting the blood leak over his top lip, "Private Earpole is beating the shit out of me, sir." He said in all seriousness.
Haldane let out an amused scoff and turned to Ipo, "Is that right, Ipo?"
"Yes, sir." Ipo didn't hesitate in her answer.
Haldane rose his eyebrows, "I appreciate the honesty and I'm sure Shelton deserved it." Snafu's cocky expression fell. Haldane continued, speaking loudly to address everyone in the vicinity, "However, we do not let this sort of thing slide. We have enough bastards to fight out there, we don't need to do it here. The Marines are a family! And you will act like it!" He turned back to Snafu and Ipo, "You two will run on the beach until you can't see the sun any more. Get to it."
"Yes, sir." Snafu and Ipo chorused.
Captain Haldane nodded and walked away. Ipo glanced at Snafu, who licked the blood off of his lips, before walking ahead of him to the beach. Snafu took off his shirt as he followed her to wipe the blood off of his face. The marines were clapping, happy for the entertainment. Oswalt was clapping, "Way to go, Ipo!" While Leyden held out his arms to his side, "You couldn't have done this yesterday?"
"Just make another bet, I'm sure it'll happen again." She muttered at them. They went quiet and looked at each other at the realization.
As soon as her foot stepped onto the sand, she started jogging down to the other end. Until the sun went down. That was in a couple of hours. It felt very good to hurt Snafu and she wanted to do it again. However, she'd probably feel good hurting anybody. Absolutely anyone. She'd been like that her whole life. Angry and violent. It had gotten worse after what happened and Ipo hoped that by the time the war was over, she'd feel much better. Her anger would dissolve into nothing and she'd be who she was before. Someone with who had happiness in them, as well. Snafu jogged up next to her and didn't say anything. He just kept annoyingly close to her, his arm brushing against her's every once in a while. Ipo sped up, but he followed. They reached the other end of the beach and Ipo reached down to tap the ground before suddenly sprinting back the way they came from. "You wanna race?" Snafu called from behind her. He sounded way too happy for someone with a broken nose. Why wasn't he mad at her? Ipo could hear his footsteps gaining on her, but she was faster than him. Well, she thought she was until he came up beside her, barely inching past her. He had a wide smile on his face. It pissed her off. She didn't like this guy and he was having the time of his life dancing on her nerves. Ipo stuck out her foot and tripped him. Snafu fell down with a yell and rolled a couple of times as Ipo jumped over his flailing body. She ran on, a smile now on her face. "What the fuck?!" He yelled. He stayed lying in the sand, his chest heaving.
Ipo slowed down to a jog and touched the ground before heading back. Snafu was still lying on his back, hands behind his head. It looked like he was sunbathing. He never seemed like someone to take punishment, nor did he seem like the type to do anything menial. Lazy, no good, conceited asshole. As Ipo jogged by, Snafu suddenly snapped his hand out and gripped her ankle, yanking hard to bring her down. She barely had time to hit the ground before Snafu was on top of her, encasing her in a headlock and squeezing hard, choking her, "You think you can just hit me and I would do nothin'?" Ipo reached back and gripped his hair, yanking hard in one direction while slamming her elbow int his exposed side. Snafu grunted and folded in on that side as a reaction. At the same time, Ipo grabbed the arm that held her neck and used her entire upper body to flip him over her head. His back hit the ground, but he didn't let go. It was getting increasingly harder for her to breathe. Ipo had no choice but to roll over on top of him and when she did that, Snafu immediately encased her legs with his and threw his other arm over hers, which were still pulling at his arm around her neck. He squeezed like a boa constrictor. She couldn't move an inch. He was stronger than her. At bootcamp, no one was stronger than her. Then again, she was sent to the bootcamp meant for wimps (no offense to Eugene). "All I was trying to say," Snafu huffed into her ear, "Is that everyone's been through it. You don't see them moping around, havin' other guys answerin' for them and shit."
Oh. That's what this was about. He thought that Ipo's tense face and silence was because she was being a baby. That was the rule; not to speak. Not to speak and look tougher. She was shit at following it, but she still needed to when she could. Ipo didn't know how to respond. She closed her eyes and relaxed, letting go of the arm around her neck. "Are you playin' dead right now? I ain't a damn bear." As Snafu was saying this, he loosened the arm around her arms to look at her face, probably to see if he really did kill her. As soon as she felt enough leeway, she drove her elbow into his diaphragm hard enough for him to let go of her completely. Ipo jumped up and watched him as he started coughing, trying to find his breath. Very suddenly, he threw up. Mission accomplished.
Ipo watched him clutch his middle and spoke, "I'm not moping around. I just don't want friends." Ipo then turned and continued with what she had been ordered to do. Snafu had crawled over to a palm tree towards the back of the beach and rested against it, hand on his stomach. He watched her run back and forth with a blank face, which was something that seemed out of place on his annoying features. It was unknown how long had passed, but the sun was slowly disappearing over the horizon and she was sweating profusely, but it wasn't dark enough to take off her jacket. She just suffered. But, to wage war was to suffer. There was a noise from the grassy path that led back to the camp. Snafu snapped up to his feet, having caught his breath a while ago, and started running, too, being sure to stay away from Ipo.
"Captain Haldane says you two need to eat before you hit the barracks." Hillbilly barked at them in his usual tone before abruptly leaving.
Ipo followed him, Snafu following her. After five steps he said, "Bullshit."
"What now?" She grumbled to herself behind a clenched jaw.
"Bullshit; you don't want friends. You and Sledge are pretty tight."
Ipo stopped walking on the grassy path and turned to look at him, "Eugene Sledge is an exception. You? No."
He looked down the bridge of his nose at her, "I never fuckin' said I wanted to be."
"Bullshit." She answered before turning and walking away.
"The hell is that supposed to mean?" Snafu followed.
"span title="Suck a dick"He omo ule/span." Ipo responded.
Snafu stopped walking, his eyebrows furrowing as he watched her go, "The fuck is emthat/em supposed to mean?"
Ipo and Snafu avoided each other as they got food and sat down with their respective groups. "You missed it." Leyden was grinning at Eugene, "Look, he still has blood on his forehead." Ipo's hand flew up and wiped at her face with her sleeve. There was definitely blood there.
"I told you not to start anything." Eugene didn't look nor sound even remotely happy.
"I say let him go wild." Oswalt shoveled slop into his mouth, "I bet that Ipo strikes again next week."
"I bet within three days." Leyden chuckled.
"What's wrong with you?" Ipo grumbled at Eugene. Their two friends went silent as they waited for Eugene's answer.
Eugene was quietly picking at his babyfood for a moment before saying, "... Sid shipped out this morning. I didn't get to say goodbye." Eugene's three friends hummed their grievances.
Leyden clapped him on the back, "At least you got to spend some time with him."
"I'm sure you'll see him again soon." Ipo said without looking at him. She felt like if she looked him in the eye they'd share the silent message that it wasn't likely. Eugene was probably going to die.
Over at Snafu's table, he was in a discussion with Burgie and De 'Leau about who really won the fight when he was approached by two new Marines, "Hey, Snafu." The one that lead the other greeted.
Snafu looked up at him with raised eyebrows, "May I help you?"
"I was thinking more along the lines of me helping you." When Snafu raised an eyebrow, the new boy continued, "I'm here to offer advice on the islander."
That cocky smile stretch back over Snafu's lips, "Is that so?"
"Yeah." The Marine's face grew serious, "Stay away from him. He's dangerous. One time I made a little joke and I woke up to him holdin' a knife to my throat." Snafu's eyes slid over to Ipo, who was on the opposite side of the room. The two Marines followed his gaze, "For someone who claims to not be a Jap, he sure as hell acts like one."
Snafu's eyes snapped back to the men, "He ain't a fuckin' Jap. He's Hawaiian. What do you know about Japs, anyway? The only ones you've ever seen were in the funnies." The mens' faces fell. Snafu continued, "Get the fuck out of here. Don't ever think you can even look at me again."
It was time for them to sleep. Ipo was the first to enter the tent, followed closely by Eugene. Sitting on her bed was a book. She picked it up and read the title. It was by Edgar Allen Poe. "Figured you'd like it." Eugene said as he got ready for bed, "Since you're always writing."
Ipo nodded, "Thanks." Truthfully, she'd never read a single thing by Edgar Allen Poe in her life. The rest of the members came in. Snafu wouldn't even look in Ipo's general direction, to her delight. Pretty soon they were all tucked away. Ipo stayed awake until she was sure that everyone was asleep and took off the bandaging around her breasts. They needed to breathe. She stuffed the bandages under her rucksack on the floor and rolled onto her belly, falling asleep easily. She was awoken briefly a few hours later when Eugene's jacket once again hit her head. Ipo gripped her thin blanket and pulled it over her head, falling back asleep.
Meanwhile, the noises Ipo had been making sunk into Snafu's mind and mixed with the memory of the Hawaiian's soft body lying on top of his to make a very different dream than what he was used to. He snapped awake when Ipo's groans stopped, having finished in his dream. Snafu stared up at the ceiling of the tent, feeling like someone had punched him in the gut again. His pants were wet and sticky and at that moment he had to add another thing to the list of things that made him hate himself.
In the morning, Ipo didn't immediately get up at the call of the reverie. Every time Eugene shook her, she batted at his hand to leave her alone. The other occupants didn't get involved as they exited the tent one by one. As soon as Burgin left, Ipo looked up at Eugene, "Guard the door."
"What? Wh-" He didn't finish the question as she threw her blanket off of her, revealing two free mounds situated on her chest under her white shirt. Eugene snapped his gaze to the screen door in front of him, hissing quietly, "What the hell, Ipo? Why'd you take them off?"
"Imagine having your balls pressed up inside your body all the time."
"I don't want to imagine that." Eugene mumbled.
Ipo stood and pointed to the door, "Guard." Eugene shook his head as he exited the tent and did what he was told. Ipo picked up her bandages, shaking the land crab from it before taking off her shirt. The rest of her tattoo that ran up her bicep was almost solid black, only broken up by the thin twigs that bloomed a few red orchids. They moved up her arm, spreading onto her shoulder blade and collar bone like cracks. Orchids meant unparalleled beauty and red meant the color of lipstick and fingernail polish. The black was for the darkest day of her life, but it didn't spread as far as the orchids did onto her body. Her mother would always outlast the dark days. Ipo wrapped the bandages tightly around her breasts before pulling on the baggy white shirt and green jacket, as well as her boots. She pushed open the screen door, hitting Eugene's back on purpose and causing the man to jump.
They started walking to the cafeteria area, Eugene immediately scolding her, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you want to get caught."
"Good thing you know better, then. Hey," Ipo changed the subject holding open the book that Eugene gave her to point to the name on the inside of the cover, "Who's Leckie?"
"He's in the First Marines. He has all of these books in his tent. Sid used to borrow a lot of books from him." Ipo grunted her understanding.
They got their food and sat down next to Leyden and Oswalt, who were arguing about something stupid as always. Ipo opened up the book and began reading the first poem in the book that was called 'The Raven' while eating. There were a lot of words that she'd never heard of before. And who the fuck was Lenore? And-, "What sound does a Raven make?" Ipo asked the table. She never heard a bird sound like it was saying 'Nevermore' in her entire life.
"Oh, it's a bit of a- a bit of a-" Leyden paused and started making a noise that sounded like a monkey.
"No, no, It's a-" Oswalt made almost exactly the same noise, but louder and raspier. Then, they were arguing about that, cawing at each other. Ipo and Eugene started laughing.
"What's so funny?" Came a familiar accent. They all immediately quieted as they looked up at Snafu. He had a large bruise on his torso that was already starting to fade to yellow at the edges. The bruise on his nose spread upwards and made his eyes swollen. Ipo had to look down at the book in front of her because it reminded her of another set of swollen eyes. It wasn't as if Ipo didn't obtain any bruises from the day before. She had a faint one running across her neck that itched.
"Hey, Snafu." Eugene greeted.
Snafu grunted at him before crouching down next to Ipo, getting uncomfortably close, "You see that guy, Earpole?" He pointed somewhere. Ipo ignored him, which earned her a smack on the back of the head, "Look." Eugene twitched like he was going to do something, but Ipo subtly held up a hand to stop him as she looked to where Snafu was pointed. It was a guy that she had been in bootcamp with. The guy that Gunny yelled out the day previously. He was a bitch named Jameson. Snafu turned to look at Ipo, "He thinks you're a Jap. Really has it out for you."
Leyden snorted, "Who doesn't have it out for Ipo?"
She glared at him, "span title="Thanks a lot"Mahalo nui/span, Leyden."
Snafu got that smile of his on his face, "span title="Just thought you should know"Je me suis dit qu'il fallait que tu le saches/span."
Ipo's head jerked towards him as he stood up and walked away from the table. She looked at Eugene, "What ʻōlelo was that?"
Eugene always used context clues to guess what she meant, "French. He's from Louisiana."
"They speak French in Louisiana?"
"In some parts." He answered.
"At least they don't fuckin' speak Hawaiian." Leyden stated, pointing his spoon at her, "That shit sounds like a bunch of grunts and groans. Like caveman speak."
"Fuck you." Ipo kicked him under the table, only she actually accidentally kicked Oswalt.
"Ever notice how he says 'fuck'?" Leyden continued, enjoying himself, "'Fook'. Ridiculous."
"Alright, that's enough." Eugene said, trying to hide his smile.
Training had become more intense. Ipo had went from being the best to being average. At least she wasn't the worst. Her endurance was great and any time she had to climb something, she was the first to finish. Where she lived on Kauaʻi, she could either travel an hour on a road or climb a cliff for three minutes. Ipo was a very impatient person. However, that great ability to climb had made a few people start calling her 'monkey' behind her back. She had a feeling that she knew who started it. It was invigorating to hear Captain Haldane call out, "Well done, Ipo!" Every now and then. She wasn't the only one getting praise, but still. Snafu didn't even so much as look in her direction for the rest of the day, which was a nice change from the intense gazes he had been giving her since she arrived. She didn't feel like she was under a microscope. The next morning during breakfast, Ipo was still reading the book of poems. She was on 'The Black Cat', which made her jaw hang from its hinges and Eugene chuckle at her. It was that morning when her suspicions of the perpetrator of the gross nickname was confirmed as he passed by the table and muttered the slur quietly under his breath. It was very strange. She had just finished reading the part where the man had been filled with blinding rage and there she was, being filled with the same thing. Her ears began to ring and very quickly, Ipo stood and gripped the back of his grinning head, slamming it down against the wood table as the metal trays clanked. When he bounced back up, she shoved him hard and he fell back, hitting the back of his head on a neighboring bench seat.
He didn't move.
Unlike with Snafu, no one was clapping or whistling. Everyone was so quiet as they stared at the man on the floor, wondering if he was dead. Ipo's heart raced. She killed him. She wasn't even in the fucking war yet and she killed someone. Slowly, people started turning their gaze to Ipo. Someone ran to go get the Captain. She stood there staring at him as Eugene's shaky hand grabbed her shoulder from behind her, "... Ipo?"
Ipo swallowed, her voice shaking as much as his hands, "span title="I didn't"ʻAʻole au/span-"
The man groaned. He groaned and turned his head. Ipo's shoulders immediately relaxed and she no longer felt bad. Captain Haldane came jogging in, observing Ipo standing over yet another man on the ground. He turned to two of the nearest marines, "Take Private Jameson to the medical tent." They helped the dazed man up and escorted him out. Haldane placed his hands on his hips as he stared down at Ipo, "What was it this time?"
Although she did sound nor feel confident, she said, "Just reminding him which side I'm fighting for, sir."
"And which side is that?"
"My own, sir."
Haldane's nostrils flared, "You could've killed him."
Ipo's jaw tensed, "I realize that now, sir."
"'Now?' You better learn to think first and act later." Captain Haldane was angry, "emNow/em," He started getting louder, "We're down a marine because you can't fuckin' think!" It occurred to her that no one in the room had ever seen him as mad as he was then. They all looked surprised, "Starting today, you'll run through the drills twice until I feel like I have a full platoon, do you understand?"
"Yes, sir." Ipo stated.
He turned to the rest of the marines in the cafeteria, "Everyone to the shooting range! Now!"
As everyone walked to the shooting range, Leyden muttered to Oswalt, "I'll take those Lucky Strikes back."
Ipo was told to run through the drills the first time with everyone else, which lasted until lunch. Whereas everyone else was allowed to go, she was forced to stay and start over, starting at the shooting range with Gunny Haney screaming in her ear. If he felt that she wasn't giving her all just like a whole other marine would, she was forced to do it again to his liking. Ipo felt like she was fucking dying. Gunny had forgone dinner, saying that doling out punishments for new guys was nourishment enough. She took one five minute break the whole day to drink water, but she drank it too fast and threw up, which Gunny threated to make her eat because water was a precious resource. Every inch of her was aching, even her eyelids as they were forced to stay open well after the sun had went down. Finally, Gunny said that he was tired and she did good enough. Ipo's feet dragged against the dirt as she walked to her tent. Everyone was already in bed. She opened to door to the tent and stepped inside, immediately laying down on her bunk.
"I got your book." Eugene said. He waited up for her. He tossed the book at her and it landed on her sore stomach, making her grunt, "Snuck you some chow, too."
Ipo peaked open her eye and glanced over at Eugene. He was holding out some babyfood with a spoon sticking out of it. She held out the hand that was hanging over the side of her cot and he sat it into her palm, "Mahalo." She proceeded to eat while laying down, hoping that maybe she'd choke.
"Can't you control yourself?" Ah, there it was. The scolding.
"ʻAʻole." She answered, too tired to speak English.
"He deserved it." Came that voice from the other end of the tent.
"That doesn't mean Ipo can just go around hurting people."
"span title="You hear me"Lohe ʻolua iā aʻu/span?" Ipo asked, setting the food on the floor, "span title="I said"Mea mai au/span, "span title="No"ʻAʻole/span.""
"You're not speaking English, Ipo." Eugene felt the need to remind her.
"None of ya'll should be speakin' shit." Burgin said loudly from his bunk, "Shut the fuck up and go to sleep."
Everyone was silent for a moment before Snafu said, "span title="Good night"Bonne nuit/span, Earpole."
However, she was already asleep./p