She brushed some strands of long red hair away from her face as she peered into the mirror. A soft grin befell her ivory face as she caught a glimpse of her husband's reflection. Nearly three years had gone by, since they exchanged their vows of marriage, and the feeling from that day was still fresh. She watched the reflection of her husband, unknown to him, and memories of the past three years, and everything that led to their marriage, flashed through her mind. Her memories quickly vanished when, in the mirror, she saw her husband turn around to catch her watching him. Her smile broadened as she saw the grin form on his lips.
"Hey."
"Michael." She giggled, turning to face him. With a slight bounce, she approached him for a kiss. Then, pulling away a little, she reached one hand up to the side of Mike's face. She giggled again as she wiped away a tiny amount of shaving cream smeared in his sideburn. "Missed some, babe."
Mike touched the same spot on his face. "I did?" He snickered "As much as you find my leftover shaving cream on my face, I should just grow a full beard to avoid the whole mess."
"Nuh-uh. I don't want that cute little smile of yours to be hidden by anything."
Mike chuckled "Ok, no beard."
As they moved into a kiss, they were interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. Trixie turned away from him with a hop and dashed out of the room, with long hair flowing behind her. Mike laughed, watching his wife practically run as though she was expecting a chase. He then stuck his thumbs into his pants pockets and coolly strolled out of the room, following her to the front door.
Trixie opened the front door, holding a bright smile on her face. A uniformed mailman stood there on the porch holding a single envelope in his hand.
"Are you Patricia McEuwan?"
"Used to be. It's Nesmith now."
The mailman nodded. "First class mail for you, ma'am." He handed the envelope to her and then tipped the rim of his hat before stepping off the porch.
"Thank you!" She partly sang, "Have a nice day!" Watching the mailman leave, Trixie closed the door.
Mike peered over Trixie's shoulder, trying to see the envelope in her hand better. "First class? Who's it from?"
"Don't know." She looked the envelope over. "Return just says Vietnam."
"Who on earth do you know all the way in Vietnam?"
She shrugged her shoulders before ripping open the envelope. Elbowing her nosy husband away, she pulled from the envelope a letter, several pages long. Flipping through the pages, to briefly skim through the contents, she searched for the sender's name. She let out a gasp as her eyes landed on a single phrase at the top of the first page. Again, Mike leaned in close, looking over her shoulder, having seen the same phrase.
"Halo mee-nee kley-nee." He read, causing her to laugh over his terrible mispronunciation. "What's so funny?"
"Don't ever go to Germany, Michael."
"What? What did it say?"
"Hallo meine Kleine." She said, pronouncing the unaccented German phrase perfectly. "It's from August. He used to say that to me all the time when he lived here."
"August?" Mike scrunched his face up in disgust. "You mean that jackass Micky used to date?"
"How many people do you know of named August?"
Mike rolled his eyes. "What's he doing in Vietnam?"
"If I had read the letter I could let you know. But for now you stay back and hush." She said while pushing him away from her.
"At least tell me what that meenie kleanie thing means."
"Hello my little one." She said, with a monotone, as she engrossed herself in the letter.
Trixie, with her eyes moving across the page in her hands, sat down on the couch. Mike watched her, waiting for some kind of reaction to the letter. His curiosity grew when she hid all emotions from her face as she continued to read. Suddenly her eyes stopped moving and she let out a small gasp. She looked closer at the page in her hand, focusing to make sure she had not misread anything.
"Something wrong?" Mike asked, sitting next to her with his arm on the back of the couch.
She looked up at him and folded the letter. "We need to see Micky."
...
The doorbell buzzed in one long stream, as Trixie's finger refused to leave the button. The annoyance of the constant buzz was accompanied by a steady pounding of Mike's fist on the door. From inside the apartment, they heard the sounds of Micky muttering curses as he hurried, in a small stumble, over to the door.
"Alright, alright!" Micky tore the door open. "Cool it will, ya? I got neighbors you know."
"Nice to see you too, Micky." Trixie said, giggling. She planted a big kiss on Micky's cheek, ruffled up his hair and sauntered right past him into the apartment, with Mike on her tail.
"Oh, well, won't you guys come in?" Micky finished with a laugh.
"Nice of you to invite us, Mick." Mike paused to look around the room. "So, how's married life treatin' ya?"
Micky laughed. "Well… I wouldn't know. Donnie's not here. But more on that later."
Trixie raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny?"
"I only laughed 'cause I was about to ask you guys the same thing." He motioned with his hand towards the couch, silently offering them a place to sit. "Seems like you guys are still on your honeymoon every time I see you."
"Kinda feels that way sometimes." Mike sat next to Trixie, placing an arm around her shoulders.
"So what brings you two lovebirds over here anyway?" Micky asked, sitting in the chair next to the couch.
"Micky I got something for you." Trixie answered, changing to a slightly more serious tone.
Micky leaned against the back of his chair and held his hands up in front of him. "Mike, I swear, I haven't touched her in years!" He laughed then leaned in closer to them. "Hey listen, if she's knocked up, name the kid after me."
Trixie laughed before opening her purse. "No, Micky. It's not anything like that. But, when I do get pregnant, you will be amongst the first we will tell. Right after our parents of course." She pulled the letter out of her purse and unfolded it. "Micky this came in the mail at our place. Part of it is for you."
"How'd I get a letter sent to your place?" He asked as Trixie handed him part of the letter intended for him. "I mean I know I still get mail once in a while back at the beach house, but this is ridiculous."
"Just read it, Micky."
Micky skimmed through the letter for a moment. He turned the letter over to look for a signature, and then turned it back around to the front again. His eyebrows furrowed as he frowned, looking back up at his two friends.
"This is some kind of joke, isn't it?"
"No, Mick, it's not." Mike insisted.
With a slight sigh, Micky then began reading the letter. As he focused on what was written on the page, a serious expression befell his face. A few times, he glanced up, as though to say something to Mike and Trixie, but then he stopped himself and continued reading. Soon, the serious tone on his face held faint traces of a grin before momentarily turning to a look of almost concern.
After a little bit, Micky sat up and folded his legs together in the chair. His eyes remained on the letter as he read it once more. Once he finished reading the letter a second time, he let the paper lie in his lap. His hand rose up to the side of his head and he rubbed his temple with a sigh. He then turned his attention to his two friends, showing his expression of bewilderment.
"I don't get it." He said. "Why now? Why would August wait all this time to get in touch with me? And to tell me all this stuff? It's almost like he knows what's going on in my life right now and he sent me this letter just to mess with me. Shit!" He tilted his head back with a grunt and gazed up at the ceiling.
"What'd he say, Mick?"
"What? You want me to just read the letter to you, Mike?"
Trixie shrugged her shoulders. "You might as well."
Micky sighed. "Alright, I guess I will." He picked up the paper and then cleared his throat. "Ok it starts out, partly in German, only what he taught me when he was around. He says 'hallo es lustig Junge' That's hello there funny boy." A slight tint of pink appeared on his cheeks. "Something he used to call me." He snickered.
"What else did he call you?" Mike teased.
"Nothing I want to share in front of the lady."
Trixie laughed. "Like I'm real delicate!" She paused. "Go on, Micky. What does he say?"
Lowering his eyes to the paper, Micky cleared his throat. He then paused briefly before reading the letter aloud.
Micky, I know it's been a long time since we've spoken. I owe you a big explanation and apology for my actions during our road trip a few years ago. I'm sure you must really hate me for what I did. I don't blame you at all; I was horrible to you then. You probably have long since moved on to someone who treats you properly. For all I know, you probably ran off, got married to some foxy, tall blonde chick, and have a couple little ones running around by now. Well whatever is going on in your life right now, I hope you are very happy. Also, I really needed to get this stuff off my chest. This all, I'm sure, is coming to you three years too late, but I still need to say it. Hell, I'd send this to you even if it was ten years too late. Because I just need to make things right.
I really rather say what I have to say to you face-to-face, but that'll be pretty hard to do from where I am right now. Pretty hard to apologize in person when I'm stuck here, lying in this makeshift hospital bed, surrounded by other patients in this MASH unit. Shit, Micky, you may not believe this but, I still feel terrible about what I did to you. I should have warned you right from the start that I have the worst track record with relationships. I never have been good at them-always fleeing before things got too serious. I know it- I'm a no good heartbreaker. I really fucked things up with you. I know now that I shouldn't have left you the way I did. If I could go back in time and re-do everything, I would have held onto you. Realized immediately after I dumped you, that you were the best boyfriend I ever had. I've been kicking myself hard for what I did to you ever since. The truth is, the moment I first laid eyes on you, I knew you were going to be someone special- much more important to me than the other guys I was with. But I still did to you the same as I did to the others. I suppose I was just too scared of my own feelings for you. I feared the inevitable at the time. No matter who said it first, I knew those three words were going to come at any moment. You see, Micky, "I love you" was never a phrase I had an easy time saying to anyone. So I got rid of you, my one true love, before either of us could say those words. But you had to say it any way, right before I drove away. Micky, those three words have haunted me this entire time.
I know what I did to you was wrong, and I can never undo what was done. But I truly hope you can forgive me if you haven't already. When I come home, if you don't mind, I hope to see you and catch up. Maybe we can rekindle some sort of friendship. I should have made my apology back in Vegas, but I was far too foolish to do so. I actually wanted to come see you after that, but so much happened to me, preventing me from it.
You see, Micky, shortly after dumping you, I met Donnie. Needless to say, that relationship didn't last long. However, for the first time, it wasn't my doings why we wound up splitting. See, I went to visit my brother, and I had Donnie with me. Franz is pretty smart and didn't buy our story of him being an old friend who surprised me on his way to San Diego. Next thing I know, Franz ran to our parents with the news of me being gay. Donnie and I were forced to split. Then my dad, furious as he was, made me sign up for the military to, as he put it, cure my disgusting disease. The moment I had completed my training, I was shipped off to Vietnam. I've been here for the past couple years, and as soon as my time is up here, I'm hopping on the first plane back to the states and I'm never looking back!
You've been on my mind the entire time I've been here in Vietnam. I think about you and the time we spent together those three years ago- it keeps me going. Despite what I did to you, our time together was, and still is, precious to me. And I must say, from the bottom of my heart, I am truly, deeply sorry for what I did to you. There is no good excuse I can give for any of it, even if I was scared. You have no idea how much I really cared for you. I'm nothing but a low down, filthy rat bastard, and I deserve nothing but all your worst treatment towards me. I won't blame you at all if you want nothing to do with me. Of all the guys I've done wrong, you're the only one I truly regret doing that horrible thing to. I wish I knew what possessed me to be like that with anyone, you especially. With you, I wish I had faced my fear and allowed our relationship to go the way it was gonna go naturally. Our love could have blossomed and we could possibly still be together. We could be happy still. I might not have even wound up here in God Damned Vietnam. I cannot undo the terrible wrong I have done and I doubt we will ever have what we once had again. All I ask from you is your forgiveness.
While I'm lying here in this hospital bed, nursing my battle wounds, I have constant reminders of the wounds I inflicted upon you. In fact, you and your sweet face have been on my mind more than anything else including my own family. When I asked for paper and a pen so I could write home, you were the one I intended on writing to first. You're not only on my mind, you have remained in my heart. Now, Micky, before I run out of paper, I must finish this letter. I hope that when I come home, you will allow me to see you in person, and you won't punch me in my face or something. Please, Micky, no matter what is going on in your life right now, take care of yourself and remain happy. That smile of yours is far too good to hide. And don't forget how special you are. Remember that you will always be in my heart.
August
Micky lowered the letter one last time and let it lie in his lap like before. He looked up at Mike and Trixie to see their reactions to what he had just read. An air of seriousness filled the room and hit all three of them at the same time. After a moment or two of silent reflection, Mike looked up at Micky
"Well, Mick… that certainly was one hell of a letter. What do you make of it?"
"I believe he was sincere." Micky started. "Not sure how to feel about it, though."
"It's pretty heavy stuff." Trixie added. "I never thought August would have been one to go to war. Of course with the draft any one of you guys could have gone at any moment." She sat up and scooted closer toward Micky's chair. "What would you do if he showed up like he said in the letter?"
"If it were me, I'd punch him in the face." Mike said with a disdain tone. "But, of course, the choice is not up to me to make."
"Well I certainly wouldn't be welcoming him with open arms or anything. But I think I would at least talk to him." Micky sighed then rubbed his eyes.
"I think that's the best start for you both, Micky." Trixie said, patting Micky on the knee. "Now… moving off the subject of August… Something's been bothering me ever since we arrived here." She paused, catching Micky's wavering expressions of puzzlement and concern. "What exactly has been going on with you and Donnie?"
Micky groaned. "You just had to ask." He sighed again, leaning back in his chair. He knew then that the next conversation was going to be a long and uncomfortable one.