PEN PALS – CHAPTER 7

Disclaimer- Radar, Hawkeye, Klinger and the rest of the M*A*S*H characters are not my creations. Nancy and the folks and animals that inhabit her little world in Savannah,Georgia are my own.


"Better late than never," Radar thought. The package Nancy sent him came a week after Christmas. The scarf and gloves that she had made for him were a nice surprise. He wore them proudly, even though a lot of people teased him about it. They said he looked like a walking Christmas tree wearing the bright red and gloves with his olive drab uniform.

When he read the letter Nancy had written telling him about the way Nicky Peterson had been treating her, his blood boiled. His face was red when he walked in the mess tent for lunch and sat next to Klinger.

"Radar, what's wrong with you? Your face is as red as your scarf."

Radar was so mad about what happened to Nancy at work with Nicky Peterson pinching her, he couldn't speak. He handed Klinger the letter to read.

When he finished reading the letter, Klinger said, "Wow, I can understand why you're so upset. That Nicky guy sounds like a real low life. Nancy isn't even my pen pal and I wanna go clean that guy's clock! But Radar, there's really nothing you can do to help her."

Radar had finally calmed down enough to speak. "I know that Max. I'm going to write her back and tell her I wish I was there to help her out and maybe suggest she look for another job. I don't know what else to say."

As he left the mess tent, Klinger wished Radar good luck with writing the letter to Nancy.

"Thanks Max"


Nancy was hoping that the first day back to work after the Christmas break would be quiet and uneventful. Her hopes were dashed soon after she arrived at the office. Of course, there were stacks of files to be put back in the filing cabinets. It seemed like no one else that worked at Peterson Insurance ever put back any files they pulled and she wound up putting all of them back where they belonged!

She was glad that Nicky Peterson was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she could work in peace without having to worry about him bothering her. Nancy got busy returning the files to the file cabinet and didn't see Nicky come into the office about an hour later. But she knew he was there when she smelled the cologne he wore. She wished she could crawl in one of the drawers of the file cabinet to hide from him!

The first time he brushed her behind with his hand, she ignored him. The second time he did it, she softly asked him to please stop doing it. The third time he did more than brush his hand, he pinched her hard. She slapped his face with a resounding smack that could be heard all over the office. "Nicky Peterson, leave me alone! Don't you ever touch me again, you snake! "

Nicky stood there stunned and red faced for a few moments. Then he launched a verbal assault on Nancy. "You little witch, how dare you! You flirted with me and encouraged me. Nancy Greene, you're nothing but a little tease!"

She trembled and shook; her eyes on fire. "You're telling a lie Nicky Peterson and you know it! The thought of flirting with you makes me sick to my stomach. I wouldn't flirt with you if you were the last man on the face of the earth!"

By then everyone else in the office was watching them including Mr. Peterson, the owner of the company and Nicky's uncle. "Alright everybody, show's over. Get back to work! Miss Greene, come into my office. I want to talk to you."


Radar was sitting at the desk working on his letter to Nancy when he heard someone walk in the office humming the tune to "O Christmas Tree". If it wasn't so cold and the fact that Nancy had made the scarf, he would have taken the thing off. He was getting tired of everyone telling him he looked like a walking Christmas tree with the scarf and his uniform together. He looked up to see it was Hawkeye standing over his shoulder.

Radar put his hand over the piece of paper he had been writing on. He certainly didn't want Hawkeye to see what he'd written.

Hawkeye chuckled. "Writing to your girl?"

"She's not my girl, she's my pen pal."

"Whatever you call her Radar. It seems like she's pretty important to you. I saw you reading a letter when you were walking to the mess tent for lunch. When you finished it, your face was as red as your scarf. I don't know what was in that letter, but you looked very mad. Are you o.k.?"

"I guess so. Well, not really. A guy in the office where Nancy works has been bothering her and she doesn't know how to handle it. I wish I was there to help her. It's not fair. I'm stuck over here and can't do anything about it." Radar's face was starting to turn red again.

Hawkeye put his hand on the corporal's shoulder. "Easy Radar, your blood pressure will go through the roof if you don't calm down. Yeah, it's not fair that you're over here and can't help her. There's nothing fair about being stuck in this place."

Radar sighed and said, "You're right Hawkeye. By the way, did you need something?"

Hawkeye smiled at him and said, "It can wait, go ahead and write your letter. I'll come back later."

When the surgeon left the office, Radar started writing the letter.

Dear Nancy,

Thank you so much for the scarf and gloves. Anything to help keep me a little warmer during this awful, cold winter over here is much appreciated!

Also, thank you very much for the phone call! It was so good to get to talk to you, even for a few minutes. I'm sorry that we had eavesdroppers on the line. Colonel Blake, Trapper and Hawkeye can act like kids sometimes. I guess it helps keep them sane in this crazy place.

When I read about the trouble that guy at work is causing you, I got really mad and frustrated. Mad, because he was bothering you and frustrated that I can't be there to help you.

Maybe you should think about looking for another job. It's just a suggestion. I wish I could do more for you.

Your friend,

Radar


Nancy walked into her living room a little before noon. She cried so hard on her way home from the office that she could hardly see to put her key in the lock. She sat down in the chair closest to the front door and instantly had furry company. Buster and Clyde jumped in her lap. As usual Brutus came and put his shaggy head on her knee. Romeo and Juliet came and sat at her feet.

"Well guys, I got fired from my job today and I didn't do anything wrong." She got a wet, sloppy kiss from Buster and loud purrs of sympathy from Clyde. She sat there for about an hour before she went upstairs to write a letter to Radar.

Nancy pulled a sheet of paper out of her desk drawer and started to write.

Dear Radar,

Hope you are doing well. My day hasn't gone so well.

Her hands started shaking and she put the pen down. Nancy put her head down on the desk and cried her heart out.

Nancy finally gave Nicky Peterson what he deserved! Unfortunately, she lost her job because of it. She'll have to finish the letter to Radar when she calms down.

I apologize for taking so long to post this chapter. The Christmas holidays were busy!

Thank you so much for reading! I'll try to post the next chapter sooner than I did this one.