Chapter 4: Morning Dew
"VALERO!" The drill sergeant yelled.
"SIR!" Valero responded.
The drill sergeant walked fast and steadily to him, turned to face him in the row of the barracks. The sergeant was a giant African American with a goatee and a dead serious face on him that said that he was going to have one do what he says no matter what. He looked into the face of Valero, who was just a few inches shorter than the sergeant. Most of the men were, they were surprised to see who was training them, and a giant man who looks like he should be in combat rather than training Green Beret cadets. They were also looking at Valero, 18 at the time. The requisites were to be 20 to 30, how did an 18 year old get into the Green Beret cadet program?
"Valero! Aren't you 18 cadet?!" The sergeant asked.
"Sir, yes sir!" Valero answered.
"Outstanding cadet! I heard you scored high on the ASVAB in High School! Is that true cadet?!" The sergeant asked.
"Sir, yes sir! A score of 100 sir!" Valero answered with confidence.
"DON'T YOU SMILE AT THAT CUPCAKE! SCORES DON'T MEAN SHIT ON THE FIELD! AND YOU'RE GOING TO LEARN THAT HERE LITLLE EINSTIEN! GOT THAT?!" The sergeant yelled out with an angry gaze,
"Yes sir!" Valero responded.
"What makes you think that just because you passed the tests and could shoot straight like any other cadet means you can be a Beret?!" The sergeant kept berating him for a good 5 minutes before ending with "NOW DROP AND GIVE ME 30!"
"YES SIR!" Valero said as he dropped and got to the pushups.
"A GREEN BERET IS A MAN WHO USES UNCONVENTIONAL TACTICS TO GET THE JOB DONE! THAT MEANS USING WHAT YOU GOT AND GETTING THE JOB DONE! IF YOU CAN'T THINK OUT THE BOX, QUIT AND MAKE ROOM FOR THOSE WHO CAN! IS THAT CLEAR?!" The Sergeant asked.
"CLEAR AND CUT, SIR!" The men said in unison.
The morning sun was shining in his face. He woke up to the sound of the birds outside of his window. Joaquin sat up from the bed, he felt like his back was straighter than ever. Riding a bike for long periods on the road can be strenuous on the spine. He felt rejuvenated and ready to get back on the road. Then he remembered that the motorcycle had a problem and needed to fix it if he was going to do so. He remembers the dream he had about the training in Fort Brag in North Carolina. The longest of days he had, and saw it as a cause that made him one of the best, in his mind at least. He decided to go into his bag, digging around, he found a picture of him and his squad mates in full gear in the base of Okinawa. 5 of his squad members and him formed 4th Squad of the 18th regiment of the United States Special Forces. From left to right were Henderson, Blakes, Valero, Kowalski, Jinkens, Daspen, and Ramirez. All good men he fought along side with. On the back, his written motto,
'Silver wings upon our chests. We are men, America's best. 100 men tested that day, but only we, made the Green Berets.'
He then found another picture of him and his friend Blakes, side by side sitting on different couches watching the football game. Thumbs were up with their uniforms on. The back said "Ready any time, Go Eagles!" He remembers the Eagles winning against the Bangles 29 to 12, not bad but could've been better he thought that day. He looked at the pictures with bit of a sad look on him. Joaquin had seen better days lately; he loved being a soldier before his last mission, especially with being a Green Beret, Special Forces. He felt like the elite warrior, the ultimate killing machine, the true peacekeeper and maker of the civilized world. That was done for him now and the only thing he wanted now was to find peace and reason. Hana came to the room to wake up Joaquin. "Good morning Valero san." She said.
"Good morning Hana san." He responded.
"Oh your up already, did you sleep well?" She asked him. She was wearing pink pajamas and slippers. Joaquin could smell food being cooked. He decided to take a chance. "Wow, smells good, you usually start early with breakfast?" He asked Hana.
"Well you know, since I have a guest here I saved from the rain I figure it would be nice and plus to say thank you for keeping me company. It gets kinda lonely out here at times. Usually I'm fine but it can get the best of people sometimes." She explained nicely. Joaquin knew what she meant. Days on the road can be lonely. Hana then changed the subject, "oh you should be up, and the food will be ready soon." Joaquin decided to get up and put on his clothes from yesterday. He had others but those were out and about so he just grabbed them. He walked out of the room and sat down at the table to eat. She gave him a plate. She sat down to eat too. She realized that Joaquin used the hashi as the other people in Japan did, not common on first timers. "Huh, where did you learn to use hashi?" She asked.
"I was stationed in Okinawa for a little while, I just picked up on it." He answered with confidence.
"Hey, a quick adapter I see. I guess being in the military taught you many things." She said.
"Yes it did many things. Logistics, history, science, hand to hand combat, weapons, languages, pretty much like a university except with a lot of yelling and following orders, that and teaching you how to fight and survive." He said, leaving out another part of what he was taught in training. Hana realized that he was hesitant to say something else with that. She decided to pursue it. "Anything else they taught you?" She asked. Joaquin looked at her with a serious look.
"How to kill." He said with a lowered tone. He didn't want to answer that. He felt it would be too much for a stranger who invited him into her house. Hana looked on how he didn't want to answer it. She understood it must have been a tough thing to do in combat, and to see comrades die combat. After breakfast, Hana took the plates to the kitchen. Joaquin stepped outside to get some fresh air. He still smelled the nature around him along with the crop of vegetables in the air. He walked over to the shed to get his bike. The bike was soaked; he feared that water got into the motor, so he took it out to assess the damage. He went back inside to the house, on the way; he noticed something in the fields. A figure that looked like an animal, he decided to take a look. He got closer and the figure became clearer, it looked like a big dog, but there was something different about it. The dog looked more along the lines of a wolf. The wolf caught a quick glimpse at him and quickly took off to the fields. Joaquin thought it was a wolf, but then rationalized that it was probably a stray. He went back inside. He saw Hana getting done with the dishes, he decided to ask for the tools. She said he could use them to try and fix the bike. As he left for the shed, he asked the question. "Hana, do you usually get dogs around here?"
"What? No not usually, Why do you ask?" Hana responded.
"Well, I saw what looked like a dog out there in the fields and it looked to me almost like a wolf." Joaquin said.
Hana was distressed at this while at the same time happy that Ame was around. Joaquin then interrupted "I guess it was my imagination. I'll go see my bike." Hana was relieved that Joaquin thought otherwise. She looked outside to scan the area to see Ame, no luck however. Joaquin took about two hours with his bike; he realized that the fuselage was disconnected, so he fixed it. He got back on the bike to check to see if it would work. He turned the key and the ignition started. The bike was fixed.
"Yes! Just needed a little loving." He said.
Hana heard the bike start and went out to see the success. Joaquin was smiling at the work he solved. Hana was happy to hear the bike was fixed.
"Well, sounds like its ready to go." Hana said with a joyful look on her.
"Yea looks that way. I'll go get my stuff. Thank you once again Hana san." He told her. She just smiled and waited for him by the bike. Joaquin got his bag and boots on. Hana realized she was smelling smoke. Where was it coming from? Is there fire somewhere? And why is it close by? Joaquin got out and got on the bike kicked up the stand for it. Hana told him he can drop by any time while he's in Japan. Joaquin thanked her and was about to be off. Before he could go Hana asked the question. "Joaquin, do smell smoke?"
"Huh?" He questioned. Just then, the motor caught a flame and ignited a fire on his jeans. Shocked, Hana pushed Joaquin off the bike and extinguished both of the fires on the bike and him.
"That was just way to close of a call." Hana said with relief. Joaquin couldn't have agreed more. He was pretty upset at the bike now. "Great! What am I going to do now?" He said with disappointment.
"I'll call someone to check it out. Go change your pants, looks like that pairs' done." She said walking back in from a near heart attack.
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