Chapter 6: Homecoming
The morning came on the first day of the break. Yuki was so happy classes were cancelled today to get the fall break started early, even for October. She got up to get breakfast, decided to go in casual clothes since school was cancelled today. She saw Shino at the table with her boyfriend. Yuki decided to chat with her.
"Morning Shino." Yuki greeted while sitting down.
"Hey, Good morning Yuki. You're up early." Shino remarked.
"You're one to Shino, up with your man right there." Yuki said sarcastically.
"Geez, vengeful much from yesterday?" Both started laughing. Shino was going back to see her folks as well. She picked out a kimono for the festival, it was red with a flower pattern on it while Yuki's was yellow with leaf pattern on it. Yuki felt that leaves was more appropriate for the festival in the fall.
"Yuki, are you going to the festival?" Shino asked.
"Uh, duh, of course. Why else would I have that kimono?" Yuki remarked.
Shino looked at Yuki with a smart smirk. "Yea, why else? Maybe that other reason is in the boy's dorm." Shino said giggling. Yuki felt like she walked right in to that one.
"Oh come on! Not again with that! How many times must I say it's not like that Shino?!" Yuki said loudly. Some students looked at Yuki with awkward looks. Yuki sat back down and calmed down.
"Yuki, you really need to know when I'm joking." Shino said while smiling. Yuki smiled back at and shared a laugh with each other. They both finished their meals and headed back to the dorms together after Shino said good bye to her boyfriend and walked together with Yuki. Shino pulled out a list of things to do while on break.
"Hey Yuki, I made a list of things to do while break. Check it out." Shino showed the list to Yuki. The list consisted of making the best breakfast, hiking the hills with the family, going to the city for a day, see the falling leaves, and go to the festival. Yuki looked the list with strangeness and wondering why she wrote it in the first place.
"So you made a list for the break? What's wrong with going random?" Yuki asked.
"Hey, I like to plan out a perfect break." Shino remarked.
"You wanna go to the city? That's a ways away you know." Yuki remarked.
"Yea but it's fun to go, plus there's a lot of cool stuff to do." Shino said
"Ok then, whatever suits you. I'll see you at the bus later, gotta get my stuff ready." Yuki said as she left to her dorm. She got her clothes and other essentials together and left at the door to be ready to leave. She looked at the picture at herself and her mom.
"I'll see you soon, you won't be alone." Yuki said to the picture.
Joaquin Valero was sleeping still. His dreams consisted of flashbacks to the situation in the Philippines, when Muslim radicals were killing villages of Christian residents, sometimes even Muslim villages that didn't believe in their cause. He remembers arriving in Okinawa with his unit, 4th squad of the 106th. Joaquin Valero and Denis Blakes, white with black hair and a tall height of 5'9 looked around the base and felt like they were given the opportunity to be the best.
"Hey Blakes, looks like we get both a vacation, and a mission." Valero said jokingly. Blakes, Daspen, Henderson, Kowalski and Jinkens were stepping off the plane to the base. Daspen was an African American with the specialty of Logistics and Spanish, Stanley Henderson was white with the specifications of hand to hand and explosives, Alan Kowalski was white with a specialty in weapons, Alfred Jinkins was white, spoke French and specialized in psychology, Blakes was a specialist with sniping and close quarters combat and Valero, Hispanic and Navajo with Japanese and Spanish language mastery and a weapons and hand to hand combat expert. Their leader was captain Raul Ramirez, aged 29, combat vet and stern Hispanic . All men of many qualities.
"Dude, I can't even tell you how stoked I am man, these Japanese chicks here, they love American men." Blakes said grabbing his gear.
"Dude, I said mission as well, so keep it in your pants." Valero said while laughing.
"Hey, no promises Jacky. Ladies can't help it, I can't control it, not my fault." Blakes said jokingly.
"3rd SQUAD! REPORT TO THE BRIEFING ROOM! MOVE!" Ramirez yelled.
"Looks like it's just a mission now." Valero remarked running to the briefing room.
"Damn, brought my board for nothing." Blakes said.
"Jacky san? You awake?" Hana said coming in the room. Joaquin woke up to her voice. He was still worn out and still half asleep. He just shook it off.
"Yea sorry Hana, just woke up." Joaquin said getting up to get a shirt. Hana was still worried about his cough from yesterday, but it looked like he was fine. So she let it pass.
"Are you ok? You look like you were oversleeping, were you having a good dream?" Hana asked while smiling.
"Nah, something else." Joaquin remarked.
"Really? What was it?" Hana asked.
"Just something I remember." Joaquin answered.
"What was it?" Hana asked.
"Geez, you ask a lot of questions." Joaquin said while giggling.
"Well I'm just curious about my guest." Hana remarked.
"That's understandable, just a memory of Okinawa." Joaquin said.
"Oh my, it must have been a good dream then." Hana jokingly said. He got up to eat breakfast, and then got on work clothes to start the day. Hana was surprised on how ready he was. Then she remembered that he was a soldier, its routine engrained in him.
"So what's the work load today?" Joaquin asked.
"Well its actually short today, I harvested most of the vegetables myself earlier this month, so let's finish it up, ok soldier?" Hana said.
"Yes ma'm." Joaquin said eagerly. He grabbed some tools from the shed and headed to the garden with Hana. He saw how wide the garden was. Cabbages, carrots, potatoes, lettuce, and many other vegetables were grown on a big scale. Joaquin was surprised on how much she had to grow and wondered why so much for just herself to sustain.
"Wow Hana, you got a lot to do." Joaquin said.
"'We', have a lot to do." Hana corrected. Both agreed and got to work. Hana focused on the carrots and Joaquin was supposed to focus on the potatoes. The beginning of the job was easy at first, then 3 hours into the day, he felt the strain. He ignored the pain by remembering his training and the songs on his phone. He listened to Aloe Blacc, Jimmi Hendrix, and others. He looked at the forest, it reminded him of the jungles back in the Philippines and Okinawa. Vast, luscious, full of life but one thing missing, Filipino militia aiming to kill him. He was staring and remembering the patrols. Hana came up from behind him and tapped him on the shoulder, he turned quickly with a gasp.
"Jacky san, you ok? I lost you there for a second." Hana said.
"Yea I'm fine, sorry, old habits. Almost done by the way." Joaquin said.
"Oh good, I can see that, great job. Are you sure you're ok?" Hana asked.
"Yea I'm good." Joaquin reassured her. Both worked until the early evening. Both grabbed their harvest and headed back to the house. Joaquin decided to know why is there so much for one.
"Hey Hana, not that it's my business, but why grow all this when it's just you here?" Joaquin asked.
"Well, it's not just me here; there are others here as well. You see, things in the country side can be rough. Long rains, long winters, animals coming in to eat everything and plus harvest can go bad at times. So the food is not just for me, it's for everyone around here." Hana explained. Joaquin then understood, this was a team effort. Joaquin grew up on a small farm in New Mexico with his grandparents, but the difference was that they grew to sustain themselves. He saw this as something not often done in America.
"I get it, like a bartering system." Joaquin thought.
"Not really, more like making sure everyone has enough to last through the time." Hana answered. Joaquin thought of it as a form of socialism, but then he remembered his grandfather saying that people need to take care of each other, because sometime each other are all we got. That's not socialism, that's community.
"Ok now I get it." Joaquin put the harvest in the storage. They went back inside to relax, Hana and Joaquin sat in the living room cooling off from the work. Hana's back was killing her and Joaquin got drinks for both of them.
"So, was the military anything like today." Hana asked.
"Ha! Oh if you only knew." Joaquin laughed and so did Hana.
"Sounds like you got use to gardening pretty well." Hana said.
"Well, I grew up on a farm in New Mexico, so I have experience." Joaquin said. He explained the difference between today and his life in the States. Hana saw it as survival of his family.
"Your parents were farmers?" Hana asked.
"No, my grandparents were. They were Navajo tribesmen who farmed sheep and some vegetables. My mom was from Mexico and my father was Navajo. They met and had me." Joaquin explained.
"Interesting, but how did you end up with your grandparents?" Hana asked.
"Well, after I was born, the INS found out my mother was illegal and was deported back to Mexico. I never saw her again. My father died in Somalia in 1993 after the attack on the market. I guess the reason I became a soldier was because I wanted to be like dad. My grandparents took really good care of me. We didn't have much but I was still happy. When I turned 18, I joined." Joaquin got done talking. Hana felt sad for him, growing up with no parents but relieved that he had someone to count on. They got done with their drinks and decided to get changed. Hana got the bath ready for Joaquin and he went in. Hana was getting dinner ready when she felt hands wrap around her eyes and hearing a familiar voice.
"Guess who!" Yuki yelled.
"Yuki! You're home?" Hana asked with excitement. They hugged with joy.
"Yep, the break started early, the students went home and I came as soon as I can." Yuki explained.
"Well, you're here so that's good. I'm so happy to see you! How's school?" Hana asked.
"Well it's a lot of reading and writing but overall, a hell hole." Yuki said while laughing. Hana laughed with joy to see that Yuki had a sense of humor.
"Ok, well I'll have dinner ready, get out of that uniform and get comfortable." Hana requested.
"With pleasure." Yuki remarked. Yuki went into the room to get clothes. She saw a bag with clothes in it. She realized they were male, she thought Ame has been back and bought some things back with him. She was happy about this. She saw steam coming from the bathroom and thought that her mother got a bath ready. She stripped down and got a towel. Joaquin was singing Voodoo Child lowly and was getting out. He was looking for the towel. He heard the door slide open and saw Yuki with nothing on but a towel she was holding. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Joaquin replied with occupied. She closed the door, turned, took a deep breath and screamed bloody murder. Hana heard the scream and headed to it. She saw Yuki running towards her with the towel.
"Yuki! What happened?!" Hana asked.
"THERES A PERVERT IN THE BATHROOM!" Yuki yelled.
"What?! Who?!" Hana asked.
"THE MAN IN THE BATHROOM!" Yuki yelled. Then Hana knew who Yuki was talking about. Joaquin walked out with pajamas to try and calm Yuki down.
"Excuse me maybe I can explain." Joaquin said. Yuki went behind Hana in fear.
"THAT'S HIM! THAT'S HIM!" Yuki yelled.
"What? Oh don't worry he's harmless. He's our guest for a time." Hana explained.
"Huh?" Yuki questioned.
"Joaquin Valero, sorry about the scare." Joaquin said to Yuki.
"He was a soldier and his bike is damaged so he's going to stay here for a little while." Hana said. Yuki was not happy to hear this and would be an awkward introduction.