See! Now you've done it. Now you have raised my expectations. SIX reviews. Guess you don't want me building character. To be honest, I was never really good with building anything. Taking things apart is easier. And hell of a lot of fun!
The ball has started to roll. I will try to be regular from now on, at least 2 updates a week, I think. That is, barring my original disclaimer of loss of life/limb/sanity. Correct me when I waver from original characterization. Hope to hear from you again. And soon!

Happy reading.

Chapter 64

Sleep was an elusive mistress that night. Between multiple nightmares, BJ's constant mumbling and Frank's loud return to the tent, I barely got any sleep at all. During the night, when I was sure BJ was asleep, I also turned off the still. I knew somewhere deep down that this would only mean a rude awakening for me but it was worth the effort. Maybe BJ swould see it as just a goodwill gesture or a sign of my worry about him and not as an intrusion. And maybe pigs could fly. To Korea. And let us have prime rib.

By and by, I felt being lifted before I heard an explosion that brought me back to my senses.
"YOU TURNED OFF THE STILL?" BJ was lifting me up by my collar. I felt some spit land on my face and tried to clean it with one hand while with the other I held his hand so he would let go off my collar. He did not budge.

"Beej. Let me go!" I calmly told him, feeling blood rising to my head.

He let me go and I fell backwards on the cot. It was dark outside. I could not figure out the time and searched for my watch before I heard the same question/statement again.

"Why?" I asked him, trying to keep my own anger in check.

"Just answer the damned question, Hawk!" BJ was not working to be Miss Congeniality anytime soon so I just acquiesced.

"Yeah. I did."

"Why?" I could hear the anger and frustration and felt sad for him. Why was he doing it to himself?

"If you are still wondering why, maybe I did not turn it off soon enough." I spoke, staring at the still.

"Why can't you keep your nose out of my business?" His tone scorched me as I remembered the letters I forgot to write last night. What would he do to me when he finds out about that? Maybe bury me alive? Guess I could live with that if it meant...And then I smiled as the irony of my thought made itself palpable.

"Listen Hawk! I know you are concerned but its my life and its my problem. Let me be, alright!" He was threatening and pleading all at the same time. I was tired of his drink binges though.

"I know its your life. But its my still. It stays off till I can drink myself." I stated matter of factly before pulling out a note pad and a pen to write the damned letters.

"If that's what you want!" He acidly retorted before going back to his bunk and lying down on it.

"If Cate or Margaret or Brendt or any other female personnel comes looking for me, tell them I am in Radar's office." I did not know why I did that but it made me feel guilty right away. Any other time, I would have seen BJ's smile which I sorely missed these days but since last night, things had gone south, quite literally.

I needed a carbon paper to write the letter and figured I would get three copies instead of two. This was too important, way too important for me to mess up.

Radar came through and I made him swear over his Teddy bear that he would not spill his guts before handing him the four envelopes, two for my father and two for Peg Hunnicut.

"Radar, if he finds out, he will kill me." I informed Radar a little grimly, hoping my tone would quell any urge on his part to spill the beans.

"Gee Hawkeye! Stop kidding, alright. It makes me scared when you say things like that." Then he looked at me and realized how serious I was.

"You are not kidding, are you?" I shook my head.

"Oh Hawkeye. Now I am really scared. Why do you get into such tiffs?" He angrily asked me which made me smile.

"I try not to, mom."

"Hawk-e-y-e. Quit horsin' around, willya?" He was exasperated.

"Just don't tell him, alright!" I pleaded.

"I won't tell him. He was a boxer in college, ya know." I did not know that and now, I was as worried about my physical well being as Radar was.

"How do you know?" I asked with almost-palpable trepidation. I was proud of my cowardice and if it didn't mean wearing a uniform, I woulda worn a medal of cowardice just to make the point. I was surprised when Potter tried to pin a Purple Heart on me. Now that would have been wrong!

"Service records." He grinned before sizing me up. "You are no match. He is taller and heavier than you are."

"Thanks, coach." I sarcastically responded, rubbing a hand over my forehead and then my jaw.

"You know you should eat, Hawkeye."

"If I start eating, what will you do, Tiny Tim?" I scrunched his cheeks before heading towards the door to the post-op."

"Sometimes really, Hawkeye!" He grumbled as I entered the post-op.

There was nobody in the post-op. I looked at the clock again. It was 7am. I cursed underbreath before heading out for Swamp again.

Its too early for this shit!

Frank was humming loudly, shaving and BJ was not there. I remembered his RnR today and contemplated if I should have given him the list of things I needed. Maybe I could decide when he came back from wherever he had gone, I figured, lying down on my cot again, hoping to catch a few winks before sun was really up.

Whether it was sheer exhaustion or if luck was on my side for a change, I dozed off. The downside was, I missed BJ's departure. I was running low on quite a few basic amenities. Maybe I could get an RnR myself, even if for a day. Yawning loudly, stretching my arms before feeling the ever-present ache in my shoulder and grimacing and groaning, I finally got off the cot. I still needed some sleep but decided to give it a try again when I was bushed. Last night's sojourn with the kinks, peaks and troughs in the piece of crap we so affectionately called mattress had given me a slight backache. Maybe I was getting too old, too fast.

Trying not to dwell on such cheery thoughts this early in the day, I decided to hit the showers. Water was freezing cold after about three minutes. I hated it when it meant cutting back on the really good part of Habanera where I could really hit the notes singing my absolute favorite part but it was either that or a cold. Abandoning on the Bohemian Child called love for warmth's sake, I turned off the water before my giblets turned into cold cuts.

Shivering violently, I tried to bring back some warmth to my hypothermic body. Once I knew that my knees would stop knocking against each other long enough for me to take two steps, I left the showers, vowing in my mind to hit the showers early or else, not at all. Grime trumped hypothermia anyday!

The day could not possibly get any longer. After trying to read three books and discarding them one after the other, trying to sleep again and a pitiful visit to the mess tent in search of the impossible dream: food, I had hardly killed a little over a couple of hours. Leaving the camp was out of question especially after my adventure earlier this week, the reminders of which came back to me everytime I turned on my left side trying to sleep.

I decided to experiment on myself by trying out the food again.

There was no limit to my masochism!

P.S. When I wrote the opening para before the chapter, part of me told me not to get overtly excited. That part was right. If I thought the excitement was premature, now I can easily say it was stillborn! One review. And most of you haven't even read it even. New chapter will be up soon as I get some liquid courage in my veins!