Chapter 56

Flashback – Masha, Gladys and Tanya – During Lunch

We were anticipating a great lunch when I asked, “Have any of you tried edamame?”

Both Gladys and Tanya gave me a confused look and Gladys asked, “What is edamame?”

I replied, “It is soybean pods which have been cooked. They are very good and are usually eaten as an appetizer.”

Gladys attracted the attention of the waiter and asked, “Do you serve edamame?”

He smiled and replied, “Of course. It’s very popular and because of the estrogen soybeans add to your diet we highly recommend it, but only for women.”

Gladys requested, “Please bring us a serving.”

I asked, “Do you have any dipping sauces for them?”

The waiter replied, “Yes we do. Why don’t I bring you a sampling of all of them?”

I agreed, “That would be wonderful.”

He asked, “Are you ready to order?”

We all gave him our orders and he offered, “I will bring the edamame out first so that you can snack on it while you wait for your meals.”

He left and Tanya remarked, “He certainly is a good waiter.”

Flashback – Banzai – The continuing saga

Lieutenant George apologized, “Sgt. Blaine I’m sorry.”

In keeping with my plan, I nipped it in the bud, “Don’t think you’re getting out of this that easily.”

He whined, “Sgt. Blaine don’t be unreasonable.”

I held up my hand and said, “I’m going to get this looked at.” He had popped me in the mouth and it was bleeding.

As I began to leave, he grabbed my arm and I yelled, “Help! Lieutenant George is assaulting me.”

Some of the troops arrived. They looked at us and some of the men said, “We’re fucking tired of him, let’s kill his ass – I can’t believe he attacked Banzai - look his mouth is bleeding.”

I stopped them when I ordered, “Men, don’t retaliate.”

Jack ran into the room took a look at me and said, “Banzai, you let Lieutenant George do that to you?”

I winked at him and replied, “That’s right Lieutenant George hit me for no reason at all.”

Lieutenant George tried to defend himself, “Sgt. Blaine aggravated me.”

Jack laughed and said, “Sir, you should be able to control your feelings better than that. After all you’re an officer.”

I asked, “Jack, help me get to the doctors to have them take care of my mouth.”

Lieutenant George whimpered, “You’re not going to leave me alone with the men, are you? They want to kill me.”

Jack reinforced my order, “Men don’t kill Lieutenant George, he’s not worth it. Now Banzai, let’s get a doctor to look at your mouth.”