Chapter 39

We were both crying as I read it, and Deb rested her head on my shoulder. I paused for a moment after the second paragraph and saw she was looking down. “It’s OK Deb, you can read it also. You know how we felt about each other.”

I know we were both crying softly when I finished, and I put it into the envelope. “You’re not mad, are you Pete?” she softly asked.

“Actually, no. A little hurt, but I also understand. And thinking on it, I think she’s right. This is hard on me, and I know it was hard on her. But this was probably the best way. And at least I know she really does love me. My whore of an ex did not even send me a letter.”

Deb gasped at that, and I gave her a hug. “Deb, I’m too wrung out tonight. It has been a long flight, and I need to get back to base. Can I come by this weekend, so we can talk about it?”

“Of course Pete, How about Saturday? Come by at around 11, and we can go have lunch. I want to hear about your trip. But know, you are on temporary probation, I do not like hearing another gal called a ‘whore’, no matter what she did to you.”

I chuckled and wiped my eyes. “I will tell you more in a few days, but think on this. In this case, it literally is true. Linda not only does porn, she’s spent at least the last ten months as a prostitute. If not longer.”

She sighed, and gave me a big hug. “OK, you get going, I will see you in a few days. And thank you for not being mad at me.”

“Why would I be mad? You were being a friend for her, and this is not your fault. I am not mad at Jacki either, honest. I will see you in a few days.” She stood up and walked me to the door, then softly kissed my cheek before I left.

I drove back to my base, and after turning in my leave papers went to the barracks. A shower to wash off the last day and a half of travel off, and soon I was climbing into bed.

Frannie gave me a hug when I got there for PT, and several people shook my hand. And I was thankful I kept in shape, it was a long punishing run that morning. After I got to the shop I was told I would be on disk run the rest of the week. “Culver, I know it takes a few days to get back into time here. And by how you did during PT this morning, you did not slack off. Enjoy the break, and next week you are back on roving trouble desk.”

And it was nice, I did the run that afternoon and found myself dozing off halfway through. I went back to my room and wrote a long letter to Jacki, saying I was not mad and loved her. And that she was probably right, I might have tried to put off leaving if I knew I would not see her again. I also asked her to send me her address and unit information. Since she was on a base, it would be easy for us to call each other on occasion, if she wanted to. I promised her a longer letter in a few days, where I would tell her all about my vacation.

I went downstairs and dropped it in the box for outgoing mail, and spent the rest of the evening putting everything away. On Saturday I drove to Kadena, and was walking with Deb to the chow hall. I will give the Air Force one thing, they serve a lot better food than we get! Our chow hall is like a low cost buffet, theirs is more like a buffet at a nice casino.

We sat in the far corner with nobody else around, and I told her all I had learned about Linda. That indeed she had been a prostitute, and for all I knew still was. I told her about the two times I met her, and a lot of the nasty things I said to her. She held my hand, and listened.

“Well, I can’t say I entirely approve Pete. But at the same time, I think she deserved that. And to think she thought you did not know! That makes her shit in my eyes, it was like she was hoping to trap you. And I bet she already planned to get pregnant and married as soon as possible, to keep her claws in you. No, you did the right thing sending her away, I just hope she stays gone. You do not deserve that.”

“Well, no argument there. Even her sister thinks she was trying to get me back, not realizing I knew far more about what she had been up to than she thought. I even had a horrible thought then. If I had never known all I did, I might have actually taken her back. Then imagine we get married, I bring her here, and some of the guys see her. I would be the laughing stock of the island. The guy that married the girl that did porn flicks that anybody can get for $5.”

“You think she might have done that?”

“Deb, I honestly don’t know, but I suspect she would have. I thought I knew her, we were together for so long. But she changed so much, I now wonder if it was all a front.”

“Well, you suspect she is doing drugs, that can really change a person. From what you said, I bet she changed after she met you, willingly. Then after you were gone, she more then reverted back, she went completely the other way.”

“But at least that is all my past now. And a lot of that is because of Jacki. She really did help me, and I know she only wanted to be with me for me, not because of what I had.”

“Well Pete, you helped her also. To be honest, she was starting to get into the one night stand thing for a bit. Like at least once a month it was a different guy. But with you, she settled right down again and was the happiest I had ever seen her. She knew you liked her for who she was. In fact, she once told me she was amazed that you did not care about the age difference, or her being black.”

“Well, why would I? Linda was two years younger than me, why would it matter if Jacki was older? She is a fantastic lady, and that is what I noticed first. Yeah, she has a great body. But she is also funny and smart, that matters even more to me. And you know how little race matters to me. Was that sometimes exciting, yes. But it was not why I was with her. I was with her for who she is.”

Deb took my hand and squeezed. “And that is just what she needed. A lover to see her and be with her for who she was, not what she was willing to do to them. Oh, I have already resigned myself to not having a real boyfriend until I get home. I’m just so much like the other girls here, most look past me. Why work for a date, if you can get one of the younger and prettier girls out in town for $25?”

“Deb, don’t ever think that. Trust me, if I was looking I would consider you in an instant. But I think I am going to be single for a while at least. Trust me, having two girlfriends and one on the side was exhausting. And wipe off that smirk, not that way! I mean, when I am with somebody I give them all of my attention. Giving all of that to Holly one day, then Mandy the next. And I am monogamous by nature. My step-mom said I had a harem, and she was kinda right. But I do not want a harem, I just want one person.”

She stood up and I quickly followed, taking out trays as we walked to the scullery. “Well, I will just say you had better call or write Jacki. She really does love you, you know.”

“I already sent her a letter actually. And I have written about four pages worth of a longer more complete one. And yes, I still love her, and will keep in contact with her no matter what. In fact, if when I leave I get orders to Quantico, I might not even resist. That way we would have a little more time together.”

We were outside the chow hall, and she pulled me into a hug. “No, don’t do that Pete. I know it might be tempting, but do not give in. Let her be your past, and you be her past. Be strong enough to let her go, she will love you all the more for that in the end.”

“Oh, I know. And no, I said might. But I know I would not do that, I miss my family and friends too much to let myself be stationed that far away from them.”

“Good! Well, you know my number, and where I live. Don’t you dare be a stranger, but I need to go shower and get ready for work. I have the swing shift today.” We had a last hug and she kissed my cheek before she walked away.

And indeed, I could imagine myself with her if I did not know already we were only friends. She had a fine ass.

I was trying to decide what to do next, and smiled. I drove over to the USO, and called Fred. Thankfully he was in his room, and told me to stay put, he would be there shortly. I got a soda and was looking through a newspaper. When he got there, he gave me a hug and welcomed me back.

“Boy, have we got a lot to talk about!” He then told me all the information about the convention, and how much had been arranged already. Tables, chairs, the arrangement of the meeting spaces, and tournaments were already set. “OK, so what about your end?”

I laughed. “Well, for one we are gonna need some storage space. I stopped at the post office, I must have twenty boxes waiting there for me to pick up. All of them are full of games and books, either for our own use, or as prizes and giveaways at the convention. And I expect a lot more.” I told him about meeting Steve Jackson, and what he had promised to send, in addition to everything we already had.

“OK, got it. Here, let’s go. Somebody you need to meet.” We got in his car, and were soon in front of the main MWR building. He walked in, and soon we were in an office with a middle-aged lady. “Bobbi, this is Pete Culver. He is the one that got the ball rolling on this thing.”

“Oh, it’s you I have to blame for all of this!” she said, but smiled as she shook my hand. “Just so you know, this is already snowballing. I have had requests from all the bases, at least one group or another wanting to get involved. Chess clubs, game clubs, there seem to be at least two or three on each base. Even the USO wants to get involved.”

“How do they know about this?”

She chuckled. “Oh, simple. We had to announce it in the weekly bulletin we send to all the camps. And it went on the schedule for booking at the PX that the weekend was reserved. And Fred, we got preliminary approval for the use of the old library. It’s yours, but it can’t open until after the convention.”

“Oh good! That is one of the things I wanted to bring up. Pete here has, how many boxes?”

“At least twenty.”

“Right, twenty boxes of games and other donations for the tournament and club. And he says a lot more are coming. Can we use that if nothing else to store them? We will need to go through them all, decide what to keep and what to give away, and work out some details for the tournaments. Would that be a problem?”

“Nope, not at all. One sec.” She picked up a phone and talked into it for a minute, then told us we could use the building for now. “But I will likely not get approval until after then for the staff. This will require at least three people, two of them full-time staff. I will assign myself as the Civilian Coordinator for this, so I will have final oversight on the club and facility. Oh, thank you Nancy, just hand it here. OK, that means I have the final say in all major decisions, but that is oversight really. It will be your organization once it is up and running.”

She looked at both of us. “This will be an official MWR program, and I already got approval from DC. This is a pilot program, and might get extended to more bases if it pans out. Pete, Fred says you have professional experience in this.”

“Yes, Ma’am. I have been a professional game designer for over four years, and have part ownership in a game company. That is how I got so much so fast, I simply pulled some strings and found a lot who were willing to donate to us. Oh, and you may want to know I am also the author in a monthly game magazine. My editor has already told me he wants a three to five page article on how I got this going, what was involved, and the aftermath. I will be talking with you about that if I can, and be giving MWR a plug.”

“Excellent! Yes, that would be great. Not for me, but for the organization. Most not in uniform do not even realize the MRW exists. Most still think the only recreation on bases is done by the USO. That would be very good, and I can promise I will spread it around so they can do this at other bases. OK, come along, I need to show you where you can store your things.”

We followed her to a small building about a half-mile away. It was another of the tan stucco buildings that the military had all over the island. And when we went inside, it looked just like I had expected. A closed library. Most of the shelves were gone, but the front counter was still there, as were quite a few tables and chairs.

“OK, this is the building, go ahead and look around. Come over here when you are done.”

Fred and I walked around, it was maybe 1,000 square feet. There were four rooms with the doors removed along the back wall that probably held specialty sections, now empty. The main door had a counter that was probably used for checking out books, and a bookshelf that was permanently attached to the wall behind it. We both tossed around ideas for setup, and then went into the backroom through a doorway behind the counter. About 10 by 20 meters, industrial shelves like a small warehouse. We were both smiling when we went back to the front.

“Bobbi, this is perfect! We can use the back for storage, and set up the rest for games or reading. Can we get more furniture?”

“Sure, I can have a document ready next week. Take that to DRMO, and it will authorize you to take anything you think you would have a use for.”

Note: DRMO stands for the “Defense Reutilization and Marketing Office”, in essence where all surplus items go when they are no longer used by a unit. Other units in the military, government, and select non-profit organizations can then pick through them. Only after that is finished are items bundled up and sold at auction. It can include everything from household furniture, office equipment, forklifts, floor buffers, tents, uniforms and uniform equipment, and anything else the military uses like bedpans, vehicles, and repair parts.

We said we would do that. “Now I will not have any budget for this until next fiscal year, but if you need things you can not find let me know and I will see what I can allocate for this. I have been given provisional approval for two years. Do you have any questions?”

“Ma’am, I have already been told that some of our donations can be sold. TSR is donating a large supply of gamebooks, with a cover price of $5. They told me I am free to sell any left over, and that can be donated to the club. I guess we will need a cash register, and anything else to do with money when we open here. Oh, and I can guarantee some other similar donations at least at first to get us started. But we should consider a small storefront. Some things the PX does not sell, and we could sell here. Like dice, figures, and the like.”

She was making notes, and smiled. “Not a problem. In fact, that would probably help keep this running, as so long as it at least makes part of its expenses back it would be seen as a good investment. And we can only do this because we moved to a new library a few months ago, and have yet to turn this one back over to the Air Force. And odds are it would sit here abandoned for another two or three years before they tore it down.”

She then handed each of us a stack of forms. “OK, this is official paperwork. Fred here is the President of the Kadena MWR Game Association, you are the Vice President. And another sheet is your nomination as the next President when he leaves in October. Then is a form for just Fred, turning over all responsibilities and assets to the MWR. This is just a formality, since you have none. But yes, the donations will be part of it. Finally, a Memorandum of Understanding stating that the the board will follow Robert’s Rules of Order under a Parliamentary process. I as the Civilian Coordinator will be the President of this board, as well as one additional civilian I will appoint. Then there will be another appointment that is a neutral member, not affiliated with either MWR or the Game Association. Then there will be two members assigned from the Association itself in addition to you two. Notice, that gives you a voting block of four to our two with the neutral in place mostly for breaking ties if needed. Decisions will be by a simple majority, and a quorum of at least one of the MWR and Game Association is required for each meeting, as well as the neutral party out of a total of five minimum.”