Chapter 1

(LETTER 1 -Roberto to Rose)

Buenos Diaz, Auntie Rose,

I told you I would write to you and tell you what is on my mind. I ask that you keep our letters just between us because most of the family would not be thrilled about a thirty nine year old divorced Aunt writing love letters to her nineteen year old nephew.

Do you remember the weekend of my high school graduation and we all went to the beach over on Staten Island? The picture of you standing on the ferry boat with the wind whipping your summer dress almost up to your waist constantly comes to me when I am lying down in my bunk at night. I often think about that wonderful summer when you helped me get over my shyness about girls and showed me which end was up when it came to sexual relations.

I loved those lessons you gave me on eating pussy.

It certainly helped with getting girls eager to pull their drawers down when I suggested it to them at those times that we managed to be alone together. Once I did a few of them, the news about my activities must have been spread in the girl’s bathrooms by word of mouth and I was a busy boy for the remainder of the school year.

I didn’t write on the trip over on the ship because I must confess that I spent a lot of time being seasick in my bunk. We had bad weather and the ship was taking on a lot of water with the bilge pumps running night and day. The diesel fumes from the Tanks in the hold had a lot to do with my sickness but we had to do daily maintenance to keep the tanks in good running order and ready to hit the ground running as soon as we landed. One thing I got to tell you is that I spent a lot of time standing in line to eat three meals a day. I seemed like we transitioned from breakfast to lunch to dinner just going from one line to another almost without pause. I think it was because we had a lot of guys on board and the galley was small by any standard.

I expect you have your divorce finalized by now. I must admit that Uncle Harry is a real prick. I am sorry to tell you I knew about his fooling around with the young girls in the neighborhood. They were all excited about his stupid cop uniform and would give him a blow job just to brag about doing it with a cop on the beat. Fourteen years on the job and never passed the detective exam. Between the underage girls and the boozing on duty will probably end his career sooner rather than later.

I want you to know that I do love you with my whole body and soul.

Sure, I know you don’t like the sweet stuff, but I can’t help expressing my feelings to you face to face or separated by thousands of miles like now.

They are telling us that we will be landing tomorrow, and we will offload the tanks at nighttime under the cover of darkness. I guess that is to keep the numbers down so the enemy doesn’t figure out how many we have and where we have them. Apparently, the airfield is under attack as we speak with thousands of North Vietnamese regulars pushing the Viet Cong in front of them as they advance from the area of the Ho Chi Minh trail. Our unit is supposed to head to the Perfume River up in Quang Tri Province and defend a place called the Citadel. We have a good road to get there along the coast, but the danger is getting outflanked and cut off unable to return to home base if we are ambushed.

I got promoted to Sergeant last month and with the combat pay, I will be able to save some dough for us to maybe plan to make a home when and if I get back to the good old USA. I will be turning twenty in a few months. Remember it was you that told me I was “mature” for my age.

I want you to know it isn’t just about the sex with you and me. You are a schoolteacher, and you are still improving yourself by studying at night. I have hopes and ambitions, but it all depends on luck and getting back home. Let me know how things are going for Trisha in her first semester at City College. I know she is a straight A student, but sometimes these college campus deals get a little odd at times if the new student gets involved with the wrong group. Tell her to keep up with her diving and swimming classes because it will give her a well rounded background for further advancement.

Listen to me talk. I sound like her father. Seriously, she must keep her nose to the grindstone and avoid the student groups that are anti-war because in my opinion they are basically anti-American as well.

It seems strange to me that we all have our weapons with us and loads of ammo. The tanks are all loaded with full inventory of weapons and ammo, and I guess it is necessary because the war has gotten a lot hotter in just this past month.

Getting back to the beach in Staten Island, I remember you wiggling out of your wet swimsuit back into your dry clothes right in front of me. It was the first time I saw your pussy and naked up close and personal.

I knew you were embarrassed and was quick to leave the towel tent before Trish changed hers. If you remember all the details, we kissed a lot on the ferry on the way back with Trish looking out at the skyline in the distance.

That night, you let me sleep in your bed and we made love all night long or at least into the early morning hours. Harry was gone as usual on one of his alleged assignments, but I suspect he was humping those schoolgirls in the back of Mulligan’s pool hall.