Chapter 11

It has now been over seven years since the end of the last chapter. Itsuko and I now live in a lovely house on the outskirts of Kin Village, with the bedroom and living room overlooking the ocean.

I had retired from the Corps a year ago, and we both decided to move back here. We are still happily married, and the twins are doing great. They are five years old, and Junior looks just like his mom, and my darling Niko looks just like me. They look more Japanese than American, but I would not want it any other way. They are both learning both English and Japanese, and we will probably move back to the US before they start school.

Martha got married three years ago, and her and Tenko now share ownership of Cheers. When she reached 18, we had ownership transferred to her, knowing that she would appreciate the business and take good care of the place. Itsu and I still share ownership of the Hotel, not wanting to loose all ties with where we started.

Decades is still a huge hit, with people having to be turned away almost every night. In addition to that, we now own Decades clubs in North Hollywood California, Tijuana Mexico, and in Portland, Oregon. We are considering opening one in Raleigh North Carolina. We started the one in Mexico after my transfer to Camp Pendleton. I was a very good instructor, and the secret was pretty well kept that by the time I retired, I was worth around $3,000,000. But the pension is nice. Since no matter what happens to the clubs, I will have money, medical care, and almost free transportation anywhere in the world.

Captain Okino married Gina, the girl he was with the night of the reception. They have a kid, who looks just like any other Japanese girl you would see on the street. I guess that the garter brought him the luck that it is supposed to. They live in San Diego now, where he is in charge of a Recruit Training Company.

Brad and Amy are also married, and stationed in Germany where she is a liaison with the local Air Force. They have no kids as of yet, but he insists that they keep practicing, so that it will be easy when they do decide to have some. Their wedding was great, held in the wine country of Napa Valley California. I was his best man, and Itsu was a bridesmaid. He still gets teased about being a “dependant husband” of an officer. And when he reports in for his monthly reserve drills, gets heckled about what orders she must give him in bed.

Jenny did join the girls at Cheers, and is still there. Oddly enough, she is Tenko’s lover. She still dances in the bar and entertains the men in the hotel, but her heart is only for Tenko. She is now a permanent resident, and will probably live the rest of her life there. But she seems happy with it, so who am I to complain.

Most of the original girls are gone, and they have many Mexican girls also now. The arrangement with Jose has been working very well, and he is my partner in the Decades down there. The Japanese and Filipino girls are a hit down there, as are the Mexican girls at Cheers. And several of the girls rotated to his club after boyfriends moved back to the US. Many of them are married also. Some are even asking to work as waitresses at the Decades we open in North Carolina, so they could do the same thing with Marines and Airmen that move to Camp Lejeune and Pope Air Force Base.