Chapter 1

Ten days later, at morning muster in the duty room, Sean’s immediate supervisor, Staff Sergeant Juan Rodriguez, handed him a letter saying, “What’s this Gibby, got yourself a little piece of sushi?”

“What the hell are you talking about, Sarge?”

“The letter is from some Japanese girl if I read the return address correctly.”

“Huh? Let me see that? Are you sure it’s for me?”

“You are Airman 1^st Class Sean M. Gibson, aren’t you?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Then, she’s writing to you. Why don’t you open it and find out what’s up?” Teasingly, he joked, “If she knew the real you, she’d avoid you like you had AIDS and pretend she never heard of you.”

“Boy, Sarge, you’re a real team builder, aren’t you?”

“What did they tell you in boot camp, airman? Leave your fucking feelings at home.”

“Duly noted... Sir!”

Sean saw Rodriguez smile and say, “Well, let’s see who wrote you, shall we?”

Sean tore the end of the envelope and slid the letter out. When he opened it and read the first paragraph, he turned to his sergeant, who had his face parked almost on his shoulder, and said, “She wants to be a pen pal.”

“Oh yeah,” he replied, “I bet she signed up for that new program the military has for all the branches to solicit people to be a pen pal to a serviceman. Especially during the holidays when guys don’t have a family at home to depend on, they can make a friend to correspond with. Carry on, Airman.”

With that, he turned and went into his office.

Sean sat on the sofa in the dayroom and finished reading Megumi’s letter. He reread it three times. He couldn’t believe it and looked heaven-ward and said quietly, “Is this your doing? If it is, thanks a whole bunch! I really needed this!”

Sean and his dad had talked many times for hours about women and marriage. Sean wanted an Asian woman for a wife. Period. He wasn’t the least bit attracted to a Caucasian, Black or Latina, he was only attracted to petite Asian girls. He’d just told his dad a week before that he was going to take a couple of weeks leave and go to Japan when his tour in Jordan was over in January. Maybe he’d get lucky and meet a nice girl. Now this. Was this a coincidence or what? Also, he used discord to talk to his parents and brothers at home and to send photos.

Jordan’s time difference was seven hours ahead of Baltimore. If he called now, she might be in bed. He decided to stay up and call her at 2am, that would be about 7pm her time, to make the Discord friend request.

Sean’s job was to follow the local nationals around the base and watch them perform their duties to make sure there was no funny business and to insure they did their jobs correctly. All day long he kept rereading her letter and zeroing in on her physical description. Boy, she’s tiny, just like I’d imagined my perfect girl to be. I wonder if this is a typo or something. She’s twenty-one, but she says she’s a sophomore, and that’s after getting a B. S ... Either it’s a mistake, or she’s a real brainiac.

⸟

Megumi was just finishing up her homework in the two-year course Genes to Society, second year, block three in Pulmonary, Renal, Cardiovascular Studies. At 7:15pm, her phone rang out the distinctive chime of someone contacting her on Discord. Looking at the screen it read, Gibbybomber19988.

She answered, “Hello?”

“Hi, is this Megumi?”

“Yes, is this Sean Gibson?”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Oh my! So formal.”

“Sorry, it’s the training. After a while, it’s second nature. I received your letter this morning. I have to tell you that you writing about the fact that you’re petite and Japanese are all coincidences that are way too uncanny to ignore.”

Megumi giggled and asked, ‘How is that?”

“My dad and I were talking about a week ago. He said that he was praying for me to meet a nice, Christian girl who would come into my life and make a difference. He knows that I am only attracted to petite Asian girls, and that I was also going to take a two-week leave, go to Tokyo and see if I could meet a nice little Japanese girl. Now, today, I receive a letter from a petite Japanese girl who wants to be friends and a pen pal. And the cherry on top is that you are from my home state of Maryland! Now, how uncanny is that?”

“Well, the only thing you don’t know is whether or not I’m a Christian. Christianity is not very popular in Japan. Only a very small percentage of the population is Christian.”

“Oh-kay ... are you a Christian?”

“My dad, well ... my stepdad led me to Christ when I was fifteen.”

“Thank you, Jesus!”

Megumi said, “Boy, this is very strange. I was stuffing Christmas boxes for servicemen at the Naval Academy and a marine simply asked me if I’d be a pen pal and he handed me your name and I filled out the form. Now, here we are talking on the phone.”

“Now, for the next question. Can you send me your picture?”

“First, how old are you, Sean?”

“I’m twenty-three. My birthdays in March.”

“Mine is in September. I’m sure I told you I’m twenty-one in my letter, right?”

“Yes, you did.”

“Okay, ready? You send me yours.”

Sean sent her a picture of him in the corner of the gym against a plain wall after he had been cutting in for about a month. He was fairly muscular but didn’t want to look too big, like some of the muscle heads in the gym. Before she sent him any, she qualified it saying, “Sean, I’m going to send you two of me in Tokyo earlier this year. As you’ll see, I am a little chubby. I’m not fat just a little plump. I’m not trying to be aggressive or forward, I just want you to know ahead of time, because the majority of guys don’t like girls who are overweight. If that’s a problem for you, I understand, but we can still be friends. Just please don’t tease me or make any remarks about my weight. I know guys like skinny girls with big boobs.”

“Megumi, it won’t be a problem at all. In fact, like I said, I prefer a short girl. I would bet you’re the prettiest little thing I’ve ever seen. By the way, I’m Amerasian. My mom is Chinese from Beijing, and my dad is English/Irish.”

Megumi said, “Cool! Are you ready? I can’t wait to see what you look like. Okay, ready ... set ... send!”

Both Sean and Megumi watched as the files downloaded. Megumi had the higher speed internet and hers downloaded first. Sean was just opening hers when she exclaimed, “Oh. My. God! You look just like that guy Seth on Twilight! What’s his name? Geez! Sean, you are a real hunk! You look kinda tall; how tall are you?””

Sean replied, “Wow! Thanks for the compliment!” Oh, I’m 5’ - 11½” but I just say six feet. I weight 195, but I’m bulked up, I haven’t finished cutting in yet.” At the same time, he was looking at this little pixie with large, gentle, doe-like almond eyes and she was extremely pretty! Even in her pictures, she looked a little thick, but small and curvy. Sean thought her pictures revealed she wasn’t really fat at all. She looked great and proportional.

Gently, almost reverently, he said softly, “Wow, Megumi, you’re prettier than I ever imagined you to be! You’re beautiful. I truly believe your figure suits you perfectly. I think you’re simply lovely!”

Sean couldn’t see, but Megumi was blushing six shades of pink. “Thank you so much for the compliment. You are the first male to say I was pretty. It feels really nice to be pretty to someone.”

What followed was silence. They both examined and reexamined the photos silently, Megumi spoke first saying, “Well Sean, I’ll be the first to say that I am very happy to have written that letter. I would very much like to get to know you better. Let’s start out as friends and see where we go from there.”

Sean replied, “I feel like Christmas came early. Yes, I want to be friends and I will say from the start, I hope we can be more.”

“Well, I will reveal another piece of information about myself. I have never dated or had a boyfriend, probably because of my weight and the fact that I’m Asian with a wacko mom. I haven’t even held hands with a boy or been kissed. Having said that, I’m glad this is a long-distance relationship to start with because I want to take things slowly. I never thought about it until now, but my mother would have a golden cow if she knew I was even corresponding with a man. She wants me to take my boards before considering dating or marriage. She will not allow any casual dating, only with those serious about a Christian marriage and a lifelong commitment. She’s what you call in Japanese, a Kyōiku [CHOI-kuh] mama, or in English, education mama. That’s the equivalent of a Chinese Tiger Mom. Grades and a select career are the most important thing in life.

“I also need to say up front that if things progress to being very serious, I will not have sex until after marriage. Do we still proceed as friends only or do we see where this leads us?”

“Megumi, I agree, let’s start out slowly as friends and let things develop on their own. Please, just a little advice. Please do not berate yourself about your weight. I understand you may be self-conscious about it, but I happen to think you’re fine. In fact, you’re a curvy, very pretty girl. I will never bring up your weight because to me, there is no weight issue. Okay?”

“Oh, Sean, I’m so happy I could cry right now. You have no idea how much what you just said has touched my heart. I’ve waited since I was twelve to hear those words from a guy.”

“I’m really happy to be the first to say it. Moving on, I’ve learned that when we try and force it, it wasn’t meant to be in the first place. We’ll have plenty of discussions along the way that will set things on the right path. Right now, I am just overjoyed that there is someone back home that is interested in me.”

“I’m probably doing and saying everything wrong, and I didn’t mean to sound forward or aggressive, or jumping the gun or anything. Like I said, Sean. I have never had a one-on-one relationship of any kind with a male. So, I may not get it quite right all the time. I just want to be up front and honest and remove any foreseeable stumbling blocks from the start. In the past, I have been teased and bullied because of my size. You’re the first guy to ever say I was pretty. That’s all.”

“Well, that’s not gonna happen with me. Let’s get to know each other and see what develops. I noticed in your letter you said you are twenty-one and a sophomore at Hopkins. Was that a typo?”

“No, I graduated high school at sixteen. I have an I.Q. of 148. Will that be an issue for you?”

“No, not as long as you don’t call me stupid with my normal 110.”

“Do you speak Chinese, Sean?”

“Pretty much, although I’m a little rusty. I do have the coveted Beijing accent though. You want to hear something funny? I only know my times tables in Chinese. That’s how I learned them. My mom taught all of us, and each of us learned from one to twelve times tables in a week.”

“Wow! That’s amazing!” Megumi replied, “As for me, I seem to have a gift for language. I can speak Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, some Korean and English. I just seem to pick it up fairly easy.”

Sean then asked, “Now, about me. What is your stance on gun ownership? I ask because me and my mom are at very heated odds about it. I own two handguns and like to shoot. What’s your opinion?”

“Hmm, I’ve never really thought about it. My father was in the military, and I grew up around guns and swords. People in America own guns, men in Japan own Katanas. The difference is that a katana cannot be used. It may be owned and displayed, but not taken out in public; that is illegal.

“I would say that people kill people, and guns are just the instrument of that act. If I really thought about it, I guess I would say that owning a gun is okay, but I really don’t see the logic in owning an assault rifle that shoots 30, 50 or 100 rounds without reloading. That weapon is designed only to kill a lot of people in a very short time. Well, do I pass on that question?”

Sean chuckled and said, “I guess you pass. Do you think you might want to learn to shoot?”

“Well, I might try it once, but honestly, it’s not very high on my ‘want to do’ list. Let’s face it. Pistols are a weapon designed against people. You don’t hunt with a pistol. I want to be a doctor and save lives. But I guess I can see both sides and agree somewhat with both.”

“At least you’re honest. We’ll see.”

Megumi asked him, “What about cars? What kind of car do you own? They say you can learn a lot about someone from the car they drive.”

“I have two. I have a 2004 Lexus Es 350, which was the first car I bought. My dream car is my 2014 Corvette Z51-LT1. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve been in love with Corvettes. People rag on me and call it a poor man’s Porsche, but I don’t care, I love the car. My dad has a friend in Utah who is a Corvette freak and belongs to a Corvette owners club. When I went looking, Mr. Lyndon networked with his Corvette friends and found me one in New Mexico. His friend inspected it and said it was a great deal, so I bought it, and had it delivered to me in Texas where my home base is. By the way, my home base is Dyes Air Force Base in Abilene Texas.

“Now, Texas is a country all its own. They are insanely rabid football fans. Football is a religion there. Also, Texas is an open carry state, and there are tons of redneck dudes wearing cowboy boots and hats with a pistol strapped to their sides. Everyone is a Wyatt Earp. It’s off the chain. And you, Megumi, what kind of car do you drive?”

“Let me qualify my answer with this. I don’t know anything about cars. My stepdad bought me a car when I turned sixteen. He said that if I was old enough and smart enough to go to college, I deserved a car, although I wasn’t allowed to have one on campus until my junior year at Maryland. I have a BMW x1 all-wheel drive SUV.”

“Your stepdad has fantastic taste. BMW makes an outstanding vehicle. Expensive to maintain, but a great car. I would love to own a M3 coupe in smoke grey. So, what does my choice in cars tell you about me?”

“I don’t know. I would guess you like speed? How fast does it go?”

“Yeah, I like controlled speed. The book says 212. I’ve had it up to 155, though.”

“A hundred and fifty-five miles per hour! Geez! I could never imagine going that fast in a car! What’s it like?

“A real adrenaline rush, let me tell you.”

“As for me, I admit, my stepdad treats me like a spoiled little princess. No, I admit, I am a spoiled little princess. I don’t pay for car service; he pays for it. When it needs service, I get an email from him that says, “Take it in and do X, Y, or Z.” So, that’s what I do. Like I said, I’m spoiled. I admit it and am grateful for it and try not to abuse his loving kindness to me. He puts money into an account every month for my living expenses and I use a debit card. He pays for my car insurance, school expenses and anything else I need. Praise God, all I do is swipe a card for whatever I need. He’s my stepdad, but I call him dad because he truly loves me like I was his own flesh and blood daughter. I love him like my real dad also. My birth father died from a staph infection. He was a military doctor and that’s how my mom met both of her husbands. They worked together.”