Chapter 27

We were woken up while it was still dark and directed out to the baseball field. Looking at my watch, it was 0502.

As I stepped out the door, I saw Lt Wallace standing with Gunny Owens next to the fence. This did not bode well for us, although Cpl Rosario was happy that we were the first squad out there.

Surprisingly, it was Mutellip that facilitated us being the first squad out there. He was ready a minute after I was which caused Norbert to get off his ass. I’m betting he didn’t wasn’t to be singled out without Mutellip there to soften his punishment.

Lt Wallace began his speech as soon as everybody was in formation.

“Platoon, the last field exercise showed me that you Marines are not a team. We’re going to fix that issue. Starting today we’re going to have Platoon PT and run every week.”

He then went on to give us the we’re going to be the best platoon in the battalion “rah rah” speech before he explained how this was going to be accomplished. It seemed to me that he was trying to make himself our enemy to push us together. The next hour was spent doing PT and were already beaten down when we started our run.

Ten miles as the first platoon run was ridiculous in my eyes. It seemed my worry was born out as a third of the guys fell out. When we were all back formed up, Lt Wallace began berating the whole platoon.

“You Marines have not only let me down but you’ve also let down the Battalion and the Marines Corps. Those of you that finished need to hold those who didn’t accountable. The platoon will be getting remedial PT going forward. Everyone will be included in this. You succeed as a Platoon, or you fail as a Platoon.”

Fuck me! This was going to suck. Before leaving, Lt Wallace told us that in a month we’d have another ten-mile run and that there would be hell to pay if anybody fell out of that run.

Sgt Le Pesant and the Corporals descended on everyone who fell out of the run. Those of us who didn’t were grumbling about how this was all a bunch of bullshit. We all got yelled at for about ten minutes before we got released.

Everyone got cleaned up and made their way over to the Mess Hall. My name got yelled out as I made my way back into the parking lot. It was a Private from the motor pool in a van. We picked up a couple of the other Marines on our way.

Once we were all there, we were driven out to Schofield Barracks where we were given instructions as to how the test would go.

The off-road section test covered both tracks. Two drivers went at the same time on opposite tracks and then switched. Being sore from PT, and then driving on a bumpy ass track was horrible. It was pretty hot today which in turn made the inside of the HUMMV a hot box. By the time I was halfway through the first track I was sweating my ass off.

When I finished, Sgt Magsino gave me the breakdown of how I did. The off-road and on-road sections each had a maximum score of fifty for a combined score of one hundred. For this section, I ended up with a score of thirty nine out of fifty. I couldn’t complain about that. The best thing about finishing was getting out of the HUMMV. It was so much cooler in the shade.

When it came time for lunch, we were still there with two guys left to go. That meant we got to go to the Army Airfield Mess Hall again. I got two really good Rueben sandwiches and was stuffed while watching the last two guys go.

Sgt Magsino called us all together.

“So, everybody passed this portion, though some of you just barely. Mount up we’re heading back. Badzinski, get in the driver’s seat and Klor get in the other driver’s seat.”

The drive back to KBay reinforced one thing in my mind. If the ride was horrible in the back, it was even worse driving at speed. The vibration through the steering wheel magnified everything. When we pulled into the Motor Pool, Sgt Magsino congratulated us.

“Well, you guys did good and earned your license.”

I scored forty-four on the road section. That gave me a total of eighty three out of a hundred. Though I was done, I had to wait until everyone else finished. There was a breakroom in the Motor Pool, so taking a seat, I nodded off. It was a loud bang that pulled me out of my nap.

Sgt Magsino was standing there.

“Let’s go.”

“Huh?”

“Days done. If you don’t want to walk back to the barracks get your ass moving.”

I got out of the chair and made my way outside where there was a van waiting. It was a short ride over to the barracks. I changed and then went over to the gym.

With appointments Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week, I didn’t want to start lifting yet. Instead, it was an hour of cardio, treadmill and stationary bike. I used the walk back to cool down.

The rest of the night was just relaxing after a shower and dinner. The chucklehead brigade pretty much left me alone before I racked out.

We got up and spent an hour doing PT as a platoon. After we finished, it was time for a 2K run. Norbert and Mutellip were at the back of the pack, so I hung back to see if I could figure what their problem was. It took me about half the run to have an idea.

Norbert was just being his normal asshole self. Mutellip was a different story as he didn’t seem to be breathing right or at least in a manner that was efficient for running. I thought that might help him out. I’d let Cpl Rosario know about Mutellip so he could do something about it.

We spent the day practicing with the SMAW trainers at the range. Everyone was practicing all the positions. I was Norbert’s assistant gunner for a portion of the training. Cpl Rosario kept on Norbert how he was a slacker and needed to find some motivation. He chuckled, and Cpl Rosario jumped on him. Seemed the Corporal finally had enough. If Norbert didn’t find some motivation, the Corporal was going to find some for him.

We were sweaty and dirty by the time we made it back to the barracks. I had my visit to the Judo barracks, so I got cleaned up and left as quickly as possible as it was about a fifteen-minute drive to the Dojo.

Walking in, it was completely different than I thought it would be. The whole length, and three quarters width of the floor, was wood flooring. The far end wall had a Japanese flag and two banners with Japanese writing on them. On either side of this were shelves with trophies on them.

I was standing around for only a bit before a short older Asian man came up to me.

“May I help you?”

“Yes sir, I called last week about attending classes here.”

“Ah yes. You were the Judoka in Georgia.”

“Yes sir, I was.”

“So, take a seat so you can view the class and then we will talk.”

“Yes sir.”

I took a seat in the area that was not covered with mats. This was a whole lot more structured and stricter than I’d seen before. They went through a warmup set of calisthenics before going through the four techniques of falling for about twenty minutes. It was interesting to watch as Sensei Yasutoki moved around and smacked guys that were messing up.

Once the warmups were done, there was an instruction period. While two lower-level black belts that took separate groups for instruction. When that was finished, they spent about forty-five minutes in a Rondori session. This was when Sensei Yasutoki came over to me.

“So, what do you think?”

“A little stricter than I’m used to but there’s no issue with that.”

“That’s good. So, what is it that you’re looking for?”

“I’m looking for one class a week. I’m stationed at Kanoehe Bay and there may be times where we are in the field for extended amounts of time and I won’t be able to make it.”

He took a minute.

“That’s OK. Classes are twenty-five dollars per class. Payment due at the end of the month.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Do you have a GI?”

“Not one I can get to anytime soon.”

“We have some, just let me know your size.”

I got a new GI and a light blue belt, there was a difference in the belt systems from what I was used to. We talked for a few minutes about what I was looking to get out of the classes before I left.

Sensei Yasutoki had told me about a sushi restaurant called Suntory, off of Waikiki Beach. I made my way down to the Royal Hawaiian Center.

Once I walked in, I noticed the Suntory was a little more upscale that I expected. The host asked what type of dinner I was looking for, and when I told him I wasn’t completely sure, he recommended that I try the Omakase. This was putting myself in the hands of the Sushi Chef. Sounded like a good idea to try something new.

Dinner was great but expensive, guess I wasn’t eating out again for a long time. On the way back I stopped at the house. Sameulu was in the shop.

“Howzit Sammy Boy?”

“Don’t be an idiot Barnim. You’re not a local and will look like a complete idiot talking like that.”

“Got it.”

“You remember we’re going hog hunting this weekend?”

“Uh no, though I’ll be here. What time we are heading out?”

“About five am.”

“I’ll crash at the house Friday night so that’s fine.”

We spoke for a few minutes before I went back to the barracks. It seemed really odd how Norbert’s behavior pattern fluctuated. One minute he was a slacker anti-authority guy and the next he was berating me about where I had been. Hell, he was coming across as bipolar.

Cpl Rosario ran us through PT again and then it was time for another run. I let him know what I thought about Mutellip, he said he’d keep an eye on it. Our day pretty much mirrored the previous day, though this time I made sure that I hit the Mess Hall before I left the base.

It wasn’t that far of a drive over Waimanalo. I pulled up to a quaint little bungalow that had a weird car sitting in the driveway. It was the side windows that stuck out as odd. I’d never seen a Subaru SVX before. The front door opened a second before I got there.

“Good evening Mr. Badzinski. It is good to see that you are early.”

“Good evening to you as well ma’am.”

“Come in and let’s discuss your learning.”

It was then that I finally noticed Oishi Miwako. I had to guess that she was probably in her mid-thirties though she looked at least five years younger. A pair of jeans and a pink polo shirt were her teaching attire. She was probably five feet five and a bit on the heavy side. I was led to a dining table with a bunch of books laid out on one end. The other end had a tea set and plates with little pastries on them.

I was directed to the end of the table with the tea set. There were two kinds of pastries on plates. The first looked like a fish and the other were these white ball shaped things.

“Sit please. When you informed me as to why you wanted to learn Japanese, I was leery. Though I decided to give you the benefit of the doubt.”

Well, this was either going to good or completely horrible. I could only hope for the former.

“So do you know what part of Japan your girlfriend and her family come from?”

“I do, they hail from Michinoo, which is outside of Nagasaki.”

“You said he was moving back to Japan?”

“Yes ma’am. He works for Toyota and is being promoted to the Headquarters in Tokyo.”

“You realize you dating his daughter will be looked down upon.”

“He is aware of the relationship, though I believe is not too happy about it. I’m not aware of all the reasonings as to why. Though I’m trying to reduce as much tension as I can. I don’t want Kiku to have to choose between me or her family. Hence the reason I’m here.”

“I got that feeling, which is why I decided to add some cultural lessons on top of the language lessons. We’re going to start the cultural lessons now. Tea ceremonies are a very important part of traditional Japanese culture.”

She then began to talk me through how things went before explaining what to look for in a tea set. Finally, it was a presentation and tasting of the accompanying tea. This whole thing took about an hour

The tea, Matcha Green Tea was OK, I guess. I’d never really been a tea person. The little snacks were really good though. The little fish ones had a pineapple filling in them and were damn tasty. The others were rice balls with different fillings like sweetened bean paste, a strawberry slice, pureed sweetened chestnuts, and creme caramel. They were called Daifuku Mochi or “Good luck rice cake”.

After helping clear the table, we went straight into the language lessons. We were going strictly for conversation, no writing or reading.

Once we hit over an hour, I looked at Ms. Miwako.

“I thought that we were only going to go for an hour?”

“Well, you need more help than I first thought. We’ll do two hours a week at the same price.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Who am I to stand in the way of young love, though you’ll need to bring your fiancé by if she ever comes to the island.”

“She’ll be here in December, and I can do that.”

We finished the lesson, and I made my way back to base. Along the way, I stopped at a convenience store and picked up some fresh fruit. It was one of the things that I noticed was that you could pick up fresh fruit almost anywhere on the island.

Getting back to the room, there was an argument that I didn’t see coming. When I opened the fridge, it was slap full of Mountain Dew and snacks. All three shelves were stuffed full, that just wasn’t going to fly. Without skipping a beat, I started unloading two of the shelves. This in turn set Norbert off.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“If you can’t figure out what I’m doing, then you’re stupider than I thought.”

“Don’t touch my stuff.”

“You aren’t going to take over the whole fridge. There are three shelves and three people. Can’t your little pea brain figure that one out?”

He stood there for a second and then moved over to try and put everything back that I’d taken out. I turned to put my body in between him and the fridge.

“You get a shelf. If that isn’t enough, then you can put sodas in the door to make room on your shelf.”

“You aren’t the boss of me.”

“No, though I’m the boss of the fridge. This is the way it’s going to work. You try and take it over again, and I won’t be so nice the next time. You want to be a bitch about this, and I’ll give your shelf to Mutellip.”

“That’s not your fridge.”

“I beg to disagree. I paid for it, so thus it’s mine. You don’t like it, go find the shitty fridge that didn’t even work right and find space for it. Otherwise, shut your fucking mouth.”

Norbert looked like he was going to blow his top, and I really didn’t care at this point. The guy was fucking exhausting and grating on my last nerve. Containers of fresh cut pineapple, mango and papaya went onto my shelf along with a couple of water bottles.

I got into the rack with some fruit and the book Ms. Miwako gave me. It was an introduction to the Japanese language.

They added a new twist to our PT this morning. Our morning run ended up at the gym where we spent an hour lifting weights as a squad.

It was basically an hour of Cpl Rosario and I instructing Norbert and Mutellip. They both had no real idea what they were doing. Norbert kept up his bitching and moaning the whole time. We then made our way over to the baseball field to work on their running form.

I could see that Mutellip was putting in the work to get better. Cpl Rosario was giving him ideas on how to improve his breathing. Norbert was fucking around, so Cpl Rosario told us to keep going and that he’d be back in a minute.

This seemed like a test to me, so Mutellip and I kept running. Norbert sat down on the bleachers; the way this morning was going that seemed like it was going to bite him in the ass. When Cpl Rosario returned, Mutellip and I got released and Norbert got yelled at.