Chapter 6

The taxi pulled away leaving Cindy and me standing at the foot of Pier 11. My watch read 0700. I handed Cindy her overnight bag and we both wearily walked through the pier security gate. Neither of us had gotten any sleep last night. Cindy was insatiable in bed and we ended up screwing each other's brains out until there wasn't a dry spot left on any of the sheets. Hopefully we would have a quiet duty day with plenty of opportunities to catch up on some much-needed shuteye.

"Do you know if you have to stand watch today?"

Cindy yawned, "I saw the watch-bill on Monday. I didn't see either of our names on it."

"There is a god," I replied.

We walked onboard and sneaked a quick illegal kiss in the passageway before we went our separate ways to berthing. I threw my overnight bag into my locker and changed into my dungarees. I walked into the head to take a leak and found a couple of my shipmates by the sinks who were rather disgruntled about the continuing lack of hot water. I smiled to myself as I stood freshly shaven at the urinal, feeling rather smug that I remembered to shave at the hotel.

Leaving berthing, I grabbed some chow, double-checked the watch bill to ensure my name wasn't on it, and walked to the shop for morning muster. Chief Mills read the POD and quickly dismissed everyone except for me.

"Meadows, I need to talk to you," he motioned towards the office with his hand.

"Sure Chief," I said as I walked into the tiny office.

Chief closed the door behind him.

"What's up?" I asked.

"There are a couple of things. First, I want to tell you that Jones is out of the Navy."

"What? When the hell did that happen?"

"The psychiatric doctor down at Portsmouth determined that Jones no longer meets the needs of the Navy. They are currently preparing his separation paperwork down in personnel."

"How is that even possible?"

"The Navy doesn't want the liability. It's easier to boot him out with a severance package than it is to risk having another incident."

"That's such bullshit; there never would have been an incident if Brandon hadn't pushed him over the edge, and what kind of severance package? Will he get an honorable discharge?"

"He'll probably get an other than honorable and a chunk of cash to get home."

"With an other than honorable, he's fucked for the rest of his life!"

"Not really, it's not like a Bad Conduct Discharge. He can still work for the government and hold civil service jobs. The reason for his discharge will be completely sealed and should have no bearing on any future employment."

"Yeah, right, we both know that's a crock. How long 'til he's gone?"

"He has two weeks from Monday to be moved out of Navy Housing."

"Christ! That's not a lot of time. Where will they go?"

"Back to Ohio," Chief said.

"You talked to him?"

"Yesterday, he seemed rather happy about it."

"Oh." I felt like I just received a kick in the gut. Jones was my last true friend onboard this god forsaken hell hole. The realization that he was leaving caused a sinking feeling to form in my stomach as I pondered what life aboard the Yellowstone would be like without Jones.

Chief didn't notice that I had tuned him out while he kept on talking, "Next thing, who the hell is Kerri?"

Kerri's name snapped my attention back to the conversation, "What about her?"

"She keeps calling asking for you." Chief handed me a stack of notes. "I got sick and tired of her calling every hour. She said it was an emergency and I needed to have you call her as soon as you got onboard. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, just some crazy chick I know. I'll talk to her."

"Good idea. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm on liberty. See you Monday."

"See ya chief. Thanks."

I looked at the stack of messages in my hand. There had to have been at least twenty messages to call her back.

Crazy bitch, who the hell gave her the shop number? It had to be Bailey!

Suddenly, rage, and anger consumed me.

I'll call you when fucking hell freezes over bitch!

I threw the pile of notes in the trash and walked out of the office. I left a standing order with my shop mates that if a girl name Kerri calls for me, hang up. Don't talk to her; don't take a message, just hang up the phone. Nobody in the shop asked why.

I called Jones' house and finally got to talk to [Terry].

"Hey dude! How are you doing?"

"Better," He said.

"I bet, the Chief told me that you're a short-timer now."

"Yeah, two weeks to process my paperwork, then Edith, and I are out of here."

"I can't believe that. So things are better between you two?"

"We're getting there. Edith and I have had some real good talks and we both realized that the Navy was driving us apart. If we're ever going to get back to the way things were, we have to get out of this place."

"So what did you say to the doctors to convince them to let you out?"

Jones laughed, "That was the easy part! After I calmed down, the psychiatrist that was reviewing my case sat me down, and asked me one question."

"That was it, one question?"

"Yep, he said, Son, do you want to be in the Navy anymore? I told him flat out. No, he started writing some notes on a piece of paper, and the next thing I know I'm over at personnel filling out separation paperwork."

"You're fucking kidding me?"

"Nope, I swear if I had known it was this easy to get out of the Navy I would have freaked out a long time ago."

I fell silent. I didn't know how to respond to Terry's enthusiasm about leaving. I was happy for him but at the same time upset at the prospect of losing my friend.

Did my friendship mean that little to him?

"But listen, what are you doing tomorrow?"

"Just the usual, which is not much," I answered, "Why?"

"Good. How would you like to come over for dinner? Edith and I need to thank you for all that you've done for us."

"I guess that would be cool."

"Great. Plus I could really use your help figuring out how to get moved back to Ohio in less than two weeks."

"Sure. Oh, do you mind if I bring somebody with me?"

"Who do you have in mind?"

"I've started hanging out with Cindy Pace from the Pipe-shop."

"Holy crap! That's awesome man. Definitely, bring her along."

"What time?"

"Hold on," Jones put down the phone and I could hear him talking to Edith in the background, "How's five o'clock?"

"That should be good. I'll check with Cindy, but I don't see a problem."

"Cool. Oh Kevin?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for everything you did for Edith and me."

"It was nothing," I said modestly.

"That's bullshit and you know it. I know you came to see me at the hospital. Edith told me about your conversation in the parking lot. I really appreciate you sticking up for me like you did."

"What are friends for?"

"Well I know who my real friends are. We'll talk more tomorrow, okay?"

"I'm looking forward to it."

That afternoon, I shared lunch with Cindy and asked her about having dinner with Edith and Terry. She didn't have any objections and seemed anxious to meet my friend. We finished our meals and then we both went to our separate breathings to catch up on some much-needed shuteye before evening chow.

The rest of the evening, I hung out in the Pipe-shop with Cindy and watched TV. Before I turned in for the night, I went to the ship-fitter shop to check in and see how many times Kerri called. The guys said she stopped calling around 1700 after they hung up on her for the twentieth time. Happy with my shop mates for a job well done, I rewarded them all with a round of sodas. With nothing else to do, I left and headed for berthing. Even though I had a couple of good naps during the day, I slept like the dead.

The next morning after liberty call for duty section two, I went looking for Cindy. I strolled into the Pipe-shop on top of the world expecting to share another day in paradise. I found her standing by her shop locker.

"Are you ready to get out of here?"

"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me who the hell Kerri is."

Uh-oh. Whom did she talk to?

"She's just a girl I know. Why?"

"That's not the way she sees it."

"You talked to her?"

"Yeah, she called the shop this morning and told me to stop screwing around with her boyfriend."

Bailey ... I'm going to fucking kill him!

"You've got to be kidding me. I'm not her boyfriend. Kerri is one of Bailey's friends and she has a crush on me."

"A crush? I'm not buying that load of crap. Coming from her it sounds like you two are a lot more than friends. She told me that if I don't stop screwing around with her man, that she was going to come to the ship and kick my ass."

"I can explain this," I pleaded.

Cindy cut me off. "You fucked her the day we got back from the cruise. I don't need to hear your explanation. It's obvious that you're just another fucking male pig. You know I really thought you were different. Now I find out your screwing another chick behind my back?"

"Cindy, it's not like that at all. It was a mistake!"

"Damn strait it was a mistake!" She barked, "A mistake that I trusted you!"

"You can't believe that. The night we got back from the cruise, there was a party. Bailey and his girlfriend Jennifer set me up. They got me drunk and Kerri came onto me. One thing led to another and I woke up in Kerri's bed. Now she's going psycho because I won't go out with her. Trust me; I'm not proud of what I did."

Cindy stood before me and studied my face. I waited in silence as she worked things out in her head.

"Well then you better call her and let her know how things are. Blowing her off isn't the right thing to do."

"I know. I'm just pissed off at Bailey and I've been so busy with you that I forgot to talk to Kerri. I'll call her and set her strait."

"Good. You've got all weekend to do it."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I talked to Andrioni this morning. She's driving home this weekend to see her family in West Virginia. She asked if I wanted to go with her and help her drive. I said yes."

"But what about us? I thought we were going to have dinner with Jones tonight and head back down to the beach?"

"We were until you forgot to tell me about Kerri. I'll be back Sunday night."

Cindy closed the door to her locker, locked it and walked out of the shop.

I stood there speechless as she turned the corner and disappeared from view.

Anger consumed me. I stormed down to the pier looking for a phone booth. I was going to put an end to this Kerri situation. I was full of rage and somebody was going to pay for ruining my weekend. I slammed the door open on the first phone booth that I found, deposited a quarter and dialed.

The phone didn't even ring once before Kerri answered, "Hello?"

"Kerri?"

"Hi Kevin, what a surprise to hear from you."

"Don't 'Hi Kevin' me. What do you think you're doing?"

"Whatever do you mean?" She said nonchalantly.

"I'm not going to play your little game so you can stop playing dumb. The phone calls are going to stop right now."

There was a pause on the other end, "What did you expect? You blew me off for a whole week!"

"Kerri, when you call every hour on the hour, that's called harassment. That really didn't make me want to call you back."

"But I missed you and you were ignoring me."

"Well I hate to break this to you but we have nothing to talk about. I blew you off because sleeping with you was a mistake."

"You don't mean that. We were just getting to know each other."

I cut her off, "We were drunk."

"But that night, you made love to me. You were the best I ever had."

"We had sex Kerri. No love was ever involved. We hooked up for one night. That doesn't mean we're going out. That makes us human."

"Yeah, well humans return phone calls. Humans don't go fucking little tramps a day after we were together."

"Stop right there. You don't know anything about Cindy. If you insult her again, all you're going to do is piss me off."

"Piss you off? What about me? You used me! What were you going to do? Never talk to me again?"

"Alright, I should have called sooner, but even if I did, nothing would be different. I don't have any feelings for you."

"Kevin, don't say that. Come see me. I'll pick you up."

"That's not a good idea. I'm not in a very good mood."

"I can put you in a better mood just like the last time we were together. Come visit me."

"No. I'm sorry it has to be like this. Stop calling me."

I slammed the phone on the receiver. Adrenaline still coursed through my veins. I wanted to punch something.

I felt like an ass for ever getting involved with Kerri. One night of drunkenness has come back to haunt me and now Cindy is pissed off at me. A feeling of déjà vu hit me like a ton of bricks as I remembered what one night of drinking did to Jones.

I might need to consider giving up alcohol and I'm not even legal to drink yet!

I spent most of the afternoon moping around the base missing Cindy. I was a little upset that she skipped town without me but I really had no one to blame but myself. I should have told her about Kerri.

Around 1600, I started making my way to Jones' house. It took over an hour to walk the two miles to the Navy housing complex outside the base. The sun was hanging low in the sky when I finally rang the doorbell on Jones' porch. I heard footsteps and the door opened.

Terry stood there holding a sleepy Greg in his arms. He smiled and invited me in.

"Where's Cindy?" He asked.

"Long story, she's not coming tonight."

"Sorry to hear. Can I get you a beer?"

"You got anything harder?"

"That bad?" Terry asked.

"That bad," I replied.

We walked into the kitchen to find Edith putting the finishing touches on dinner.

"Hi Kevin!" Forgoing a hug, she held out her hand for a shake.

I smiled at her gesture and took her hand, "Hi Edith. Something smells wonderful."

"I made cherry crunch cake."

"Mmmm. That's what I smell."

Terry fixed me a jack and coke and handed it to me. He then kissed Edith on the cheek.

"Kevin and I are going to sit in the living room. Let me know if you need anything."

"I'm good. I just have to flip the chicken and finish the salad. Go sit."

We left the kitchen and walked into the living room. Terry gently laid Greg on one of the sofas and then joined me on the other. The TV was on and tuned to some football game that I had no interest in. The volume was up just loud enough to hear the announcers call the game.

I looked over at Terry and saw the bruise on his forehead from when Brandon tackled him on the quarterdeck, "That bump on your head looks like it hurts."

Terry reached up and gingerly touched it, "Yeah. It bled like a stuck pig most of that night. I'll probably have a scar."

"You know you scared the crap out of me."

"Yeah, sorry about that, I was white hot at the time and I wasn't thinking strait."

"At least you had enough sense to not storm the Yellowstone quarterdeck. I was standing watch when Brandon got in your face. I almost had to shoot you," I smiled at Terry and he smiled back.

"I know how terrible of a shot you are. Why do you think I went to the Stout?"

We both chuckled.

"I'm just glad your okay," I said, "It looks like you and Edith are making progress."

"Yeah. It's going to take some time but we're getting better, thanks to you."

"Me? What did I do?"

"The conversation you two had at the hospital helped convince her how much I still loved her. I guess she needed to hear it from someone else before she would believe me. When she got home, she started thinking. If I still loved her and she still loved me, then there had to be something else driving us apart. Then it came to her. Actually, that evening we both came to the same conclusion."

"What was that?"

"That the Navy was destroying our marriage. The next day I told the psychiatrist that I wanted out. I called Edith a few hours later and told her the good news."

"Then what happened?"

"We both cried for about an hour on the phone. It's hard to explain but emotions I never knew existed came out of nowhere. It was the most honest conversation I've ever had with Edith. By the end, it felt like this great weight had lifted. Then she asked me to forgive her."

"Wow, So just like that, you forgave her, and everything is water under the bridge?"

"Sort of, it's going to take some time to heal fully but I'm willing to work on it. Edith is the love of my life. She always has been and always will be. This whole ordeal was a big wakeup call. It made me realize what I have and what I almost lost. We have some relationship work to do, but I think we'll be stronger than ever when we get through this. And like I said, I have you to thank for helping us get back on track."

"It really was nothing."

"It might have been nothing to you, but it meant a lot to me. You stood up for me when you didn't have to. You're a good friend Kevin.

"I guess," I said with a hint of modesty, "I know you'd do the same for me."

"Let's hope I never have to, but if that time ever comes, I've got your back."

We both nodded and a long silence passed between us. We said what we needed to say. Soon Edith walked in and announced that dinner was ready. She grabbed Greg from the sofa and directed us to kitchen table.

During dinner, our conversation stayed casual. Edith asked me questions about Cindy while Terry and I talked about the logistics of moving out of Navy housing in less than a week. The name Bailey never came up the entire time.

After desert, we retired to the family room and watched TV. Terry fixed me another drink and then proceeded to get cozy with Edith on the other sofa. They cuddled with each other and held each other tightly for most of the evening. The only time one of them got up was either to tend to Greg or use to the bathroom.

We popped a movie in the VCR. Before long it was after midnight. I offered to go back to the ship and let them have some privacy, but Edith refused to let Terry drive after the few beers he'd been drinking. Her solution was for me to sleep on the sofa. I didn't want to impose; Edith would hear nothing of it.

Knowing when to pick my battles, I fluffed a pillow and got comfortable on the sofa. Edith and Terry both said goodnight and went upstairs. I must have been more tired than I thought because I was out like a light in a few short minutes.

Sometime during the night, I awoke the sounds of a bed squeaking from the bedroom above. I smiled to myself knowing all too well what that sound meant. I pulled the pillow over my head and tried to go back to sleep.

The rest of the weekend I spent helping Terry prepare for the move back to Ohio. Thankfully, we stayed busy. I hardly had any time to mope about Cindy.

To save money, Terry and Edith had decided to move themselves. Saturday afternoon, we picked up some boxes and packing materials, then started the arduous task of prepping an entire house for travel. I helped where I could, but for the most part, that meant I babysat Greg while Terry and Edith packed. Overall, the mood in the household was positive. A few arguments about packing techniques ensued, but nothing serious. By dinnertime Sunday, we had made good progress. The garage was starting to fill up with boxes and the three of us were exhausted.

That evening, Terry gave me a lift back to the ship around 1900 hours.

"So when are you going to pick up the moving truck?"

"Well, my discharge paperwork will be finished on Friday. I'll have my severance check then. I'll have to cash that before I can get the truck. I'm thinking I'll pick up the truck Saturday afternoon, load on Sunday, and roll out bright and early Monday morning."

"Sounds like a plan. What time do you want me over to help?"

"I can come pick you up. How's 8 o'clock?"

"That will work."

Terry offered his hand for a shake.

"Thanks for all the help."

"Don't thank me yet. You haven't seen my bill for labor!"

He laughed as I stepped out of his car.

"I'll see you Sunday," He said.

"8 AM sharp."

Terry drove off and I made my way onboard the ship. I took a detour through the repair department looking to see if Cindy had made it back from West Virginia yet. Nobody had seen her or Andrioni, so I called it a night and made my way to berthing.

The next morning the crew of the Yellowstone returned to normal duty. Stand down was over, so everyone had to report to work today. I was sleeping peacefully in my rack when people started showing up to change into uniform. One of the Hull Techs that lived in my cube slammed his coffin locker and my eyes instantly snapped open. All it takes is one person to slam a locker and I'm awake.

Fuckin' insensitive fucks! Some people live here!

I was in a grumpy mood from not seeing Cindy last night and today wasn't starting out any better. I whipped back my curtain and gave a certain asshole a dirty look on my way to the head.

At 0730, I fell in line for morning muster. It was weird to see all forty of my shop mates lined up again after the two weeks of stand down. Nobody was happy to be here except for maybe Chief Mills. He loved the Navy too much. Chief welcomed everyone back, read the POD, and then began handing out assignments. The stack of work orders that Chief held in his hand was impressive and we all groaned when he told us how busy we were going to be for the next couple of weeks. Chief had the assignments ordered by ship and handed out work packets to each of the shop team leaders. Usually Jones and I would receive a work packet for our team, but for some reason he skipped right by me. Chief dismissed us and told everybody to, "Turn-to."