Chapter 16

The morning we docked in Singapore, Barb joined us for breakfast.

"Room for one more?" she asks as she puts her plate down and pulls up a chair.

"Hey, Barb." Alex barely looked up but glances at his watch. "Tour leaves in half an hour."

She looked at me in surprise. "What's with him?"

"He wants ta be uh pirate when he grow up." Beth giggles but Alex lets it slide.

We make the early tour which includes the Botanical Gardens which were unbelievable and the BirdPark. We gave up on taking enough photos, and just began emailing them home as we took them. We had lunch in the historic district and wandered around a museum. After a while, it all started to look like Oriental stuff to me but Alex managed to learn more than a little about the cultures and languages. We found the US Naval Base and even get a couple pictures of the port where Granddad was stationed when he was here.

It was a good day. After dinner, the four of us found a quiet spot on the deck and watched the stars and the sea. If you look long enough at them, you could see your future. That's what my Uncle Edward always says. Of course, Capt. Ed isn't always quite sane if he's on dry land.

I look at Barb. She's the grown up version of Trina and most of the girls I dated in high school - which was undoubtedly exactly what I find so appealing about her. She looked like Trina. I hope Trina's life works out as well - basically happy and healthy. But without the five-year break in her sex life.

"What?" Barb asks me.

"Nothing. I just sorta realized that you remind me of one uh my ex-girl friends."

"Trina." Alex says.

"You see it too?" I thought it was just me.

He smirked. "Ain't hard ta see."

"So you never loved me for me?" Barb laments. For a moment, I think she's serious but she leans dramatically on Beth's shoulder. "I'm crushed! Simply crushed."

"Oh you ain't heard it." Beth gives me a sisterly grin. "Peter got more girlfriends than days in uh week. Le'see, there was Missy, Michelle, Trina uh course, Shelly, Cora..."

"Nah, Cora mine," Alex spoke up, "he just did her."

" ... Taylor G and Taylor R, NaNa, Tonya, Kerrie..."

"Enough!" Barb stops her. "He's uh whore. I got it."

"I am not uh whore." I was not in the mood to discuss the merits of my past sexual conquests. "Ya'll act like I did 'em all in the same night."

"You didn't?" Barb teases. "Oh relax. I'm sure if you treated them the way you treated me, they were all very happy."

"If that were true, I'd still be with one of 'em." I groused.

"So why aren't you?" Barb prodded.

"Missy..." I pause. It still bugged me that I gave her a ring and she gave it back. "Wasn't ready to settle down." I finished a bit lamely. She nodded and waited for me to go on. "Michelle was jealous of Trina. Trina..." I glance at Alex just as he looked at me. His expression falls and he mumbles and apology. "Trina was a high school thing. That's all. Actually, she's married an' due with her first kid already." I reach for my glass and find it empty. "Most of the rest just dates, not girlfriends."

"What? No teachers? Nobody's Mom?" I glance a Barb and find her grinning back at me. "I thought I was the latest in a long line of scandals."

No, I thought ruefully, I've kept all my scandals quiet. Instead, I reached across the table and took her hand. "Why you care 'bout my past? I should ask about yours. What kinda scandals you hidin'?"

"I once had this fling with a pair of boys half my age."

"OOooo! Kinky!" Beth giggled.

"I figured if men can do it, why not women?"

"I agree wholly." I kissed her fingertips. "I think we should discuss the matter more specifically, in fact. Why don't we go some place quiet and see what we can do?"

"Oh brother!" Beth groaned. "Does he think he's being subtle when he does that?"

"Naw," Alex chuckled, "he just tryin' ta say somethin' classier than 'let's go do it'."