Chapter 20

09:00 Saturday, August 31^st, 1991

139 Meadow Ln

Novato, CA 94947

Efrain "Effy" Flores considered things to be looking up. He'd had to disappoint his girlfriend for three weekends now, having to work overtime at the Discount Tire just to make his rent, car payment, and student loan.

Unexpectedly, things had started to get better. He'd gotten a call from the lawyer that had helped the vineyard he'd used to work for apply for fruit-handling licenses. The lawyer said the new owner might be interested in talking to Effy.

Containing his excitement had been hard. He hadn't even told Teddy (short for Theodora), his girlfriend, his very serious girlfriend. But Mister Young gave Effy the number to call, and Effy had called.

Even if Effy couldn't get the same job back, at the same pay, it was better than using his degree in viticulture from Cal State (Fresno) to change tires, mostly with the work-release and ex-cons that Sonoma County seemed to hire the faceless people – blue collar workers – for. Effy was completely sick of scraping by. He was tired of living with people he, and more importantly, his girlfriend, didn't like.

So he'd asked for the day off, and had driven all the way out to Marin, over the mountain ridge, and back to the vineyard.

"Buenos días, Señor Flores. Necesito a alquien que sepa manejarse en un vinado, sabra usted de alguien bueno?" Good Day, Señor Flores. I'm in need of a man who knows his way around a vineyard. You know anyone like that?

Effy felt his face break out in a smile, this man who was so obviously a rancher spoke Spanish with a drawl Effy recognized. "You from Texas?"

The older guy who'd called him nodded, laughter in his eyes. "Yah, my accent, huh? Sounds like Chihuahua, I guess. Sold forty-five thousand acres in Sterling County to my son earlier in the month. Kate'n I bought this place ... pain in the ass, too. They tell me you helped set this place up?"

Effy nodded. "Yeah, I didn't think I'd be back. The last owners were city types, lots of money in semiconductors or something, bought this as a toy, I think." He looked around, walking past the other man to cover his consternation. I wish I remembered to write down his name. Effy walked to the garage area under the kitchen, where the old wagon the silly wife of the last owner had left in the irrigation had been left. There was a pile of bearings on the bench, and a hammer and a home-made puller tool made from prepunch angle iron. Effy approved of the method used, rough and ready and highly effective. "See you replaced the bearings," gesturing at the wagon and the pile of old bearings on the workbench. "You do that yourself?"

He studied the other, taking in the scars and the white hair mixed with the dark, the air of confidence and competence the older man had. Effy surprised himself, then, by asking, "Can I meet the missus?"

The other guy walked over to the door leading to the stair. "Kate? Come on down, hon, there's someone you should meet."

Thinking about why the older guy greeted him in Spanish, Effy had to ask: "All your help in Texas Mexican?"

"Yeah, but all were US citizens, lived on the ranch. Here, I guess we contract out for migrants with a broker?"

Nodding, Effy told him, "Yeah, that's one way, sure. Out here in Marin, though, it'll be harder, most of them are in the Central Valley. But there's the high school kids who could use some cash, and I've got some family that'll help out, and I know some migrant families that'll stay for harvest, if you feed and pay well."

Kate came through the door, and Effy smiled at Dan. "Su esposa es una señora hermosa y encantadora." Your wife is a beautiful and charming lady.

Kate smiled, a gleam in her eye. "Gracias, Señor. Pero vamos a intercambiar cortesias todo el dia?" Thank you, sir. Shall we exchange pleasantries all day?

Surprised, Effy laughed. "Ma'am, I really would like to work on your vineyard again. I'm not doing any work I can't leave," he said, fervently, to the man, Kate's husband. "Uh, can we discuss that?"

"She's the boss, Flores," the guy grinned, and nodded towards his wife.

Effy felt the other's eyes on his back as he climbed the stairs after Kate.

09:40 Saturday, August 31^st, 1991

Parade Ground, Hearst Gymnasium

University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720

"Detail, ench-hunh!" Lynne DiPetro snapped to attention, with the others. "Fuh-whad... Mharch!" The last syllable was expulsed from the diaphragm, hard and sharp. There was a definite count, almost like singing, to the words. Again, together with the others, she stepped off, left foot leading, right arm swinging, in step. And three steps later, the command came, as the left foot reached the ground, "Detail! Halt!"

The speaker was in the driver's seat, the position one third of the way up from the rear of the small double column, on the left. Another Midshipman Fourth, the boy took to the command voice the Gunny had taught them like a duck to water. Lynne's command voice was much higher pitched, but even she had been impressed with the sound of her voice once the Marine had shown her – with a soft punch under her ribs – where to express the air from.

And where had Candidate Collins found this guy to coach them in drill? A Master Gunnery Sergeant in the freaking Marines, for chrissake! She could not believe her eyes when she'd arrived at the parade ground outside the Hearst Gym, and Candidate Collins was standing there, in an enlisted uniform, with stripes, next to the Master Gunnery Sergeant. Lynne hadn't even known what a Master Gunny was before this morning.

When Lynne asked Candidate Collins why she was wearing an enlisted uniform, the older woman had given her a funny smile. Because I was enlisted before becoming an Officer Candidate, DiPietro. That's why I'm Candidate Collins, not Midshipman Collins. Lynne had said "Oh," in the voice she had that she hated, but could not stop. It came out when she was embarrassed or wrong, and she wanted to die when she heard it. And Candidate Collins had frowned a little at hearing it, too.