To Hunt and Protect
Page 24
The entire party goes to the attached hall of the church for the reception. The tables are covered in food for a buffet. A large cake sits at the end of one of the tables.
Amy goes up to Morrison, “Sir, why did you swat my bum?”
“It’s a very old tradition among military officers. On the way out of the church, the bride gets a ‘welcome to the family’ swat.”
“But Gary isn’t an officer?”
“He isn’t an officer, yet. We in the wardroom decided to honor you anyway.”
“Thank you, then. Do you fair dinkum think he’ll be an officer?”
“I put him in for promotion a few days ago. It didn’t happen this time, but it will.”
“Crickey. I’ll need to be an officer’s wife, then.”
“You’ll have time to sort it out. We’ve arranged for your ID card tomorrow on the carrier.”
“Gary said.”
“You know, the two of you have a long row to hoe. We still have years of war in front of us.”
She looks him square in the eyes, “I know it. Life wasn’t ever meant to be lollys and fairy floss. I said for better or worse, and I meant it.”
“I see that.”
BONDI BEACH
1634, 17 February, 1942
Gloria Houlihan, LTJG John ‘Gunner’ Harden, ENS Jose ‘Speedy’ Gonzalez, Lieutenant Mike ‘Too Tall’ Mohr, and ENS Truman ‘Johnny’ Walker set up their band equipment on a cobble stone area next to the beach. The carrier has three barbeques going, with no shortage of beer. Their host is the Navy base and the HMAS Hobart. There are sailors playing cricket and volleyball. The uniform is relaxed for this party. Some are in uniform, but most are in civilian attire. The band members are all in civvies. A little way from them, the Hobart band is playing big band music. Mohr fires up the generator. When the Hobart band takes a break, they do their sound check. Sailors meander toward the bands.
John is sitting on the grass with Liz eating barbeque off paper plates. Both are in civvies. John “Are they any good.”
Liz, “They’re fantastic. You’ll see.”
Gloria does the down count and they begin Patsy Cline’s ‘Walking After Midnight.’ More and more people gather. Soon, most are standing to see, and as the song ends, they applaud. Then, Gunner sings Kenny Loggins’ ‘Danger Zone.’ The ‘90’s go nuts, but the ‘41s seem a little stunned. Next, Gloria sings Berlin’s ‘Take My Breath Away.’ On this one, Too Tall rocks the base riffs.
John, “Wow. They’re damn near professional.”
“Yeah, John. I know.”
Gloria and Gunner sing the duet, ‘Golden Ring’ by George Jones and Tammy Wynette. Her crystal-clear mezzo soprano and his rumbly baritone harmonize sweetly in the classic love song.
Then, Gloria goes into ‘Watching Baby Walk Away,’ by Lisa Stevenson.
“I didn’t try to keep you,
Though I wanted you around.
I won’t admit I need you,
Pride keeps my feelings down.
My heart screams out for you,
Though it doesn’t make a sound.
I watched you walk away,
On a cloudy rain-soaked day.
There was nothing I could say.
I did it to myself.
Watching baby walk away.
I know I should feel bitter.
I should put it all on you.
I cast aside your offer,
I wouldn’t say I do.
My heart screams out for you,
Though it doesn’t make a sound.
I watched you walk away,
On a cloudy rain-soaked day.
There was nothing I could say.
I did it to myself.
Watching baby walk away.
Watching baby walk away.
Watching baby walk away
I watched my baby walk away.
The crowd applauds and cheers. Liz looks at John, his face twisted, tears in his eyes. She takes his hand and leads him away as the band begins their next song. Once they’re between two buildings and out of sight, Liz asks, “What is it, John?”
John looks at her, lips trembling, and closes his eyes, “That was her song.”
“Who’s song?” Liz hands him some tissues out of her bag.
“Lisa’s. She wrote it the night we broke up.”
“Your wife? Oh shit. You said.”
He nods and she takes him in her arms.
The band continues playing, Gloria and Gunner taking turns singing the lead. More and more civilians show up outside the fence, listening.
Liz, “Why don’t we go?”
John, “Your friends are playing.”
“John, I think you need to be away from people right now.” She walks him to the car and she drives them away. They head south until they find a quiet, empty beach, and she pulls over. They get out and she takes his hand as they walk down to the small crescent of sand between rocky headlands. They find a place to sit, still holding hands, “John, do you need to talk or for us to just be silent.”
“I was listening, and it hit me hard that I’ll never see her again. Lisa. I built my internal life around loving her. After we broke up, I would listen to her music and know what she was feeling. At least, I thought I knew. I just knew we would be together eventually. We would be happy, and we were. Now, there’s no chance. Zero. Gone. The worst fucking magic trick ever.”
She puts her arm on his shoulder and they sit and talk as the sun sets behind them. John looks up at the darkening sky, “Do you know where we are?”
“A beach south of the base somewhere. I was focused on you.”
“Thank you. It looks like we’ll have to crawl back using black out lights and hope we don’t get lost.”
“Let’s find a hotel.”
“You sure?”
“I don’t want to get lost and have some cop with an itchy trigger finger put a round in you.”
In the gloom they see an inn and pull in. There are no outside lights, but they see a sliver of light under the main door, so they knock and open the door. A man behind a counter looks up, “How can I help you?”
John, “Can we get a room?”
“You two married?”
Liz nods, “Of course.”
John fills out the registration and hands over the three dollars for the room.
“Keep it quiet. We run a nice place here.” He hands them the key and gives them the room number. A few minutes later, they’re in a second-floor room with a low ceiling and a single metal full-sized four poster bed. But there’s an en suite bathroom and the room is clean.
John, “One bed?”
“Yeah.” She sits on the bed and looks at him.
“Um, you know where I am. How are we going to do this?”
Liz grins, “Give me your t-shirt.”
“Okay,” and he skins it off.
Liz, “You get seconds on the bath.” She goes into the bathroom.
He sits in the one chair, waiting. Quietly, too himself, “What the fuck am I doing? Am I sending the wrong signals? She’s beautiful. She’s smart as hell. But she isn’t Lisa. This is wrong.” He takes several deep breaths, “Be honest, man. I care about her. She’s been a better friend than I deserve. I guess I need to just walk this trail and see where it goes.”
Thirty minutes later, Liz walks out with wet hair and wearing his t-shirt. “You’re next. While you’re in there, take care of your needs, so we can sleep without your balls exploding.”
His jaw drops, “Wh…what?”
“John, I’ve been married for a long time. Even if I’m not your one and only, when we get into bed your happy place is going to get hard, and then it’s going to hurt. Just take care of it, okay? If you can sleep in your skivvies, that works for me.”
“Okay.” John shakes his head and smiles and goes into the bathroom. When he comes out, she’s lying in the bed, still in his shirt. He climbs in next to her and she rolls to face him, “Are we good?” She grins.
&
nbsp; “We’re good. God, this is awkward.” He smiles.
“I guess I should give you some boundaries, John. If you couldn’t tell by now, I’m not shy. If we wake up spooning, that’s fine. If we wake up touching, even intimate touching, that’s fine. Neither of us has any control of what we do in our sleep.”
“I agree. You’re an amazing woman, Liz.”
“You’re pretty awesome, too. Absolute truth, John, I think I need to touch, and be touched. It’s a different kind of intimate. I’m not ready for the other.”
He cups her face with his hand, “What are we?”
“I think we are two lonely friends trying to survive in a difficult time.” She puts her hand to his face.
OFFICER’S CLUB, GARDEN ISLAND, RAN BASE
2345, 17 February, 1942
Sam, Swede, Gloria, and Gandhi sit around a table nursing beers. Gloria, “I tell you, Sam, he was upset. It was like his best friend totaled his Vette, ran off with his girl, and his dog died. John and Liz just left.”
Swede, “What song were you singing?”
Gloria, “What does that matter?”
Sam, “Do you remember?”
“Yeah, it was an old Metalsmith song, ‘Watching Baby Walk Away.”
Sam, “That’s when it happened? Do you know who wrote the song?”
“Yeah, Lisa Stevenson. She wrote most of Metalsmith’s lyrics until she broke up with the lead singer, Ted.”
Sam, “Do you remember his CO being pissed at him because he’d just married?”
“Like I could forget. What an ass.”
Sam, “I talked to Liz. I was just curious, because I knew her husband, Tim, was the love of her life. I was wondering why they were hanging out together so soon.”
“And?”
“John had just married the love of his life, too. They’d courted and broken up years before. Liz said her name was Lisa.”
Gloria, “There has to be a million Lisa’s out there. Rock stars do not marry sailors.”
Gandhi, “I know the music. When I was in college, I listened to it a lot. I even went to their concerts. That song was about Lisa breaking up with someone way more important to her than Ted. It was written before the two of them were even an item.”
Cumberland enters the dimly lit bar and walks by them.
Sam calls out, “Commander Cumberland?”
He recoils at her voice, “You again.”
Sam, “Who did Commander Morrison marry?”
“He married a fucking rock star named Lisa Stevenson, why?”
“I was just wondering. Thank you, sir.”
The four exchange looks and Gloria says, “Fuck. I didn’t know.”
Gandhi, “How could you?”
Sam, “I think you may have done him a huge favor.”
They look at her, confused.
Sam continues, “Look, whether they are an item, or not, he and Liz are obviously close, so he isn’t alone. All of us are going to have that moment when it hits us hard that we’ve lost someone, or something irreplaceable. It’s already happened to some of us, and it will probably happen again. It’s far, far better that he is walking that dark path with someone he trusts and who trusts him. Can you imagine what that would look like on his boat?”
Gloria, “You’re right, Sam. I hadn’t thought it through.”
Swede, “Also, we all have something he probably lacks. We have a group of close friends. Being the XO of a ship is different. There has to be a bigger space between him and the guys. Lord knows he can’t confide in his captain.”
Gloria, “Sam, are you bringing Swede and Gandhi into the Admirals club?”
Swede, “We’re already there, though I’m still working on the secret handshake.”
COOGEE BAY HOTEL, COOGEE BEACH, NSW
0745, 18 February, 1942
The sounds of bird chirping wakes John up. It’s such a foreign sound for someone who lives underwater. His arm is tucked around Liz, her back to him. Her rhythmic breathing is lovely. The smell of her hair is even better. He lays without moving and tries to analyze his feelings.
Where Lisa’s concerned, nothing has changed. He knows he does not, cannot, feel about Liz what he feels about Lisa. He’s equally certain the same is true for her and Tim. That said, what is he doing? What has he done? They didn’t have sex. What they did do, was incredibly intimate. People freak out about cheaters who have sex. They forget that emotional intimacy is the bigger thing. If there was even a chance at all of reuniting with Lisa, he’d feel a total ass. As it is, he still feels guilty, but irrationally so. Liz was right, they needed this…thing. Whatever it was.
She moves, then takes his hand in hers, “Good morning, John.”
“Good morning.”
She spins around to face him, “No regrets, okay?”
He smiles, “No regrets.”
“It’s two friends helping each other through an extraordinarily painful time.”
“It is. So, are you okay?”
“I’m conflicted as hell. I’m sure you are, too. I think we both needed to help pull some of the poison from the other.”
He looks into her eyes and holds the gaze. She doesn’t flinch or look away. He moves his hand to the small of her back and slides closer to her. They smile.
USS SAN FRANCISCO
1000, 22 February, 1942
Cumberland and Morrison wait as the boatswain pipes, “Carrier Group 2, arriving.” Halsey walks down the brow with his chief of staff, Captain Miles Browning. He salutes the flag and then the quarterdeck. Morrison and Cumberland salute.
Halsey, “How’s the San Francisco?”
Cumberland, “We’ve completed the maintenance package. We’ll be loading provisions and ordinance this afternoon. We’ll be ready to sortie tonight.”
Halsey, “Good.” They go aboard and they give him the complete tour, including the engine room. The ship is clean and squared away. The engine room is immaculate. The last stop is the wardroom where a steward serves lunch. After the steward leaves, Halsey says, “Your boat is impressive, Commander, and it’s squared away. How would you assess morale?”
Cumberland, “The crew has enjoyed Australia. Some have enjoyed it too much. I think they’re looking forward to going to sea.”
“Leaving Australia for the sea and combat? No, I’d bet most of your men are quite happy here. How many of your crew are married, or planning to be?”
Cumberland looks at Morrison. Morrison, “One married and five engaged, sir.”
Halsey, “It’s the way of things. The one thing no officer can stop is true love. How old and what rank is the married crew member?”
Morrison, ‘He’s thirty-five and a first class. He’s approaching eighteen years of service, sir, and will likely leave after the war.”
Halsey, “Is he squared away?”
“I’ve recommended him for commissioning, sir.”
Halsey, “Well, I wish him the best. Are the new officers and ratings fitting in?”
Cumberland, “Yes, sir, though it’ll be a while before they can support the watch bill.”
“Of course. That’s the way of it. Now, this isn’t the first sub I’ve been aboard, but it’s the first that didn’t stink of diesel and sweaty men. Do you understand what we need from you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Yes, sir.”
Halsey, “Cumberland, I like your aggressiveness, but I’m growing weary of your antics. Why did you tell a senior rating he could not marry?”
Cumberland looks at Morrison. Morrison’s eyes open in surprise, “What?”
Halsey, “The odds that someone will see you are directly proportional to the stupidity of your act. Captain Grey watched the whole thing from the Horne.”
Cumberland, “Well, sir, I was concerned for his morale. I know most of these marriages never work out.”
Halsey, “Do you have a problem with women, Commander?”