April 15, 1973, Sunday
Yesterday Peter and I woke up at the padre’s place. I had the biggest hangover ever, Peter had one to. The padre was okay, so ok that he woke us up at seven. He did make us a great breakfast.
Last night we started out drinking beers before the steak and potato dinner. Padre had some wine he wanted us to taste, three bottles later he had some brandy he wanted to taste. We finished the bottle, before I staggered off to one of the guest bedrooms.
Somewhere in the middle of the afternoon I burned off the hangover. It was dark when we finished packing the big rental truck. Peter and Padre were taking the Jaguar, I was driving the truck. We were starving I wanted to go to Jack in the Box. Padre said he would treat us to any restaurant we wanted, after we drove the truck to the new apartment. Padre wanted to take us to a nice sit down restaurant. We were ok with that idea.
He said, “Do you know where we’re going?”
I said, “Kind of.”
He said, “Just follow me.” I was fine staying behind the padre on the side streets. I could see his tail lights even when he sped up in traffic. His Jag had distinct tail lights. Peter had never been in the Jag before. I know the padre is showing off. I managed to catch up with them at the traffic lights.
The trouble started as soon as we entered the on ramp to the highway. I was driving a loaded down big rental truck, five speeds on the floor. 0 to 50 in 350 seconds. They were in a twelve cylinder Jaguar, five speeds on the floor, 0 to 60 in 5 seconds. Padre took off like he was in the rally. I honked my horn and yelled. I watched his red tail lights disappear in the evening traffic. They blended in with the hundreds of other red tail lights on the highway.
In Denver we have two major highways. One travels east to west. The other travels north to south. California has highways going everywhere. The entrance and exit ramps are short highways. If I get off on the wrong exit, I would need to use three more highways to get back to the first highway. If I miss one of those exits I would need three more highways to get back. It’s fucking confusing especially at night in a big truck. I was starving.
I drove for about two hours. I was completely lost. I drove to what I thought was the new apartment. I could not find them. Somehow I managed to find the highway back to the old apartment.
Padre and Peter found me asleep. I was parked at the old apartment. They woke me up. We went to eat. We left the truck at the old apartment, I got my Volvo. The only thing open was Jack in the Box. Padre apologized for showing off and zipping ahead.
His friends were going to help him unpack the truck tomorrow, our part was finished. One of his friends would drive the truck in the morning. The padre gave us a hundred dollars each. Peter and I went home. Later.
It’s late Sunday evening the riptide has moved away. The beach is full again and we kill babies. Peter kicked some guy in the head earlier today. We were down on the boardwalk talking and minding our own business. This drunk long haired guy was grabbing at Peters cigarette, it was in Peter’s mouth. The idiot kept taking a swipe at the lit cigarette.
He wanted to smoke it; he didn’t have his own.
Peter was walking backwards, keeping the cigarette out of the guys reach. The guy kept following him. When Peter backed through the gate to our complex, he closed it between him and the long hair. The dope leaned in and tried to grab the cigarette. Peter grabbed the guys hand and pulled him forward, pulling him over the fence. Peter kicked him four times quickly, right in the face. Bam, bam, bam, bam. Peter let him go, the guy stood up, his face was bloody. He said, “I deserved that.” He turned, jumped the boardwalk wall and passed out on the beach. A couple hours later he was harassing some other beach goers and was arrested by the police. Later.
April 16, 1973, Monday
Being late for school in the navy is not like being late in civilian life. Being late in the navy can get you locked up. This morning we were late.
Okie got up early to get in some surfing time before we went to school. He was out waiting to catch a wave. A small rolling wave laid a jellyfish on his thigh. By the time he paddled to shore his thigh had swelled to the size of his stomach. Troy said there was nothing we can do about it. Clean it and eventually the swelling will go down.
The chiefs were raging mad that we were thirty minutes late. They mellowed out when they saw Okie. We cut his pants so he could dress. “What the hell did you bring him here for, you stupid idiots?” They yelled. “He needs to go to the infirmary!” We attended class, the chief took Okie to the Medic’s. He was ok the swelling did go down later this evening.
The beach is closed, the surf is full off jelly fish. They wash up on the shore and dry out. I’m going to drink some beers with the Michiganders. Later.
April 20, 1973, Friday
It’s late afternoon, I just got home Brian is having a party to night. He finished his hog. His living room rug is trashed. It’s full of grease, oil and gas. It looks like a garage floor, except with brown carpet. He fired it up in the living room. Tonight we celebrate the finished candy apple hog. Later.
Barbra left Fred with us. She doesn’t ask any more, she sends him up to us. I was heading out the door, as Fred was coming up the stairs. “My mom wants to know if I can stay with you for an hour?” he would ask. What can I say I’m not going to do like his mother and pawn him off? “Sure Fred come in. Did you have dinner yet?” Most of the time he said yes, but he didn’t say no when we put food in front of him. The four of us took turns watching Fred. Each of us watched him for an hour and then back to the party. He fell asleep and it was a matter of going up stairs and looking through the widow, he was asleep on the couch. Peter slept on the other couch when the party ended. Later.
April 21, 1973, Saturday
Barbra didn’t show up last night. We fed Fred breakfast. We won’t let him be sad. Barry is coming by today he discovered the many contradictions in the bible. I told him he should come with me to the padre’s some time. He doesn’t trust preachers they misled him to where he is now. I told him that it’s not about what words are used in the bible, it’s the overall message of goodness he should focus on. Peter and I have been discussing Buddhism, maybe I can get Barry to try another direction. Later.
Barry left here more confused than when he came here. I inter-fused him to Buddha. Behind the apartments about a mile away is a large inland bay. I went with the Michiganders to check it out. Benny is a champion water skier. He was a real show off. He was skiing without skies, using his bare feet. A group of high school girls were watching him. They were invited back to the apartment. I went home. Later.
April 22, 1973, Sunday
Fred is still without his mother, he doesn’t seem too worried, she’s must have did this before. He’s such a good kid we can’t help but to protect him. Looks like Benny, Jeff, and Bob have their own ward to worry about. One of the high school girls spent the night and doesn’t want to go home. Maria told the boys that her brother was supposed to come back and get her; she wants to wait for him. Later.
It’s about nine at night. There is no sign of Barbra or Maria’s brother. Fred has school tomorrow and so do we. It was my turn to spend the night on the other couch out here with Fred. Later.
Barbra showed up about ten minutes ago. I was going to have a talk with her but I was too tired, it’s four in the morning. Later.
April 24, 1973, Tuesday
Troy’s new girlfriend is a bitch. She told me that Troy doesn’t want to hang around with us anymore. She said he never wanted to be our friends we forced ourselves on him. She is totally loco. She is this hot looking fox, she wants Troy for herself. Troy is that personality that is overly friendly. The ending to their relationship is predictable. I was inviting him to my birthday bash on Friday. She said, “We are not interested in spending time with war mongers.” They’ll come, he’ll come to party with us, and she’ll come to watch him. We have three kegs coming. Later.
By the end of the week at school we will have built a flushing syst
em from scratch. It’s a continuous water system. Water is constantly flowing through the main pipe. I will connect my toilet to the system. If it works the force of the continuous flow of water will suck down waste through my toilet, with no leakage. This class started with forty three men in San Francisco, we are now at twenty one men. I only have two more pieces to build and attach. I’m going to take my time, we only get one try. Later.
Maria hasn’t gone home yet. She told Benny that she was eighteen. She told me she was sixteen. Benny wants to believe she is eighteen. He is teaching her out of body techniques. She tells him she gets it. She told the guys that she can’t go home without her brother. Her mother would beat her. Later.
April 28, 1973, Saturday
I’m nineteen now. What a party last night. The hippie owners showed up, they brought some whiskey and some pot. We had too many people on our small balcony it collapsed, no one was hurt. The owners had us take the party to the ground floor patio. We avoided doing this before because we didn’t want to disturb the people renting weekly. They said fuck them, the party went on in till sun rise. Barbra, Brian his ship buddies, people up and down the beach came. Jeff and Jasper and their pimp friend, even the pimp’s girls. I smoked opium my first time. Garza, Moe, Saul, Barry and a bunch of the guys from class all came. I think Padre showed up, I think. It’s late afternoon, I am in recovery mode. Later.
Earlier when I was laying on the warm sand getting my shit together on the beach, Maria came out, we talked. Turns out she is a fifteen year old run away. Her brother did bring her to the beach, only to drop her off. She didn’t want to go home she wanted to stay with Benny.
I talked to Benny. He didn’t want the other beach girls to think he had a girlfriend he made Maria sleep on the couch. He only had sex with her twice; he felt the need to say. Bob and Jeff didn’t care if she came or went. Benny felt sorry for her he said she can stay as long as she wants, on the couch.
After I slapped Benny up the side of his head I pointed out to him that California has a statutory rape law. And I’m sure Michigan has one too. The four of us had a talk with Maria. She refused to give us her address. Calling the police was out of the question. It could spell trouble for Benny. I didn’t know before now but Barbra is a therapist. It took her all of fifteen minutes to get Maria’s address. We will take her home tomorrow. Later.
April 29, 1973, Sunday
A friend of Jerry’s came by today, Virgil. He said when you get on a ship the captain is the supreme ruler. He had a disciplinary problem. Here on base the punishment would be one week confinement; tops. The ship’s captain locked him in the brig for three months. He’s talking to a civilian lawyer. He wants to bring cruel and unusual punishment charges on the captain. He seems like a nice guy. I asked, “What did you do?
He said he over slept ten minutes. It doesn’t matter what you do. It matters how much the ship’s captain likes or dislikes you personally. They don’t think they have to follow laws when they are out to sea. Jerry said everybody knew that the captain hated Virgil. Hell that could be me some day. If I don’t watch out I said. Later.
Maria lives in La Jolla. It is a big house. When we pulled up no one was home. Maria went around to the back. She was inside opening the front door when a neighbor walked up to us. He asked us what we were doing. I told him that we found Maria alone on the beach, homeless. We brought her home. Maria told us to come inside. The neighbor said that Maria’s mother has been worried. This isn’t the first time Maria has run away. The mom was at work, she asked her neighbor to call her and the police if Maria came home. We said we understand, we found her this morning and don’t know her at all. We said good luck and got the hell out of there. Later.
April, 30, 1973, Monday
This is our work week. We will spend the rest of the week repairing and cleaning the classroom equipment. We all passed. We all got our orders. I am to report to Norfolk, Virginia. I have been assigned a ship, it’s a destroyer. I am going to take a test to become a third-class petty officer. I fly out May 6, next Monday. Later.
It’s a small fucking world. I was standing with a group of classmates. We were in a circle having a heavy discussion about nothing. I was in the middle of saying something completely unimportant. I heard a voice behind me. “George.” I spaced it out, I was in the middle of a speech, I had an audience. I wasn’t going to waste it. “George! George!” He wouldn’t stop. I turned around to face the rude person. “Just a minute, let me finish!” I turned back to my friends. They say they never saw eyes get so big so quickly. It was my cousin Paul. He was in the navy, and I didn’t know. He just finished boot camp and started school. I was over whelmed to see him.
He tried to find out where I was. But since I never call or write home, my parents didn’t know where I was. Somewhere in California they said. Wow! Mr. Journal this is so cool. Paul is one year older than me. He has always been my partner in crime. I did so many crazy things with him. Wow!
I made the guys find a ride home. Paul had an apartment not far from the base. After class we went to his place. We made spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner. We got high and drank lots of beer. We laughed all night. Except for the short hair and the palm trees, it was like being home. I stayed the night. He’s coming over my pad on Wednesday. It’s the running of the grunions, a full moon means a big party. My cousin is here, you have no idea what that means to me Mr. Journal. Later.
May 2, 1973, Wednesday
It’s late. Paul, Barry and Padre came to the grunion party. Grunion are a fish, about six to eight inches long. During a full moon every third month they spawn. They roll in on the waves. Using their tails, female grunions squirm and dig their way into the sand half in. Then they lay their eggs. The males deposit their sperm in the holes before the next wave covers it up.
Hundreds of thousands of silver colored fish, glittering in the bright moon light. The entire beach is covered with them. Each wave brings in more grunion, with the flipping and the flopping it looks like the beach is alive and moving.
The craziest sight is not the fish. The humans reacting to the fish is the nuttiest. Adults and children with buckets and empty ice chests running up and down the beach, trying to grab the slippery slimy fish. Overhead are thousands of sea gulls competing with the humans. They swoop when they have an opportunity.
This is a regular happening. Those that aren’t scooping up fish are being entertained by those that are. I’m on the beach with my cousin Paul and some great friends. I have lots of pot, booze and food. If I forget I’m in the navy this could be one of those best times ever. Later.
May 24, 1973, Thursday
Yesterday we were ordered to bring our dress whites to class. Sailor hat, neckerchief, spit shined shoes the whole dress uniform. Before lunch we had a personal inspection. I passed; I wore everything correctly, and I was clean. After lunch we were assembling to get our class pictures taken.
Jeff and Jasper wanted to play a prank. Jeff would turn his back to the camera. He was going to wear a pair of sun glasses on the back of his head. Jasper drew lips on the back of Jeff’s head with a thick magic marker. Jasper was going to hold a cigar to the lips. They hoped it would look like a hairy face smoking a cigar, wearing sun glasses. Peter wanted to do the same thing. I passed, I said it’s a bad idea to have your fuck ups recorded on film. The chief’s treated us like equals, the guys thought the chiefs would get a kick out of it. Something different for them to see, ha, ha funny different. Okie was all in.
Before the pictures the chief told me to get the brooms and mops squired away. The class was gathering at the bleachers. I finished putting the mops away, I grabbed my hat, I put it on my head and turned it so it would be on my head according to regulations. I moved it around to get it right. When I joined the group, the master chief said, “What the fuck did you do to your hat, Licata?”
I said, “What are you talking about?”
The chief shook his head. “Where did you get those black marks, lad?” He was poin
ting to my cap. I took off my hat. I saw black finger prints on the rim of my cap.
The brooms and mops had grease on them. It was on my fingers. Now it was on my hat in a noticeable way. I asked the master chief what I should do. Should I wear it for the pictures or not? He said he didn’t care; it was my choice.
We got on the bleachers. There were four rows of us. Peter and Okie were one row below me to my right. Jeff and Jasper were in front of me two rows down. They turned their backs to the camera at the last moment and did their thing. The civilian photographer took the picture. That was yesterday.
Today, Peter, Okie, Jeff, Jasper and I are sitting in the outer office of the warren officers Head Quarters. They got the class picture back. The five of us were circled in black marker. After the chief chewed on us for thirty minutes. “Where do you think you’re at, high school? What the hell were you thinking, you fucking idiots? This is not funny! The warren officer saw this. He is not happy. When he is not happy I am not happy! If I am not happy you will not be happy! Do I make myself understood, misters?” He was spitting mad.
I was circled because I didn’t have a cap on while I was out side, that’s a navy no, no. I reminded him of the conversation we had before the picture was taken. He didn’t give a damn, I was circled by the warren officer.
The master chief is in the office getting chewed out. We are waiting our turn. The master chief came out and stormed passed us. The chief came out and said, “You are to report to building 272 at 1800 tonight. You are assigned a working party lasting three days from 1800 to 0200. You start tonight.
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