Chapter Nine: Dirty Little Midnight Secret:

We looked up and saw a young woman walking towards us. She had on heavy garden gloves. This woman looked rather round in her yellow sundress. She gave Sappoto-san and I an odd look.

“Who are these girls?” she asked. Michael turned to her, smiling.

“These are the guesses I was telling you about over the phone, remember?” he replied. The woman blinked for a moment. Then, her face finally lit up.

“Oh yeah!” she said with a slight giggle. His girlfriend turned to us.

“Hi there,” she said. “I’m Julie Chamberlain, Michael’s girlfriend.” I bowed my head at her.

“How do you do?” I asked. “I’m Miho Shigi and this is Sappoto Uoya.” Sappoto-san hid behind me like a little child. I nudged her from behind.

“Stop that,” I whispered. “You’re too old to be acting like that!” She peeked out of my shoulder. Julie gave us an odd look.

“Is she okay?” she asked with a slight hint of a country accent. I smiled and nodded as I tried to brush it off.

“Don’t mind her,” I said. “She’s just a bit shy.”

“Ah,” Julie said with a nod. Michael clapped his hands together.

“Okay then!” he said. “Let’s go inside.” I nodded my head at him while Sappoto said nothing. We all just walked inside.

“Make yourselves at home,” Julie told us. Their house was rather nice. I felt as if I had stepped into a living room straight out of an American furniture catalog. Southern American charm was the only words I could think of for this place. Julie rushed forward to the living room.

“I’m so sorry that everything’s still a mess!” she gasped. “I hadn’t had time to clean.”

“It’s okay,” I said.

“No, no!” Julie insisted as she started picking up shirts off of the couch. “I’ve been so busy with the baby and garden lately. I hadn’t had much time for cleaning.”

“Baby?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Michael said. “We’re on month three of the pregnancy.”

“Oh, when are you due?” I asked.

“January,” the couple said.

“I’m hoping for a girl!” Julie added. I smiled and nodded at her. There it was again. I was thinking about my potential future with Andi. I can’t really tell if she wants kids or not. She keeps dropping hints at me that she does, but I can’t be too certain. My heart began to ache when I thought about Andi again. I wondered how she was doing now. Was Umiko driving her nuts as well? I hope she’s okay.

“Something the matter?” I heard someone ask. I looked up to see Michael’s face just inches in front of mine.

“Huh?” I asked. He looked a little concerned.

“You seem sad about something,” he said. “What’s on your mind?” I shook my head at him.

“N-Nothing,” I lied. “It’s nothing. Michael raised an eyebrow at me.

“You sure?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said with a nod. He didn’t speak at first.

“Right,” our marine host said. “I’ll show you to your rooms.” Sappoto-san and I followed him down the hall. My traveling friend and I had rooms next door to each other. I was unpacking my backpack when I heard a small knock on the door.

“Yes?” I asked. I looked up and saw Sappoto-san looking at me in silence.

“What’s on your mind?” I asked. My friend shuffled her feet.

“How long are we going to stay here?” she asked in a small voice. I lowered my night shirt.

“By morning, why?” I answered. Sappoto-san pressed her lips together in an uncomfortable way. I looked upon her with understanding pity.

“Aw, it’s okay,” I said once again. “These people are nice. Not every foreign is an evil bastard, okay?” She looked at me with a trace of budding hope in her eyes.

“You mean it?” Sappoto-san asked. I smiled as I walked over to her. I patted her on the shoulder.

“Yeah,” I murmured. She only looked at me with small eyes.

“Aw, come here,” I said, softly. I hugged Sappoto-san like a mother to a scared child. “It’ll be okay,” I whispered. Sappoto-san went quiet and limp in my arms.

“See? It’ll be okay,” I whispered again. Right then, I heard someone clearing their throat ahead of us. Sappoto-san and I glanced up to see Michael standing at the doorway, staring at us. He was trying to look away.

“Did I… come at a bad time?” he asked. I quickly let go of my friend.

“Oh, no, no!” I said. “There was nothing going on!” Michael only blinked at us in silence. “Oh great,” I thought. “He’s going to think I’m pervert now.”

“Anyway,” our marine host went on. “Dinner will be ready soon.” I gave him a quick nod and translated all of that to Sappoto-san. She nodded at me. I turned back to our host.

“Okay,” I replied. Michael nodded at us.

“Right…” he said. Then, he hurried away as quickly as he could. Sappoto-san just quietly went to her room. I was left standing there in a strange position. I sighed aloud. Maybe it’ll sort itself out by dinnertime.

Dinner was better. The issues had managed to push itself under the rug with juicy burgers and roasted sweet potato sticks. Best I had ever had! I looked up at the kitchen at Michael while he worked the stove.

“You do a good job with the burgers!” I cheered. He glanced up at me with a smile on his face.

“Thanks!” our host replied. “I prefer the work of my grill every chance I get.”

“It shows,” I said as I began to stuff more of my burger into my mouth. I glanced over and saw that Sappoto-san was happily munching on her fries. I smiled to myself as I chewed on the flavored, tender meat in my mouth. “She’s finally getting to this place,” I thought.

“So, where are you two from?” Julie asked us. I finished eating my burger to answer her.

“Tokyo,” I said. The hostess let off a low whistle.

“The main island!” she gasped.

“That’s right,” I said, almost cheering aloud. “I heard you liked to garden. What all do you grow?” Julie took a sip of her Pepsi.

“Oh, just the typical flowers. My personal favorite is the mum.” Sappoto-san’s eyes grew big.

“That’s our national flower,” she whispered to me as I drank my juice. I nodded at her. Julie looked at us out of curiosity.

“What did she say?” she asked. I turned to her with a little smile.

“She’s impressed by the fact that you grow our national flower,” I replied.

“Oh,” the mother-to-be said. “Maybe I could show you my garden after dinner.”

“Sure,” I said. “We’d love that.” Michael joined us at the table with more burgers. The rest of the night was spent talking and eating. That was a good burger.

After dinner, Julie showed Sappoto-san and I around her garden. I have to admit, it’s still a bit rough, but she has a pretty good start.

“I’ve been going to the doctor to check-up on the baby weekly,” the mother-to-be explained. “I had only gotten started on my garden four days ago.”

“I see,” I replied. Sappoto-san looked at the flowers in quiet admiration. She reached out to touch one of the small petals.

“Be careful with my babies,” Julie told her. I repeated what she said in Japanese to my friend. Sappoto-san only nodded and lightly touched one of the petals.

“Soft,” she murmured.

“Yes,” I replied. “And very colorful.” Julie smiled behind us.

“These are my babies,” she said as if she understood what we were saying. “I have raised them very well.” The mums and other flowers looked like a colorful blanket at our feet.

As the night continued to wind down, everyone went to bed. Yet, I couldn’t sleep. My mind wandered back to Andi. Knowing her, she is probably debating about whether to call me or not. She really worried too. I sighed to myself as I looked up at the dark ceiling. Andi. I definitely won’t hear the end of it when I get back. An angel like her doesn’t deserve any of my sudden departure, but I had to get away. She’ll understand, won’t she?

Out of the blue, a door closing roused my attention. I lifted my head in bed as I squinted my eyes. “Did somebody just come in?” I thought. Michael, Julie, and Sappoto-san were already asleep in bed. A possible break-in? It almost seemed impossible to me due to the fact that we were in military housing. My mind was running out of possibilities.

Curious, I quietly climbed out of bed and snuck out of my room for a look. As I walked down the hall, I noticed some soft whispering and then moaning. I squinted my eyes as I tried to listen in closer. I was hearing right, somebody was moaning in the living room. A man to be more exact. Now, I was really confused. “Is someone else here with us or…” I questioned myself. I tried to keep myself from giggling at that last part. Suddenly, naughty little schoolgirl within me roused her head and took over. I peeked around the corner expecting to see Julie and Michael getting it on in the living room.

I was… half right. Julie was on her knees sucking off a man. But, it wasn’t Michael. I blinked for what felt like ten minutes to separate reality and my imagination. No, all reality. Julie was having an affair with another Marine and I was watching. The color drained from my face as I stayed bit, unable to turn away.