Chapter Five: Docking on Okinawa:

After a day at sea, I finally spotted land through the telescope. My heart raced at the view. (Even though it had been a day, I was ready for my feet to touch the shore once more.)

“Sappoto-san, look!” I turned behind me, yelling. My friend slowly dragged her lazy behind out of bed.

“What is it?” she asked as she yawned and rubbed her eyes.

“Land!” I yelled. It took a moment for my words to register in her brain.

“Huh?” she asked. I smiled at her, excited.

“Come and look!” I exclaimed. Sappoto-san hurried over to the telescope. I waited as she took a peek through the lenses.

“Wow!” she said, breathlessly. “We’re approaching land!”

“Yes,” I said nodding at her, like a kindergarten teacher to a student. She turned around with big eyes.

“Where are we?” Sappoto-san asked in almost a whisper. I shrugged at her.

“Dunno,” I replied. “All I know is that I just want to get off of this boat.” Sappoto-san only nodded at me. I gave her a kind little smile. She sure is cute when she is dumb and innocent. Somehow, she always makes me smile. (I mean the dumb part in a good way too. So, I’m not being mean.)

I steered us all the way to shore. Up ahead, a lazy man was about to take a nap when he saw us pulling in. He quickly looked up and leapt to his feet. I flagged him down.

“Hey!” I yelled. “Can you help us dock?” The man stared at me confused. I didn’t think that he heard me the first time. So, I tried again.

“Can you help us dock?” I yelled again. Still the same blank stare. I took a moment to assess the situation. Hm, maybe the guy doesn’t understand Japanese. Time to go the English route of things. Well, here goes!

“My friend and I need to dock the boat!” I yelled in English at the man. “Can you help us?” There was a pause for a moment. I bit my lip as I began to worry he didn’t understand English either. But then, the man’s feet lit up and went into the boat house behind him. Sappoto-san and I looked on as he did so.

“What’s he doing?” my buddy asked me in Japanese with a whisper.

“I think he’s trying to help us get to shore,” I whispered back. Sappoto-san looked at me puzzled.

“Huh?” she asked. I sighed in frustration. I hate when I have to repeat things to people.

“I said I think he’s trying to…” I began again. But then, I paused. The problem became rather apparent. “Oh, I said that in English…” I thought in surprise. You see, Sappoto-san doesn’t understand English. She never learned how. Her father… was a terrible person. I mean terrible in every sense of the word. He was a bigoted, abusive asshole. The worst kind imaginable. He hated foreigners. I mean *really* hated them! If that guy had his way, Andi, Rob, Noiz, Tony, and them would be driven into the sea by a WWII dictatorship. Yeah, he was an evil bastard. That guy made Dick Cheney look like a big old cuddly teddy bear. Anyway, onto happier things. What was I going on about? Oh yeah, Sappoto doesn’t know English. I keep meaning to teach her, but I never get around to it. Maybe, this trip will be different.

“I said I think he’s trying to help us get to shore,” I said again, this time in native Japanese. Sappoto-san nodded.

“Oh!” she said. I nodded at her.

“Yeah,” I said. We waited for our English-speaking friend to return. He came back with the rope and I steered us to the dock. He roped us up and I turned off the boat. Once we had docked, Sappoto-chan and I slowly got off. Our friend waited for us.

“Welcome ladies!” he greeted us in English. “Sorry for the misunderstanding earlier!” I gave him a little nod.

“It’s okay,” I told him in English. Our friend nodded at us. Judging by his accent, he was a good old Southern boy. Not a redneck, however. Maybe well-educated. Also, his uniform caught my eye. “He’s in the Marine!” I thought. We must have docked near a military base.

“Excuse me,” I said, casually. “But where exactly are we at the moment?” The man smiled at us still.

“You’re on the base, Futenma Marine Corps Air Station, in Okinawa,” he replied. I nodded at him.

“Oh, I see,” I said.

“Where are we?” Sappoto-san whispered to me. I looked at her and repeated what the nice man said in Japanese. My friend nodded once. The marine looked at us oddly.

“Is there a problem?” he asked. I turned back to him.

“No, no!” I said quickly as I waved my hands in the arm. “My friend here can’t understand English, so I was just telling her where we were!” The marine nodded at us once.

“Ah,” he said. I nodded in reassurance. We all stared at each other in silence. The marine looked at us like a museum display.

“You girls going anywhere at the moment?” he asked.

“No,” I said. “Why?” The marine gave us a kind little smile.

“I just figured you looked lost and needed a guide,” he replied. Sappoto-san looked confused. I turned around and explained it to her in Japanese. She nodded again. Our friend waited for us, patiently.

“So, what do you say?” he asked. I turned back to him.

“Give us a sec,” I said gracefully. He nodded at us.

“Okay,” he replied. I turned back to Sappoto-san and explained the whole situation to her. She didn’t seem to keen on the idea at first. (Sappoto-san has never really trusted the military ever in her life. Again, that is her bastard of a father’s fault. I swear, men like him should… never mind. Back to the subject at hand.) I reasoned with her a bit. Finally, Sappoto-san agreed. We turned back to our marine friend. I gave him a little shrug.

“Okay,” I replied. “Lead the way!” The marine gave us a charming little smile as he nodded his head.

“Follow me,” he said. Then, he headed further into the mainland of Okinawa. I began to do as the man said. However, I looked over and saw Sappoto-san standing still, looking at her feet nervously. She didn’t seem to trust our marine. I guess years of abuse can do that to a person. I turned to her and gave her a kind little smile.

“Oh come on,” I said. “He’s not going to rape and leave us dead in an alley somewhere. His bosses would have his head if that happened!” She didn’t seem to believe at all. I sighed at her patiently. I lightly held out my hand to her.

“Look,” I said to her. “I’ll even hold your hand, okay?” Sappoto-san looked at me for a moment. We didn’t speak. She finally nodded and took my hand. I smiled at her lightly.

“There, you see?” I said. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Okay,” Sappoto-san mumbled as she nodded at me. I smiled at her still.

“Good,” I murmured. “Let’s go.” My pal gave me a little nod. I led the way to follow after our new marine pal.