Chapter Eight: Michael’s Family:

Lunch was nice. Those were the best fries I had ever had. I only wished that Andi could’ve shared them with me. Andi… That angel is probably wondering about me now. I miss her so much. I closed my eyes and began to picture her pale, freckled face in my mind. I wonder if I’m on the news yet. Hell, Andi’s probably filed a missing person’s report by now. Maybe I should call her soon…

“Do you guys have anywhere to stay tonight?” I heard a man ask. I opened my eyes and looked up. Michael had his head over his beer. I looked at him for a long moment.

“Pardon?” I asked. Michael gave me a small smile.

“Do you ladies have anywhere to stay tonight?” he asked again. Sappoto-san looked at him confused. I turned to her and repeated the question in Japanese. The color drained from her face. I held her hand like a mother to a nervous child.

“It’ll be okay,” I whispered. “I promise.” I turned back to Michael.

“No,” I said as I shook my head. Our hot tour guide smiled at us.

“Come stay at my place tonight,” he said. I looked at him for a moment.

“Really?” I asked. “Are you sure it’s okay? We just met you and we don’t want to be an inconvenience on your part.” Michael gently held up his hand.

“You Japanese are so proper, I wonder why,” he said. “It’s okay. My girlfriend and I don’t mind.” I blinked at him. He’s giving us housing for the night, just like that? This seemed almost too unreal. I nodded at him as I tried to keep down my surprise.

“We thank you!” I almost forced out. I turned around to Sappoto-san and explained the offer to her. I might as well have told her that Michael was going to rape, kill, and eat us tonight. I squeezed her hand this time. She slowly looked up at me. I smiled at her in the kindest way possible.

“It’ll be okay,” I reassured her. Sappoto-san didn’t seem to believe me. Michael gave us an odd look.

“Is she okay?” he asked. I nodded at him.

“Yeah, she’s just not to comfortable around strangers,” I said. Michael nodded a bit.

“I understand,” he said. I bowed my head at him.

“Anyway,” I said. “We’ll be happy to stay with you tonight.”

“Great,” Michael replied. The waitress came by with our check. I reached into my wallet to pay the tab, but Michael blocked my wrist. I glanced up at him.

“Let me pay the tab,” he said.

“Oh, you don’t have to…” I began to say.

“No, it’s the least I can do for two lovely ladies,” he said. I smiled at his American charm as I put back my wallet.

“Okay then,” I said. Michael pulled out his military debut card and handed it to the waitress.

“I’ll paying for all three meals,” he told her. The waitress nodded as she took the leather folder. She pressed some buttons on the flat screen counter. She laid the card down with the name facing upwards. The bright neon green light scanned it once. The total amount came up before us. Sappoto-san’s eyes filled with stars.

“Wow!” she gasped. I chuckled at her in my head. She is just so cute like that. The waitress turned to Michael.

“Do you want any cash back, sir?” she asked. Our marine host shook his head.

“Nah, I’m good,” he replied in his attempt at Japanese. The waitress understood what he was trying to say while holding back her laughter. He did sound pretty funny trying to speak out native language.

“Just put your handprint on the screen for your signature,” the waitress said instead. Michael did so as if to take the joke rather well. His prints ran through clean. The receipt printed out on the counter. The waitress ripped it out and handed it to him.

“Have a nice day!” she cheered. Our marine guide smiled as he took the receipt.

“Thanks, sweetheart,” he replied. Our waitress giggled as she walked away. Michael turned back to us. He gave us another charming smile that won us over in the beginning. I felt myself blushing once again.

“Ready to go?” he asked. I nodded as if I was a puppet on strings.

“Uh-huh…” I mumbled. I felt someone poking me in the back. I slowly turned around to Sappoto-san staring at me with big doe eyes.

“Yeah…” I mumbled.

“It’s time to go,” she whispered. The message took a long while for it to sink in.

“Huh?” I asked. I finally understood what she was getting at.

“Oh,” I said. “Oh!” I looked over at our guide with a face of embarrassment. He only chuckled at me. So humiliating.

Michael led us back to his house on base. We rode back in his jeep. Let me tell you, this guy has the nicest jeep that you’ve seen! It’s dark blue and big another for five people to ride in. Sappoto-san and I slid in the back of the jeep.

“This is nice,” I said as I looked around at the leather interior.

“Isn’t it a beauty?” he asked. “Bought her five years ago.”

“Sweet!” I said.

“You should see how this baby runs!” Michael said. He started up the jeep and drove out of the community parking lot. Sappoto-san and I looked at the moving scenery of Okinawa. A sense of childlike wonder came onto my face. This was just like riding to Tokyo with mama, papa, and Umiko. I rolled down the window and looked out at the people and the summer city. I could feel the life flooding back into me. This is what I needed! I am me again! It’s so good to get away!

Michael pulled up to the gate and pulled out his id. The soldier opened the gate and let us through. I gave him a little wave as we rode into the base. The neighbor looked like any standard modern neighborhood. Almost too ideal to normal person. It’s what these people call in the states the “American Dream.” Makes me want to move out in a neighborhood like this with Andi one day. The jeep pulled up into the driveway of one of the house near a public pool.

“Here we are!” Michael said. “This is my house.” Sappoto-san and I looked around.

“Wow!” Sappoto-san gasped. Michael turned off the jeep and unlocked the door. We all slid out of the vehicle and walked up to the front door. Michael reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out his keys. The scent of fresh air as he opened the door. Our marine guide turned around to us.

“Girls, welcome to my humble home,” he greeted us.

“Michael?” we heard a woman’s voice ask us. “Is that you? Are you home already?”