style="font-size:15px;"> Both airmen looked up from their plates and stared at each other.
“What you mean?” Jack began. He never realized he was using broken English but corrected himself nevertheless. “Excuse me, ma’am, but do you know Sergeant Cannon?”
“You eat. No time talk.” She grinned her toothless grin and continued on her way to the sink.
Em looked at Jack, and they both said at the same time, “He is here!”
You really think he’s coming with us?” Em spoke to Jack, but then he answered his own question. “I guess he really is. He’s probably here already.”
Jack continued to stuff food into his mouth. His cheeks were as full as Em had ever seen them. He was using a spoon, and it never seemed to cease shoveling the food in. When Em looked at his friend’s plate, over half of the food was gone. Em thought that Jack looked as if he did not care that Sergeant Cannon was probably here in Alaska. Em was always astonished at the way Jack could seem so detached from a situation. “Don’t you even care?” Em asked him.
“Nothin’ I can do about it whether he’s here or not, so I figured I would just keep eating.” His food was almost gone now.
“But if he is here, then he is coming,” Em said.
“So?” was Jack’s reply.
They continued to eat in silence. Em continued to ponder their situation. Jack told him that he thought about things too much. Jack just looked like he was hungry. Em thought about Cannon. What is he doing here really? How did he get here? Where is he coming from? Why couldn’t he just have come by the same route as me and Jack? Another thing, what was his connection to Colonel Roth, other than being his brother-in-law? How had he saved Roth’s life? Em began to feel overwhelmed again and was astonished at Jack’s indifference. He returned his attention to the food on his plate. Jack had finished every morsel on his. He mindlessly moved his fork from plate to mouth while thinking about what lie ahead for them. Jack still had the unconcerned look on his face that Em had seen so many times before. Jack was now picking his teeth.
“I really need some answers soon, or I think I’ll go mad,” Em finally broke the silence.
“Let it go, Storybook,” Jack said. “Before you know it, we’ll be in paradise. And what else matters after that? Think about it. Blue ocean, beaches, island girls with grass skirts. What else could possibly concern you? Relax. Finish your meal. We’ll be back on that plane soon whether Cannon is with us or not. Then, in a few short hours, we will land in paradise.”
“Boom Boom be here soon.” They had not even heard the old woman as she approached. “He say you two his new crew.” Jack and Em turned to look at her. She was smiling. “Boom Boom say feed you, and he come get you.”
“How long has he been here?” Em asked the toothless woman.
“He come yesterday. I make him eat. He too skinny. He tell me. Wait for two more and feed them.” She carried an armload of dirty dishes into the kitchen.
Em and Jack got up and cleared their own table. They followed her to the sink. They began to bombard her with questions. “How do you know him? How did he get here? Where is he now? Can we see him?”
She just laughed and threw towels at them. “You here, you dry pans.” The airmen did not care as long as she answered their questions. They would dry as many pans as she wanted. She continued to laugh her infectious laugh and said, “He tell me you two ask questions. I know nothing. He be here soon. You ask him.” The airmen were perplexed and continued drying the pots and pans. Em’s mind was wandering again. He was making a list inside his head: (1) “Roth and Cannon are brothers-in-law”; (2) “Cannon saved Roth’s life. When? Where? How?”; (3) “The scar on Cannon’s back, did it happen when he saved Roth’s life?”; (4) “Why are they training in Hawaii?”; (5) “Why top secret? After all, they were only eighteen”; (6) “Why did the crew on the plane tell them to pay attention?”; and (7) “Why couldn’t their families know where they were going?”
His list could have gone on forever if Jack hadn’t said, “I think that one’s dry.” Jack stung Em with his towel.
Em just moved aside and said, “I was just thinking.”
“I keep telling you. That’s your problem. You think too much.” Jack coiled up his towel and stung Em once more. “We’ll find out sooner or later, probably sooner. You heard her. ‘Boom Boom be here soon.’”
Em had to laugh. He found it ridiculous to think of Cannon as Boom Boom. He would definitely have to find out where that came from. No sooner was he thinking this, Sergeant Cannon walked through the cafeteria door.
“Find out about what, Turner?”
Jack, who had his back to the doorway, jumped vertically and horizontally simultaneously. It looked like his arms were trying to separate themselves from his torso. Quick as ever, Jack landed at attention and said, “Sorry, Sergeant Cannon, sir. But the lady told us, and well, you can imagine!”
“It’s all right, Florida. It’s time I come a little clean with you, guys. Hey, Kikimo. What you got in that pot?” He walked away as cool and calm as was his approach. He hugged his old friend. She grinned even bigger than before, revealing more of her gums.
“Well,” Jack said, and then he punched Em’s arm, “if you ever let anyone sneak up on me like that again…” Here he stammered. “Well…don’t…”
“Guess we’re finally going to get some answers.” Em heard his own lips say. Although this was what he wanted, he suddenly felt overwhelmed about what he was getting ready to hear. Both airmen continued to wipe the pans dry, but now neither of them would have seen anyone approaching from the front or rear because both of them looked deep in thought. Cannon continued to speak to his old friend. He had already begun to eat the fish stew in front of him.
When the meal was finished and the kitchen began to look worthy of inspection, the boys found themselves sitting across from the man who would become their friend. Cannon, looking as sharp as always, lay his fork on the table and wiped his mouth. “I can’t tell you how long I’ve waited for Kiki’s stew. I had her make it special for you two. Like it?”
Jack and Em stuttered their agreement without changing the looks on their faces.
“Sorry,” Cannon said. “I know you’re a little anxious, but let’s talk a minute.” He almost demanded calmness with his tranquility. He asked them about their trip from Texas. He especially wanted to know about the trip from San Francisco to Alaska. He asked them more questions than either of them felt like answering, but both of them continued to smile and remained as calm as possible. Em was ready to scream and knew that he must look ready to scream also. Cannon finally leaned back in his chair and said, “Where do I begin?” He sighed and landed his chair back on all four legs and arose from it. He then began to pace back and forth.
The airmen looked at each other, and then they both looked up to Sergeant Cannon. Suddenly, Jack blurted, “How ’bout that scar on your back? Where’d you get that?”
Sergeant Cannon began to laugh. “Anything you could ask and that’s what you want to know about?”
Em looked at Jack, and he too wondered exactly where that question had come from.
Jack
