looks on their faces and their clothes in disarray. He and Katherine exchanged a look of knowing.
“What are you two doing?” Jack had a suggestive tone in his voice.
“We are behaving ourselves. I should be the one asking, but by the looks of you two, there is really no need to ask,” Katherine said as she started to straighten Meredith’s clothes.
Meredith, looking embarrassed, blushed wildly and ran back into the trees. Katherine followed her.
“Do you even know what you are getting into?” Em looked at his friend and smiled and told him to get that silly grin off his face.
“You have no idea. I have truly been to paradise now. She is amazing.” The look on Jack’s face said it all. Em assumed this was his “in love” look.
“I just hope you know what you’re doing,” Em said as he turned to look for the girls. He could see them just beyond the clearing where he and Katherine had been waiting. They looked very deep in conversation. “What are you going to do now, Romeo? Did you remember we are leaving tomorrow? You are going to mess with that girl’s head. She thinks she’s in some kind of movie or something. You have to be careful. If Colonel Roth finds out you have been with his daughter this whole time, he’s not going to be happy.” Em said all this as if he were talking to a three-year-old, and Jack noticed.
“Really, Storybook, grow up. Believe me, she knew exactly what she was doing. As a matter of fact, she showed me a couple of things. Besides, her dad likes me. I mean, what’s not to like? I got it going on. In a couple of days, I am going to go and save her dad. Fish him out of the big blue sea. Bring him back from the Land of the Rising Sun. He might even promote me.” Jack was so full of himself right at this moment. He was once again strutting around like one of the roosters back home. He could pull it off without seeming arrogant. The girls fell for it every time. Every time Meredith looked at him, she giggled. Jack slapped Em on the back and said, “Stick with me, kid. It’s no telling where we might end up.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Em said only loud enough for himself to hear.
After waiting more than twenty minutes for the girls to come back, Jack and Em decided to catch up to them. They had walked in the direction of the beach. The sun was creeping lower in the sky. The sunset would be soon. Em was thinking about the next day. At sunrise, they were to board the USS Indianapolis. He had been aboard once, a couple of days prior, for a short tour. He and Jack, along with Sergeant Barnes and Captain Murphy, would be staying in officers’ quarters. They would be aboard only for seven days and travel dangerously close to Japanese territory. Then they were to meet with the fishing boat to pick up Colonel Roth, Sergeant Cannon, and Jeff, along with their cargo. It had all sounded so simple when Sergeant Cannon had briefed them before he left. He was always so sure of himself and could make Em feel secure. It would be nice to have his guidance again. Two weeks with Sergeant Barnes were like caveman training. Captain Murphy was rarely around. Em and Jack had become responsible for themselves in a way neither one of them was too familiar with. Em had been wearing dirty clothes for three days. This thought only reminded him that he still had to do laundry tonight before he finished his final packing.
The last thing Em told Jack before they caught up with the girls was that he should really end it with Meredith. Em felt that Jack needed to concentrate more on the missions ahead. He could not afford to be thinking about her all the time. Jack had only laughed and said, “Really.” Em laughed too, and then they caught up with the girls.
Em watched another spectacular sunset. Sitting on the beach, watching the sun as it seemed to kiss the water, all Em could think about was Irene.
“She’s the only girl I’ve ever loved. And before you say it, I don’t care if she is the only girl I’ve ever known that way. I never stop thinking about her, and I know that we will always be together.” Em stared out at the ocean and felt, for the first time in weeks, a tear running down his cheek. He did not wipe it away. Katherine told him of her plans to attend Stanford University and also of her plans to become a lawyer and to someday run for public office. She said that Hawaii would soon become a state, and she was in on the ground floor. She said the Hawaiian people respected women more than most Americans did. She felt like she could be a pioneer for all women, by being elected here in Hawaii and having a say in Washington DC. She told Em that by the time she was in her thirties, she expected that Hawaii would be a state. She planned on becoming Hawaii’s first senator. Then she said that maybe she would be a judge. Em was certain that her ambition was true and, no matter what path she chose, that it would be a righteous one. He thought that Katherine was a remarkable young woman and had every confidence that she would be very successful.
“How long have you known her, Emory?” Katherine was looking at Em.
When Em looked back, he saw the sun as it reflected off her auburn hair. The way she was looking at him scared him a little. He never had any desire to be unfaithful to Irene, but the circumstances right now were unlike any he had ever experienced before. The ocean continued to gently lap at the coast, and the soft sounds were hypnotic. Katherine seemed to be closer than she had been just a moment ago. Guilt as he had never felt began to overwhelm him. Before he let himself do or say something he might regret, he jumped up and walked toward Jack and Meredith. He paused and turned around. “Katherine, I really like you—” Em began, but Katherine interrupted him.
“Oh, Emory, relax!” she started. “I don’t know what you think, but I’m really just interested. I have been talking to you for two weeks. I think I know how you and Irene are destined for each other. I don’t know if you realize how much you talk about her. I almost believe I know her already. I really just think an awful lot of you and Jack, and I’d like to keep in touch. You never know when you’re going to need a friend. This war is not over yet. I’ll be right here in Hawaii. It’s closer than you think to everything.” She stopped talking and resumed staring at the sunset. Em knew she meant every word of what she had just said but never anticipated ever having to take her up on her offer.
He did not answer her question about when he met Irene, but now he could not stop thinking of that day.
*****
It was the spring of 1942. It had felt like the longest winter of Em’s life. Pearl Harbor happened in December. School had taken on a whole new atmosphere. The halls were unusually quiet. The girls grouped together a lot and cried. The seniors kept getting more frantic. Sometimes Em thought that none of it was real. He and Corby were in their second year of high school and starting to feel more mature. Then the United States entered the war. Now, he felt like a little boy again.
When his sixteenth birthday was approaching, the most important thing in his life was his friendship with Corby. The two of them were inseparable. Their parents knew that if one of them was in the house, then the other was close. The boys talked about the war constantly. Corby talked about enlisting long before Em thought about it. They were walking into church on a cold March morning, being very immature. They were drawing attention to themselves. Their parents were none too happy. When Em made eye contact with his mom, she indicated that he was to sit beside her. He wished he had never looked at her.
He and Corby squirmed in their seats while waiting on the minister to begin. Everyone was turned in their pews talking to one another; however, whenever he or Corby turned around, Em’s mom used her powers of intimidation to persuade them to keep looking forward. When Em noticed that everyone suddenly got quiet, he could not help himself, and he turned just in time to see her. The entire family were giants. Em counted four young men, each looking like they already were shaving daily. The dad was bigger than each one of them. The mom looked a little tired but still rather attractive. Then when a space between two of the brothers opened and she walked through, Em felt his heart stop. Her hair was tied with
