“So, Mike,” Jim asked, “why are you showing up in the summer?”
“I’m starting in the fall,” I said, “but I got a job over the summer. It’s no internship with a law firm, though. You’re looking at Berkeley’s newest janitorial staff member.”
“Nice,” Jim said with a laugh. “I hope you’re not the poor sap who has to clean up Wurster Hall. My studio is a mess.”
Julia missed, and I was up. I searched for a good shot. There was a long one, right along the bumper. I knew I couldn’t make it, so I tried a closer, easier shot and missed, of course.
“No worries,” I said. “Just cleaning out empty dorms.”
Jim was really good. He got three balls in before missing on an awkward, reaching shot.
Tommy came back with a beer.
“So,” I said as Mary leaned over to take her shot, “prelaw, huh? What kind of lawyer do you want to be?”
“It’s better to ask what kind of lawyer I wanted to be. I’m probably going to drop out. The biggest thing I’ve learned about the law is that I hate it. Taking notes during back-to-back-to-back divorce settlements has made me swear off marriage too.”
“John!” Tommy shouted. At once, the whole group turned. Someone was walking toward us, a huge grin on his face. Everyone smiled wide when they saw him.
“Tommy!” The guy waved as he made his way over. John was tall, wearing jeans and the coolest jacket I’d ever seen. It was denim, but embroidered intricately all over the back, shoulders, and arms. Bright splashes of color—flowers, spirals, and a peace symbol.
It was clear everyone in the place knew him. He slapped hands with the people at the bar and hugged one of the waitresses.
“What’s up, man?” Jim asked, and gave him a hug, thumping him loudly on the back. John kissed Julia and Mary each on the cheek. When he got to Tommy, they did some kind of secret handshake.
“Everything is up, guys. It is a good day.” He turned to the waitress and shouted, “Bring a round of—what are you guys drinking? Looks like three beers and a … What’s that, Julia?”
“Jack.”
“Three beers, a Jack, and I’ll take a Scotch and water.” He turned, noticing me for the first time. “You want a drink?”
“No thanks, I’m good.”
“Suit yourself. I’m John, man. Good to meet you.” He stretched out his hand and I took it.
“Mike,” I said.
“Cool,” he said, clapping me on the shoulder. “So who brought you?”
“Tommy,” I said. “I’m his new roommate. Spent the day on a bus ride from Pasadena, and this is my first look at Berkeley nightlife.”
“Well, we better make it a good one, then. You’re not drinking anything, so we’ll need a higher level of discourse.”
Tommy laughed. “Higher than beer and pool?”
“Did you guys see the news today?” John asked as he sat down. I looked back at the pool table. It was my turn.
“No,” Julia said, her brow crinkling. “I was in the studio all day. What’s happening?”
“The bastard just said that he’s mining Haiphong Harbor.”
“The bastard?” I asked. I took a shot and missed the pocket by an inch.
“We don’t say his name,” Jim said with a laugh.
Mary laughed. “If you say Nixon three times into a mirror, he’ll appear next to you.”
“What’s Haiphong Harbor?” I asked.
John took off his hat and twirled it in his hands. “Don’t know your Vietnam geography?”
“I know Hanoi and I know Saigon,” I said. “I know the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the Gulf of Tonkin.”
“And what, may I ask, is your position on the war?”
It was Mary’s turn, and she drilled the 5 ball into the side pocket. She held out her hand as she walked past me and I slapped it. “Good shot.”
“Thank you.” She lined up another one.
“My father,” I said to John, “would tell you that the Vietnam War is being fought to prevent the vile spread of Red Communism and strengthen our alliance with Australia. I worked with him nine to seven almost every day of the year, selling furniture, and he said that at least four times a week.”
John smiled and put his hat back on. “And what do you say?”
“I think we’re sending kids over there to die just so the president can say we’re doing something about the ‘communist threat,’ with the false belief that, as a superpower, we have the right to invade any small country we want.”
Mary knocked in the 7 ball and then stood up.
John nodded his agreement, and the waitress arrived. She set the drinks on the table beside John. John paid her and, if I was seeing correctly, gave her a huge tip.
“And today,” John said, “the bastard has declared that he’s going to be placing mines in Haiphong Harbor, the main port of North Vietnam. There are military ships in those waters, but it’ll mostly affect imports, like food and medical care. Yeah, it will hurt the army, but it’s sure as hell going to hurt the civilians more.”
Jim nudged me. “He was over there.”
“You’re a vet?” I looked at John.
He stared back at me and then pulled up his sleeve. There was a tattoo of a skull wearing a green beret.
Mary walked over next to me. “You coming? I don’t want to have to win this all by myself.”
“She could too,” John said.
I stood up. John looked older than everyone else. He looked weathered. “John, what do you do?” I asked.
John exhaled, a deep, slow breath. “It’s a long story.”
Mary pulled on my arm. “Come on.”
He grinned. “It’s called Endgame. Now go play pool.”
I sat on one of the couches, watching Jim and Julia play nine ball against each other. Mary had stuck with me all evening, which surprised me, but I didn’t want to question it. I didn’t think a girl like Mary had ever even looked at me, but here was one who was pulling me over to the couch
