It was April 14th and Trevor, Ben, Henry and Carl waited along with Peter Adams near Sewickley's desk first thing in the morning. They waited for their orders, and Trevor looked happy knowing he completed his mission.
Sewickley walked out of LtCol Burn's office with some papers in hand.
He walked up to the waiting officers.
He looked at the first set of orders. "Lieutenant Adams," he called out.
Peter Adams walked up to Sewickley, who handed him the orders.
Peter looked at them and looked a little nervous. It was for Engebi in the South Pacific.
Peter walked away and headed to the exit.
Sewickley looked at another set of orders. "Lieutenant Foley."
Henry Foley walked up to Sewickley who handed him the orders.
Henry walked back to Trevor, Ben, and Carl.
"Where you going?" Ben asked.
"Engebi," Henry replied and looked a little nervous with seeing action in the South Pacific.
Henry walked away and headed to the exit.
Sewickley looked at another set of orders. "Lieutenant Eastman."
Carl walked up to Sewickley, who handed him the orders.
Carl looked at them and waited for Sewickley to hand out some more orders.
Sewickley looked at the last set of orders in his hand. "Lieutenant Grayson."
Ben walked up to Sewickley, who handed him the orders.
Sewickley walked back to his desk and sat down.
Trevor smiled while Carl and Ben read their orders, as he knew he completed his objective.
"Where you going, Carl?" Ben asked while he looked at his orders.
"Engebi. And you?"
Trevor got this sudden sour feeling in his stomach when he heard Carl's response.
Carl looked hopeful while he waited for Ben to respond.
"I'm going to the same place," Ben replied.
"The Harassing Devil's!" Carl called out not fearful of seeing action in the South Pacific.
Carl patted Ben's shoulder extremely happy they would be together. "We can take care of each other."
"You know it," Ben replied then he looked at Trevor who looked like he was going to cry.
"Trevor, it looks like your orders didn't come through yet. Good luck, my friend," Ben said then patted Trevor's shoulder.
"I need to call Diana and let her know where we're going," Ben told Carl.
Carl smiled as he completed his objective. "I want to say hello to her."
"See you later," Ben told Trevor.
"Yeah," Trevor replied, but he looked like he wanted to cry.
Ben and Carl walked away and headed to the exit.
Trevor stared at Sewickley while he sat at his desk, and for the first time in his life, Trevor wanted to kick the crap out of another human being.
Sewickley returned to his two-finger typing, and he ignored Trevor's stares.
Trevor knew he was between a rock and a hard place. He couldn't report Sewickley to LtCol Burns because Trevor doesn't really exist.
He walked away, depressed, and headed to the exit.
Outside the personnel building, Ben and Carl walked down the street.
"I was kinda hoping Trevor would be stationed at Engebi. I really like him," Ben told Carl while they walked down the street.
Carl rolled his eyes as he didn't have the same feelings for Trevor.
Later that day, Trevor stewed while he ate dinner alone in the chow hall. Ben and Carl were off calling Diana to break the news to her of their next assignment.
Later that evening, Trevor lay on his bunk and stared at the ceiling and fumed about being ripped off by Sewickley.
Most of the officers, including Ben and Carl, in the barracks, were dressed in fatigue pants and tee shirts. Some of the officers removed baseball gloves, bats and baseballs from their lockers.
"Hey Trevor, we're heading out for a quick baseball game. Want to join us?" Ben offered while he walked up to Trevor's bunk.
Trevor looked at Ben. "No, thanks. I'm going to hang out here for the night."
"Okay," Ben replied, then walked away with Carl, who waited twenty feet away.
Trevor lay in bed for another thirty minutes then he got up and left the barracks.
Trevor walked around the streets of the base and came upon a recreational field that had two baseball fields and a couple of picnic areas. He saw Ben, Carl, and sixteen other Marines while they played baseball.
He decided to walk over and watch so he could kill some time.
Ben and Carl's team was in the outfield. Ben was in left field, and Carl was the pitcher.
The batter was at the plate, ready to whack the ball. Carl did his wind-up and threw his best fastball, which wasn't that fast.
The batter smacked the ball into left field. It started to look like a home run until Ben ran over in lightning speed and caught it.
"Two outs!" the officer that played umpire yelled out behind the plate.
The next batter was pilot Kent Boyer. He stepped up to the plate. Carl did his wind-up and tried to throw a curveball.
Kent smacked the ball, and it zoomed at Carl and whacked him in square in his groin. Carl's eyes crossed and bucked over in pain.
He lay on the pitcher's mound. "Ahh!" he screamed out in pain.
Everybody ran over to Carl.
They looked down at Carl who got in the fetal position. "Ahh!" he screamed out in pain again.
Ben ran up and pushed his way through the crowd and knelt down by Carl's side.
"You okay buddy?" he asked, extremely worried.
"My balls!" Carl screamed out in extreme pain.
Everybody knew what that meant, and some of them cupped their groins with sympathy pains while a couple of guys chuckled.
Kent felt terrible for his friend.
Ben stood Carl up on his feet and walked him around.
"Is there anything I can do?" Trevor asked Ben while he walked Carl away.
Carl glanced at Trevor. "Leave me alone," Carl said in pain.
Ben continued to walk Carl around to ease the pain.
The rest of the guys took a break and relaxed on the field.
Trevor walked away then looked back and wondered if this was the injury that caused Carl to never father a child.
Trevor walked over to the NCO club. He waited thirty feet by the front entrance and watched while numerous enlisted Marines entered and exited the club.
Then fifteen minutes later, Sewickley walked over to the entrance of the club with a spring in his step as he just had tons of extra cash to spend on booze.
Trevor rushed over to him. He quickly grabbed Sewickley by his collar and rushed him between two buildings.
Sewickley looked startled while Trevor slammed him up against the wall of the NCO Club building. He then got in Sewickley's face and was furious.
"You bastard! You didn't give Grayson and Eastman the assignment that I paid you all that cash," Trevor said a little too loud.
Sewickley cringed and looked nervous. "Be quiet," he said, then looked around to make sure nobody heard about his shady dealings. "Hey, I'm sorry, but Lieutenant Eastman paid me five hundred dollars to have them both stationed at Engebi."
"He what?" Trevor replied, not sure he heard him correctly.
"He paid me five hundred dollars to get them both stationed at Engebi. I'm a businessman, so I always go with the highest price."
Trevor released Sewickley and looked baffled. "Why did grandpa do that?"
Sewickley looked a little confused with Trevor's comment. "Did you say, grandpa?"
Trevor ignored his question, and he quickly grabbed and slammed Sewickley harder up against the building. "Listen, slim ball. You get those orders changed to what I wanted."
"I can't. It's too late," Sewickley replied a little startled that an officer was getting a little violent with him.
"I want my money back," Trevor demanded.
"I'm sorry. I don't give refunds," Sewickley replied.
Trevor knew he couldn't complain, so he threw Sewickley to the ground then he stormed off.
Sewickley got up and brushed the dirt off his uniform. He watched Trevor while he stormed away. He shrugged it off and could care less while he walked into the entrance of the club for a night of hard-drinking.
Later that night, Trevor moped to the guard gate. He felt like a colossal failure and decided it was time to go home.
"I screwed this whole thing up," Trevor said. "But at least I met my grandfather," he added.
Trevor walked past the guard shack and walked out of the base.
The door opened of the guard shack, and a Staff Sergeant stepped outside.
"Sir, I need to see your pass," the Staff Sergeant called out to Trevor.
Trevor stopped and turned around.
"A pass?" Trevor asked a little confused.
"You can't leave base without a pass, sir," the Staff Sergeant replied.
Trevor shrugged him off as he knew he wasn't really in the military. He turned around and walked away.
"Sir, if you don't stop, I'll arrest you for going AWOL," the Staff Sergeant yelled out and removed his 45-Colt pistol from his holster.
Trevor stopped and turned around then saw the pistol in the guard's hand.
Then another guard, a Sergeant, stepped out of the shack and stood by his partner to show strength in numbers.
Trevor realized he could get shot, so he walked back into the base.
"I'm sorry Sergeant," Trevor said while he walked past the guards and reentered the base.
The two guards watched Trevor while he moped further into the base.
They felt he wasn't a threat of leaving to they went back inside their guard shack.
Trevor walked the streets of El Toro for hours and pondered his situation.
Later that night, Trevor paced outside the NCO Club in deep thought while he pondered his situation. He watched while numerous enlisted Marines left and entered the club.
Then Sewickley finally staggered out of the club with another cigarette that dangled out of his mouth.
Trevor rushed up to Sewickley.
Sewickley stepped away, fearful Trevor might punch him in the nose.
"Can you get me orders to Engebi in the same squadron as Ben Grayson?"
Sewickley thought about what he said and realized he wasn't going to be punched. "It's going to cost you extra."
Trevor looked a little irritated and knew Sewickley had the upper hand. "Okay, how much?"
"Two hundred," Sewickley said while he took a drag on his cigarette
Trevor thought for a second. He knew he would have a hard time getting home right now, so he reached in his pocket and handed Sewickley $200.
"Now listen you scum bag. This is a matter of life and death. So you better not screw me over on this one," Trevor threatened with clenched fists.
"I won't. Promise!" Sewickley said, looked sincere.
"Okay," Trevor said, then walked away.
"Those pilots sure are a whacky bunch," Sewickley said then he staggered away.
Trevor got back to the barracks where most of them were sleeping. He noticed Ben and Carl were asleep, so he got in his bunk and closed his eyes.
It was April 15th and a quiet California morning.
A C47 Army plane was parked on the flightline with its engines running.
Trevor stood one hundred feet from the plane and watched while numerous Marines, with their seabags, slung over their shoulders, walked over to the waiting plane.
Trevor saw Ben and Carl with those Marines that waited at the C47.
Ben saw Trevor and rushed over to him.
Carl walked over with a limp from his still groin hurting from last night's ball game. He stopped five feet from Trevor and didn't show any interest in saying good-bye.
"Hey buddy," Ben said while he held out his hand.
Trevor shook Ben's hand.
"I was really hoping we could be stationed together," Ben told Trevor.
Carl rolled his eyes and didn't share the same feeling for Trevor.
"Listen, Trevor, I don't know if we'll see each other again during this war, but after it, come to Santa Barbara and look me up," Ben offered.
Carl limped up to Ben. "We have to go, Ben," Carl said with a pat on Ben's shoulder.
"Take care, Trevor," Ben said with a pat on Trevor's shoulder.
Carl pulled on Ben's arm to break him away from Trevor.
Trevor's feelings were hurt that Carl didn't like him, and he saw a side of Carl he never knew existed.
He watched while Ben and Carl walked to the plane and got inside.
The door to the C47 closed.
The engines to the C47 revved up, and it taxied down the flightline.
Trevor walked away while the C47 taxied down the flightline to the runway.
Ten minutes later, Trevor walked back to the barracks and watched while the C47 flew over the base.
"Sorry grandma, I tried and failed you," he said while he watched the C fly47 out of sight.
Trevor sensed someone was behind him. He turned around and saw Sewickley who rushed up behind him.
"I can get you stationed at Engebi, but my brother wants an extra hundred dollars."
Trevor looked upset with his request for additional money. "An extra hundred dollars? Why?"
"My other brother at the Pentagon said there's a little problem with your orders for El Toro. If you catch my drift?" Sewickley said then he gave Trevor a look that he was onto his fake orders.
"Now, I really don't care who you really are, but if you want to risk your ass by being shot at by those Japs, well, it's none of my concern."
Trevor knew he was again between a rock and a hard place, so he reached in his pocket and removed more cash. He handed Sewickley one hundred dollars. "I really need these orders!" Trevor pleaded.
"Don't worry. I can have them for you tomorrow," Sewickley replied with the sweetest smile he could muster.
Trevor walked away and headed back to his barracks.
Sewickley walked away in another direction with a massive grin as he just pocketed an easy one thousand and two hundred smackers during the last two days. "We'll have the biggest car dealership in Philly," Sewickley said with a spring in his step while he walked down the street.