Chapter 12
Later that day, Michael landed Crusher 5 in a spot back at LZ Lola.
After the engine down the Cong Crushers grabbed Monroe's dead body. He dragged him out of the cargo area.
They carried him away to go home in a body bag.
C Squared looked at the pool of blood on the floor of the cargo area of Crusher 5. He did not seem thrilled with cleaning it out the chopper.
C Squared walked away to get a bucket of water and a scrub brush.
Michael got out of Crusher 5 and saw the pool of blood in the cargo area. He did not know what to think about a young man recently died on that spot.
Alan noticed Michael staring at Monroe's pool of blood. "It goes with the territory," Alan said. He walked over to Michael.
"I can't get the face of that dead soldier out of my head and the fact that I almost got my feet shot off," Michael said.
"Now you're seeing the beast in Vietnam. It's pretty ugly, but you'll get used to it," Alan said while he patted Michael on his shoulder. "Let's get a couple of beers," he added then walked Michael away from Crusher 5.
An hour and three beers later, Michael walked out of the Party Place and decided he needed a haircut.
He entered the small tent that was the LZ barbershop.
Inside the barber tent were two Vietnamese Barbers, Bao and Hein Trung. Both men were middle-aged but looked older. They had been the barbers at LZ Lola for the past year.
Michael walked into the tent and saw Bao shaving 1LT Russ Durkin and then a haircut.
He saw Hein waiting in the other chair for his next customer.
"You haircut?" Hein called out from his chair.
"Yeah," Michael replied while he walked over to Hein.
Hein got out of the chair and dusted it off with his towel while Michael walked over.
Michael plopped his butt in the chair. Hein placed a clean towel around Michael's neck and shoulder.
"A trim, please," Michael told Hein.
Hein nodded in agreement that he understood and grabbed his scissors and clippers.
While Hein started trimming Michael's hair, he glanced in the mirror that faced him.
"Yep Bao, I'm leaving tomorrow. My tour in Nam is over. I'm getting the fuck out of this Army," Russ said with a smile on his face.
"Me happy for you," Bao replied with a fake smile. He could care less while he wiped off the residual shaving cream off Russ' face.
Michael glanced over at the door. His eyes lit up the second he saw Kim Ly enter the tent with a broom in her hand.
He watched her while she started sweeping away the dirt and hair clippings on the wooden floor.
Kim swept the broom close to Michael's chair.
"Hello there," Michael said the second she got close to him.
Kim looked at Michael and gave him a shy smile and continued sweeping.
Michael continued to watch Kim from the mirror while she swept the floor.
Hein finished with Michael's trim, and then he slapped the back of Michael's neck a few times. This took Michael entirely by surprise and got pissed.
He jumped out of the chair and faced Hein while he rubbed the back of his neck. "Why the fuck did you do that?" he said, wanting to punch Hein.
Bao slapped the back of Russ' neck a few times.
"Easy there. It's part of the way they do haircuts. Hein's cool. You'll start to like it," Russ told Michael while he got out of his chair.
Russ paid Bao for the haircut then he looked at Michael. "You must be one of the fucking new guys," he asked Michael.
Michael nodded in agreement.
"Figures," Dunkin said while he cracked a smile and walked to the door of the tent.
Michael glanced over at Kim, who giggled at him over Hein slapping his neck.
"Oh, do I make you laugh?" he asked Kim.
Kim started to feel less shy around Michael. "Yes. You funny."
"Well, why don't we go have a beer and do some more laughing," Michael offered her.
Kim glanced over at Hein with a look that she needed his permission.
He nodded in agreement that she could have a beer with Michael.
Kim placed her broom over by one of the tent walls.
Kim and Michael walked out of the tent.
Kim was shy and quiet while they walked away from the barber tent.
Michael remembered something. He reached in one of his fatigue pockets and removed a $10 bill. "Here, I heard you charge ten dollars a month to sweep the tent, shine shoes," Michael said while he handed her the money.
"Also laundry," Kim replied with a smile and took the bill and shoved it into her dirty pants.
They had a quiet walk over to the Party Place.
Michael stepped inside the Party Place.
He saw eight Cong Crushers drinking beer.
The Everyday People song by Sly and the Family Stone played on the radio.
Michael walked over to the bar and bought two Miller beers from Hao.
Hao glared at Kim while he opened the two can of beers. He had a look that he did not approve of Kim socializing with Michael.
She ignored his glares while Michael handed her a beer.
He escorted Kim out of the tent.
She remained shy and quiet while they walked away from the Party Place.
Michael walked Kim around to the Huey area. They walked over to the port side of Crusher 5, where C Squared had finished cleaning the cargo area an hour ago.
"Here's what I fly," Michael said while he stood by Crusher 5 looking proud.
"You pilot?" she asked while she looked interested in the Huey.
"Yep, I'm a helicopter pilot," he boasted while he puffed out his chest.
"Let's relax," Michael offered while he walked her over to the cargo area. He offered his hand to assist her up into the Huey.
Kim nodded in agreement and accepted his hand.
Michael assisted Kim while she got inside the cargo area of Crusher 5 and sat down in the canvass seat.
Michael climbed inside Crusher 5 and sat next to her.
She took a sip of her beer.
He took a sip of his beer.
"Yep. I've wanted to fly a helicopter pilot since I was a kid."
"Where you go when you fly?" Kim curiously asked then sipped on her beer.
"Oh, we drop off the Cong Crushers, and then we pick them up from various landing zones."
"How you fly it?" she asked, then took another sip.
"Come, I'll give you a quick introduction to this marvelous machine," Michael replied. He set his beer can down.
She set her beer can down while he jumped out of Crusher 5. He assisted Kim down to the ground.
Michael grabbed Kim by her hand and walked her over to the cockpit. He opened the door and sat her down in the seat.
He grabbed her right hand and placed it on the cyclic control. He put her left hand on the throttle of the collective. Then he reached down and placed her sandals on the anti-torque pedals.
Crusher 22 started up its engines nearby.
He moved her right hand and pushed the cyclic forward. "This makes her go forward."
He moved her right hand and pushed the cyclic backward. "This makes her go backward."
He moved her right hand and pushed the cyclic to the right. "This makes her go to the right."
He moved her right hand and pushed the cyclic to the left. "This makes her go to the left."
He then moved her left hand up and moved the collective up. "This makes her go up."
He then moved her left hand down and moved the collective down. "This makes her go down."
The nearby Crusher 22's engine revved up, and its blades were spinning.
Michael assisted Kim out of the cockpit.
Wally lifted Crusher 22 in the air and started to move forward while it ascended. The front skids made contact with the metal revetment wall, and it flipped over and crashed.
Michael used his body to shielded Kim since the blades of Crusher 22 hit the dirt and snapped off. Dust flew everywhere.
The dust settled, and Michael and Kim were not injured.
Michael and Kim gazed into each other eyes. He leaned down to Kim and kissed her lips.
She did not resist, and they embraced in a passionate kiss.
Michael decided to take a chance. He grabbed Kim's hand and walked her back to the cargo area. She did not resist.
He assisted her back inside. He looked at Crusher 22 and saw four Cong Crushers rush over to help the crew members of that crashed Huey.
Wally, Nathan, and SP4 James Paul survived the crash with some minor injuries.
Michael and Kim kissed for a few minutes inside Crusher 5. Michael closed the cargo doors for privacy. She did not resist, and he knew his mission could start.
Michael lowered his pants and boxers.
He removed Kim's pants. She did not resist.
They kissed again.
She got on her back.
He climbed on top of her and was inside in seconds.
Soldiers milling about the area didn't notice the rocking Crusher 5.
Fifteen minutes had passed.
Michael and Kim got dressed.
He opened the port side cargo door and assisted her out of the cargo area.
He walked her to the front gate of the LZ.
After he gave Kim a goodnight kiss, he glanced down at her feet at those Ho Chi Minh racing slicks. "Can you get me a pair of those sandals?" he asked while he pointed down at her feet.
Kim looked down at Michael's boots then at him. She nodded she could arrange that then she rushed off through the front gate of LZ Lola.
Kim got on her rusty bicycle that she left out by the front gate when she arrived earlier in the day.
She rode away from LZ Lola and headed to the local village where she lived in a hut with her elderly mother.
Michael returned to Lola Hilton with a huge grin. Once he got to his bunk, he spotted a letter on his bunk from his mother. There was also a letter from Eric from Fort Benning and a letter from Kevin from Germany.
He got on his bunk and immediately opened and read the letters.
Elaine wrote that nothing much had happened in the Glendale area.
Kevin wrote that he was having a blast in Germany and wished Michael could get a transfer there. But Michael knew that would never happen. Besides, he actually wanted to stay in Vietnam to spend more time with Kim.
Eric wrote that he was doing good in Fort Benning, and that assignment was getting boring. He stated that he was thinking of putting in a request for an assignment in Vietnam.
After he read the letters, he decided to write them a letter. He grabbed his pad of paper and pen from his locker and started writing.
An hour had passed, and Michael had those three letters sealed and dropped off at the mailbag.
He returned to the Lola Hilton to retire for the night.
Michael lay in bed and stared at the top of the ten and couldn't get thoughts of Kim out of his mind. He was in love for the first time in his life, and the idea of possible marriage entered his mind.
"Fuck!" Biannotti yelled out.
Michael looked over at Biannotti, who was rummaging through his locker.
"Who the fuck stole my money?" Biannotti yelled out with fire in his eyes.
"Did you leave it unlocked?" Frank yelled out from his bunk.
"No," Biannotti said while he looked down at his locker.
"You forgot you spent it all on beer," Frank yelled back.
Biannotti scratched his head and could not remember if he spent it all on beer. Biannotti locked his locker and lay on his bunk pondering if he spent his $40 or someone stole it.
Michael could care less about Biannotti missing money as he still had Kim on his mind.
The next morning arrived, and Michael returned from showering at the Soapy Palace.
He walked up to his bunk and found a pair of Ho Chi Minh slicks by his locker. He picked up one of the sandals and checked it over. He saw the front and rear straps made out of an inner tube and shoved into slits of the bottom of the sandal. He checked out the bottom and saw that it was cut out of an old vehicle tire with the thread on the bottom. "Creative!" he said while he dropped the sandal to the floor. He removed his combat boots, and socks then slipped his feet into the sandals. They were a perfect fit. "How did she know my size?" he wondered while he walked around a little and Allan was right, they were comfortable.
Michael walked out of the Lola Hilton.
He headed off to the Fine Army Cuisine tent for some more powered eggs breakfast. He was proud of his Ho Chi Minh racing slicks while he ate breakfast.