I left Suki with a passionate kiss in the morning. The cab ride went by quickly as my head swam with thoughts of Suki and the memory of her taste and sweet perfume. The walk to the barracks invigorated me even more. Jet lag never caught me the whole day, because my heart was filled with Korea.
Breakfast was a different experience. I never entered a Mess Hall in Korea before. It seemed strange to listen to a baseball game during breakfast. It was really starting off as an interesting season too as the Oakland A’s were just unstoppable. Everyday they seemed to be on the front page of the Stars and Stripes with another win. I finally got to meet the Sergeant in charge. Lets call him Hillbilly, because that is what he seemed to be. Now just because I refer to him as Hillbilly do not misunderstand me. This guy knew his job and he was a performer which is why he was here in charge of us. And we had a bunch of folks working on this part of the project. I worked in the com center doing a variety of chores. Spent most of the day outside untangling a series of cables. It was dull work but I liked being out in the sun rather than the windowless com center. I took a break for lunch. At this time I met the Chogi boy. He would clean all of my clothes and gear each day. I paid him $30 for the month. After lunch I spent more time stretching cables and finding reasons to take smoke breaks.
Finally, the evening came. I took a shower and went for chow with Jam. I remember it was a Thursday night. Jet lag did not seem to be affecting him either. We both headed into the ville. Window shopping with no intention to buy. We came to a club and went in for a beer. It was early so not a lot of guys were there, though they all tended to be black and the music in this bar was all soul. The girls hit on Jam, who was black too, and it felt strange being ignored by girls in Korea. I remember the bar as being predominantly blue and my ego quickly turned the same shade. We finished the beer and headed on down the street. We found another bar and this played more popular music. I preferred heavy metal back in those days, but this beat soul music which really wore on me.
We sat at the bar and ordered a beer. There were lots of girls in this bar. Even the bartenders were women. But I had Suki so I was determined to only look and not touch. The place was painted a faded yellow, rancid and dour. But the energy the girls had dancing made a man ignore a little thing like paint on the walls. Somewhere I could hear pool balls collide in a game of eight ball. But Jam and I watched the dancers and sipped our beers. Then this little girl came up to us. When I say little I mean YOUNG. She was obviously a teenager with long ebon hair and she was cute despite her pizza face. I’ll refer to her as Little Bit.
“My friends think you are cute,” she said. Little Bit had pretty eyes and they were staring into mine. Her voice conveyed confidence backed up with 15 years of cockiness. The girl swayed from left to right following the beat of some forgotten 70s tune.
“Whose your friend,” I asked?
Little Bit pointed across the room. Her finger targeted a table where two Korean girls sat. They smiled at Jam and I. Both waved. I looked at Jam and he looked at me.
“It won’t hurt to chat Jerry” Jam looked at me. He scratched his beard in contemplation. (Note Jam had a shaving profile which allowed him to grow a beard. Most soldiers like me had to shave everything off except moustaches.)
So we hopped off the stools and passed through the dancers as we followed Little Bit. She walked up to the women, smiled, and kept on stepping away to the other side of the bar. We sat down. Both girls were cute. I sat next to Miss Lee. She looked sweet, wearing a bright yellow button down short sleeve blouse, blue jeans. and a pair of tennis shoes. She had her bangs evenly cut just brushing the top of her eyebrows. The rest of her hair fell down to the bottom of her shoulder blades.
I looked her in big eyes and said, “I got a Yobo.”
“You do?” Her eyes grew larger. “Where is she?”
“She works in Songtan”, I replied. “She has to work tonight.”
“So you don’t need a girl?”
“No. But my friend does.”
Jam looked at me and kind of smiled at the thought.
“You want to dance, GI?” She looked at me with those pleasant eyes.
“Sure why not.”
And that was how the evening went. We danced and drank our beers. We even bought the girls a round, Business was slow on Thursday. Most GIs could not get off base without a pass and I guess most passes were issued on the weekend. Another advantage of my job. I did not need a pass as long as I had my orders. So the girls were not so prone to hustle on this evening. We gave em a good time. Gave us the chance to dance, drink some beer, and go home and to catch 40 winks for the four of us.
Friday started off with bad news. Hillbilly said we would work through the weekend. That killed me. How was I going to see Suki if I worked every damn day? And we worked late that Friday. I think the jet lag must have hit as I just went to bed without a second thought. Saturday we worked but we finished a little earlier. Hillbilly wanted us to work Sunday, but I did not care. I wanted to be with Suki.
A cab took me to the Songtan Hotel. I bumped into Choon right away. She told me Suki worked in another place tonight, but she would come to Songtan before curfew.
Now back in Camp Humphries we had another Sergeant that was an equivalent rank as Hillbilly. Fortunately, Hillbilly had time in his rank so he was over this other Sergeant who I will call Dickhead or just DH. DH had been on my ass from the moment I arrived. This guy was a fucking Martinet and I never got along with those kind pricks. Thank God I had the Chogi boy or I really would have had some hard times. But as usual, my hair was too long and he was threatening me with punishment if I did not get my hair cut.
I told Choon I needed a little trim. She took me down into the basement of the Songtan Hotel. There was a hair salon with several stylist. There I met this itty bitty lady named Miss Lee. She was just cute as a button and I doubt she reached a complete 5 feet in height. She had a cute little figure and she always seemed to wear black pants and velvety blouse. Her hair was cut short in layers and feathered. Did I mention she was cute as a button? Most important though she cut my hair, I had so much fun with the hair stylists and Choon that I stayed in the salon after my haircut. I tried to chat with the ladies and they were just as eager to engage me in conversation. And reflecting back on this couple of hours, it was my longest time I had spent with Korean women that were not bar girls.
Choon and I went up for a bite in the hotel restaurant. We sat around, me drinking a beer waiting for Suki to arrive. She showed up around 11:30. I hugged her and took her costume box and shoes. I walked toward the front desk to get a room.
“No Yobo,” Suki spoke. “We got to savu money.”
This kind of made me smile at that moment. One of the reasons GIs bragged about Korean girls was their ability to save money. Here she was already looking out for my coin. So I did not argue. We walked out of the Songtan Hotel and into the night. People on the street walked in rushed determination. Curfew would begin soon and no one wanted to be caught out on the streets.
Then we got to a strange building. It was open yet closed. It reminded me more of a barn, but this was where Suki’s hooch was located. It was even sparser than the place JB and I had left Choon. The roof was a curvy corrugated sheet supported by wooden pillars. We walked through the common area. Here there was a water spigot and drain. There were lots of containers stacked about. They were probably kimchi containers, but I would not understand this until a few more weeks passed by. Suki entered the combination to the padlock. She opened the door which was a wooden frame covered by particle board. Her room was tiny. The walls were chicken wire and particle board. She had a wardrobe secured with another pad lock. Inside were all of Suki’s worldly belongings. This included the sleeping pads and blankets we would use. Chicken wire also formed a roof above us. From this Suki hung stocking and other clothing she must have hung out to dry. I was getting ready to ask Suki where the banjo was, when she pulled out a pot and squatted right in front of me. I followed suit and I guess for the first time in my life I had a pot to piss in.
Finally, it was time to get under the covers. I was all ready to go too. All that time waiting for Suki and being a good boy and now I just wanted to play. I made my move and she pushed me back. I looked back at her shocked, confused, and still ready to go.
“Oh Yobo. We don’t makey love every night.”
The gears in my mind spun and zoomed quickly with more than a couple of gears grinding. Another reason GIs bragged about Korean girls is that when you wanted whoopie, you got whoopie. And I wanted it!
I looked at her with blue puppy dog eyes and said, “But I wanna make love. I’m ready. We can take it easy next time honey.”
She hissed at me. “Egi ya! You just a baby.”
And that tone and comment just skewered me. I’m thinking, why don’t you just cut my nuts off and throw ‘em out in the street. I wanted her bad, so bad that now those balls were physically aching in anticipation. But she did not budge. And I just laid on my back and stared at the corrugated roof through the chicken wire. Now I was glad I had to work in the morning. I don’t know what I would do if I had to stay with her all day. I was not going to allow this to become Miss Jin II. No way in hell.
The night dragged on. Cool breezes blew through the hooch and I listened to Suki breathe. Damn. I cursed my luck. Why could I never catch the Korean girls all the other guys caught?
Finally, the sun broke the horizon so I knew curfew was over. I got dressed and Suki looked at me with questioning eyes.
“Where you go Yobo?”
“I have to work.”
And that’s all I said to her. I did not explain anything to her. And in retrospect I did not ask her feelings. Was she tired from dancing all evening? Did she have an upset stomach? Did she just want to sleep and make love in the morning? I asked nothing. I just left.
And I still missed the warning label. Though I have to admit, it was too late to read it now anyway.
CHANGE OF SUBJECT. The Organic Whole Grain noodles were great. My kids did not even notice the difference. Yay.
