A Marine Called Jason
(Revised)
by: Peter

(© 2007-2015 by the Author)
 

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 78
Last Kills

I reported in and Colonel Whitaker motioned to a chair.  He motioned for his orderly to close the door on the way out.

“You had some misgivings about Richards at first.  How’s he working out for you?”

“Good.”

“You trust him.  You can count on him.”

“Absolutely.”

He called for his orderly.  “Send Richards in.”

Richards came in and was motioned to the other chair. “No interruptions,” the Colonel told his orderly.

“This conversation never happened and this mission never happened. It is classified top secret.  You can’t talk about it to anyone.  Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Richards replied.

“Yes, sir,” I replied as well, wondering WTF!

The colonel unveiled a map of Vietnam with the surrounding territories; China, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia.  “You’re going to Da Nang then south to Kon Tum. That’s thirty miles or so from the Cambodian and Laotian borders. You’re looking for two snipers, possibly three. They’re hit and run, as you guys are prone to do, they cover long distances, and they’re good. We’re counting on you being better. They know right when and where to hit. They wait till our supply vehicles are on a high, craggy stretch of narrow road then they take out the drivers. The trucks tumble over the cliff and there are people down below ready to pour in and gather up what’s salvageable that’s strewn down the hill.  Sometimes they’ll take out four, five, six trucks at a time.  We’re not only losing men and equipment; we are re-supplying the enemy in the process.  Now, it is believed that the snipers move in and out of Cambodia and Laos with impunity.  It is up to you to remove that impunity and take out this threat to our drivers.”

I couldn’t believe what I thought I was hearing.  “Are you saying, sir, that we are to cross over into Laos and Cambodia?”

“I didn’t say that.” He gave me a steely-eyed look that told me not to ask anymore stupid questions.  “You do understand your mission.”

“Yes, sir,” I replied. I well understood what he had not said. “May I ask why we’re being sent?  Don’t we have snipers up there?”

“Not as many as we had.  They asked for my best.”

I laughed softly.  “Well, sir, I guess we are your best since we’re the only team you have.  When do we go?”

“You’ll fly to Da Nang tonight.  I’m guessing you’ll need a week or so to plan, to talk to people up there and reconnoiter the area. You were in Intel, you’ll know who to talk to and the right questions to ask. Take longer if you need to.  You’ll be on your own schedule. Just don’t fail.”

“I never plan to fail, Sir,” I said.

“There’s one more thing.”  He dug in a drawer and brought out a poster about ten by twelve inches in size. “These have been popping up,” he said as he turned the poster for me to see. I did a double take. It was a wanted poster with four photos of snipers.  My face was on the poster! So was Jason’s, along with two others I didn’t recognize.

“Geezuss,” I said. ”I’ve got a bounty on my head.”

“And a pretty hefty one.  Fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money to these people.”

“Fifty grand is a lot of money to me,” Richards put in.

“Don’t get any ideas,” I growled.

“What about me?  Aren’t I worth anything?” Richards asked and we broke out laughing.  

Colonel Whitaker brought out a wallet sized card of the poster and handed it to me.  “There are a lot of people carrying these around as well. Civilians. Probably even kids. Stay low, and you should be in disguise as much as possible. Let your beard grow,” he said. 

I looked at Richards. He didn’t shave more than once a week if that.  “You don’t have to worry about it, your picture’s not on the poster,” I told him.

Then the Colonel handed us each a small weather proof pouch. “Here’s your ticket out, if you’re a good negotiator.  Obviously, it’s not going to stand up to fifty grand but it might get you out of a tight spot.”

I could tell by Richards’ face that he didn’t know what was in the pouch.  I did.  It was money to buy our way out of any unpleasant situation.  I didn’t ask how much.  It didn’t matter; it depended on the situation, and I knew it wouldn’t be worth crap to anyone who had seen the poster with my picture on it.

“Any questions?”  Neither of us had any questions.  “Get your gear together, then maybe get a few hours’ sleep.”

“This sounds big,” Richards said as we were walking back to our hooch.

“It just got bigger with that fifty thousand dollar bounty,” I said.

“Well at least my picture’s not on it, I can go and do and get stuff we need.”

“If we’re seen together, you’re part of the package,” I said.

“I hope you can grow that beard fast,” he said.

I dumped my pack on my bunk and got out my list.  I’d done this enough times but this wasn’t routine. No mission was routine but this one deserved special attention and I wasn’t relying on memory.  I went down the list, checking off each item.

“We know what we gotta have, don’t we?” Richards said as he dumped his pack too.

“No, we don’t.  Check everything off.  Make sure you’ve got everything and if you don’t, go to supply and get it.”

“Fuck, I hate going to supply,” he said.  “It’s like facing the Holy Inquisition.”

“If they give you any shit, tell ‘em to see Colonel Whitaker.”

I dozed but I couldn’t sleep.  Not because of the mission, but because of the poster.  Jason’s picture was on it, too. I was worried sick. Our time left in Vietnam was suddenly more valuable. We were both now hunted men, which meant our chances were greatly diminished. I wondered if he’d seen the poster.  Godd, I wanted to see him so bad.

We flew out at some Godforsaken hour and landed in Da Nang at some Godforsaken hour. We were in Da Nang only long enough to climb in a helicopter in the pre-dawn hours to be flown to Kon Tum where the actual planning would take place. A Corporal Campbell met us at the helipad and drove us to the command post to report in to Captain Morris.  He was short and to the point.

“You boys get yourselves some chow and hot coffee and report back.  Campbell, show them to the chow hall.”

“Yes, Sir.” 

It was funny, the way Richards was eating so fast.  I told him to slow down; hell, I was going back for seconds. 

“The captain’s waiting on us,” he said.

“He’ll wait,” I said. “We’re on our own time.”

Richards didn’t drink coffee but he did this morning because the captain had told us to.  I laughed and said, “You don’t have to drink it, Richards, it wasn’t an order.”  Couldn’t help loving the kid’s innocence.  It was just hard to comprehend sometimes, that there was a trained killer hiding behind that innocent face.

We reported back in to the captain.

“As soon as we get you squared away my staff is at your disposal. Let them know whatever you need and wherever you need to go.  I’ll have a Jeep and driver standing by.”

“Is it known, Sir, who we are and why we’re here?” I asked.

“It’s strictly need-to-know,” he said. 

I wondered if even the captain was totally aware of our mission; to go into Laos or Cambodia if need be to pursue the troublemakers. We were put up in a six-man hooch that was so small we had stacked bunks. We were introduced as new guys with no mention that we were a sniper team. I told Richards not to get too friendly with our bunkmates.  We had to stay focused on the mission.

In the planning room just off the captain’s office we poured over maps of the area from Da Nang and Kon Tum and across the borders into Laos and Cambodia. The room was off limits to all but us and whoever we might ask in. 

We drove the route between Da Nang and Kon Tum to get a feel of the terrain and try to determine the routes the snipers might take to move in close enough to do their dirty work and their escape routes.  We talked to guys who were in the convoys that were attacked. 

I wanted to get a closer look at what I was seeing at a distance.  I requested the Jeep and driver--Corporal Campbell--for several days and nights to take us on the narrow roads leading out of Kon Tum and along the borders of the two neighboring countries where the snipers allegedly sought safe haven.  I needed to get inside their minds, and I needed to be in the bush--in their space--to do that. I gave no indication to Campbell as to why I was asking him to take us where I was directing him. I established several routes that I would take if I were in their shoes and pin pointed the places where I would hang out my shingle and set up the shot against US supply trucks.  I drew my own more detailed maps and diagrams and made notes but I wouldn’t discuss anything with Richards until we could be alone. 

I wasn’t too pleased with Corporal Campbell. He seemed disinterested and impatient.  He made it known that he wanted to get back to Kon Tum where he had a girl waiting. He even complained when he had to drive an extra distance here and there for me to have a better look at a particular area.  And he fell asleep on his watch. I was furious.

I kicked him awake and he came up swearing.   

“Let’s get something straight, Campbell. Your sex life is on hold till I’m finished with you,” I told him. “And if you go to sleep again on watch I’ll see you court martialed.”

“You don’t outrank me, you know,” he growled.

“Soldier, I outrank you and your captain in this particular situation.  So don’t push me.  When I get pushed I push back, and when I push back it can be brutal.”

“What the fuck is that, a threat?”

“You might say that.”

“I may just report you to the captain,” he said.

“I wouldn’t.”

“No, I wouldn’t either,” Richards put in.

Corporal Campbell tried to be more cooperative after that but I’d decided I was done with him. I would sign out a Jeep and do my own driving. By the time we were heading back to Kon Tum he had figured us out.

“You’re snipers, aren’t you? You think you’re going to nail those pricks?  Hell, you won’t even find them, they pop up from a different spot every time.”

“That’s not our problem,” I said in an attempt at denial.  “We’re a recon team. Our specialty is maps and diagrams.”  I didn’t know if he believed me or not. 

As much as I didn’t like Campbell, I found out later that Richards had taken a liking to him.  We were taking a walk back at the compound after chow and I was complaining about him when Richards said, “Well, he’s sure got a nice cock.”

“What?  You had sex with him?”

“I was just trying to help him stay awake,” he quipped.

I grabbed him by his shirt.  “You pull a trick like that one more time, you are off my team.  You understand?  No more sex till this mission is done.  Not with me, not with Campbell, not with anybody, not even your fist.  You got that?  You stay focused!”

“Yes, sir.  Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry.  Be focused.”  Then I calmed down a little.  “Look, this is too big to be fuckin’ off, even for a minute.  They sent for the best, and that’s us.  I don’t want you thinking about anything but the mission.  You know what we have to do; I want you to study the maps and the routes, I want you to go over and over them in your head till you’ve memorized every fuckin’ bush and tree out there.  I want you to see the terrain like your own back yard. I want you to check and double check your equipment, I want you to clean your rifle and clean it again. I want you to get it in your head that those snipers are going to be dead, or we’re going back in body bags.”

“Yes, sir, I understand.”

“And stop calling me sir.”

Captain Morris let us be on our own time.  He would ask from time to time how it was going--the planning--but there was no pressure, except that they were still operating and killing our drivers. That was pressure enough for me and I dug in. So did Richards; I could see the difference in him after I’d reamed him for having sex with Campbell. We went over everything one more time. I studied all the reports to see how the snipers operated.  They were thought to be random but I could see a pattern.  Two patterns, because I’d also determined that there were, indeed, two snipers.  I wasn’t so sure about a third one. They appeared two days running then disappeared, heading across one of the borders, I was sure, but just far enough into Cambodia or Laos to rest and regroup in a safe haven.  I didn’t want to follow either of them there unless we had to.

One evening when we were in the planning room the door opened. There stood Campbell.

“Can’t you read!” I bellowed.  There was a sign on the door, Absolutely No Admittance!

“I was just looking for Richards,” he said with a smirky grin. I knew the captain wasn’t in his office or he would’ve stopped him.

I flew into him like a tornado. Not loud, but lethal. I hit him so hard it knocked him back through the door and he sprawled across the floor of the office.  I closed the door and put a chair against it then turned to Richards.

“See what that blowjob got us?” He wilted under my glare. 

When we were leaving I told the captain what’d happened and added that Campbell had guessed that we were a sniper team.

“He’ll be out of here in twenty minutes,” he said.

“Not to Kon Tum. He’s got a girl there,” I said.

“Da Nang. He’ll be in lockup for a while.”

That suited me fine. 

I said Captain Morris didn’t pressure us, and he didn’t, till another one of his drivers was killed.  I knew without him saying so that we had to go with what we had.

“I’m going to need some traffic on the road to flush them out,” I told him.

“There will be a convoy, you just make damn sure my trucks stay on the road,” he said.

We were at a disadvantage because there were no pictures of the snipers, but Richards got a real good look at our man one time through his scope. So did I but his scope was more high powered than mine.  I asked him if he would recognize him again, he said yes.  I focused on him.  We set up the shot at night, well hidden by the brush that managed to thrive in the rocky terrain. 

“You feeling lucky?” Richards asked as we were getting into position.

“You find the son-of-a-bitch, I’ll take him out,” I said.

“If he’s out there, I’ll find him.”

He did, and I did. We both did our jobs like clockwork.

“It’s him,” Richards said. “He’s good. He’s scoping out our position.”

“I don’t care if it’s him or not, he’s pointing a gun at us, he’s dead.”  A few seconds later, he was; gone in a cloud of smoke before he could get off his shot.  Richards wasn’t so sure he was dead.

“He blew back in a cloud of dust, how can we be sure you didn’t just wound him?”

“You must’ve blinked.  His head disappeared before he did,” I said.

“One down, one to go,” Richards said.

Another driver was killed, another truck lost.  Captain Morris was pissed, but no more than I was.

We went right back out. We set up shop in another area where we could focus on the area where the shot came from.  We watched and waited for three days before he reappeared.  Richards got a good look at him as he was getting into position and locked the guy’s face into his photographic memory just before I took a shot.  I missed and he disappeared. 

“Son of a bitch!” I swore under my breath.

“He’ll be back,” Richards assured me.

“He shouldn’t be coming back, he should be fuckin’ dead!” I growled.  It really pissed me off that I’d missed.  I vowed it would not happen again.  I went over and over it in my mind; my position, the windage and elevation, my aim, even how I’d pulled the trigger. I was convinced I’d done everything right. I would do everything more right next time. I would not miss a second time.

We waited and watched and moved—Richards thought we could improve our position--and waited and watched some more, till he came back, at a different location. Before I could take aim he took another shot but missed the driver, only did some minor damage to the truck.  He had moved too. He was well positioned, shooting through an opening in a bunch of rocks.  I knew he had pulled back from the opening.

“Okay, we’ve got his pattern,” I said.  “He don’t show up but every two or three days. The cocksucker is running across the border.  We’re going after him.”

We couldn’t take a Jeep and we couldn’t be driven.  We had to go on foot and it was a long way.  We packed up and left immediately. We moved fast, without letup except for a couple of hours of sleep here and there.  Time was not on our side.

“How the hell are we going to know where to look?” Richards asked. 

“We look were we would be hiding,” I said. “I’m inside the fucker’s head, we’ll find him. I’m hoping it’s when he’s coming back this way, that’d make it a lot easier, but it’d be just as nice to get him where he sleeps. You just remember what he looks like.”

We were settled in to eat, then grab a couple of hours sleep.  I told Richards, “You know we’re in Laos.”

“No shit!”

“You also know, if anything happens, we did not exist.”

“What do you mean we didn’t exist?”

“It can never come out that US troops crossed into Laos or Cambodia. It’d be an international incident.”

“So we just….never were? What about our families?  They know we existed.”

“Our families would be notified that we went MIA somewhere south of Saigon.  We just wouldn’t ever be found.”

“Geezuss, that’s creepy.”

“So, to save our families from the grief of not ever knowing, we are going to take this son-of-a-bitch out and get back to our outfit.”

“You’ve got a weird way of putting things into perspective, Courter.”

“You wrote your letter, didn’t you?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

We saw his smoke. It was about dusk. We didn’t know it was his smoke but we moved on the possibility that it was.  And it was. Richards confirmed it.

“Looks like a Boy Scout camp,” I said.  It looked like a half dozen tiny figures around a small campfire. Through my scope I could see them laughing, eating, drinking and smoking, having a good time.  “Check ‘em out,” I told Richards.

He already was, moving his rifle slowly back and forth as he peered through the scope.  “That’s him! Third one from the right.  He’s smoking something, probably getting high before he goes out again. You’ve got a clear shot.  Fuck, like ducks in a shooting gallery.”

“Are you sure it’s him?”

“Do not doubt my memory,” he said with stern confidence.  I liked that. Richards was coming into his own.

“I count five others,” I said, and Richards confirmed.  “That’s five against two unless I can take down another one.”

“That’s not such bad odds, is it?” He smiled.  “This’d be my first time fighting our way out.”

“And that’s what it’ll be unless they panic,” I said. “First, last and only time.”

“Well, hell, you’re gonna take the shot so what difference does it make? Hell, that’s what I’m here for.”  Then, “You are going to take the shot,” he said.

“Has a sheep got an ass?” I said. “Just one thing.  If we’re gonna die, I do not want it to be in Laos.”

“We’re not gonna die.  Hell, I wanta live to see if a sheep’s got an ass.  I never fucked a sheep before.”

  I had to wait till I stopped laughing.  “Okay, we take the same route out of here then swerve north to get back,” I said.  “Any questions?”

“Yeah, when are you gonna blow this prick away?”

I took careful aim while calculating another hit that would even the odds a little more.  Then I took the shot to his heart.  There was a split second of shock on his face before he slumped over.  I fired another round into the chest of the man closest to him.  I fired another round but they were scrambling. I thought I might’ve wounded a third man but we couldn’t hang around to confirm that. 

“Pack it up,” I said.

I quickly realized it was a mistake to take the same route back but I wanted to travel through familiar terrain till I was sure we were back in Vietnam. It must have been along the sniper’s route as well because they caught up with us. We were tired from traveling without sleep; they were well rested. I didn’t know--still don’t--if we were in Laos or Vietnam when the firefight started. It didn’t fuckin’ matter at the time.

It was fierce for a short time.  Richards performed admirably.  He was fearless. I was glad I had him along. We searched the three bodies and took what was considered valuable information and headed out.  We were dragging ass before we stopped to rest and sleep.  I wanted to be damn sure we were back in Vietnam.  Not that it was any safer but I didn’t want to die in Laos.

We reported in to Captain Morris immediately upon our return to be debriefed. I reported that the mission had been accomplished.

“And then some,” Richards added, referring to the other three we’d taken out.

“Geezusss Keerist!  You guys smell to high heaven.  Go shower and get into some clean clothes, grab a bite to eat, we can do this later.” 

The shower felt great, and quite honestly, it was good to see Richards all naked and wet. The juices were starting to boil again but that would have to wait. We ate heartily then reported back to Captain Morris.

He just sat looking at us. I glanced at Richards; I wanted him to be the one to tell him. 

“We got ‘em, Sir,” he said, trying not to beam with pride. “We got ‘em all,” he added.

“All?”

“One at the site of the supply route, we had to track down the other one,” I said.  “We took out three more in a firefight but I don’t think they were snipers.” I dug in my pocket for the stuff we’d taken from the three dead men.  “I don’t know if any of this is important or not,” I said as I leaned forward and laid it on his desk.  He pushed it aside.

“You’re sure it was them,” he said.  “I mean, you didn’t have a picture.”

I glanced at Richards.  I knew I had to tell the captain about the miss.

“They were both at the site of the supply route. I missed the second one but Richards got a look at him in his scope. I would never doubt Richards’ memory,” I said. 

“But you’ll know for sure when the bastard doesn’t show up again,” Richards said. 

Then I added, “We had to go in to get him, Sir.”

He nodded. “You know this won’t be a confirmed kill.”

I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.  He’s gone.”

“What about the third one?” the captain asked.

“There is no third one,” I said.

“How can you be sure?”

“I studied all the information you had, then I went over it with a fine tooth comb.  I established patterns for two.  There was no evidence of a third. If there was he was likely one of the other three we took out.”

“I’m taking your word for that.”

I nodded and asked, “When can we go back, Sir?”

He called his orderly in. “Tell ‘em to fire up a bird, get these boys back to Da Nang.”

“Yes, Sir.”

He turned back to us.  “You can grab the first flight back to Saigon from there. Or, hell, spend a day or two in Da Nang.”

“We might just do that, Sir,” I said.

He stood and so did we.  He put his hand out.  “Damn fine job.  I can’t thank you enough.”  Then he shook hands with Richards.  “And I’ll report that to your CO,” he added.

We exchanged salutes and left.

“Are we really going to spend some time in Da Nang?” Richards asked as we were leaving.

“Might as well.  Unless you’re anxious to get back and find that sheep.”

We stayed overnight in Da Nang.  We didn’t see the city. We only went a little ways off base to a nice restaurant that somebody recommended, where I treated us to steaks and beer. I wanted to show my appreciation to Richards.

“I’ve gotta tell you, Richards, you’ve surprised the hell out of me,” I started.  “Where the hell did that come from out there?”

“What? Out where?” he asked with a confused look.

“Wherever the fuck we were in that firefight. Goddam, you were some kind of fuckin’ demon.  You were fearless.”     

He laughed. “Oh, I wasn’t fearless.  I was scared out of my fuckin’ gourd.  That’s probably where it came from, from being so damned scared.”

“Well, I just wanta say, you’ve earned my respect.”

“Thanks, that means a lot coming from you.  Especially after you wanted to send me packing.”

“I’m sorry about that.  There were some other things that got in the way there.  Just know this; I wouldn’t want anybody else at my back.”

He nodded, smiling.

When we were finished eating we walked back to the base. I’d paid for our supper out of the money pouch.

“Hey, do we get to keep the money they gave us?”

“If they don’t ask for it, don’t volunteer to give it back,” I said. “If they don’t ask for it, you’ll get your half.”

It was a nice night, cooled down some from the heat of the day. At one point I slowed my stride and lingered back a little. Richards asked me what was the matter.

“Nothing, I was just watching your ass,” I said.

“Do you wanta get a room?” he asked excitedly.

“We’ve got a room,” I said.

“Temporary quarters on base? We can’t do anything there.”

“We can if you don’t make a lot of noise.”

“Man, I need to get fucked so bad.  That is if it’s okay to think about sex now.”

“We’re gonna do a lot more than think about it,” I said.

We declined an invitation to go to the PX for a beer and play pool.  We retired to our room.  It wasn’t anything fancy; just a small, narrow room with two bunks, a desk and chair and a night stand with a lamp on it.  It reminded me of another time in a similar room; a time out of my past.  A time that wasn’t real but I remembered it anyway.  This was real.

I was surprised how I’d been able to shut down my libido and redirect the hormones to the mission at hand.  Now it was time to let those hormones fuel my libido, which was triggered by simply watching Richards’ ass when we were walking down the street.  I wasn’t surprised at how fast he was out of his clothes. He got some lube out of his shaving kit and had his ass lubed up and ready by the time I was out of my clothes.

I fucked his brains out.  Again, and again.  He spent most of the night with his face in the pillow or with the pillow over his face to muffle his outcries.  He needed it bad and I gave it to him. I needed it too.   We fucked ourselves into exhaustion.  We slept good. We practically dragged our asses to the helo pad the next morning.

With the successful mission under my belt I was given leave to Saigon.  My time was winding down and the CO said I probably wouldn’t get any more assignments. I had a lot of leave time accumulated and the Colonel knew about the two boys Jason and I were taking back to the states so my leave was for thirty-six days if I needed it.  

“Just ride it out and get out of here in one piece.  It’d be a good idea to stay out of sight as much as possible.  There’re a lot of people looking for you.  Good idea, growing the beard.  And wear civvies.”

Richards was unhappy that I wouldn’t let him tag along but I was on another mission; to see Jason. 

“You said I’ve earned your respect,” he said.

“You have but you’re your own man this time out.”

  I hitched a ride and was dropped off within easy walking distance to Toby’s. He seemed unusually glad to see me; almost relieved. He set my beer on the counter, shaking his head as I parked on a stool.

“Goddamn, it’s good to see your sorry ass come through the door.”

“What about Jason’s sorry ass?”

He shook his head more somberly. 

“How long since you’ve seen him?” I asked.

“Not since you met up with him before.”

“Oh, fuck.”

“Yeah.”  He took out his wallet and handed me a card that I was all too familiar with.

“I’ve seen it.  The big poster, too,” I said.

“I’m worried, Brad.  I’ve been worried sick about both of you.  Where the fuck have you been anyway?”

“I was sent up to Da Nang.  A little problem they wanted me to take care of.  I didn’t have a chance to let you know.” I didn’t mention Kon Tum.   

“How much time have you got?”

“Thirty-six days if I need it.  The war is pretty much over            for me.”

“You need to get out of this fuck hole,” he said.

“Not without Jason and the boys,” I said.

“Brad….man, you have to consider the possibility……”

“No,” I cut him off, shaking my head.  “That will not happen.  I went through hell to get back here and find him; I’m taking him back, alive this time. And two little boys are depending on us.”

“Just don’t hide your head in the sand,” Toby said.  “Have you got a place to stay?”

“I thought I would get our room at the Trent and hang out here.”

“You can bunk with me,” he offered.

“Thanks. I’ll be okay.”

“It may be a long wait.  I don’t want to see anything happen to you.” 

I took the picture and held it up beside my face.  “No resemblance,” I said.

“You’re going to need laundry service.  I’’ll have somebody come pick up your clothes and I’ll send them out to my laundry lady and get ‘em right back to you.”

“Thanks.”

I checked into the room and hit the shower.  I was soaking up the hot water while there still was hot water when suddenly I was aware of someone in the room; I felt a presence.  I looked around to find a Vietnamese teenager standing beside the chair where I’d laid my clothes.  He might’ve knocked but I didn’t hear him.

“My clothes are on the chair,” I said.

“Yes.”

He didn’t make any move to get my clothes; he just stood there looking at me in the shower. All right, maybe this was more than laundry service. Or maybe he was waiting on a tip. I decided to find out. “You wanta toss me a towel,” I said, as I was turning off the shower.  It was a ruse and he had to know it; I could’ve leaned out of the shower and grabbed the towel myself.

He didn’t toss it. He didn’t even bring it to me. He took the towel off the hook and held it out wide for me to come to him. When I went up to him he moved around me and wrapped the towel around my back.

“I love Americans, you do so much for our country and our people,” he said as he began drying me off.

I had a feeling this was more than about showing gratitude.  When he had me dried off in back he rose up from drying my legs and moved around to my front.  I wasn’t hard but I was fluffed up, from the shower and from the attention he was giving me.  He noticed but continued drying me off; my arms, then under my arms, my chest and down my stomach.  He bypassed my manhood and squatted down to dry my legs again.  When my manhood was all there was left he sort of fell forward onto his knees and looked up at me.

“May I, please?”

I didn’t know if he was asking permission to dry my manhood or suck my cock but I gave it for whatever he had in mind.

“Sure,” I said.

He dried my manhood, almost tenderly.  I got fluffed up even more.  When he lowered the towel he looked up at me again.

“May I?” he asked.

I nodded.  He scooped up the head of my cock into his mouth and drew it right into his throat, smashing his face in my pubes.

“Awwwhhh!” I moaned softly as he sucked and milked my cock with his throat muscles.  I laid my hand on the top of his head and saw him smile; he was so fuckin’ cute.  He kept it up, drawing my cock deeper and deeper into his throat. I wondered if he could hold me like that till I got completely hard.  He did.  Then he sucked his way off of it, moving his mouth back and forth as he slowly pulled off.  When my cock popped free and swung up at a sharp angle he reared back with a wide-eyed look.

“Yeah, you took it all,” I said.  “You should be proud.”

“I’ve never seen such a big cock,” he said, stroking it with his fist.

“It wasn’t too big for you, though,” I said.

“Can I have your cum, please?”

You can if you can get it out of me.”

He did.  It took him a while but I thought he intended it that way. He was no novice.  When he said he loved American GIs, I think this is what he was really talking about.  He seemed to love the head of my cock.  It was pretty awesome if I do say so myself, the way it flares out wider than the shaft, almost menacing.  He spent a lot of time, partly to lap up my ball juice that kept oozing out. When I told him I was getting close he reared back off my cock and stroked it, aimed at his open, eager mouth. I let him jack me right up to the edge then I took over; I could give him a more explosive cum if I did it myself.  He was a perfect target, at least at first.  I blew the first huge rope of cum directly into his mouth, saw it splatter against the back of his throat.  It set off his gag reflex but it was a dry swallow. I gave him another, then another, with perfect aim.  I could see his tongue being coated then submerged in the pool of semen.  My hand got shaky then and I shot the stuff all over his face. He tried to move his mouth to catch it but we didn’t coordinate and I blew all over his face.  It was running down his chin but I scooped it up with the head of my cock and fed it to him.  I leaned in to squeeze out the last of it directly onto his tongue, then I used my cock to scoop up what was on his face and bring it to his mouth.  He seemed grateful, sucking and licking it off like a hungry kitten. There was a lot of it, and he had a deer-in-the-headlights look, like ‘what am I going to do with it.’  I don’t think he was expecting there to be so much of it.

“You don’t have to swallow it,” I told him.

But he did.  He gulped several times, opening his mouth each time to show me he was swallowing it.  Then he took my cock back in his mouth and sucked the last of it out of me.

“I think you’ve got it all,” I told him after a moment.

He let my cock go and sat back on his haunches, just gazing at it.  “Thank you,” he said.  “Thank you so much.”

I’d never seen anyone so humbly grateful for my cock or my load. I cupped my hands in his armpits and brought him to his feet. “You don’t ever have to thank a guy for that,” I said.

“I am grateful that you are in my country.  I want to show respect,” he said.

“You did. Great respect.  And I thank you.”

“It was good, then?” he asked.

I laughed.  “It was awesome.  You are awesome,” I told him.

He smiled then turned and gathered up my clothes.  He glanced back at me as he was going out the door.  “I be back soon with your clean clothes.”

I stretched out on the bed to bask in the aftermath of his terrific respect.  The surroundings of the room brought back old memories.  I let some of them in….I blocked some of them.

The laundry lady must have had a washer and dryer; the boy was back in record time with my clothes, neatly folded. He stayed to watch me get dressed, handing me each piece. 

“I go in army next week,” he said as he was helping me into my uniform shirt.

“That’s good, to fight for your country,” I said.

“It’s more good that you fight for my country.  We wonder why you do it,” he said.

“Sometimes we wonder too,” I said.  All I had left was my pants and boots.  He picked up my pants and held them out for me.  I stepped into them he drew them up round my waist.  He knelt down to button them for me.  He lingered, though, with the white bulge of my briefs in his face.  I thought he might want to give me another blowjob.  I didn’t encourage or discourage him; I let him make the decision. I still thought he wanted to, but he began buttoning my fly. He put my boots on for me and tied them.  I reached for my belt on the back of the chair but he took it from me.  He laced it through the loops and secured it in front.  Then he gave the front of my pants a hard squeeze and stood back.

“There, you in fine shape again,” he said, smiling proudly.

I gave him a tip but he refused it.

“No, I no take money for show respect,” he said.

“Not for showing respect,” I said, grabbing his hand.  I put the money in his hand and folded his fingers around it. “For getting my clothes.”  He accepted that.

For a while I beat a path between the Trent and Toby’s and down an alley close by to a little mamasan-papasan café to eat. I trusted them and their customers who were mostly older people who looked tired of the war.

With my beard grown out nicely I began to venture out. I visited the orphanage and played with Devon and Kyle and ate with them a couple of times. I explained to Sister Mary Margaret about the wait. She said they would pray for Jason, and to keep me safe as well. I spent a lot of time at the chapel, praying to the guardian saint whose name I did not know.  I spent a lot of time on my knees, begging the Almighty to bring my man back safe and to get the four of us out of Vietnam.   

When I left the chapel I went back to the military surplus store and gathered up the stuff I’d picked out to send back home, when Brant had interrupted me. I reminded the guy again that I would be in country for a while.  I’d heard of guys buying up stuff right before they left and when they got home, it never arrived.

To be continued...  

Posted: 04/10/15 rp