Gravy took a slug and passed the bottle to me.

"Fuck those commie ass-wipes."

"Fuck them!"

"How dare they try to kill us?!"

"Seriously! What did we ever do to them?!"

"Well yeah, I mean, we each killed a bunch of them, but besides that what did we ever do them?!"

"Right! Fuckers!"

Nearby a mortar exploded. 

I took a drink and handed the bottle back to Gravy.

"Here's looking up your address!"

Gravy laughed.

 Renee and I had a good lunch

I had a Caesar salad with chicken and she had a cheeseburger. She's so easy going. I was kinda nervous but relaxed pretty quickly. I didn't drink because I didn't want to be stupid. So I had a Diet Coke. She had a Bloody Mary. She laughed at my stupid jokes. She was funny and cute. I ordered a Modelo. 

 Green onions

Ginger. Serrano peppers. Chopped kale, mushrooms, fresh garlic, some kind of pasta- fettuccine I think and a bunch of fresh clams. I love clams. Yum.

 Jason called and left a message while I was out to lunch at Giono's.

"Dad, I'm sorry. I fucked up. Errol called me and he told me what's up. Thanks dad and I'm sorry... Donny fucked me over and I really didn't expect that. But shit is shit. But, thank you... for calling Errol. He said everything is cool now... We're at Chester's cousin's place in Missouri but we're bored of drinking shitty beer. I'll see you soon. I love you Dad." 

Click.

 After Korea 

I started writing to deal with the stress I'd encountered blasting Commies. I'd killed maybe a hundred and I couldn't stop reliving the encounters. But my writing came out weird and seemingly unrelated to what I was dealing with or the experiences I'd had. I can't  explain it. Maybe I was trying to just not deal with it. Does therapy help or is it just more reliving of the shit you're trying to get away from? Beats me but it felt good to just write and not think about the blood and death.

 I registered

   regurgitated

   the cracks

of consequence in a yellow balloon dream

    Steam streamed

on a sidewalk in Kalamazoo 

Michigan

Or the 51st company

  It was late

I thought steak and fries 

sounded good

I walked out

The neighbor's dog was loose again

He had to pee

 There was no hope in the Woody Allen dream

Like a dead shark this relationship has stopped moving

Still, though, the 'Orgasmatron' is working

as is The Orb

    Orc or Troll?

No, wait...

   We're about to perform the croning

from The Leaders nose

it's all that's left

  That and a 1966 VW Bug

it started right up

 The KPA

hit us again and again but they seemed lackluster like they were phoning it in. Years later we found outtheir supply lines were inconsistent and they had little ammo. But it was weird because they kept coming and they got gunned down. We heard from upstairs that we were going to mount an offensive. 

The guys were psyched. We were tired of sitting in these rotten holes. 

"Let's go fuck em up!"

Gravy said "What do you call a naked North Korean?"

"What?"

"A dead commie."

 I called Renee

She sounded happy to hear from me. I asked her about herself and we found out both she and my dad were from the same area. 

We talked for a while. She was easy to talk to and she liked to laugh. Some people you can just talk to, it's easy and they get your humor. It's not often you find people like that. Most of the time they look at me like wtf. Lol

We made plans to have lunch on Thursday at Giono's. I haven't been there in years.

 I'm drinking tequila and 

nibbling on magic mushrooms. I found a bag in Jason's room. Everything is okay. Maybe I'll put on that old BeeGee's album.

 Errol called

"Hey Robert. So I talked to my friend, Mr. Robertson. He said he knows that dude and he said he thinks the kid is a hot head. He doesn't think much of him but he said he'd talk to him and tell him to chill the fuck out."

"Why would he get involved?"

"He kinda owes me and he's not particularly fond of that guy. Ten to one he said he set Jason up so he could wring him for the money. He's done stuff like this before according to Robertson."

"Huh."

"Okay, I'll be in touch."

"Okay, and thanks Errol."

"No problem buddy. I'll talk to you soon."

 Jack was over

I pretended to be someone else.

"Hey, how ya doin? I'm Vinny! I'm from New Yawk, I'm here about the, the uh, the thing."

Jack looked at me like I was weird.

"No you're not! You're Mr. S!"

"I'm Vinny! I'm from NY!"

Jack laughed and laughed some more.

 Errol knew who I was talking about. 

"Jason's mixed up with that pos? Dang, dude that's kinda fucked up. That guy is serious trouble. He knows where you live?"

"Uh yeah. He and his buddies worked me over."

"Alright let me talk to somebody and I'll get back atcha."

"Okay."

 I don't know what to do

Why didn't he tell me he needed money? I've got some saved. Maybe I could help him out. The whole thing seems crazy. These guys are criminals. How could Jason get mixed up with their kind? It's nuts. 

I left him another message because he won't answer.

"Jason what the fuck is going on!! I'm sick of this bullshit.

How much do you owe these bastards? I've got some money saved maybe I could help you out. I sure as fuck don't like thinking they're gonna come busting in here again the little shits. Maybe I'll get some friends and we'll bust into their place. Errol's always good for a little fun. Who is the guy you owe money to? Is his name Donny? I heard you on the phone before you left. Maybe I'll find this Donny and blow his house up or his car. Little shithead."

Click. 

 I met a lady

At the SuperSave. She was having trouble with her groceries. I helped her load her car. She was very thankful and we got to talking. She lives in a house by the golf course said her husband died two years ago and her kids live a ways away. She laughed at my jokes. It was easy to talk to her. She wanted to thank me for helping her, said we should get lunch some time, her treat. I got her phone number.

 Jack's turtle

Jack brought over a turtle the other day. He told me his mom said he couldn't keep the turtle because he never fed the fish he had and they all died. 

"Jack! Ya gotta take care of your pets or they won't make it! Where'd you get this turtle?"

"My friend Robbie said his turtle had babies and he gave me one."

"Hmm."

"What's his turtle's name?"

"I dunno. I never seen it."

"Hmm. Well whatever. You can keep it here and we'll both take care of it, okay?"

"Wow. Thanks Mr. S! Do you think he'll like PBJ's?"

"He might. But we'll see what's good for turtles and feed him that, ok?"

"Okay! Thanks Mr. S!"

"No worries."

I love little Jack Jack.

 The KPA had pushed the UN forces back after repeated victories. 

Our leaders said this was where we would hold them. To the east we had the Sea of Japan and boats were bringing in our forces on a nearly daily basis.

The commies were intent on breaking our line and hit us with repeated assaults. We were losing guys almost as fast as we got new ones. 

Gravy and I weren't going to be trying to make any new friends. Unfortunately,  we were the new guys. Guys would be gone too soon and it was too hot and dangerous. We tread our lines cautiously and kept our heads down. 

We were assigned to an outpost and reported that night. It looked like shit. The Lieutenant was a guy named Casper and he gave us our watch duties. We had some grub and hit the hay. 

Gunfire and screaming woke us around 2:30 am. We jumped up and could see and smell the smoke and blood. 

"We're being attacked! Take the right side you two and shoot anything you see."

After twenty minutes of heavy fighting we'd lost half the company. The Lieutenant said "We're out of here. We can see there's a ton more of them headed our way. Randall will BT the premises after we're out. We're going downhill on left trail to join up with C company. Let's move!"

Gravy and I didn't need invitations. It was a mess. We grabbed our packs and headed out with the others. 

 I called Jason but he didn't pick up.

I left a message. 

"Hey kiddo, some guys busted in the house with guns and held me down and wanted to know where you are. I told them you left with Chester and you wouldn't tell me where you were going. 

How much do you owe these guys because they are talking about killing you if you don't pay them. How much? I don't know what you're doing but I hope you're okay."

I hung up.

I didn't know what to do but I'm going to keep the .45 handy from now on. If they come back in here at least one is going out with a hole in him.

 I decided to take the truck for a drive.

I'll go get some groceries. I'm sick of walking eight blocks to that little market on 4th street.

The truck was parked out back and I still had the old extra set of keys. The truck started right up. I turned on the radio and heard a tune about sweet dreams are made of these who am I to disagree. I rolled out onto the road and headed to the Super Save. It was a nice day. 

 The Battle of Pusan began in August 1950

Tens of thousands of UN troops - British, American, Australian and others were tasked with maintaining a line between North and South to keep the North (RKO) from going further South. 

It was nasty. It was hot and dry and the hills were pockmarked with craters and broken munitions. 

Gravy was my buddy and we'd been together since boot camp. 

"Are we gonna make it through?!l

"AWW HELL YES!"

But it didn't look good. We were getting the crap shelled out us. We were told to relocate to the eastern side. 

"I hope they know what they're fucking doing!"

 I woke up and said "Hey Jason

what's for breakfast?"

"I'm making coffee and oatmeal. You hungry?"

But I was actually still asleep. 

"Jason?"