The Old Breed

Chapter 72

Honolulu, Hawaii

September 30th, 1945

"Oh my God, Bishop, I know exactly where we are staying tonight!"

I turned to Lanky, saw him pointing at a window up ahead. I looked through the window, noticed exactly why Lanky was so excited. Inside was the lobby, pretty well furnished, big pictures hanging on the walls, the reception desk good, solid oak with fake golden finishings. But none of that had caught Lanky's eye. Rather, it was the girl behind the desk. She was looking down, but it was unmistakable. It was the redheaded girl from before.

"Oh Jesus, Lanky. She's way out of your league."

"That's what they said about my last wife."

"You haven't had a wife."

"Exactly."

I shook my head, but Lanky was already walking towards the hotel. I followed behind him.

He pushed through both doors, sauntering in, trying to make a grand entrance, foiled when the girl didn't even look up. When she did look up, Lanky had already given up on the grand entrance. It was probably a good thing.

The redheaded girl smiled as she saw us.

"Hey, Marines," she said, putting extra emphasis on the word Marines, after Lanky had corrected her earlier.

This made Lanky smile wider. He mocked tipping an invisible hat.

"Well howdy, Miss," he said, bringing out his southern accent more than usual. This made the girl smile wider.

"What can I do for you boys?" she said, looking down again, sifting through papers.

"Two rooms please." I said, stepping into the conversation. Lanky started to protest.

"We only need one-"

He wasn't trying to sound gay or anything, just trying to keep the cost down.

"After all those nights sharing a foxhole with you? I'd rather spend a night away from you." I said jokingly, purposely adding the bit about foxholes in there to possibly impress Miss Redhead about being veterans. The girl smiled, though I wasn't sure if it was impressment over us being veterans or the joke.

"And relax, I've got this one covered," I said, pulling my wallet out of my back pocket. Lanky tried to protest again, but I held up a hand, silently saying that the discussion was finished.

"Are there military discounts here?"

She pursed her lips and shook her head slowly. "I'm sorry. We can't do that with the amount of military personnel 'round here. We wouldn't make enough," she said, hinting at the fact that this might not be the most popular hotel in town. By the lack of other guests, it didn't surprise me too much.

She made a small smile though. She motioned towards our dirty uniforms, which we still hadn't taken off since Okinawa. "Since you boys look like you've been out there for a while though, I'll make an exception. Fifteen percent off okay?"

"Gee, that's fantastic. Thank you," Lanky said, once again butting into the conversation. I was okay with that. After all, Lanky was the one trying to impress this girl. I had mine waiting for me back home.

"And yeah, we've been out there for awhile. Since good ol' '43." Lanky said, taking my place on trying to impress her with our experience.

It was her turn to say gee.

"I've got two rooms side by side on the fourth floor. They've got views of Pearl Harbor. That good?"

"Of course. Thank you."