Heartbreaks, Prosecution, and Retribution

Chapter 10 : A New Journey

Now, as time progressed, we got the car in and out of the shop once again. I now have nearly a whole new complete front end! Of course, it's really worth the trouble once again.

Time was getting close. I had two days to go before my final out appointment. Good time, too, I thought, but of course, my luck was still unfortunate. I have several things to clear before my final out date.

Since there have been several training days and personnel gone to sign off on my clearing paperwork. I had to end up sacrificing two days of my leave to clear completely. We ended up having to stay at our friend's house for those nights we had already cleared out the housing area.

We would have a long drive ahead of us back to Kansas. If we drove straight through, it usually takes around 18 hours, without stopping. We had done it once or twice. And by losing two days of leave that could have been used for traveling, meant that I would have less time for visiting the family before I leave to Korea.

Of course, on this adventure, we did take a day and a half for traveling halfway across the states. We could have made better timing if we were not driving two vehicles. Jessica got herself a truck our last week in the area. In similitude, she was driving her truck, and I drove my car with the two dogs. It was quite a journey.

I didn't believe her truck was actually going to make it, however, it did! Even though it was dilapidated, she wanted it, and it did come in handy by transporting some luggage that didn't fit in the car.

Since we had the dogs, we could not stop at a motel even though some may allow animals. If they did, we figured it would cost more. So, we just rested at the designated rest stops for a few hours to get some shut-eye. This also helped us save money.

As our long journey came close to an end, we were finally reaching my parent's house. I was feeling quite relieved yet nervous about the trip. I was happy to be going home, but anticipating my departure. I do not know what to expect. I seemed to always have a run of bad luck instead of run out of bad luck.

As we pulled up into my parents' driveway, exhausted by the trip, I honk my horn to signify my arrival. My mother came outside to greet us; she was expecting us. She came outside, having a look of excitement. It's been quite some time. It was nearly a year since we visited them.

I knew my father was at work, but I asked my mom, "Where are my sisters at?" While I was gone, one of my sisters had gotten her license. My mother told me, "Oh, they went to the store, and they would be back here shortly."

Jessica and I eventually brought our stuff inside from the car, but only after going inside and getting some relief from driving. We were feeling exhausted from the trip, but we were just itching to get ready to go out to dinner with the family. An hour had nearly passed, and my sisters had returned from shopping. It was about the time my dad got home from work.

We all were rejoicing with the family gathering. We all wanted to go out to eat, but we didn't know where to go. Everyone really didn't know what to agree on; some wanted Chinese and the others wanted the country buffet. We then decided to eat at this new Italian restaurant that just opened. You can't say no to spaghetti, right? I guess it seemed presentable for the occasion. The family and I discussed how our trip was, and where I was going to next. We all chatted up the evening.

The next few days have come and gone, and my wife and I didn't do much except seeing some of our old friends and reminisce about old times. My mom insisted that I go to visit my grandmother, aunts, and uncles since I was back.

With only one week left of vacation creeping up on me, everything was going quite well. The time had flown by, and before I knew it, it would be over. In the middle of the last week of my vacation, I had planned to invite some of my good friends over to the house. Since it was night, we all could see each other together despite everyone's work schedule. Then, before everyone started to show up, my wife had taken the car to run an errand. She let her mom take her truck. I was, however, supposed to pick up one of my friends in an hour and a half or so, but knowing her errand wouldn't take too long, I let her use it. As time progressed, I had to borrow my mother's car so I could pick up my friend. It was not a big deal, just irritating.

As soon as we all got together, we began to cook out. We also had several beverages to enjoy from; everyone brought something to drink and to share of course.

It was going over two hours, and my wife was still not back. I didn't have a number to contact her since we canceled the cell phone service we had out in Virginia, and I didn't really even know the location where she was going to. It didn't bother me though since I was getting drunk and having fun with my friends. Not that I was planning on driving or anything; she just told me she would be gone for a short period of time.

As time progress late into the evening, everyone was starting to leave. It was then that I began to wonder more about my wife and where she was. My family had already gone to bed. I stayed up for some time afterward waiting. It wasn't until about three o'clock in the morning when I heard someone pull up in the driveway; it was Jessica. As she came in the front door, I asked, "What happened?" Even though I was very pissed off, I didn't want to draw to conclusions just yet especially this late in the night.

Sarcastically, she replied, "I'm sorry, I was with my girlfriend. She had some personal issues, and I am very tired, so let's go to bed." I wanted to know more about the story of the late coming Jessica, but I just shook it off and went to sleep. I was having fun with my friends; why not let her have some fun too. I would still ask her in the morning about her friend just to be nosy.

Now morning has come, it was around 8:45 a.m. I heard my mom telling us that breakfast was done through our bedroom door. So, I got up trying to wake Jessica up, but she intended to sleep in since she came in so late. It wasn't until noon when she decided to get up and be sociable. The rest of the day was quite dull and boring. It seemed as if we have already done everything we wanted to do. Then the evening settled in. I then brought up the topic about last night.

Jessica stated, "My friend had an argument with her boyfriend and wanted to leave her apartment for a little bit. We went around and visited some other friends to calm her and enjoy ourselves."

I asked, "Why didn't you call or come by to at least let me know that you were alright. You said you would only be gone for a short time." Jessica replied, "I was fine. I couldn't call because no one had a cell phone, and her home phone couldn't call out of the city area."

Although this story could possibly be true, I still had my doubts that she even tried to call. I just left it alone and enjoyed the rest of the night.

Finally, the day has come; the day we all were more or less dreading. It was now time for my day to get on the plane to Korea. That morning was an early wake up since the airport was about a two-hour drive away, plus we had to take into consideration all the traffic, the security point, and luggage check-in. The entire family was very tired, but I was wide awake. I was scared to leave, well nervous to be stationed in a foreign country.

Eventhough my separations from my family had become habitual, it was stillbothersome, especially being stationed away for a year.