Love in the Air Force
Osan Air Base of 1992, an Air Force base community located near Songtan Station, and forty miles from Seoul, a city with a population of approximately 42.2 million. The base, created and used to a great extent for the betterment and recreation of the men and women in the Air Force’s service. Brave soldiers moved throughout the base, attending to their assignments or out from their dorms to partake in one of the establishments to occupy themselves.
* * *
Lani was two years older than when she joined the Air Force in 1989. Even at the age of twenty-one, Lani was a beautiful young woman. She maintained the long brown hair, placed into a ponytail she had when she first joined the Air Force years ago. Her body was both slim and petite, yet toned.
Of course, there was a reason for her to be in moderate physical condition. Lani was stationed as a warfighter despite her position as an Administrative Assistant stationed at a base that was forty-five miles from the Demilitarized Zone of Korea. It also didn’t help that the Demilitarized Zone, also known as the DMZ, was a somewhat chaotic strip of land that ran across the Korean Peninsula of communist North Korea and the Republic of South Korea. The area served as a deterrent between the two zones due to Korean and Chinese forces’ overruns during the Korean War.
And Lani was one of over two thousand eight hundred men of the four branches of government to be stationed throughout South Korea to the U.S. side of the DMZ. Along with her fellow comrades in uniform, even though she had every right for the time of peace of mind, Lani was well within her duty to take every aggressive measure to preserve the safety of people, as well as her own.
And yet, Lani found her situation to be quiet. It was a given since she was on the bus, watching the buildings pass by with every moment. Lani noticed a large building at the side of the road at the corners of her eye. The bus began to decelerate as it approached the stop that rested a few steps from the building. Lani smiled as the bus came to, and she stepped from her seat.
“Finally,” she said, straightening her uniform.
Lani walked down to the aisle stepped off the bus. In front of them stood the Osan Air Force Base’s new recreational center, the Mustang Resiliency Center, also known as the Mustang Club.
“They should have my order ready,” Lani said.
She proceeded to make her way to the entrance of the building.
* * *
The Mustang Club, a new recreational center for the Air Force base, rested in tranquility on a Sunday afternoon. However, the inside of the club thrived with numerous patrons of all shapes and sizes. After was seemed a never-ending week of exercises and simulations for battle, the people would head to the Mustang Club. Doubling as a small eatery and nightclub, the establishment became one of the top spots for all in the Air Force Base. It was a place for soldiers to take time a brief time away from their duties and rest. People would come and enjoy a nice hot meal with a cold beverage at the side by day. By night the people turning their fatigue and desire to relax to dancing gyration accompanied by music. One by one, patrons came and left the restaurant either ready to dine on the food inside or left with carryout to take home. A bus pulled over at a stop a few steps from the restaurant.
The walls were black with yellow lining embedded into them. The carpet bared a delicate orange, black, green, and red pattern, shaped together in a manner reminiscent of that of flowers. The lights that rested on the ceiling of the club were bright. A small selection bared orange lighting, granting the inside of the club a quiet feeling of the calming night despite that it was the daytime. A cashier was set rested on the far on the café. Numerous tables and chairs rested throughout the club, filled with customers who came to come and eat and socialize with their fellow soldiers. A pool table was placed at the center, where many gathered to play.
Indeed, the Mustang Club thrived with the volume of people and their friends speaking away into their carefree conversations. And yet, at one particular table, the noise was louder than others. There, the men gathered all laughed. They each held an array of cards in their hands. A few had cigars in their mouths and their beers on the table.
Among the gathering, a young soldier fumbled with the cards in his hands. His eyes looked in a frantic motion from left to right, narrowing as he examined the collection of cards. He then smiled as he looked over at his peers. He flashed his cards face-up in his fingers and presented them on the table. However, Ronald found that another player shot his cards as well. Much to his chagrin, the other man had the better hand.
“Dammit!” Ronald shouted. He banged his fist on the table in frustration at his loss.
Meanwhile, the men around all cackled.
“Don’t worry. You’ll get the hang of it someday, rookie,” a voice from the crowd said.
Rookie. Ronald was called such on the account that he was a novice when it came to playing cards. He would often make a lot of mistakes during the game, resulting in his defeat.
Young Ronald had served within the Air Force for several years. Although he had reached the ripe age of twenty-one, he had become of the best men in terms of physical fittest within his squadron and had even been bestowed the privilege of becoming honor flight to hold the flag for his group. Still, he was a somewhat troubled youth in terms of discipline in areas other than cards.
At the side of Ronald, a young man patted his shoulder. Light snickers left his smiling teeth. He looked down to Ronald, who raised his head. Ronald looked up to Marty, his roommate and friend, who rubbed his shoulder as their squadron’s laughter subsided before they continued to play at their game. It could not be recalled what words were shared during Marty trying to console his friend. However, it is fair to say that Ronald didn’t want to hear what was said decided to tune out Marty.
With a sigh, Ronald rolled his eyes. He straightened himself in his chair and flicked his now useless cards out of his hands. Ronald then began to look around the club, searching to focus on anything other than Marty or the game. At the corner of his eye, he spotted a young woman that passed by his table. His vision now focused on her, taking in her appearance little by little; her petite frame, her picturesque face, and her long hair placed within a ponytail, and how the entirety of her form put together in perfect harmony by her blue uniform.
For Ronald, even for a moment, time crawled. Each step felt longer than the last as he watched the woman walk. There was nothing else that had a firm grip on his attention; no squadron, no card game, no club, not even the entire universe. There was only her.
However, outside the young man’s view, the world was at its average pace, and Marty had looked over to Ronald, who was still lost within his self-induced trance. Marty reached a hand over to Ronald and tapped his shoulder. At the feel of the tap, Ronald’s eye blinked, and he shook his head, snapping himself back to reality. The two then exchanged words, nothing precisely known to be stated. Still, Marty was most likely questioning Ronald on what placed him within his trance. Ronald pointed over to the woman who stood over at the counter, and Marty turned in the direction.
Marty’s eye went wide with a brow raised, and his mouth went agape as he noticed the young woman.
“Oh, that Lani,” he said.
“You know her?” Ronald asked.
Marty turned back to Ronald. “Lain Pope? Yeah, yeah! We sort of work at the same job. We talk every now and then.”
Ronald only blinked. He watched as Lani rested her arm on the counter. He focused on her smooth, lovely face, her bouncing hair, and her lips that curved into a charming smile as she waited for her order. Ronald’s eyes softened. The sound of her name, ‘Lani,’ ringed within his mind, accompanied by the resonance of his heart thumping in his ears.
Ronald then turned to Marty. “You think you can introduce me to her?” he said.
“What?” Marty said. He looked back to Ronald.
“Yeah. Can you get her to come over here?
“Why? You wanna-?” Marty stopped. He looked to Lani and then over to Ronald with furrowed eyes. “No!”
Ronald jumped at the answer. “But-!”
“Nope! Hell no!”
“C’mon, man! You gotta help me out!”
Marty chuckled under his breath. He placed an around Ronald’s shoulder and leaned in close to him.
“Listen, you’re my man, so I’ll be straight with ya’. You’re no good for her, man,” he said.
Ronald shook his head with widened eyes. “What do you mean I’m no good?”
“Let’s be real, Rookie. You’re too wild!”
Ronald just laughed. “C’mon, man. You know that’s not… entirely true. Okay, maybe some, but not all of it! Look, just put in a good word for me. Okay?”
Marty sighed. “I’m tellin’ ya. She ain’t gonna go for ya.”
At the counter, Lani waited with her rested on the edge. She looked around. The abrupt noise of loud and constant cackling shot through her ears, and her lips curved into a scowl. She to her left at the source of the outburst only to the collection of men. Lani’s eye then scanned the table. She noticed that men were each dressed in a uniform that signaled their service to the Air Force. However, her eyes saw the bottles of beer and ashes of their cigars littering the table. In truth, she found them barring manner akin more to that of ne’er-do-wells than soldiers.
Lani turned her head away from the table. Her frown became more crooked. She then turned to the table again noticed a figure sitting amount the unit. She narrowed her eyes at the young to strengthen her vision, and they lit up.
“Marty?” she whispered under her breath.
At that moment, Lani turned away. Her mind raced with questions of the odds that she would be with a colleague at the same place and time, as well as to why Marty was associated with such men. The mental inquiries then formed into silent prayers. Lani closed her eyes, pleading in silence that he didn’t notice her and, by extension, call her to the table to associate herself with his friends.
However, her prayers went unanswered.
“Lani! Hey Lani!” Marty’s voice called.
Lani gritted her teeth, and a shudder passed through her body at the mention of her name. The voice in her mind sounded off in a frustrated ‘ugh,’ and every part of her being pulled in the opposite direction in utter desperation to prevent from making another move. As if on a whim of its own, Lani’s mouth curled into a smile that showed her teeth. Her mind voiced her to say hi then leave. She began to move, waving a hand over to the table.
At the table, Marty back at Lani before he tapped at Ronald’s shoulder. Ronald snapped to attention and looked over to Lani. Then, everything, save for Lani’s motion, stopped. The entire view of the world around went blank, and there was only just him and Lani who reach the table.
The exchange for Ronald was almost a blur. The few instances he could remember were that Lani came over and that Marty had introduced her to him. Even Ronald could not remember what was said. It was perhaps a ‘hi’ or ‘hello,’ but no words at least worthy of any remembrance or anything worthy of Lani remembering him. However, the one thing that was always well placed within Ronald’s mind was Lani and her lovely smile.
It wasn’t until after the exchange that Ronald noticed Lani walking away with her order. He turned his head to find her walk out the door of the bag of food in her hand. Ronald sighed and slumped back into his chair with the image of the allusive Lani still fresh in his mind.
Outside the club, Lani moved her legs at a rapid pace towards the stop for the bus. She looked on with a shuddered expression of narrowed eyes and a twisted mouth as though she were trying to create as much distance between her and the building as possible. Lani sighed upon reaching the bus stop. She once again shuddered at the thought of the men back at the table. However, her mind raced back to the one man who sat next to Marty and stared into space at her. She didn’t know much about him, but he seemed compared to his friends. Nevertheless, Lani didn’t put too much thought into him. She only remembered him begin with the men at the table and nothing more.
* * *
The day and night passed, and the following day took place after. That Monday morning, Lani found herself at her desk within a small building stationed within the Air Force of Osun. Like her job as Administrative Assistant for the base, Lani was placed with managing files, answering phone calls, and maintaining unique databases. To Lani, it was enough to keep her busy and put her mind off the idea of dealing with any form of life-threatening combat.
Without warning, as he placed a small stack of papers within a file, the phone on her desk rang. Lani looked at her phone, her mouth lifted at the corner. The phone rang once more, but she didn’t answer. Lani just looked at the phone from left to right before returning her attention to the phone. She then lifted at hand up to the phone as I continued to ring. She picked the phone, putting an end to its noise, and brought it to her ear.
Lani squinted her eyes. “This is Administrative Assistant Lani Pope,” she said.
“Hello?” the voice from the other line said.
Lani raised a brow. “Who is this?”
“This Ronald,” the voice said. “Ronald Palmer? The guy with Marty from the Mustang the other day.”
At the sound of his voice, the memory of the previous day flashed within Lani’s thoughts, and she rolled her eyes. She slumped back into her seat with the back of her hitting her chair. Land closed her eyes, and with a light sigh, she raised herself again up to her chair and sat upright.
“Well… Mr. Palmer,” she said. “How can I help you?”
“Well, we didn’t exactly get to know each other at the club. So, I wanted to properly introduce myself.”
“Well, Ronald, I appreciate you taking the time to get to know me, but I have to get back to work.”
“Yeah, yeah, no problem,” said Ronald. “But I was wondering if I can see you sometime. Maybe we could see a movie or get something to eat?”
Lani’s eyes went round. If it wasn’t the request that surprised her, it was his tone. It was calm and cordial, a far cry from what she witnessed from his squadron. Lani pursed her lips and looked to the ceiling.
She shook her head. “I’m flattered, Ronald. I really am, but I’m afraid I’ll have to say ‘no.’ I appreciate the offer, though. Goodbye.”
Lani then placed her phone back to its receiver. She sighed and took the stack of papers into her hands. Lani’s thoughts were set on Ronald, seeing his face and hearing his voice. The image of the young man’s face and voice then ceased, going into the void of her thoughts.
Lani figured that the phone call would the last time that she would hear from Ronald.
However…
Ronald called the next day…
And the next day…
And the next day…
Day by day, Lani found herself being the subject of Ronald’s phone calls. And with each request, Lani also found thinking of him more and more. Her interactions with Ronald grew to the point where she decided to locate his quarters. She learned that he was placed within the barracks not too far from her area.
* * *
Days passed, and Ronald found himself with Lani still fresh in his head. With every moment, all he could picture was her. And yet, despite all the calls he made to her work, he wanted to know her but couldn’t get close enough to her. Whenever Ronald would go to the Mustang Club, Ronald would look to the main entrance, hoping to see Lani walk inside, but she would not arrive. His heart grew more substantial, filled the desire to meet her again.
One night, Ronald waited at the bus stop out of his barracks with his squadron. The bus and Ronald and his friends got on and took their seats. As the bus road on through the night, Ronald placed himself at the window of his position. The bus passed by the streetlights that illuminated the sidewalk. Ronald blinked as he looked at the night sky. All he saw was Lani.
Amid his pondering, the bus came to a pause at a bus stop. Ronald’s scanned the area looking over to a slight gather of people at the bus stop. He examined them, noticing men and women alike in the crowd, all wearing their uniforms. As Ronald looked, he noticed a young woman within the group. He looked at the young woman, focused on her face and her hair. He saw that her hair was placed within a ponytail, and his eyes lit up.
It was Lani.
Ronald felt his heart begin to beat in quick but steady thumps. He watched as Lani followed the crowd of soldiers as they boarded the bus. The people entered the bus, and each of them walked to their seats. As more people came, Ronald rose up from his spot. When Lani went onto the bus and took her place, he shot up. All of the people sat down, and Ronald proceeded to the aisle. He made his way to the middle seats of the right where Lani sat.
Ronald made it over to Lani’s and turned to her. He watched Lani turn to him, only to greet him with a frown when she looked at him. He saw her turn her head away at a slow pace, and he grounded his jaw.
“May I… sit here?” he said.
Lani shrugged her shoulder and said in a low voice, “Sure.”
Ronald nodded and sat next to Lani. For a moment, he looked at her. His heart continued to beat, and he inches closer. His mouth opened, but no words were spoken. Ronald flexed his mouth once more but said nothing.
As he was about to speak once more, the sound of a voice shouting breached the silence. Ronald and Lani both cringed at the yelling. Ronald looked behind him, and he saw that his squadron had gotten into a heated argument with the people that Lani had walked on the bus with.
Ronald gritted his teeth together. He saw his squadron rise from their seat and tighten their hands into fists. He heard the voice of both sides grow louder with each word exchanged. Ronald then saw Lani turn to him. He looked at her narrowed eyes and noticed her mouth was set in a hard line.
“Is that your squadron?” Lani said.
“Yeah…,” Ronald said.
The heated argument of the two groups soon escalated into excessive shouting. Ronald then saw a member of her squadron punch one of the opposing group’s people in the jaw. In almost an instant, the people of both broke out into a fight. Drips and slings blood flew as fast as fists. Ronald got from his and moved to the brawling crowd. He griped at the clothes of the men in his squadron.
As the people on the bus continue to fight. The bus once again to a stop.
The driver looked back at the passengers. “Off! Off! All of you off right now!” he shouted.
At the command, all of the passengers stepped off the bus. The door slammed shut behind the crowd, and the bus drove away. The group of people walked over to the sidewalk and then proceeded to walk down alongside the road. Within the public, Ronald witnessed Lani after the mob’s front and passed through his squadron before he sprinted off towards her. He raised his hand and opened his mouth. A bright light flashed over the crow from behind, and everyone turned around.
The light flashed from the headlights of an Air Force Military Police Jeep that slowed as it near Ronald and the rest of the soldiers. Ronald heard Lani call out to the jeep when it passed her. Ronald couldn’t make out what she was saying to the military police, but it sounded as though she knew who they were and that they were willing to offer her a ride. Ronald saw Lani nod her head in approval before she got into the car.
Ronald rushed over to Lani when she was inside, but the jeep drove away down the road before it faded away into the horizon of the night. Ronald’s slumped his shoulder and held his head in defeat.
* * *
The night passed into days, and those days passed into weeks. During the time, Lani had noticed that her phone hadn’t rung for a while. Was the ever-persistent Ronald out? Was he unviable? Had he forgotten about her? The questions buzzed in Lani’s head as she tended to her papers at her work.
She shrugged. “I guess he’s over me.”
Without warning, her phone rang, and she snapped to attention. She picked up the phone and brought it to her ear.
“This is Administrative Assistant Lani Pope,” she said.
“Lani. It’s Ronald,” Ronald’s voice said from the other line.
“Goddammit!” Lani growled under her breath. Her brow furrowed, and she gnashed her teeth. Shen closed her eyes and exhaled, “Yes, Mr. Palmer.”
“Listen, I know that you haven’t been feelin’ me, but I just wanna know if maybe I can get together with you again sometime?”
Lani pursed her lips together. Time after time, Ronald had been pursuing her, yet she wanted nothing to do with him due to the association with his friends. However, the more she thought of his constant attempts to speak with her, the more she thought about how calm he was whenever he called or came to her.
She brushed a hand through her hair and sighed. Her thought told her to say ‘no.’ Lani folded her arm across her chest and exhaled once again.
“Let me think about it,” she said.
* * *
There was little to recall what occurred after the phone call. However, Lani and Ronald soon found them together one night on the bus. It was raining, and the two sat together in the same seat as they watched the drops of rain beat against the windows. The bus pulled over to the bus stop near Lani’s barracks. Lani proceeded to walk down the aisle before she stepped off the bus.
Ronald, clenching his fists, rushed to down the aisle and followed Lani. He stumbled upon making his way down the stairs but managed to steady himself as he walked into the rain after.
“Lani!” he called out to her.
Lani turned around as Ronald approached her. Then, the two stood face to face. Ronald looked into Lani’s eyes, and Lani looked into Ronald’s eyes. The rain poured down, wetting their hair and staining their uniforms, but it mattered little to them.
Ronald swallowed, eliminated the dryness in his throat. “Listen… Lani. I like you. I really like you. I got you on my mind!” He reached his arms out and took Lani’s hands into his.
Lani jumped at the feel of his wet fingers, but she didn’t take her eyes off of him.
Ronald leaned in close to Lani. He took a few breaths, some deep than the last.
Then, he spoke, “Please, give me a chance.” His words, soft and gentle.
Lani’s mouth open with a slight gap. Her mind, once running with thoughts, went blank. She looked at Ronald, who still looked back at her. She then moved her body close to Ronald’s. In one move, she pressed her lips against Ronald’s and clutched her fingers tight around his.
Ronald’s eyes went round, almost to the point where they appeared to be beaming. The feeling of Lani’s lips meshed against his was warm, eliminating the cold of the rain that poured over them.
Then, Lani moved her face from Ronald’s and felt his hands lose their grip. She took her hands and rested them behind her back. Lani felt her heartbeat within her chest as she began to take a few steps back. She then looked the Ronald a final time.
“Maybe I will,” she said. Lani turned away from Ronald. She then began to walk down the sidewalk.
Ronald stood in place, frozen. His mouth was still open. He raised his hand and drew it close to his face before he pressed his fingers at the side of his lips. With a twitch, his mouth formed into a smile.
His heart was beating for a woman whose heart began to beat for him.