Part 2 - Part 09

“I have never been so cruel to another human being, I hope God will forgive me,” I said.

“You have done us a great service and I, more than anyone, appreciate that. If it works out you will have the gratitude of the entire village,” Oscar’s father replied.

Oscar started the fire and said to his father, “I’m sorry I left you with this burden. I, we, should have had this talk with Jean the last time we were here.”

Oscar sounded like a different person which surprised the chief.

Moments later, Oscar’s mother came back with Jean and sat her down beside Oscar. As the old woman was walking out she said to me, “Take it easy on her, you scared her a lot, she was shaking like a leaf.”

I said to her, “Stay here, I’m sure Jean would appreciate it, you give her comfort.” She agreed and sat down beside the chief.

I sat opposite to Jean and faced her with a stern look on my face. She sat there as silent as a lamb. I saw a small smile curve around the Chief’s mouth. I wondered what he was thinking.

“Well, are you ready to listen now or should I do some more yelling!” I asked sternly.

She shook her head.

Oscar’s mother piped up and said, “We are here because we love you dear...”

Oscar’s father looked at her and she stopped talking.

“Like we said before, you have two choices. Do you want to leave the village? If you do Oscar and I will take you wherever you want to go and then you can live on your own. Or, you can stay here with your people. Should you decide to stay here there will be conditions put on you, many conditions. What do you say?” I asked loudly.

“I want to stay here,” she said in a meek tone of voice.

“I’m sure there are people outside the lodge who didn’t hear that. You will have to speak louder,” I yelled.

She started crying again.

“Well?” I yelled.

“Take your time dear, and speak loudly and clearly…” said Oscar’s mother who was about to start crying herself.

Jean stood up, looked at everyone’s sad eyes and, with a humble tone of voice, loudly and clearly said, “I want to stay here.”

Oscar’s mother clasped her hands together in front of her chest and began to pray.

At this point Jean realized how serious the situation was and it seemed like she had started to think more about others than about

herself. She leaned over, grabbed the old woman’s hands, kissed them and said she was sorry.

Oscar’s father looked at me, raised his hand slightly, signaling me to stop, and said, “My dear Jean, you’re like a daughter to me. And you know I have always loved you like my own child but you have caused me a lot of pain. You have broken my heart. You have broken my wife’s heart. I just want to know why? What have we done to you to deserve this? We have always been kind to you and loved you?”

Jean looked down but did not answer.

Oscar’s father lifted her chin up and said, “What has this man done to you to deserve your wrath? You know we are not that kind of people… We don’t hate people, not even our enemies, let alone people who are trying to help us. My son tells me he owes his life to this man. Do you think he deserves to be treated this way?”

I looked at Oscar and at his mother. They both looked sad.

I grabbed Jean by her arms and pulled her into my chest. I gave her a kiss on the cheek. Oscar’s father did the same and so did Oscar and his mother. Jean was shaking like a leaf. The experience was traumatic for her.

When we were done hugging her we all sat down at our places and I raised my finger up. Jean focused on me and looked into my eyes eager to listen.

“Tomorrow morning at ten o’clock we will bring the entire village together and you will apologize to everyone for your childish behaviour. You will make a speech and ask for forgiveness. I know this will be hard for you but if you don’t do it you will be coming with us. If people refuse to accept your apology and show a lack of confidence in you, you will be coming with us. And I don’t have to tell you what will happen to you if you leave this place. Just ask Oscar. The choice is yours. Now go.”

After she left the lodge I said, “God forgive me, she will have plenty to think about. She is a beautiful human being but, I’m sorry to say, very misguided. I hope what we did will change things for the better.” I then looked at Oscar’s mother and father and said, “It’s up to you from here on. Sometimes you will need to take a firm hand...”

After Oscar’s mother and father left both Oscar and I felt shaken. We were hungry but didn’t feel like eating.

“Someone shoot me, I’m not cut out for this,” I heard Oscar say.

“Me either,” I said.

“Get out of here? You!? You looked like you were enjoying yourself.”

“What, enjoying beating up a helpless woman?” I asked.

“I’m sorry man; I always manage to put my foot in my mouth at the worst possible time.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said and lay down on the floor.

The next morning we were awakened by a knock on the door. Oscar got up and opened the door. “Damn it we forgot to lock the door last night.”

“Who is it and what do they want?” I asked.

“It’s my mom and Jean with our breakfast,” he replied.

I jumped out of bed and felt my heart pounding.

They walked in and put the plates with fried eggs and the cups of coffee on the floor.

I looked at the women. Oscar’s mother smiled with a sorrowful smile. The poor woman, I thought, first Oscar and now Jean. Jean looked burned out. She no longer had the spark that made her rebellious. I felt sorry for her and began to doubt myself. Once again

I had interfered in people’s lives without knowing what I was doing. Had I ruined her life?

Oscar’s mother took me aside and said, “Don’t look so glum. You did what you could… You probably saved her life.”

“So why do I feel like crap?” I asked. “Why do I feel like that?”

“We all have to carry our burden for what we do,” she said, took Jean with her and they left. What she meant by that I don’t know.

“What have we done, man? What have we done!” asked Oscar.

“We planted some seeds,” I said. “Time will tell what sprouts…”

It was half past nine when people began to assemble outside the lodge. Many came in to warm up and went outside again. At exactly ten o’clock the chief showed up with Jean beside him. My heart started pounding. I’m sure everyone’s heart started pounding.

“I think most of you know why we’re assembled here today and I’m sorry to bring you out in this cold but we have something important to share with you today. Jean here has agreed to become my assistant and help the community with its daily affairs. And with that I want to pass the floor to her,” the chief said and stepped aside.

I thought it was a bold first step to take for Jean but I figured the chief needed to test Jean’s metal and see what she was made of.

Jean took the stand and thanked the chief for the opportunity. She then said, “I can’t possibly accept the chief’s offer without your approval. I need to know that you will accept me as his assistant before I commit to it.”

There was a lot of yelling and clapping in the crowd.

“I will need to see some hands,” yelled Jean.

After Oscar raised his hand first then everyone else raised theirs.

“So, it’s unanimous,” yelled Jean and asked. “Are there any who oppose the idea?”

No one raised a hand.

“Now I want to take the opportunity to apologize to all of you for making your lives difficult. I’m sorry. I am very sorry. From now on I will do my best to help my community instead of stand in its way.”

There was a lot of clapping from the crowd, especially from her parents and brother who were yelling, “We’re very proud of you Jean.”

Then and there I saw Jean’s spark return. It was a different spark, a brighter spark.

There was a roar in the crowd and our Jean was back.

She took a bow in front of her people and left and went inside the lodge.

Oscar and I went in and joined her. We all felt like we had aged ten years overnight. I felt very awkward in her presence. I felt like I had damaged her badly and didn’t want to face my responsibility. She was looking at me strangely but I couldn’t make out what she was thinking.

I heard Oscar say, “I’m out of here.”

I felt abandoned and at Jean’s mercy after he left.

She came over and grabbed me by my waist. “What, you have no balls? I kicked you there yesterday and you didn’t even flinch? Are you that strong?”

“Jean, have you gone mad?” I asked.

“No,” she replied. “I’m the same Jean and thanks to you one day I will be chief. Don’t worry, I’ll live up to my pledge. I always

wanted to be chief and you made that happen for me.” She then began to kiss me on the mouth.

I pushed her away and said, “There is no future for me and you, so you’d best not do that. You’d better find yourself a local boy. Believe me you don’t want to get involved with me.”

She gave me a stiff punch in the gut and said, “This is for putting me through hell. I’m sure you could have found a better way to solve my problem.”

“Jean, you haven’t changed a bit, you’re the same witch you’ve always been.”

Oscar walked in on us and I said, “Your cousin’s not at all like you.”

After that we walked out of the lodge and Jean escorted us to the truck. We waved goodbye to everyone and left.

As we drove down I told Oscar what had happened. To my surprise he said that he known that all along but what could he do? She was who she was. She was family.

“So, what’s going to happen in the long run?” I asked.

“I don’t know. My father will do whatever he can but if she falls off again I’m sure the village will depose her. But she knows that and she will be careful not to disappoint anyone.”

“God, she is a dangerous woman,” I said.

“But you love her anyway,” replied Oscar.

“I guess I do,” I said.

Women’s Italian soccer team visits base

My experience with Jean at the reservation was more of a shock to me than I had initially thought. After I returned to the base I felt withdrawn and had a hard time letting go of the cruelty I had demonstrated towards her. Even though it may have seemed like a game; a means to an end, I couldn’t help but feel awful for what I had done. Even though in a weird way she had absolved me of my cruelty by telling me that I had given her what she wanted, I still questioned my actions. My experience with Jean was bitter sweet for me but I was unable to shake off the bitter part. After that I didn’t want to see anyone or be with anyone.

I telephoned Oscar to see how he was doing and he felt the same way as me but he had his job to keep him busy, which didn’t leave him with much idle time to dwell on Jean.

As winter began to close in the weather turned sour with cold winds blowing down from the mountain and deep drifts of snow plugging up the road. I took the beast out several times and tested it on the road. It had a lot of power but slow mobility. It moved through deep snow like it wasn’t there. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any practical use for it. It just moved too slowly for me to go anywhere. But it was a good toy to play with.

I even started the tank to make sure it still worked. Someday I was going to take it outside and fire the cannon… but not today. This was a recurring theme with me every time I looked at it.

I did however manage to fire one of the rifles on the firing range. I found four pairs of earmuffs in the ammunition cabinet. The earmuffs were made of metal and leather and were filled with foam which had crumbled to dust over time. I refilled them with napkins from the kitchen and they worked okay.

I went up the mountain several times and collected firewood but it was getting too cold for me and too slippery for the truck so I decided not to do that anymore.

I continued to feed the fish in the tunnel almost every day, when I didn’t forget, and even caught a couple with the net but it was hard. It wasn’t as easy as Oscar had said. The fish were smart, fast and avoided the net. I made it a point to ask Oscar the next time I spoke to him about how to catch them with the net.

It was late Sunday evening when I thought I heard a woman’s voice. I was in the office reading Peter’s journal to pass the time. It sounded like a voice on the radio. Perhaps a car was driving by but the road was impassable, too many snowdrifts. Besides I didn’t hear a motor running. I decided I must have imagined it.

Moments later I heard the voice again. It sounded like two women yelling at one another. It was real, I was sure of it this time.

I ran over to the garage and opened the door. The wind was howling and it was freezing outside. I looked up the mountain and could see lights shining through the trees. I was sure someone had driven on this road and was stuck in a snowdrift. I felt excited and figured it was time to make use of the beast.

I threw on a long winter military coat, a Russian hat and put on a pair of long military boots. I went down and turned on the parking lot lights, opened the front gate to the parking lot and started the beast. It started without any difficulty.

I was anxious to get going but waited until the beast warmed up. I was feeling very nervous, why I don’t know. I think maybe because I was anxious to demonstrate my assistance to people in need to maybe make up for the wrong I’d done to Jean? I don’t know.

As I took the beast up the hill its engine roared like a monster, which was heard for miles, especially its echoes from the mountains. When the wheels got stuck in the snow I lowered the tracks and it began to inch its way up. All the lights were on and I could see many people standing on top of the road in the distance looking down at the beast climbing. As I got closer I could see arms waving frantically. They were also yelling and jumping up and down but I couldn’t hear a sound over the roar of the beast’s engine. I then saw figures moving out of the way and into a small, barely visible white bus.

I stopped the beast right beside the bus and turned off the engine so that I could hear. There was a lot of yelling but I couldn’t make out what they were saying.

An older woman in her fifty’s wearing black yelled out loud and everyone stopped talking. She got off the little bus and yelled, “Ser-a, Ser-a, can you-a help-a us-a?” Well that’s what it sounded like with all the echoing going around.

I got off the beast and went closer to the bus. The front wheels were stuck in a high drift of snow.

“Let me turn my machine around and I’ll take you down,” I yelled.

I looked at the bus and saw many eyes staring at me through the frosted windows.

I started the beast’s engine and drove up a little further, slowly turned it around and parked it in front of the bus. I then lowered the rear gate, pulled the cable out of the winch and hooked it to the front of the bus. I was now ready to pull the bus onto the trailer and haul it behind the beast. It was my first time doing this and I was very nervous.

I went inside the cab turned off the beast’s engine, stepped on the track and jumped off. I waved at the people to come over but they didn’t know what I wanted.

The lady in black was standing at the bus door. I told her, “I need to tow the bus but in order for me to do that, everyone has to get off and go inside my machine.” It wasn’t safe towing a vehicle with people in it.

She looked confused. “Just pull our bus out of the snow and we’ll go.”

“Who’s your driver?” I asked.

A younger, thin good-looking woman in her early thirties stepped out.

She said the same thing. “Just pull us out of the drift and we’ll be on our way.”

“I don’t know how to tell you this,” I said, “but you can’t go that way. There are more and even bigger snowdrifts further down. Plus, the road is so curvy and hazardous you’ll never make it… I have a place down the hill where you can stay until the road is plowed.”

She looked at me and said, “Please give me a minute.” She stepped inside, spoke with the woman in black and came out.

“Okay,” she said, “what do you want us to do?”

“I want everyone off the bus and inside this machine. You stay here and when everyone is off the bus you put it in neutral.”

To my surprise, one by one eight young ladies around the age of twenty came out and I helped them jump on board the beast. The ninth woman was in her mid thirties wearing a short jacket. None of the girls were wearing coats. In fact they were wearing sleeveless shirts and short skirts with their knees exposed. I asked the last woman to get everyone’s coats but she said something in Italian. The woman in black told me that she didn’t speak English and none of the girls had coats. Their coats and luggage had already been shipped by truck to the destination where they were going.

After everyone got on the beast I pulled the bus onto the trailer with the winch. I was surprised by how easily it slid off the snow and onto the trailer.

After that I hopped aboard the beast and started its engine. All the lights came on and all eyes were on me. I was surrounded by young and beautiful women looking at me, unshaven with an unwashed face, wearing a Russian hat, military boots and a military coat big enough to fit two of me. I smiled. No one smiled back.

I put the beast in gear and it began to roar down the hill. Everything looked eerie in the dark. The beast began to slide and we hit a barrier of snow. A cloud of snow shot up and blanketed the front window. I turned on the wipers and looked back. Everyone was holding on for dear life.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “The bus is a bit heavy and made us slide down. The machine will get us out.”

No one said a word.

A couple of minutes later I turned right and the beast roared as it climbed over the mound and slowly entered the well-lit underground parking lot. I jumped out and closed the big door. On my way back I saw the bus driver looking at me through the open door.

“One more minute,” I said, “and everyone can get off.”

I drove the beast to the same place where it was before and turned everything off. All eyes were on me as I jumped off the beast and held my hand out. The lady in black got off first, then the eight young girls, the lady in the cool jacket next and the bus driver last. It was cold in the underground parking lot. I could hear the girls shivering. I passed by the women and went to the side door that led to the coat room. I opened it and waved them to come up. The lady in black went up first and the girls followed. The two women came in last. They kept going up as I closed the outside door and turned off the lights in the parking lot.

I took the steps up on the double and escorted them to the big table. It was nice and warm inside but the girls looked frozen. I ran down the stairs and started a fire in the fireplace. All the younger girls ran down saying something in Italian. This was the first time I’d heard them talking.

I went back to the big table and took my coat, hat and boots off and put them against the wall under the glass cabinet where the military uniforms were displayed. The woman in black said something. I asked the bus driver what she had said.

The bus driver said, “I don’t speak Italian.”

The woman in black said, “I see you’re a young man, no? Maybe a soldier?”

“Yes and no,” I replied and felt a bit embarrassed about my messy appearance. I must have looked like an old hobo to them.

“I’m Peter,” I said, “and this is my place.”

“Nice to meet you Peter, I’m Maria, the Italian General Consul for this area, this is Coach Rosa and this is our bus driver Vera who got us lost. And those girls there are our Italian soccer team who came all the way from Italy to compete in a soccer tournament in the big city.”

Maria then yelled at the girls to come up and she introduced them to me one by one. One of them asked something.

“Washrooms?” asked Maria.

I apologized and went to show them where the washroom was. The girl who asked for the washroom grabbed my hand and the rest followed.

When I came back Maria said, “Don’t mind them, it’s in their culture. They thought you were an old man.”

Vera laughed.

“I don’t understand,” I said.

Maria said, “I’m talking about the girl who held your hand. She thought you were an old man.”

I still didn’t understand what she meant but decided not to say anything.

As soon as the girls came out the three women went to the washroom. The girls went back to the fireplace.

When Maria came back from the washroom she said, “Do you have a telephone?”

“I do. Why?”

“Well, I’m sure they’ll miss us at the hotel when we don’t show up. I just want to call them and tell them we are stuck in a snowstorm but we’re okay.”

I took Maria to the office, pulled out the telephone from the drawer and put in on the desk.

While she was dialing I left to give her some privacy and returned to the big table.

When Maria came back she looked at her watch and said, “Where are we going to sleep?”

“I’m sorry, I’m not used to having guests. Come with me.”

Maria yelled something and the girls came running. They all ran to the big windows. It was snowing heavily outside and the wind was fierce.

I said, “It gets really bad up here in the winter.”

Maria yelled for the girls to come back. We climbed up the stairs and went inside the first room. I explained to Maria that there were twelve identical rooms. There were extra sheets, covers and towels outside each room. The girls could each have a room.

Maria explained what I had said and the coach took them and assigned each girl to a room.

Maria said she would take the first room. Rosa said she would take the tenth room. Vera looked at me.

“You can take room eleven, I’ve been sleeping in room twelve.”

Maria then asked me, “And where are you going to be sleeping?”

“Why?” I asked.

“Well, we have no pajamas and the girls will have to sleep naked…”

“I’ll be sleeping in another part of the base and there is no need to worry. Also, if they don’t mind, I have military underwear I can offer them in place of pajamas. I have long johns and long sleeved undershirts.”

Maria said she didn’t know what that was but if I could show her she would consider it.

We left the bedrooms and went down the stairs, through the big room, past the big table, up on the stage and out into the garage. The girls were going nuts with their chatter.

When we finally got there I opened the room where the military clothing was and pointed them to the right place. Maria explained to them what they had to do and before we knew it they began to strip naked trying out the underwear.

Maria, Vera and I went outside. I told Maria I didn’t want a mess in there so they should take what they needed and put the rest back in their place.

Moments later they started coming out wearing the underwear and looking like little green birds with skinny legs and featherless wings. They looked comical. I began to laugh and then everyone else laughed as each girl came out modeling their ridiculous looking military underwear. Their coach told them to fold up their soccer uniforms and take them to their rooms and then go back to the fireplace.

One of the girls opened the gun cabinet and yelled at the others. They all ran to touch the guns. After I told them to stay out they ran chattering and began touching the tank.

Their coach yelled at them and they stopped. They then, one by one, came over to me, said something and walked away onto the stage.

Maria said, “They are apologizing to you for being rambunctious, the poor souls, they have been cooped up on the bus all day.”

When we came back to the big table I asked them if they had eaten.

Maria said, “Yes and that’s how she (pointing at Vera) got us lost. While waiting for the girls to finish eating at a truck stop, the truck which was supposed to lead us to the city left before they were done.”

Vera said, “I distinctly remember the driver, a man, telling me to go left at the fork in the road and I did.”

Maria looked at her and said, “We have to get to the game. It would be so unfair to the girls if they miss it.”

“When is the game?” I asked.

“Wednesday evening,” she replied.

“You have plenty of time,” I said. “If worse comes to worse, I’ll drive you in my machine to the highway and then you can drive the bus from there to your game.”

“It’s a three hour drive under good road conditions,” said Vera, “plus I’ll need to fill the tank with gas.”

Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ll help you out with everything, but you’ll all have to promise me you won’t make a mess of my place. You’ll also have to do your own cooking. I’ll supply the food, I have plenty.”

Maria spoke to the coach and then said, “No problem. Rosa, our coach here, is also a chef; a good one. Her parents own a big restaurant in Italy. Just show us where the kitchen is and we will take care of the cooking.”

I took them down to the kitchen and showed them the walk-in refrigerators and freezers. Rosa looked around, pulled some meats and put them in the fridge.

“Come,” said Maria, “Let’s go up there and let her do her job.”

Just as we stepped out of the kitchen, one after another, the girls ran into the freezers looking for something. One of them announced she had found it. She grabbed a two gallon cylindrical canister and kept yelling “Gelato”, “Gelato”.

“Put that down,” I yelled, “It’s a hundred years old.”

She brought it closer to me and with her finger bending back and forth pointed at a date “1975”. She then pointed to the top of the lid and said, “Vaniglia”, pointing to the label.

The coach waved us to go and we went up and sat around the big table.

“You got anything to drink? Something strong?” asked Maria.

“Yes,” I said, “rakia. Something like grappa.”

“Not now, later, after the girls go to sleep,” she said.

All the girls showed up at the big table and brought bowls and spoons for everyone. One girl brought the ice cream and a scoop.

“Where in God’s name did you find the scoop?” I asked.

“Uh, uh, uh, no swearing now,” Maria said. “Rosa probably found it and gave it to her.”

I shook my head and said, “You have to love them a lot to have that much patience.”

“That I do,” she said. “They are very precious to me.”

After Rosa arrived she began to fill the bowls with ice cream. She gave me the first and I passed it on to Maria.

“They are intelligent and mature girls but when it comes to ice cream they’re like children,” said Maria.

The tall one laughed out loud and said, “Bambine.”

They all laughed.

I looked at her and said, “You must understand some English, right?”

“A little bit…” she said, looked up at the uniforms in the window and said. “My nonno soldato like you. Mm pensionare.”

She then, like a machine gun, spoke to Maria fast and then kept looking at me.

“Aee, Madona,” Maria said. “Her grandfather was a soldier in the big war, the second one I think and she wants that uniform for him... I’m sorry.”

“It’s not possible,” I said. “But maybe I can do something for you tomorrow.”

The coach said something to her and she stopped pestering me.

After we all ate our ice cream the girls asked for seconds and Maria approved it. “I want them to like me and remember me as a good person when they go home…” she said and smiled.

When they were done they took the dishes and left over ice cream to the kitchen. After that they said goodnight and went to their rooms.

When the coach returned she went to the kitchen, grabbed the bottle of rakia and four juice glasses and came up to join us.

Maria laughed and said, “There’s nothing you can hide from us.”

Rosa poured us some and we toasted “saluti”.

Maria drank some and said, “This is good stuff,” grabbed the bottle and looked at it.

“It’s homemade, someone made it for me. It’s very strong, fifty percent alcohol,” I said.

The coach too made a remark on how good it tasted. Vera, looking sad, didn’t say anything.

Maria poured herself a second drink and drank that too.

She said, “This should put me to sleep,” and left for bed.

The coach downed her drink, waved arrivederci, and rushed to join Maria.

I looked at Vera and said, “You hardly said a word all evening.”

“Well, I feel guilty for getting them lost and almost killed. I will never forgive myself if they miss their game.”

She downed her drink and pushed her glass forward. I poured her another. She looked at me with sad eyes and said, “Thank you.”

I looked at her and said, “Vera, that’s a nice name. What’s your background?”

“Second generation Ukrainian, both my parents are Ukrainian.”

“Faith,” I said.

“Yeah, how did you know that?”

At this point I felt like telling her everything but then I thought that would put her and me in danger so I said, “It’s a beautiful name.”

“Are you coming on to me?” she asked. “I’m married you know, husband and two boys.” She showed me her ring and then said, “My husband is also Ukrainian.”

“No, I’m not coming on to you,” I said and looked her in the eyes with a sympathetic look.

“Why would you, with all these beautiful women here?” she said.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” I said.

“It’s okay to want me, it makes me feel good, like when I was young and beautiful and when all the boys wanted me. But, life is hard when you have to work and bring up a family. Life turns you into a robot.”

“Vera, you’re still a beautiful woman and I would have wanted you very much if you weren’t married,” I said.

“Thank you, thank you,” she said and gave me a kiss on my head. And, while walking away, said, “I guess I’d better go to bed before I do something I will regret.”

It was midnight and my head was spinning. I drank the rest of the rakia in my glass and secured the little bit that was left in the bottle in the kitchen. I didn’t want the girls to find it.

I dragged myself to bed and stared at the dark ceiling for a long time. Many wild thoughts went through my mind. But one thing I could not get over was how an Italian soccer team of beautiful young girls had ended up on my base. Was this karma or what?

It was very early in the morning when I got up the next day. Once I woke up I couldn’t go back to sleep so I decided to take a bath and shave. I then went and picked out a pair of nice military pants, a military shirt and military shoes from the uniform room and put them on.

As I walked down the stage I noticed the girls sitting at the big table, I guess they were waiting for breakfast. My presence startled them.

“It’s me, Peter,” I said. They kept staring at me like they’d never seen me before.

After I came down to the big table, the tall girl ran at me. I thought she was going to hug me or something, but instead she grabbed at my shirt and said, “I want!” pointing at my military clothes.

Her coach came over and told her something. She let go. I then realized that the day before I had promised to give her a uniform for her grandfather. I waved for her to follow me and all the girls came with me to the uniform room.

They were yelling numbers at me in Italian but I didn’t understand what they were asking me. Finally the tall girl put her hands around her waist and shook her hands. I figured she wanted a certain size but I didn’t know what size so I indicated for her to try the pants on. Then, to my surprise every one of them stripped naked and began to try on the pants. I stepped outside and waited.

A long time later a couple of them came out wearing pants and shirts that didn’t exactly fit them at the waist but were tight around their hips. I suggested they find belts but I didn’t know what belts were called in Italian. I didn’t want to go inside. Some of them were still naked trying on pants and shirts.

I figured their coach would be up here any time now and get them under control. I then saw the tall girl carrying a belt in her hand and showed it to the others.

“Yes, belt!” I said.

After that I thought it was time for me to get the hell out of there before I was discovered by Maria and given hell.

I went downstairs and sat at the big table. The coach brought me a plate of fried sausages and some fried bread.

“Ragazze?” she asked.

I shrugged my shoulders and pretended I hadn’t seen the girls. She motioned me to go to the kitchen and after I went she gave me four plates full of sausages to carry up to the big table. I didn’t think I could do it but I did. She motioned me to go back for four more plates and twelve glasses of orange juice.

I didn’t even know that I had orange juice.

I knew she didn’t speak English so I said to her, “Why don’t you stay here with me and we will make wonderful love together.”

She smiled and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“You understood what I said?” I asked.”

“Amore,” she said, showed me the ring on her finger and shrugged her shoulders.

While we stood there at the table looking at each other, the girls started coming down. They were all wearing military uniforms that fit them well. They had all found belts.

I shook my head in amazement and said, “My God, I’ve been here for so long and I haven’t discovered as many things as these girls have in the last few hours.”

I don’t think they understood what I said but started eating breakfast like they had never eaten before.

The coach looked at me and said, “Palla, “palla.”

The tall girl said, “Ball”.

One of the girls jumped up, grabbed my hand and pulled it.

“I don’t have a ball.”

She kept pulling and dragged me up to one of the cabinets in the garage. She opened it and there was a soccer ball on the bottom shelf in the left corner.

I stood there in awe and said, “My God what is happening to me, am I living a nightmare? How did you know there was a soccer ball there?”

She didn’t understand a thing I had said. She took the ball and closed the cabinet.

When we got back down Maria and Vera were sitting at the big table having their breakfast.

“Thank God you’re here,” I said.

“They look wonderful in the uniforms, thank you,” Maria said.

“God help me they’re into everything. They’re finding things I never knew existed.”

“You should be happy. You look nice and young, by the way, thank you for cleaning up your face. Now come here and sit beside me, tell me about yourself? If you’re not a soldier guarding this base then what are you?”

“Well, it’s simple. The base was abandoned after World War II so my father bought it and turned it into a wildlife sanctuary. After he died he left it to me. I moved in and have been here since.”

One of the girls interrupted. Maria said, “She wants to know if they can keep the uniforms and underwear?”

I looked down with a glum look.

“Have a heart,” she said. “What are you going to do with them anyway?”

I looked up, smiled and said, “Yes!”

They all ran up to me, gave me a kiss and then ran upstairs to their rooms to put the military uniforms away and put their soccer uniforms on for practice.

“Where can they practice?” Maria asked.

“Well, we have the garage or down here in the waiting room,” I said.

The coach looked at both places and chose the garage, except the tank was in the way.

“Okay, okay,” I said. “I’ll move the tank outside and make room.”

By the time I was ready to move the tank the girls were all in the garage and wanted to ride on it.

I was about to say something but Maria stopped me. “Do it!” she said, “This they will never forget, they will remember you for a long time. Do it for me!”

Vera came inside the tank with me and so did a couple of girls while the rest sat on top of it. The coach warned them to behave themselves and hold on tight.

I started the tank and slowly drove it outside. It was very cold and windy outside so we all ran back inside as quickly as possible.

I gave them chalk to mark up the garage and turn it into a soccer field.

While the coach was doing that one of the girls opened the gun cabinet and grabbed a rifle. I yelled at her and so did Maria. We scared the poor girl and she turned red in the face. I went over, took the rifle from her and gave her a hug. Maria came over and asked her why she’d done that. She said she wanted to shoot the gun.

Maria looked at me with that look. I was about to say no but she twisted her head so I’d agree but only after soccer practice. The girls were ecstatic.

The coach looked at her watch and said something to Maria.

Maria said, “We need to make lunch,” looked at me and said. “You’re in charge,” and the three women walked away and left me alone with the girls.

The girls stopped playing and came over to tease me by stroking my face and calling me bambino. I shook my head and showed them my big hand. They showed me their hands.

“Okay,” I said, “no practice, no shooting,” and made a motion with my arms.

They all went back to their positions. One of them kicked the ball hard and hit me in my gut. When I bent forward she stuck her tongue out at me. I charged at her and she took off laughing and screaming. The rest began to laugh and yell “amore”, “amore”. I couldn’t catch her; she was too fast for me. When I stopped running she came over and gave me a hug.

I felt defeated and started walking towards the stage. One of them ran after me and pulled me back. They started playing and after that they ignored me until they were done practicing. One of them looked at my watch and tapped it. I whistled. They all took off and ran for the washroom. They were all back in a couple of minutes and resumed their practice until the coach came up to get them. The girl who wanted to shoot the gun came over, stuck her beautiful face into mine and pointed to the gun cabinet. The coach yelled at her and she took off. I was left in the garage with Vera. She had a sad and apologetic look on her face.

When everyone was gone I grabbed her, gave her a kiss and said, “I will always remember you, the beautiful Ukrainian mom from whom I stole a kiss.

“Thank you,” she said, “that’s how I want to be remembered.”

I grabbed her by the arm and we walked side by side to the big table. I was going to get a lot of teasing over this from the girls, I figured, but even though everyone saw us, no one said a word.

There was a beautiful aroma emanating from the kitchen as the girls began to deliver the food to the big table. It was broiled chunks of meat, potatoes and carrots, cooked crisp to perfection.

I looked at the mouthwatering food and said, “We could use some beer or wine with it.” I then looked at Maria and said, “If we had any.”

Maria whispered to the coach and the coach shook her head “yes”.

Maria looked at me and gave me the go ahead.

“Vino anyone?” I asked. All the girls looked at their coach. She smiled and said something. They all cheered.

I stuck my hand out with four fingers up. Four girls got up and came down to the kitchen with me. Three of them took four wine glasses each and the fourth took two bottles of red wine. I took one bottle of white wine and four beers.

The coach opened the red wine bottles and gave the girls half a glass each. No one complained. The coach and Maria split the last bit of red wine and then had white wine. Vera and I drank beer, there was no more wine.

The girls enjoyed the food and asked for more. They wanted more wine but the coach said no. Besides I didn’t have any more. When the coach went downstairs to get more food, the tall girl came over and stuck her head under my arm. Maria gave her the look and smiled. She then shook her head to me indicating okay. I gave the girl a gulp of my beer. She made a face.

“I guess they don’t like beer,” Maria said and asked her. She shook her head no.

When they were done eating the coach asked them to take the dishes to the kitchen and bring the ice cream up. There were a lot of cheers.

After I had eaten all that food I felt lethargic and wanted to drink more. I didn’t want to do it in front of the girls.

When all the dishes were taken to the kitchen and washed the girl who wanted to shoot the rifle came over, looked into my eyes and smiled. I pretended I didn’t know what she wanted. She was about to slap me on the face when Maria looked at her.

“Sometimes they act like little children,” she said.

“I looked at her, smiled and said, “Bambina.”

She pulled my arm so I decided to relent and told Maria to tell them we were going to the shooting room.

They all ran up and entered the room. I told Maria to tell them that this was very dangerous because we were using live ammunition and that when the rifle is fired everyone must have their ears plugged.

I got a rifle out, the same one I had fired a few days ago, some bullets and two ear muffs. I got all the girls to watch, showed them how to load the rifle, aim and fire. After the coach made sure everyone had their ears covered I fired the first shot. I saw a few of the girls jump from the loud noise.

I then pointed to the girl who wanted to shoot and she came over. She was so excited she was feeling weak in the knees. I grabbed her by the waist. She was shaking. I gave her the ear muffs and she put them on. I gave her a bullet. Her hands were shaking. I helped her put the bullet in the chamber. Maria asked her if she still wanted to do this. She said yes. I made sure she was pointing the rifle at the target. I looked around to make sure everyone had their ears plugged and guided her little finger to the trigger. She pulled it. The rifle went off and kicked her on the shoulder like a mule. The explosion was violent. She gave out a loud shrill of excitement. I saw urine run down her leg.

Maria looked at me, shook her head and said, “Don’t you dare say anything.”

The poor girl wasn’t even aware that she’d peed herself. I took the rifle from her, gave her a hug and said, “Eccellente.”

The tall girl came up next. She took the earmuffs put them on, took the bullet and loaded the gun, aimed and fired. She then handed me the gun. One by one all the girls fired a bullet. When I asked the older women, only the coach wanted to try her luck. She handled the rifle on her own and even hit the bull’s eye bang on.

“You’ve done this before,” I said.

“Si,” she said.

“She used to hunt wild game with her father,” explained Maria.

Before we were done I gave an empty shell to each of the girls as a souvenir and then asked the first girl if she wanted to shoot again.

Maria looked at me and said, “Do you want to see her piss herself again?” But the girl had already accepted. This time she wasn’t nervous and did everything on her own. She gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek for giving her a second chance.

The other girls quickly protested but I said, “We’ll do this again tomorrow after practice.”

The coach left and took the girl to change her underwear.

“When the coach comes back we’ll go for a tour and see the generators and the fish,” I said.

When the coach came back I realized that the girl had no underwear to change into. The coach looked at me and snickered.

“Whatever you do just don’t lift her skirt,” Maria said and tried not to laugh.