Disguises

Hi guys, this is my first story, and hopefully not my last. I have yet to decide whether to continue this story or leave it as is, I left it open ended. Your comments will decide whether to continue or not. I would like to thank my wife for her editing. She is not a member, but is a great support. Enjoy.

April 30, 1972

Heather Brookes looked up from where she was playing in her front yard as a vehicle with military markings drove by. She watched as the car stopped in front of the Anderson house. Three men got out of the vehicle and walked up to the front door. "Momma?" Heather asked. "Yes dear?" her mother answered looking up from the book she was reading. "Who are those men at the Anderson's house?" All Heather heard in reply was a whispered, "Oh no."

Tina Anderson heard the doorbell ring. As she answered the door she saw three men in military uniforms, one of which was obviously a chaplain. "Oh good Lord no!" she screamed, as she fell to the floor. Her husband Tom heard the anguished cry and came running. When he saw the men at the door, he understood the situation immediately. He knelt down to check on his wife, seeing she was ok, but distraught, he turned his attention to the men at the door.

"Thomas Anderson?" the chaplain asked. "Yes sir." He replied. "I am Father Thomas. I have the unfortunate duty of informing you, your son Captain James Anderson was shot down flying a mission over An Lộc in the Bình Phước Province. While his remains were not recovered, he is considered a casualty. The President wishes to extend his deepest sympathy for your loss, and wants to express the gratitude of this nation for your son's valiant service. If there is anything you wish to speak with me about, I will share what I can regarding the circumstances of your son's passing."

"Momma, what's going on?" Heather asked her mother again.

"It is a sad day dear Heather. Those men are here to pass on the news that James has died over in that stupid war."

"What do you mean momma? James can't be dead." Heather started crying.

"I'm sorry dear, but that is what those men showing up here means."

"But he can't be gone momma. You don't understand, I was going to marry him!"

"Dear, your only 14. Where did you get the idea that you would marry him?"

"I asked him to just before he left. He said "Sure thing beautiful. After you turn 18, I'll marry you.""

"Oh honey. I'm sure he didn't actually mean that. Now stop crying. After those men leave, we need to go over to the Anderson's and give them our love and support. And don't you go telling those folks about you and James getting married. Such nonsense will only upset them further."

"Yes momma." Heather replied.

June 25, 1982

Heather was not having a very good day, and the day had just started. She was in a rush to get to work. She was already late as her car wouldn't start that morning. She had to borrow her parent's truck, and the A/C wasn't working. It was only 10 am and the temperature was already in the high 90s. It was expected to be a very hot, and very humid day. Heather could feel it already as her perspiration had already soaked her blouse. "Just great." She said to herself. I'm going to have to change my blouse before I go into the office." Her boss, Hugo Morris, was a stickler for details, and showing up to work in a sweat soaked blouse would not project the image he was trying to set.

As the receptionist, she was the first contact the public had when entering the office. Besides, the blouse had become semi-transparent with the moisture, and her bra had become plainly visible from underneath. "That's not exactly what I need that parasite John Johnson to see.", she thought to herself. John worked in the office down the hall and always seemed to go out of his way to flirt with Heather, the flirtation was not reciprocated. Heather momentarily became distracted when she tried to look in her bag to verify she remembered her spare blouse.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a flash of movement in her windshield. Looking up with wide eyes, there was a man who had just stepped out from between the cars and directly into her path. "Jesus Christ!" Heather screamed as she slammed on the brakes. She managed to stop just short of the man, who had made no attempt to get out of the way. "Are you blind, stupid, or just have a death wish?" she screamed out the window at the man. He just looked at her with a blank stare, turned and continued across the street.

She recognized him as one of the homeless men who were always harassing her with requests for a hand out. She was already living paycheck to paycheck, and the constant begging made her mad. "If those vagrants would only get a job, they would have to bother me all the time." She again spoke to herself. She sneered at the thought of the filthy, smelly, homeless population in the downtown area where she worked. "This is going to be a long day." She said, despite the fact there was no one around to hear her.

November 23, 1978

He overheard one of the guards speaking to another guard. While he was not fluent in Vietnamese, being stuck in the cage for 6 years, he learned to pick up quite a bit. "Why are still holding these Americans prisoner.", the guard lamented to his friend. "The war has been over for 3 years. Why don't we just kill these animals and move on with our lives?"

"Because that is your duty peon." came the unexpected reply from the camp commander who had rounded the corner of the hut where the two guards were seeking shelter from the biting wind. "The chairman wants to keep the prisoners as leverage in case the southern provinces want to act out, and the Americans once again decide to stick their noses where they don't belong."

Suddenly a gunshot rang out through the night. The camp commander's head snapped back and he fell to the ground like a puppet having it's strings cut. The two guards were to slow to react and the following shots took both of them down, one permanently. Several more shots rang out, and the complacent guards started falling to the ground. There had never been an attack on this camp before, and none of these men had ever seen action during the conflict. Even as additional guards came out of the buildings, they were subsequently put down.

All too soon the camp lay mostly quite. A few of the guards still lived, but all were critically injured. The moaning of the injured guards was all the noise that could be heard. There were eight prisoners in wooden cages. They remained silent. Soon, about ten figures in jungle camouflage approached out of the surrounding area. As they made their way through the camp, an occasional gunshot rang out and the moaning stopped. The prisoners remained silent. They did not know who these men were, and years at this camp had taught them to remain quite.

One of the figures approached the man in the cage. "Are you American?" the figure asked. Keeping his mouth shut, and looking around cautiously, the man nodded his head. "Well sir, my name is Lt. Rodriguez, Delta Force. I'm here to take you home." The man could not believe his ears. As he looked around, he could see some of the other figures freeing the remaining prisoners while some on the figures remained on lookout. One of the figures spoke into a radio. This figure then approached the Lieutenant.

"HELO eta, 17 minutes.", the figure said.

"Thank you corporal.", the Lieutenant replied. "Please relay to the other members of the squad."

"Yes sir."

"I'm really going home?" the man asked.

"Yes, an evacuation helicopter should be here in about 15 minutes."

The man started breathing a little heavier. This was beyond imagining. 6 years of torture, starvation, and exposure to weather had left the man feeble and weak. He was no longer afraid, he was dead inside. He no longer cared if he lived or died, he just wanted to leave. After the Delta squad gave each of the prisoners some cold MREs, the helicopters landed. As the prisoners were being loaded, the man noticed the Delta squad were not loading with them.

"Are you not coming?" the man asked the Lieutenant.

"No, we have other soldiers still lost out there, and we aim to find them and bring them home too." The man nodded his head in understanding. "By the way, I didn't get your name." the Lieutenant asked the man.

"I don't remember. All I can remember is the pain and suffering in this awful place."

"Well I hope the folks back at base can help you with that."

The man's turn to load into the helicopter. As he sat down, he was wrapped into a blanket. Just as the helicopter started to rise, the Lieutenant hopped onto the runner. Grabbing the man he leaned in and in a loud voice said, "Happy Thanksgiving sir. I hope you find your way." That would be the last time the man and the Lieutenant would meet.

June 25, 1982

Heather was right. This had been a horrible day. When she got into work, John approached her as she walked into the building. He chided for being late and insinuated he had some pull with her boss Hugo. He would smooth things out for her if she would agree to a date with him. Of course being in a foul mood, she made it perfectly clear she had no interest in ever spending anytime with him. "I'm not giving up on you yet. I know deep down you really do want the pleasure of my company and I am willing to wait as long as it takes to get you into my arms." he said.

When she walked into the office, her boss came out of her office and really lit into her for her tardiness.

"I am so sorry Mr. Morris. My car broke down and traffic was horrible."

"I don't care about your excuses. I pay you to work, and if you can't handle that, I'll look for someone who can."

"I promise that it will never happen again."

"See that it doesn't."

Heather walked over to her desk, surprised to see her friend Julia manning her desk.

"What are you doing here Julia, you should have been in court already." Being the receptionist at the law firm also entailed scheduling appointments for all the lawyers of the firm, meaning she knew where everyone should be at any given time. Julia was a legal aid and was assisting with an ongoing case.

"The case got postponed until later today. Since I was free this morning, Hugo put me on the front desk until you arrived. Man is he angry with you."

"I know. I am so glad you were here to help cover for me. I have no doubt that had you not been here to man my desk, Mr. Morris would have fired me on the spot. I really need this job. My car broke down this morning which is why I was late. I had to borrow my parent's truck to come to work and it has no working A/C."

"You poor girl. No A/C in this heat. That must have been a long drive."

"No kidding. And I almost ran over one of those bums that love to camp out nearby and always beg for money. Lord knows they don't buy food with the money."

"Yea. I wish the police would do something about them. Hugo called the police in the past, but they told him there is nothing illegal with what they are doing, and as long as they are not trespassing or sleeping at the businesses there is nothing that can be done about it."

"What? I feel they are always harassing me with their begging, and they stink too. Whenever I go out to pick up the lunch order, they always make dirty comments about my ass when I refuse to give them money."

"I know what you mean. Speaking of lunch, here are the orders for today."

Julia got up from her desk and went to her office. Heather sat at her desk and proceeded to schedule out all the appointments for Monday. Being Friday, she was looking forward to tonight. She had a date set for tonight with Andrew. He was going to take her to Spades, one of the town's newest nightclubs. She and Andrew had been dating for about 6 months and she was really starting to fall for him. Love? Not yet, but extreme like would be an apt description.

She called in the lunch orders. She would be picking up sandwiches from the deli down the street. It was a short drive, but in a truck with no A/C it wouldn't be any different than walking. It was only a 10 minute walk, she could handle it no problem. Come lunch time, she stepped out and began the trip to the shop. On her way, she passed the homeless men who true to form made disparaging comments about her butt as she ignored them and walked past.

Surprisingly, the only one who did not make any comments was the man she almost hit this morning. She couldn't help muttering as she passed him by. "Idiot almost gets himself killed and still he acts as if nothing happened." When she got to the sandwich shop, she realized a grievous error on her part. One of the reasons she would normally take her car to get lunch, despite the short trip, was the shear amount of food she had to get. She could handle the food, but she would have her hands full and would make a difficult time of things.

On her trip back, she once again passed the smelly men who couldn't help making comments about her body. While she didn't feel ashamed by their comments, she was a little body conscious. She knew she had a large ass, but it was proportionate to her overall body. It certainly attracted a lot of men. The man from this morning didn't say anything, but did look at her with those empty eyes, and a slight smirk on his face. When she got to the office door, she realized something else. With her hands full of lunches, she couldn't open the door.

She saw John on the inside, and despite her gall at the need, she motioned for him to open the door for her. When he approached the door he spoke first. "You change your mind about going on a date with me?" When she replied in the negative he turned around and left calling over his shoulder, "Let me know when you do." The homeless men had a laugh at her expense, all except the man from this morning. His smile expanded a bit, and while his eyes remained for the most part blank, he did have a touch of life in them. He got up and opened the door for her. She just looked at him for a moment, muttered "Thanks.", and then walked into the office. As she looked over her shoulder, the door was already closing and the man wasn't to be seen.

She passed out the lunches, and then checked her desk for messages. There were none so she grabbed her food and walked into Julia's office. Over lunch Heather related her story of the day involving John to Julia.

"Let me get this straight. The guy is trying to get you out on a date with him, and then he leaves you out in the heat and walks away from you when you ask him for help?"

"Pretty much. After his comments this morning and his actions this afternoon, I just want to give him a swift knee to the ball sack."

Julia laughed so hard at that comment she almost spit up her drink. "Don't make me laugh so hard." she said. Heather just looked at her with a "What me?" look. She then related her encounter with the man from this morning.

"So you almost run the guy over, you yell at him, call him horrible names both this morning and again this afternoon, and he doesn't say a word about it. Just opens the door when you needed it, and only does so with a slight smirk?"

"Mhmmmhmm" Heather replies with a bite of food in her mouth.

"Sounds like he's a nice guy and you got off easy. As a matter of fact, I don't think that man has ever even asked me for a handout. He just sits there with the other folk and keeps to himself."

"You know, now that you mention it, you're right. He has never solicited me for anything, and has never once made a derogatory comment about me."

"Food for thought."

"Yes, but he is still dirty, smelly, and homeless."

The girls had a laugh at that before getting back to work.

Andrew picked her up at 8 pm and took her to the club. It was a fancy looking joint and had lots of people lined up outside. Heather expressed her concerns about getting in, but Andrew said he had his ways. They walked up to the doorman, this big rough looking black man.

Andrew walked up to the man, they exchanged a few words, some money changed hands, and the man let them in after handing Andrew what looked like a bracelet. The only part of the conversation she was able to make out was the doorman asking "Is she open?" and Andrew replying in the positive.

When they got inside, Andrew found them a high top. After sitting down Andrew handed her the bracelet and told her to put it on. She noted it was a silver charm bracelet and the only charm was a black spade. She started to put it on her wrist and asked Andrew a question that was on her mind.

"Is this bracelet part of the club theme? I noticed the charm is a spade, and the club is called Spades."

"Well yes, but it isn't a bracelet, it is an anklet. Put it on your left ankle."

Heather had a little difficulty putting it on correctly as she had worn an extremely short skirt and was trying to not flash the crowd. After she finished, Andrew placed a drink order with a passing waitress, and then took Heather out on the dance floor. A couple of fast songs, and a slow song later, they made their way back to their table. Their drinks we waiting for them. When Heather took her first sip, she noticed it was fruity, and very strong.

"This thing has a lot of alcohol in it."

"Yea, they don't mess around at this place. The drinks are a bit pricey when compared to other clubs, but well worth it."

Heather agreed, and finished her drink in quick fashion. Shortly after, Andrew took her out on the floor again. A few songs later and there were fresh drinks waiting them once again. After finishing off her second drink, Heather was feeling very loose. She realized the alcohol was hitting her pretty hard and committed to slowing it down a bit. After taking a few sips from her third drink, a tall and very black man came by and asked her to dance. She politely declined explaining she was here with her boyfriend. The man looked to Andrew.

"Go ahead hun. I know how much you like to dance and I just want to sit this one out."

"Are you sure? I am here with you and don't want you to think I am not spending my time with you."

"I am sure Heather. Go have fun."

Heather took the hand of the man who led her out onto the floor. They danced several songs together, and Heather kept expecting Andrew to come out and step in. However, every time she caught his eye he would just smile and motion for her to continue. During their second slow song, the man's hands slipped down a bit and onto her butt. Heather moved his hand back up and the man moved them back down again after just a few moments. To Heather, it looked like Andrew was not upset about this development, in fact his smile seemed even bigger.

"You have such a nice ass. It feels so good. Nice and firm with just enough give to have something to hold onto."

"Excuse me? What did you just say?"

"I said you have a nice ass, and your tits feel fantastic against my chest. I can feel your nipples poking pretty hard into my chest. You must be as turned on as me and ready to go."

While she was a little aroused, it wasn't because of this man. Dancing in general made her a little randy. It was time to put a stop to this.

"I don't know what seems to have gotten into you, but my boyfriend is right over there and if you don't move your hands off my butt he is going to make you."

"Ah, playing hard to get eh? Your man ain't gunna do a thing and you know it. If he's lucky, I may just let him come with us and watch."

"You're disgusting, let me go.", she said as she tried to pull away from him.

"Nu uh. Tonight your mine and I am going to show you pleasure the likes you have never known."

Pulling her hand hard away from him, she swung her hand forward with all her strength slapping the man across the face.

"What the fuck bitch? What did you do that for?"