For many Japan is a place of wonder. From the cities that never sleep, lighting the night skies like artificial suns to the gorgeous forest. The people of Japan take great care no matter what their task. But away from mainland Japan things are not as clean and alluring and certain businesses must turn to other means to gain business.
On Okinawa a group of people are segregated, but despite this they are the largest source of income for the small island state. The men and women of the United States Marine Corps are viewed as less than second-class citizens. The largest population of single Marines can be found inside Camp Hansen, which is tucked inside the city of Kin. Outside the gates of Camp Hansen are a tangle of bars and rather shady establishments know to the Marines as "Buy Me Drink Me Bars". Most don't even rate to be called holes in the wall.
Watered down drinks and almost no American women makes for a very unpleasant experiences. The atmosphere in Kin most weekends is explosive. The few American women that are there are fought over and are often regarded as whores. But the true whores lurk in the Buy Me Drink Me Bars. Most keep everything strictly to special massages or hand-jobs; occasionally for a little more money some lucky Marine could manage a blowjob. Some of the girls would even sleep with one every now and then for a few thousand yen.
Now is a good time to quash and image that is likely forming, the tenants of these shady little places are not natives to Japan. By far most of the women that work in the shadowy corners pleasuring men for their cut of thirty or forty dollars are Filipina women. For what ever socio economic reason they are the "Mama-san's" (the would be madams of the Buy Me Drink Me Bars) top chose for Buy Me Drink Me Girls
For the few female Marines stationed on Hansen, the one or two places that could be called bars weren't much better. Often three or for men would be fighting over them without even having spoken to them. To be a woman living in this place is hell. There are those that manage very well and even find love and for some, they find themselves.
Lois and Tanya were both enlisted with the same unit and had been in Okinawa for about six months. Lois was the older of the two being twenty-three. She had done a turn in the National Guard before the Marines and was a lot more experienced then most. Tanya was twenty; she had dropped out of collage after two semesters of partying had ended her scholarship. The two were, on the outside, complete opposites. One the mature woman with long term goals the other a shortsighted party girl.
In on of the many barracks on board Camp Hansen Lois and Tanya shared a small room on the third deck. The room was small, about the size of a dorm. It was complete with a bathroom, sinks and furniture. The bathroom was immediately to the right after entering the room. A double sink was off to the left of the bathroom door in the room itself. Opposite the bathroom and the sinks were the wardrobes, three in all.
Just like with the wardrobes there was three of everything in the room. Two of the three beds in the room came in the form of a bunk bed that was against the far wall. It almost framed the room's only window, which looked out over an open grass field behind the building.
On the floor a blue area rug offered to two roommates some relief from the cold tiles that were typically uncovered.
Loneliness in the end brought them together. They enjoyed hearing each other's opinions and kept themselves away from the infantry units and the young hungry Marines from their units. Most Friday or Saturday nights the two of them would walk the two blocks to the E-Club, the only reputable bar, have a few drinks then take off on a walk. Most of the time they would just walk around town, neither of them had ever wandered down the little area where the "Buy Me Drink Me Bars" were.
One particular weekend this all changed. It was a three-day weekend; Tanya had gone to mail call for Lois, who was also her roommate. The take wasn't much, the months Internet bill was there along with the phone bill and a few personal letters. Tanya handed her roommate, three envelopes, one of them was from a dear friend from the National Guard who had been on active duty for a year.
Ally and Lois had been good friends and for the most part had kept in touch. She opened it and started to read. She let a squeak escape her mouth as she read over the letter surprised. Wide eyed she set down the letter and seemed in a daze. Tanya walked over and asked to see the letter. It started off very up beat, Ally telling Lois how she had never been happier in her life. For the last few months Lois had known that Ally was seeing someone. She'd talked about how the sex was great and that they wanted to be together forever.
As it turned out Lois knew who this mystery lover was, Jerry, was the name Ally had given over the phone, but on paper it was Jeri. Jeri was someone that Lois only knew in passing but she was a she.
Reading on through the letter Ally went on to tell how they had been making love and somehow someone found out and squealed to her command. End of story, she was out of the Army. But the most shocking part for Lois was that she and Ally had been together since Army boot camp, they had gone chasing boys on the weekends and even fought over one or two, but she never knew Ally was gay.
"Wow, that's kinda..." Tanya could understand Lois' reaction; she was a very devout Christian and other than one or two guys after boot camp other than that she hadn't been with anyone. Through high school there was no time for boyfriends, in college she had goals and in the Army and the Marines most were just looking to use her so she kept her distance.
"I just can't believe that she never told me."
"She told you her name right?"
"Jerry, J-E-R-R-Y not J-E-R-I. I mean come on."
The three years she had spent in the guard all the drill weekends where she would share a shower with Ally and half a dozen other women, the night in the field in the back of the Humvee lying next to each other.
"Okay get changed we're going to go get drunk." Tanya's solution to any and all problems.
"No, I need to call her."
"It's almost Midnight on Wednesday on the east coast, call her in the morning, let's go relax and forget that we even read that."
An hour later the two of them were walking the streets of Kin. The objective in Tanya's head, when she had been sober, was to find a hot and horny Marine to screw the hell out of her friend, helping her forget about her best friend who was now playing for the home team.
Tanya had a special relationship with alcohol, she drank it and in return it removed all of her controls. Things had a tendency to get mixed around and in her stupor she and Lois wandered into a place called Shangri-La. It was directly out the front gate of Camp Hansen. The path to get there had been involved, they had woven their way there rather then walking straight there. They walked down the stairs ordered their drinks and then were let in. The three girls that were already down there went back to talking when they saw that it was two women and not the usual guys. As a mater of fact there was no one else in the bar. Lois and Tanya sat themselves down near the working girls.
Lois got talkative when drunk and was now opening up to Tanya. It was a little more than Tanya wanted to hear.
"I can't see how she could do that... It's just so wrong."
"Come on she's happy right?"
"But how can you... with a girl... come on.... would you?"
