Butler was unhappy with being moved to the Chief's Mess. The Captain's Mess was much more relaxed and he basically had to take care of one person. But when the new Captain came in he made a few changes. And Butler was one of those changes. Chiefs on the other hand were loud and obnoxious. At times he felt like he was in a foreign land. Several of them were Filipino and openly spoke Tagalog. Butler felt picked on quite a bit. The only good news he got was when his Division's LCPO told him to come to his Division after he got off work. He rushed to his Division after work to find his LCPO and DIVO in the office.
"You wanted to see me Senior Chief," Butler asked.
"Yes," he replied, "we have some good news for you."
"And what's that?"
"Your request got approved," Senior Chief smiled.
"A School," Butler laughed.
"Yes," the DIVO replied.
"All the information is in this package," Senior Chief said handing over a manila envelop to him. Butler took it as Senior Chief handed over a checkout card with both his and the DIVO's signatures.
Butler spent the next couple of days gathering his things. He realized he didn't have much and could easily pack up and leave. Plus he had received a large sum of money to drive to Pensacola. It would take him about two days to check out completely. And he couldn't be any happier to leave. The USS Tet Offensive was falling apart, and he was going to be happy not to deal with any more of its bullshit.
He'd finally loaded his car with all of his possessions when a friend from his Division approached him.
"So it worked out," Burke asked him.
"Thank god," Butler smiled, "they'll probably be pissed at me for coming back."
As he finally shut the car door he noticed Alex leaving the ship. He was tempted to talk to her but ignored the urge. Burke kept on making small talk. He kept an eye on Alex as she made her way to the Laundromat and gedunk. He tried to ignore her but couldn't stop thinking about their "relationship". He knew it would go nowhere and would be based solely on sex. After Burke left he noticed her walk up to a black sailor around his age. She gave him a hug and a kiss. This set something off in him. He couldn't explain it but it awoke something terrible.
"You've got to be kidding me," Butler said to himself.
Alex walked up to Robinson who'd just gotten off the ship. She noticed that he didn't take that much time getting ready, whereas she'd finally become accustomed to try and look normal outside of work. She was pretty for sure he was wearing his work boots with his outfit.
"You've got to be kidding me," Alex said as she gripped Robison's hand.
"What," he replied.
"Your shoes," Alex laughed.
"Oh," he said standing up, "gotta get some new kicks."
"Yeah," she smiled as she gave him a quick kiss.
"So what do you want to do," he asked.
"I don't know," she smiled, "wanna check out the base club?"
"Maybe," he replied.
They went to see a free movie on base. Butler followed them. He watched them make out. This infuriated him even more. They ended up going to the base club around seven. It was extremely boring there, and nearly empty. Alex and Robinson danced a little bit and eventually stopped. Butler went to the bathroom and entered one of the stalls. He sat down and pulled out a condom. He jerked off until he was hard and put it on his penis. He zipped up his pants and went back into the club. He saw Alex and Robinson sitting far away from him. They did not notice him.
"I have to tell you something," Alex said as she clutched his hand.
"What is it," he asked.
"The deployment," she started, "I can't do it. I just can't. I know you'll be mad at me but I just had to tell you."
"I can't do it either," he said.
"I know," she replied, "but I went off the pill the day I met you, and we've fucked a few times, and I didn't want to tell you."
"You've got to be kidding me," he said.
"Don't be mad," she said, "but I can't do the deployment, I want to be with you, I want to have your kids."
"You trippin'," he said in a stereotyped tone.
"Don't be mad," she said.
"Bitch," he said, "I can't go on deployment either, I popped on the piss test."