Magnet & Steele (21 page)

Derrie absolutely agreed with her.
“Aren’t we ever?”

They walked away from each other
only to turn around at the same time taking a few steps in. Inches
away from each other now, Francine tried to hold back her mania
while Derrie tried to fight his own; definite affliction between
them both.

Francine’s face was on fire, she had
never experienced so much eagerness before. Derrie too, was
undergoing identical agony. And that’s when he could see the fervor
written all over her face and grabbed her to him without
thinking.

He kissed her everywhere and
anywhere, down her neck, up to her ear, to their mouths welding and
locking together in one long, deep French kiss.

Coming up for air, Francine broke
away from his lips to actually feel his heart beat and her heavy
breathing. She knew what she wanted and could tell from the buildup
in his trousers that he ached for it too. They were alone, with no
one near and no one around them when she looked out in the distance
and spotted the family limousine.

Derrie and Francine were alone now
within the plush interior of the sleek black limo. Sitting across
from one another, Derrie lustfully reached for Francine’s body when
she whispered, “Derrie, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he relayed, licking her
lips once again.

“But I am sorry.”

Derrie cupped her face and asked her
to reopen her eyes. “Fran, look at me,” Derrie asked lovingly,
“Look at us…We’re better together than we are apart. You know
you’ve always had me…an inch away…anytime you call.”

Francine regarded his invitation and
entwined her fingers within his, “I know; that is what has always
scared me.”

Butting his head up against hers, he
closed his own eyes. “All I want to do right now, right this very
instant is to hold you…to touch you; that’s all I ever wanna
do.”

They start to kiss, kiss each other
fully with their clothes still on. Derrie embraced her, Francine
received the embrace and he kissed her neck again, her bare
shoulder, her cheeks and her wet mouth. No words were expressed,
just physical feelings.

She wanted every part of him, every
part to make it complete. It was more than what she anticipated,
his kiss, his desire for her, it was better than extra…extra
special to be exact.

And this was how it was supposed to
be. She was no longer that inexperienced girl who was afraid to
touch him. She was no longer innocent to where his nakedness would
cause her to close her eyes and shy away. But when he began to
disrobe she examined him and found that her childhood friend
transformed into a man and this man had a great physique. Tone and
lean, his daily regime of practicing with the football team caused
his stomach to be flat and rippled with muscles. He was awesome to
look at and even more desirable to test out. And she guessed by the
way he couldn’t keep his eyes off her upper body that he was just
as engrossed with her body as she was with his. Not even caring in
the least that he might ruin her dress; the buttons were
practically ripped off if she didn’t intervene. His expression was
blood-tingling as she watched his mouth gather and swathe her bare
breasts over and over after tugging down her bra. Helping him pull
down his pants, she lifted up her skirt then yanked down her
underwear to ultimately accept what she had itch for incessantly.
His mouth was serenity, his body was nirvana and he was just
downright heaven as his firm male body savagely rested on top of
her.

And oh how she loved him!
Fingernails digging into his back as his flesh, at last, dove into
her; welcoming him inside, she adjusted her body to feel the length
of him, kissing his face and tasting his sweet lips that were both
ecstasy and rabid as his tempo rose and fell, easing then thick
until Francine began to manipulate her own outcome and savored the
bliss until it’s incredible closing stages.

Philippines, 1972

A heated rain fell from the sky and
the little cottage where Francine resided overflowed with water
from the holes in her ceiling. Every inch of the floor was covered
in pots and pans collecting drips of the falling rain.

In the bedroom, Ian was in bed
reading a book by a dim light. Out in the hallway however, Francine
was pacing the floor. She was biting her fingernails and kept
running her hands through her hair. Playing the fake wife in a fake
marriage was Hell. She felt like Ian knew that she was unfaithful
every time she listened to one of his sermons about sinners and
with her lack of affection towards him lately, she was even afraid
to look him straight in the eye. Every moment of every waking
minute she would reminisce of those wonderful moments inside the
limousine. After their encounter, they didn’t utter another word
and knew what had to be done. But with a child on the way? Francine
now had a painful decision to make.

“Francine? Will you come in here for
a moment?”

Francine halted her tread and walked
around the corner. She stood beside the bed on the opposite side of
the room. “What is it?”

“Will you sit down?”

Francine hesitated, but then dragged
the chair out from under the writing desk. “What is it,
Ian?”

Ian swallowed hard before saying, “I
don’t know how else to tell you so I’m just gonna blurt it out…so
here goes, I’ve extended my tour two more years.”

Francine’s eyes bug out.
“What!”

“I know you’re mad.”

“Go back to that hellish war? Keep
me in naval housing? What about the church?”

“That’s just it Francine, the Lord
wants me to go and save the dying soldiers…they need me…the Marines
need a foot chaplain.”

Then silence…silence and the sound
of dripping rain.

“I want a divorce,” she blurted out,
finally.

“I know.”

“I want a divorce Ian, I can’t stand
it here.”

“You still love that guy, don’t
you?”

Francine hesitated again and bowed
her head in remorse. “Yes,” she confessed at last. “I’m sorry, Ian,
I guess I’ve always loved him.”

Ian pushed the book away that was on
his lap and eyed his uniform hanging on the inside of the closet
door. “Do what you have to do Fran. I know you desperately want to
go back to America, so go. I was always worried about you here
alone with the other wives anyways, and I don’t want to worry about
you anymore. I get to save people and you get your guy. So in a
way, we both get what we want.”

Francine attempted a weak smile. Did
she really get what she’s wanted since she got here? Did she really
just win? “Oh Ian, I never meant to hurt you—you deserve so much
better than what I’ve been able to give.”

Ian started to smile. “Maybe the
next time you see me, I’ll be married to a beautiful Vietnamese
girl to make you jealous.”

Francine conceded and closed her
eyes in relief. “And you would,” she said smiling too. She looked
deep into his eyes and continued her smile, but then an unexpected
chill went down her spine. She swore his blue eyes turned
black…

A week later, Francine boarded a
flight out of Subic Bay. Ian waved goodbye to Francine as she
walked up the narrow staircase to enter the plane.

She never did tell Ian about the
baby. She knew that Ian would have never granted her a divorce if
he knew she was pregnant. He would have never have set her free,
and she just wanted to be released. It was selfish, she knew that,
but she had a one track mind because all she ever wanted—all she
ever thought about was Derek Magnet.

Six months later, Francine was
handed a baby in a pink blanket. She opened up the cover to see
more of the baby’s head.

“Aren’t you beautiful, Sara? I can’t
wait to show you to Derrie. It’s just you and me now, you, me and
Derrie…”

It would be another year that would
go by, another year until she received any letters from both
men.

*****

She lived in San Francisco for
awhile attending peace marches trying to live her life. America had
been turned upside down. Huge demonstrations occurred all across
the states, urging an immediate moratorium. One march even filled
Pennsylvania Avenue, near the Capitol Building in Washington. Signs
called for troops in Vietnam to get “out now” and for the release
of jailed antiwar activists. The main demonstrations were mostly
peaceful, but afterward some protestors battled with police. Among
the strongest opponents of the Vietnam War were soldiers who had
served over there and considered the war wrong. Their main
organization was “Vietnam Veterans Against the War”. Many antiwar
veterans threw away their medals in protest. In 1970, at Kent State
University, demonstrators got so heated up that police had to throw
tear gas at them and fired bullets that killed four students and
wounded others; some casualties were not even protestors, but just
students walking to class. The shootings sparked a nationwide
student strike, closing down hundreds of campuses. Two students at
Jackson State College in Mississippi were also shot and killed by
police a month later.

The Democratic Party chose Senator
George McGovern of South Dakota to run against President Nixon in
1972. McGovern was himself a decorated WWII bomber pilot and was
highly regarded in Congress. Yet he could not unify Democrat voters
behind his promises to end the war and cut defense spending and
Nixon won by a landslide.

As the U.S. air raids hammered North
Vietnam in December 1972, Communist delegates agreed to a
cease-fire. The Paris Peace Accords were signed by the U.S., North
Vietnam, South Vietnam and the Viet Cong. The agreement provided
for a cease-fire with the U.S. withdrawing from Vietnam
completely.

In 1973, the U.S. promised to strike
back at the Communists if they resumed attacking South Vietnam.
This promise was not kept. That same year, Congress cut off funds
for U.S. military involvement in Southeast Asia, later; Congress
cut military aid to the Saigon government. When the NVA invaded the
RVN in 1974, President Ford could do nothing in response. The
Communist offensive had begun and the South Vietnamese knew they
had been abandoned by the U.S. and their confidence was crushed.
The final campaign lasted until 1975.

During one of her visits to Los
Angeles, Francine went to visit her sister’s grave. Trying to drive
into the gates however, she came upon a bunch of protestors
encircling the gates. She looked into their eyes and felt their
pain, fighting for something they believed in. They were carrying
signs that read: “No More Deaths!” and “Make Love, Not
War!”

Later that very same day, Francine
went to answer her front door and was startled to see a messenger
dressed in a military uniform.

“Mrs. Francine Davis?”

“Yes?”

“United States Navy ma’am; I have a
letter for you, please sign here,” the Marine asked, handing her a
clipboard.

Francine sat alone reading the
letter while Sara, now one, played quietly in the
background.

She thought she prayed hard enough,
she thought she hoped hard enough…but a letter from the United
States of America notifying that her ex-husband had been killed
conducting Sunday services had been just as heart-wrenching as
hearing when her sister died. Maybe even one of the hardest things
she ever had to live though.

*****

A platoon was in the brush. Half the
men are asleep, while the other half stands guard. The night was
silent and in the darkness, a lone VC soldier crept up on an
American soldier who was napping. The night was silent and in the
pitch black of night, Pvt. Derek Magnet, F CO, 2nd BN of the 27th
Marine Regiment, rested on his duffel bag, unaware that the
Vietnamese soldier was in his area and grabbed Derrie from behind
and thrust a knife to his throat. Derrie had no time to react but
instantly thought of Francine.

California, 1973

The new Magnet residence was very
posh. Mr. & Mrs. Angelo Magetti aka Mr. & Mrs. Jerry Magnet
moved up the hills of Encino and bought a house over-looking the
San Fernando Valley and some parts of Hollywood, and on a good
clear day, Santa Monica and the ocean beyond. Life was good, no,
life was tranquil and absolute and Nancy never knew so much
happiness. Every day she was reminded that the man she loved--loved
her--and Angelo never missed a beat telling her how much and showed
her physically, every night.