SEVENTEEN
IT HAS BEEN OVER A YEAR since Anij got parted from his parents. But there has not been even the slightest hint at all. Reality has been hammering down his hopes into a deep crevasse. Time makes it even harder to escape from its quicksand of desperation. But he has not fully given up yet. He doesn’t wait for a ship to unload people anymore. Whenever he sees a ship docking at the port, he just stares at it for a while. Then he looks away. After so many betrayals, he doesn’t lean on luck anymore. So he won’t let himself watch it. This is what this compound made him: a hopeless kid bearing a cross on his back.
Since the soldiers couldn’t catch the thieves, they have been cutting down the quantity of the food for the islanders. They are the number one suspects on this case. Even though it has not been proven to be true, the soldiers have made their final decision. So now, the islanders get very little food with almost no variety; pretty much the same menu for many days, now. Mental starvation is not enough for the islanders — they must have physical deprivation as well, according to the soldiers. What a nice conclusion. There haven’t been any rising stars of hope over the past year, but at least they have been dreaming about it. However, now there is nothing left. You can only fight back when you have time and energy.
Lately, Anij has been waiting for those kids to come back. But it has been just so quiet. Not a single thread of excitement for him.
The islanders often are waiting for the soldiers to train or to do something at the port; at least, watching them helps the islanders to outlive the boredom.
“Aren’t they going to play any more games?”
“Well, I also have been waiting for those . . .”
“They probably have been having a lot of outside training lately.”
“There is nothing to do in this place. All I can do is look at the ocean and some other ships coming by; maybe walk outside for a while . . .”
“Well, think about it. It is so much better than the ship that we got stuck on. Remember?”
“Well . . . I don’t know about that. Just look at everyone. What is this supposed to be?”
“Oh . . . Don’t talk about that shit. That gives me a creep.”
“At least we are fed every day, right?”
“Yeah, like we are just a little better than rats . . .”
“I know. But it has been like this for a very long time. What do you have to complain about?”
“At least they don’t kill us. I guess it is fine.”
“I still don’t understand why these crazy Americans have to keep us here. For what?”
“I wonder where the chief is . . .”
“That old asshole didn’t do shit for us. Forget about that guy.”
“I was thinking about that some time ago. I think he knew something before and he did not tell us anything. I bet he is doing well on the island.”
“Was it why he did not leave the island?”
“I saw him, too. When I was getting on board, I saw him walking on the beach. I didn’t care too much, then. But it definitely rings a suspicious bell, doesn’t it?”
“That old asshole . . . He just said too much.”
“Who knows what he was up to, right?”
“Can you just stop badmouthing him? What has he ever done to you? Some bad shit?”
“Well . . . You want me to make a list for you?”
“Like what?”
“How many times did we have to talk about that! Those . . . pointless meetings about the bomb tests!”
“Many times . . .”
“Then what did we get out of them?”
“No one died, right?”
“No one died? What the . . . this is a whole lot worse than living. Can’t you see? Are you freaking blind?”
“We are alive. What the hell is your problem?”
“My problem is, that old asshole set us up with the Americans to send us here for whatever deal he had. That is not bad enough for you? Uh?”
“How do you know? And why are you so sure about it?”
“Then why didn’t he come with us? What is he? A supernatural being? What is he, a god or something?”
“Shit . . . I can’t even talk to you, man. You are so full of shit.”
“Next time some shit happens to you I won’t give a shit. Okay? So don’t come to me and ask for help. Okay? Stupid?”
“Whatever . . .”
“Just shut up, guys. Enough with that shit. We are already pretty much screwed up anyway. That is for sure. Let’s not bring ourselves down even lower, okay?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Just shut up.”
“Let’s wait for few more days. I bet they will play another game very soon.”
“Then we won’t have time to fight about anything . . .”
Their tensions are still there. Maybe a little too strong . . . time has been taming them very harshly.
Anij doesn’t care what people have to say about anything. Ever since he saw those kids, that is what he cares about the most. That is what gets him jazzed. He has even moved his bed closer to the fence just to watch those thieves in their glorious action. There is no way that anyone else could get a better seat. It almost gives him a sensation of being free.
Lots of soldiers are out on the battleships to train. As usual, the islanders are watching them. Lately, the gates of the compound have again been open. It is a false sign of trust from the soldiers, pretending that the islanders have been good. But they are actually open to prove or catch any evidence that the islanders are the thieves. It is actually good for the islanders. However, they don’t know the underlying motive behind this action.
Anij goes through the open gates and walks over to the base kitchen. As usual, he is walking around with so many shards of memories penetrating his nerves. The soldiers start calling him the “kid philosopher,” since his face is just too serious all the time.
Having been exposed to so many soldiers at the base, he has started to pick up some simple English words, and he loves to use them as much as he can. His survival skill already surpasses any of the other islanders. He tries to grab soldiers at random and talk gibberish to them. Mostly they just don’t get what he is trying to say. But sometimes it connects and makes him happy.
One day, while he is walking around the kitchen, the thieves arrive and hide in the bush. Anij doesn’t know yet that those kids are here.
The usual three thieves, a leader, a second man, and a watcher, are surreptitiously approaching their usual target, the kitchen.
“Hey, keep it quiet. We are almost there.”
“Okay.”
“I am going in now. For you, after my signal. Okay? Before then, don’t even think about it. And for you, just watch everything that is going on. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Mikael, the leader, moves into the kitchen first, as usual, and searches the area quietly and quickly. Then he puts his hands up and waves three times. His second man responds and comes into the kitchen as well. The watcher sits in his position down on the ground and keeps still for the entire operation. Mikael sends a hand signal to his second man to find something on the tables. Then Mikael looks through the fridges. This meticulously careful operation must go on in complete silence — zero tolerance for any noise, not even footsteps are allowed. Every move has to be done on tiptoes. It is almost creepy that kids could be so good at such a thing.
Everything is done in a jiffy. There is no screwing around. Every move carries a reason or two. They take their bags from their pockets and put food inside. While they are doing all this, they never loot the food for more than one second. But they are constantly checking up all sides, down, up, left, right and back. They are machines. They should be in a documentary or something.
The kitchen is very large, due to the number of soldiers in this base. So it takes a while for anyone to walk around. Anij is continuously walking around the kitchen. He is taken where his legs are taking him.
Mikael and his second man are almost finished with their mission. Mikael gently nods his head to the second man to wrap things up. They are exiting the kitchen very slowly and heading to the bush.
Anij is turning a corner with many thoughts in his mind without much attention to his surroundings. Then suddenly he confronts the thieves.
The thieves are shocked to see someone standing in front of them. Mikael has been around long enough, but even his experience doesn’t help a lot this time. All three boys are completely still for a few endless seconds. Of course they are speechless, with their dilated irises.
Only their eyes are expressing any emotion. Mikael has to just walk away from this mess as soon as he can, without any aftermath. Mikael puts his finger up to his mouth and slowly retreats to the bushes.
Anij is so surprised that he is actually seeing these guys with his naked eye. Surprise and shock thrill his body. As those boys are walking backward, he puts on a little smile. He wants them to come back. There is no way that he will scream or do anything stupid, maybe as a sign of respect and acknowledgement that he has been actually watching them for a while.
Mikael and his second man are relieved that Anij is not freaking out on them. It is quite unusual — the first time that anyone hasn’t screamed at them. With much relaxed minds, they are smiling at Anij and quickly heading back to the bush.
Anij turns his head the other way and starts to walk away from the kitchen as if nothing had happened. Being a devil’s advocate makes him feel that he is a part of them.
“Booh . . . Booh . . . Booh . . .”
There are lots of ships coming to the port. It has been a while since they had seen any ships coming to the port — maybe for a few months. The islanders are excited to see anything new. It is certainly better than watching trainings and games every now and then.
“Wow! There are many ships coming here today.”
“What is happening?”
“War isn’t over yet?”
“It has been a long time . . .”
“Maybe they’re bringing in more soldiers. Who knows?”
“It is about time for them to leave . . .”
“Yeah. I was kind of expecting them to leave this place and leave us alone . . .”
“I wish the war was over, so we can just get out of here as soon as possible . . .”
“But where are we going to live, anyway? We don’t even speak English.”
“We are kind of messed up either way, unless they actually take us back to our home.”
“That will never happen after all this time . . . Come on! Don’t be a dreamer.”
“Well . . . Let’s wait and see. It might be just some cargo ships with . . . stuff . . .”
Anij is eagerly watching those ships. Since there are so many of them, there might be some hope of finding his parents even at this point. But he doesn’t want to be too hopeful about this, so he doesn’t get too close to the port. His emotion starts to build up little by little, as the ships keep getting closer.
Many soldiers are walking to the port with stuff in their hands. Boxes of stuff are endlessly piled up in front of the ships. Cranes and vehicles are also busy unloading a whole bunch of stuff onto the docks.
“Tony! Make sure you get everything loaded on ship D36, okay?”
“All right. That is from cargo 3 zone 002, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Wow. I can’t believe we are finally going home!”
“Yeah, finally.”
“Felt like it would never happen.”
“How long were you here?”
“Around two years. Shit . . . It was a long two years, here.”
“Yeah, for me, too. Just so goddamn boring here. Nothing to do.”
“Tell me about it. No women. No strip clubs. No nothing in the damn town.”
“Hahaha. When I first came here, I thought at least the city would be somewhat decent. But this place is just hell.”
“So we are leaving this place for good. So long, suckers!”
“I am out of here today.”
“Big relief, isn’t it?”
“Hell, yeah.”
“Anyway, let’s load this shit fast and get on board.”
“All right. Alabama, here I come to my sweet home!”
“Tell them to open the tailgate on ship D14.”
“Open the tailgate on ship D14 — roger.”
“And tell him to open the tailgate on ship F07 on my call about fifteen minutes later. Okay?”
“Open the tailgate on ship F07 on my call about fifteen minutes later — roger.”
“Good.”
The islanders keep watching the soldiers. It is a little strange for the islanders to see so many soldiers all doing the same work. Nothing has ever happened before on this scale that involved almost all the soldiers.
As soon as a few ships dropped anchor at the docks, the islanders are very eager to see what is inside those ships. Many speculations are passing through their brains. Anij is also watching the gates opening. It is still possible for him to find his parents. This is about to become a revelation of a new world. His imagination pushes tears trickling down on his cheeks.
The gates are finally open. This time, all the ships are empty. Nothing is being unloaded.
The islanders are stunned. This is not what they were expecting to see. This is weird.
“What the hell is going on?”
“Why are they empty?”
“Well, don’t ask me.”
“What does that mean?”
“What about the other ships? Will they be empty, too?”
“I don’t know . . .”
“It is very strange that they are empty and there are so many ships here today.”
“Are the soldiers leaving here?”
“They must be exchanging some stuff. So they will be loading some shit on those ships and unloading some other shit from other ships. I think . . .”
“Let’s just wait. We have not even seen any other ships, yet.”
“Shit . . . What is going to happen to us now?”
“What do you mean?”
“It could mean anything.”
“Don’t be so sure . . . It could be anything, you know.”
“I just don’t trust these assholes anyway . . .”
While the islanders are expressing their confusion, other ships are also docking at the port. Every soldier is busy putting stuff on the docks, and all the cranes are transferring the boxes onto the ships. They have been doing this for hours.
The islanders start to suspect something bad. But they can’t be sure yet. Anij is still waiting and hoping for his parents to disembark from one of the ships. There are a few more ships waiting just outside the port. Islanders are not sure if they should be angry or just ignore what is going on.
While the islanders are trying to figure out how to put this puzzle into a nice, logical pattern, a few soldiers are entering the compound. Many islanders ignore their presence. This kind of intrusion had happened quite a few times, and nothing really happened. So they just ignore them. One soldier takes out a sheet of paper from his pocket and starts to make an announcement. No islander really cares what the soldier is saying to them. The soldiers are probably just doing it for the purpose of being legally conscious. So here are the words.
“This is an official announcement. Okay?
“Under the regulations of the United Nations, you are not legally bound by any regulations and/or legislations other than your native country’s regulations and legislations. The regulations of the United Nations state that we must terminate your temporary residency in U.S. Naval Base # 32 and release all of you right after this announcement. You are free to leave this territory at any moment. And you can stay in the Hawaiian territory as long as you never land on the mainland of the United States of America. That is it, guys. Understood? Any questions? I didn’t think so.”
The soldiers are leaving straight after the announcement.
Chattering rises above the horizon of curiosity among many islanders.
“What the hell was that?”
“How would I know?”
“Why did he read something from a paper?”
“Some news?”
“Would it be any good?”
“Hm . . .”
“I saw some kids talking to the soldiers before. We have some kids speaking their language, right?”
“Yeah. I think he is one of them, and there are a few more.”
“Ask him, then.”
“Hey, kid. You speak a little of their language, right?”
“A very little bit,” says Anij.
“So what did he say?”
“I couldn’t understand it all.”
“Me, neither. I only understood we are free and something else . . . But I don’t know what the other words meant.”
“Really?”
“What does that mean?”
“Well . . . That is what he said. We are free. But there were so many other parts that I didn’t understand. So I don’t know what it really means.”
While the islanders are fussing about the announcement, a whole bunch of soldiers are coming closer to the compound. They start to suspect that there is something going on — otherwise, the soldiers wouldn’t come to their compound so often.
“Oh, here they are, coming again.”
“Hey, kid, ask him about the announcement again.”
Anij says to the soldiers, “We are free?”
“Yeah. You are free, and we are leaving.”
“You leaving?”
“Yeah.”
“Why? Where?”
“We are going back home.”
“We are going home?”
“Yeah, if you can. But you can stay here, if you want.”
“We stay here?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t know. We stay here? And we go home?”
“You can do both. Okay? I have to do this now.”
Anij is very confused. The islanders ask Anij what is going on.
“So? What did he say?”
“He told me that we can go home and we can stay here.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know . . .”
“That doesn’t make any sense, kid.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know? Ask him again!”
While Anij is explaining this to the islanders, the soldiers are disassembling the pavilions and taking the beds, one by one. One of the soldiers makes another announcement to the islanders. “All right, people. You got the announcement about ten minutes ago, right? So we are taking our stuff back. And you can go wherever you want, just not here. Okay? Soldiers, let’s get to work.”
The islanders are being pushed out of their beds. The soldiers are just doing their work, ignoring the islanders. The furious islanders ask Anij and some other English-speaking kids what is going on. Some are trying to hold onto their stuff, without knowing what is going on.
“Hey, kid. What the hell is going on?”
“What did he say?”
“Uh . . . He said that we can go out. That is all I know.”
“But why are they taking out all this shit?”
“Well . . . I think the guy who was here before told us that they are going back to their home.”
“Hey, don’t take my bed! That is mine!”
“I said you are free to go. Move out of my way. This is my job. Okay?”
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“What are you doing?”
“It is mine! Mine!”
“Sorry. It is the property of the United States of America. Not yours.”
“This is my place. You can’t just take this away from me!”
“So, that is why they are taking our stuff?”
“I think so. Like I said, I can only understand very little bit. Not the whole thing.”
“Shit! What is going on?”
“Mom! What are they doing? Why are they taking away my stuff?”
“It is my bed! It is . . .”
“I can take it whenever I want. Okay?”
“Stop mocking me! This is my job!”
“Oh, baby. Stop crying. It will be okay.”
“Get out of here!”
“Boys! Move fast! We should finish all this by three o’clock. Okay?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Ask him! Ask him! Why are they taking them back?”
“They gave these to us, right? Then why take them away now?”
Anij is trying to ask the soldiers about this matter again. “Why you steal bed?”
“This belongs to us. Not you. Okay?”
“Hey, kid. I told you. We are leaving. We take this stuff with us.”
“Why?”
“Why? He just told you that we are leaving. Okay, stupid?”
“Get out of my way!”
Anij is shoved into a corner with many others. But he gets up immediately and desperately tries to stop the soldiers from taking his stuff as well as all the other islanders’. After battling with the soldiers for a while, the islanders finally get it. The time has come. They are officially getting kicked out of this place. The reality kills any hope that has been hanging by a thread. No one has questions anymore. There is no other way around it — reality has been shoved in their faces. Their so-called compound is being demolished, collapsing like a paper tower. Not only are the babies crying, so is everyone else, in their minds. This massacre of security devours all the islanders in no time.
Where is an ombudsman or human rights advocate? Please . . . Maybe they are on a long vacation. As far as any law goes, the islanders are liable for their own existence in Hawaii now. It kind of makes sense.
Soon after, the soldiers are done with their jobs, and the entire compound is almost empty. Fences are still up and latrines are still attached. But that is about it. What once was a living space is now an empty human parking lot. The islanders can’t believe that this was their home for years, and it now looks so different.
It is time to taste the real freedom about which they have been dreaming ever since they got here. But this is a nightmare. Certainly the wrong time and place. It is no wonder they are so unhappy.
At the port, the soldiers are now very busy loading everything on the ships. On each ship, different stuff gets loaded. Some ships are for soldiers. Some are for machines and weapons. Some are for all other miscellaneous stuff. A few ships were already fully loaded and left the port some time ago. Every soldier is celebrating his final trip home. It sure is noisy. Different music, parties on each ship, but one destination and emotion for all. They are truly united at this time.
The islanders feel an unfathomable gulf between them and the soldiers. After all, everyone wants to go home. For this reason, both parties have been holding in all kinds of longings. It finally pays off, with two different hands of cards for each party. The soldiers get to go to their homes, the islanders do not. This reminds the islanders of the good old days when they were in their homes and had nothing to worry about.
“Booh . . . Booh . . . Booh . . . !”
The soldiers are done with loading everything on all the ships. They are leaving the base for good. The horn never sounds so bitter and sweet.