The next morning, getting out of bed at his usual 6:30 a.m., he took off his pajamas and stepped into the shower. As he washed himself he started humming a melody which he couldn’t identify or remember humming in a very long time. He finished his shower and found some clothes in his closet he thought April had bought for him. Feeling fresh from the shower and wearing brand new clothes, he felt  “like a new man,” 

After breakfast, he drove back to the travel agency. He spotted a parking space only a block away and pulled right in. He put some coins in the meter and headed in clutching Wes’ letter. A soft bell chimed as he opened the door and both ladies responded at the same time “Good morning.” Doris, the one who had helped him before, rose from her chair and walked over to shake Ray’s hand. “How may I help  you?”

Ray coughed and reintroduced himself. “Hi Doris, my name is Ray and I…” 

She interrupted “Yes, Ray I remember you.”He felt a pleasant warmth move all through his body. Then he recalled she’s married and his voice dropped to a lower, quieter volume.

“Well, I heard from my Army buddy Wes who’s back in Hawaii, in a town called Waikiki. I have his address and I’ve written him and he’s written back. We even talked on the phone.” Ray noticed he was talking fast so he slowed down and stopped. He took a slow breath and continued. “Anyhow, he said he’d love for me to come visit him. We could talk over old times and have some laughs. He even said…” with that Ray’s voice trailed off. He didn’t want to mention about the wild times Wes would probably want to have. “So anyway, I’m here to make the arrangements for the discount package you told me about. I assume it’s still available.” Ray waited for her response.

She sat back down and bent over then opened the mahogany desk drawers. She made noises with her tongue as she quickly fingered through a lot of papers. “Well, I’m not seeing it.” She turned to her co-worker. “Betsy, do you have the brochure on that discounted package to Hawaii.  

Betsy stopped work on her computer and started looking through piles of papers on her desk, then checked the drawers on her desk. “No, I’m not finding it. Don’t you have it? I remember seeing you with it earlier this week?”

Doris took in a deep breath. Then, the woman looked again through all her papers and the desk drawers. Finally she stopped and turned to face what Ray still thought looked like a big TV on her desk. “Wait, let me check online. I think I received information from the hotel in an email.” With that she began typing quickly sounding like a woodpecker attacking a tree. 

After a long delay, Doris announced “I’ve got it. Here’s the info.” She quickly printed it and jerked the paper out of the big machine standing next to her,  “Yes, here it is.” She read it quietly and said reassuringly. “Yes, we can get you the discounted package. The offer hasn’t expired.”

She took his personal information including credit card data from Ray and went back to the computer. After a few more minutes, she turned to Ray and went over his trip arrangements. “The total flying time would be 10 hours. You will have one stopover in Los Angeles and then continue on to Honolulu. And I’ve booked you into the Maka Luau Hotel in Waikiki for two weeks.

Ray sat still for a few moments, then got to his feet. Doris handed him all the paperwork and offered her hand. Ray shook it. “Thanks Doris. I am so grateful for all you’ve done.” As he exited the agency, he turned and waved to the two women. 

The next seven days seemed to crawl by. He called Wes that evening. Wes’ voice was louder and he talked faster than before. “Ray, we are going to have one heck of a good time. Two old army buddies loose on the town.”

On the day before his flight, Ray packed a couple pairs of jeans, short-sleeved shirts, socks and underwear. Finally, at 4 pm that Sunday, he closed the big suitcase and set it by the door. Then he remember toiletries so he opened the suitcase and stuffed in those items.

He slept lightly as his dreams were short and varied like previews of coming attractions in a movie theatre. 

He boarded the bus at the downtown Indianapolis Greyhound Terminal the next morning at 8:30. His flight out of O’ Hare Airport was at 12:05 pm. It was a ten hour flight, but he would gain six hours flying west, arriving in Honolulu at 4 pm their time.

Ray thought he should try and sleep on the plane because he needed it, and it would help pass the time. Several attempts didn’t work, so he looked at the back of the seat in front of him, at the airline magazine, what little he could see out the window and quite a bit of the time daydreaming about what it was going to be like with Wes. He recalled the Travel Agents poster of young people playing volleyball on a beach. He thought about surfing thinking he probably wouldn’t try it. And he imagined what a Hawaiian girl would look like: tanned brunette, nice figure, great smile, grass skirt. He enjoyed all of his day dreams.

There was a bit of turbulence as the plane flew over the Rocky Mountains, but calm after heading out over the blue Pacific Ocean. Ray had only ever seen the Atlantic Ocean when he flew to Germany. This was his first time heading west across the States.

The plane landed smoothly and on time in Hawaii. It took another twenty minutes for the plane to taxi to the gate where he deplaned with the other passengers. As he walked into the airport proper, he was trying to see if Wes was there, like he’d promised. He was, but looked different with a dark brown full beard and shoulder length blonde hair .In the army no one was allowed to have facial hair and “hippie hair” was never seen in the ranks of the young men.

As Ray ran past some gorgeous Hawaiian girls in grass skirts, ready to greet him, he yelled at Wes “look at you, you flaming hippie!” When they met, they bear-hugged each other. 

They walked together to the baggage claim area where Ray snagged his suitcase off the conveyer. Wes offered to carry it, but Ray insisted “No, buddy! I can handle it.” With that they both laughed. Wes slapped Ray on the back. “No problem buddy. We’ll do this thing together, like we did back at good old Camp Nein Holten.”

They walked out the front door of the airport and into the short term parking lot. After passing several rows and aisles, they finally reached Wes’ car. It was a highly polished and spotless 1966 red Thunderbird convertible. Wes proudly pointed it out to Ray who almost yelled “Wow, this is yours? It’s fantastic!”

Wes pretending to be surprised said “Really? You think this is cool?” 

Ray slapped him on the back, “Cut it out! This is my dream car.”

After they’d sat down inside the car and were underway, Ray told his Thunderbird story while running his fingers along the leather dash. “When I was little I always wanted a T-Bird. The closest I ever came to having one was a scale model I put together. I vowed I would have one some day. But that never happened. Instead I got married…” His voice trailed off. He could feel the tears dripping down his cheeks.  

As hard as he tried he could not stop the tears from coming. It always felt uncomfortable to be crying in front of others, especially in front of an army buddy.

Wes was quiet for a few moments, then suggested they stop and get some coffee. Ray nodded. They had only a short distance to drive to a restaurant that looked like something in a movie. There were palm trees, multi colored flowers, plants and highly polished wood on the floor, the walls and even the ceiling. The waitresses all wore bright colored dresses with little slits in the side. They all seemed beautiful to Ray. 

After finding their own seats, a waitress came to their table. Wes ordered a specialty coffee and encouraged Ray to try one. It came in a white cup that had the name of the shop on the side of it with a painted picture of the beach with more palm trees and lots of ocean, Ray wasn’t sold on the idea of a hot drink. He considered a drink which the waitress suggested, Hawaiian Nights, which was made with pineapple juice, rum and a dash of vodka. He thanked her but just went with a root beer in a frosted mug.  

Ray apologized for breaking down, Wes quickly said “no problem. You can talk about her if you want.” Wes smiled at Ray.

“No, I’d just as soon not. These spells come over me and I am trying to make myself strong enough to just work through them.  

Wes smiled. “That sounds good to me. I have a lot of fun things planned for our time here and they are guaranteed to make you feel better about everything.

More casual conversation followed until there was silence. All Ray could hear was the music coming from the juke box that seemed too loud.

Finally, Wes, sat up and announced. “I’ve got something real nice planned for this Friday. Were going to a luau. You’ll love it!”

Ray also sat up. “What is a luau?” He stared at Wes who looked down, toyed with his silverware and smiled.