“I brought us a bottle,” she said, producing a bottle of red from behind her back. “Your favourite.”
“You’d better not drink too much of that,” Sassy said, carrying it to her kitchen. “You have an early flight.”
Marion shuddered at the thought. Flying was at the top of her list of things she wasn’t looking forward to.
Sassy was already pouring into two wineglasses. “I’m gonna miss you.”
“I wish I could be there for you tomorrow,” Marion replied.
Sassy just shook her head. “You are flying to Vietnam because of me, Marion. The fact that you are going to miss the fundraising concert we’re throwing to help pay for you and Daniel to go is nothing to apologize for.”
“What are friends for, if not to fly across the world for them?” Marion teased. “Cheers.”
They regarded each other over the rims of their glasses, and Marion watched Sassy’s eyes fill with tears.
“I really am going to miss you,” Sassy whispered. “You better be careful out there.”
Marion swallowed past a knot in her throat. “I promise. It’s only two months, but I’m going to miss you, too. Gosh, this seems much more like an adventure fit for you, not me.”
“If only I was a doctor,” Sassy replied sadly.
“You’ve been through so much in such a short period of time. I hate leaving you right now, but this is the only window of time I could go.”
“I know.”
“You’ll be okay,” Marion said again. “You have Davey—”
Sassy’s smile turned mischievous. “Yes, but even better, I think I might have Tom.”
Marion elbowed her playfully. “Now I know you’re going to be all right. I see that look in your eye. Poor Tom. He has no idea what he’s in for.”
“I think he does,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows. “I just hope he’s prepared.” She took a sip. “Did you tell your parents you were going?”
Marion nodded. She’d called ahead, then taken the long ride up to their house to join them for Sunday dinner. Pat and her family had come as well, which was good. It meant she could tell everyone at the same time.
“What did they say?”
Marion chuckled. “Well, I thought my mother was going to faint, honestly. Pat got mad at the mention of Vietnam, so she didn’t listen to much after that. Her husband did, though. He was nodding, and I think he understood that I’m not going there to support the war. I’m going to support the men involved. He’ll try to explain it to her later, but Pat’s not great at listening sometimes.”
“What about your dad?”
They both knew that was the real question. Joey’s departure to Vietnam had been the beginning of the end for Sassy’s father. Marion had been well aware of that the whole time she had made her decision to go, but she knew her father better now. She thought he knew her better, too.
She smiled faintly, recalling his expression. “He didn’t say much at first, but he watched me as I talked it through. I explained that I would be in a safe compound, I was with the Red Cross, and I would have Daniel. I needed to know what he was thinking, so I just asked him straight out. He told me he didn’t want me to go for obvious reasons, but mostly he wanted to understand my motivation. That was hard, because I wanted to tell him he had inspired me to be courageous, but I didn’t want him to feel responsible in case anything went wrong.”
Sassy nodded. She understood that all too well, Marion knew.
“So I told him that I wanted to do more with my life, and an opportunity had presented itself.”
You hadn’t planned that day in Italy, she’d reminded him gently.Would you change what happened if you could?
He had held her gaze, a gentle understanding in his expression.Not a thing.
Sassy waited, knowing there was more to the story, but Marion was relieved she didn’t ask. Something about the look in his eye, the pride she saw, had felt deeply personal. She wanted to keep it for herself.
She had tried not to watch the news leading up to their departure, but at the same time, the rational part of her needed to know what she was getting herself into. The Tet Offensive, the organized and vicious attack on southern points, including U.S. military bases, was tentatively controlled for now. Other than the news media reading their talking points to the camera, no one seemed confident the invasion would continue uncontested. Hundreds of military and civilian casualties had resulted from the battles, including nurses, physicians, and surgeons. Mass graves had been discovered, holding corpses of teachers, doctors, civil leaders, and other enemies of the North Vietnamese. Some of the murdered had been shot in the head, some had been buried alive. Others had died of asphyxiation due to the plastic bags tied over their faces.
She’d brought all those points up with Daniel, and he’d nodded coolly. “There are atrocities everywhere. On all sides. But that’s why we’re going, right? To do what we can to ease the suffering.”
