Secrets From The Med

Chapter 11

Jason sat at his desk and gazed out the open watertight door and over the blue waves glistening in the afternoon sun. He was grateful that the ship would be pulling into Naples tomorrow. He was looking forward to spending some time alone with Tabitha, although he knew that time would be limited since the two of them weren't in the same duty section.

A worried frown creased Jason's forehead. He'd noticed that Tabitha was in the same duty section as Marple, Garwood, and Fletcher. He still didn't trust those three fellow petty officers and had lingering suspicions as to what Garwood's role had been at the party that night. What had he meant when he'd said they wanted to "help her loosen up a bit?"Don't be naive, Dodson. There's only one reason they would've led her to that bedroom.

Jason sighed heavily. Tabitha didn't remember who had given her what and there was no way to prove anything. Besides, Garwood was a third class petty officer and Tabitha would have to respect him. Jason made a mental note, however, to watch the guy closely.

"What's going on, Dodson?" Senior Chief Sanderford suddenly appeared in the doorway.

"Oh, not much, Senior Chief," Jason replied.

The older man sat down in the extra chair Jason kept in his office and reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. "I don't know about you, Dodson, but I'm looking forward to pulling into Naples tomorrow."

"Actually, so am I,"Jason said, still thinking of Tabitha.

"I'm looking forward to hearing my wife's voice on the phone," Senior Chief said as he lit his cigarette. "I learned a long time ago to never take my marriage for granted."

Jason listened and thought of a question he wanted to ask.

"So, Senior Chief, I heard you say before that you had big plans for when you retire. Just what do you have in mind?"

Senior Chief Sanderford exhaled a cloud of smoke and looked directly at Jason. "I'm glad you asked, Dodson. I'm going to be a minister."

This response took Jason by surprise. He'd been expecting the man to say that he was going to be a beach bum or play with his grandchildren every day or something like that.

"Let me explain a little further," Senior Chief Sanderford said. "I'm going to minister to young sailors who are lonely or homesick or just feel they have no where to turn. I've told you before about that explosion that killed three of my friends; those guys worked down in the engine room of my first ship. I went through boot camp with two of them. Anyhow, after that happened, nothing made sense to me. I felt as though I had no where to turn except to a bottle of booze. My young, beautiful wife, my sweetheart since the seventh grade, was patient with me and never gave up on me through those dark days. Not everyone has that kind of support. In fact, most don't, being in the Navy and far away from home."

Now Jason's curiosity was up. "Just how do you plan to minister to sailors, Senior Chief?"

Senior Chief leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees while still holding the cigarette in one hand. "Imagine a place near the base, Dodson, where sailors could go and have a home cooked meal, maybe take in a clean movie and play games like table tennis or volleyball. I've been looking at some property in Norfolk just off Hampton Boulevard. The idea is to build a building, actually more like a big house with a large kitchen and dining room, bedrooms decorated like you'd see at your grandmother's house, a theater, and a game room. It would be a place where sailors could go and get away from peer pressure and the stress of the Navy. I plan to call it "The Lighthouse."

The place Senior Chief had just described sounded grand, but it almost sounded too good to be true to Jason. "That sounds like a huge undertaking, Senior Chief."