Chapter 106: Eden
Pedro hosted us for lunch at his pleasant residence in Buliasnin.
The mahogany-covered beach was nostalgic. This was where it had all begun.Just like during our training sessions, the officers and cadets ate on the porch. The recruits dined in the backyard—though this time, Pedro had taken the effort to offer them tables and chairs for the small feast.
From inside, laughter and giggles erupted. Isabela and Alicia were clearly having fun cooking and serving food alongside my sister and nieces.
Served for everyone were roasted whole chickens, large stuffed tuna, barbecued pork strips, and generous servings of rice.
I leaned more comfortably into the wooden chair at the head of the table, staring at the calm sea with a smile. The birds chirped while the salty breeze stirred the trees, rustling their leaves. More and more, it felt foolish to leave behind all this beauty and peace—to endure hell tomorrow.
North Carolina had its own kind of beauty. To be lost among the pines, in the depths of the Appalachian Mountains, with no company but oneself and nature, was an experience close to heaven. And yet I had left it for the rainforests of Vietnam, with their endless mosquitoes, thick and stubborn undergrowth, and hiding Viet Cong guerrillas whose life’s purpose was to sink a bayonet deep into our guts.
I once wondered why men would ever exchange paradise for hell.
Perhaps it is because, deep down, man knows he does not deserve Eden.
Thus, he exiles himself—goes on a journey, hoping to find redemption and return as someone more deserving.