Part Eleven
Talking

I had a lot to think about when I got back to the MASH. I felt really good after finally seeing Ray again, but I felt bad, too, because...well, because here I was again. Away from him.

And now he wanted me to go to Boston and stay with him. Or come to the farm, and stay with me. I loved him for offering that. He knew how important the farm was to me, how I worried about Mom there, and Uncle Ed. Either way, it would be an awful big decision.

I talked to Max about it. He listened carefully, filing and buffing his nails. He only wore clear nail polish. ("The colored stuff shows the chips too easy. Looks tacky.") "So, kid, what your saying is that basically, your guy asked you to marry him?"

"Aw, geez, Klinger. I don't know if you can call it that."

Max frowned. "What? He doesn't intend to make an honest man out of you? The cad!"

"Klingeeer..."

"I'm sorry, kid. But you're such an easy target." He sighed. "I dunno what to tell you. Long distance relationships are a bitch. Just be pretty sure before you do anything. Once you're over the age of, say, twenty, society looks at you funny if you're livin' with another guy. Well, if both of you have a job, anyway."

That wasn't much help. I thought about it a long time, and finally decided that I had to talk to Hawkeye. Colonel Blake was terrific, but...Well, he was kinda... uh... unworldly. If you know what I mean.

Anyway, I remembered the time that Major Burns accidentally found out that a wounded soldier was gay, and tried to have him dishonorably discharged. Hawkeye managed to stop him. So, I figured that my secret would be safe with him. I waited till Major Burns was off taking a shower.

Captain Pierce was having a drink when I came in. Yeah, okay, he was usually having a drink pretty much any time I came in. "Sir? I was wondering if I could talk to you about something."

"Sure, Radar. Pull up a camp stool and unload."

I sat down, and tried to decide how to start. He was watching me with that friendly, amused look he usually had. "Let me guess. Girl trouble?"

"Um, no. Not... exactly. I'm gonna suppose something to you, sir."

"Suppose away."

"Okay. S'pose a person met another person, and they kinda sorta got involved. On a personal level. And then this second person asked this first person to go live with him way across the country from the first person's home, like in Boston. Or he was willing to go and live in the first person’s home if he would want him there. And the first person really, really wanted to be with the second person, but the first person's mother needed him pretty bad, but would probably tell him to do what would make him happy, because she was just that sort of a person. What do you think?"

"Personally?"

"Sir..."

"I'm sorry, Radar. I can see it's important to you. Okay. Do these two unnamed people love each other?"

"Yes sir. A whole lot."

"Hm. Well, I'm all in favor of love. I think these two unnamed people should definitely be together. But whether in person one’s... Oh, hell, Radar. You're in love, and you want to know whether or not you should move in with your sweetheart when you go home, right?"

"Right."

"And, for some reason, you think that there might be a problem with their family accepting you, or your family accepting them."

"Right again."

"Is it because they're Korean?"

"No."

"Is it because they're a different religion?"

"No."

Hawkeye studied me. "Is it because they shave, but not their legs?"

"Uh... yeah."

Hawkeye took another drink. "You said that you think your Mom wouldn't have a problem with it. From what I've heard about your Mom, I think you’re right. But I take it that your amore’s family isn’t so tolerant?"

"Not to hear him tell it. He hates them."

"Will he be living with them when he returns to the States?"

"I don't think so."

Hawkeye thought for awhile. "Boston, huh?" He scratched his chin, then shook his head. "On one hand, Boston is a big city, and big cities usually make that kind of lifestyle a little easier. Not so many questions, neighbors aren’t as interested. On the other hand, it is Boston, capital of banning everything that raises an eyebrow, much less a libido. I'm afraid I don't know what to tell you, Radar."

I sighed. "That's okay, sir. I guess this is something I'll have to figure out on my own. Thanks anyway."

"Look, Radar, what do I know about relationships? I don't have anyone waiting at home for me. Well, I might, but they're more likely to want to neuter me than cohabit with me. Just take your time, and listen to your heart. You've got a good heart, kid. I don't think it will steer you wrong."

I kept writing to Ray, and life went on in the camp. There were some significant changes. Trapper John left, and we missed him, but he was replaced by BJ Hunnicutt. He was a real nice guy from California. He had a wife and a little girl back in the States, and he missed them an awful lot.

Something really sad happened, too. Colonel Blake went home. No, that's not the sad part. We were real happy for him. We were sad to see him go, but gosh. Going back to your family? How could we not be happy for him? Then... I think it may have been worse for me than for some of the others. We'd been awful close, colonel Blake and me. Ya see, I was the one who got the message. The message that said that his transport had been shot down over the Sea of Japan, and there were no survivors.

I took that hard. When my dad died, it didn't affect me much. I was just tiny. But I had time to get to know Henry Blake. To know what a kind, decent, good hearted man he was. And he never made it home. And no one could really take time to mourn, because the wounded don't stop coming.

Major Burns wasn't all that broken up. Ya see, he thought that, since he was senior officer, HE would take over. Boy, was he upset when Colonel Potter arrived.

Colonel Potter was a real, old time soldier. He started off in the calvery. Boy, that must've been neat, getting to work around horses all the time. I even managed to get him an old horse to ride, after I knew him for awhile. He sure did love Sophie. It was kinda for me, too. I missed the animals on the farm. I kept as many as I could: rabbits, and mice. But a horse... that really reminded me of home.

Major Burns left, too. It's funny. Klinger was trying so hard to get a section 8, and Major Burns just kind of walked right into one. I always thought he was wrapped kind of loose, personally, but he really went off the deep end when Hot Lips dumped him. Got really paranoid. I mean, even more than usual. I mean able to give Colonel Flagg a run for his money.

Colonel Potter shipped him off to Tokyo to get him out of our hair, and in hopes that some rest would help. He kinda went berserk over there. Totally wacky. The army showed it's thought process by giving him a promotion and transferring him to a VA hospital in Indiana. That's how we got Major Charles Winchester as a replacement.

I was kind of excited when I heard that Major Winchester was from Boston. He was a little snooty, but not too bad. At least he was a good surgeon, and Hawkeye and BJ had some respect for him, not like they had with Frank.

After he'd been at the MASH for awhile, I started asking him about Boston. He sort of brushed me off at first, like he didn't believe I'd really be interested, or could 'appreciate the finer aspects of a cultured and urbane environment after my immersion in the bucolic'. I think he meant it would be kind of a 'untry mouse'thing. But when he saw that I was really interested, he thawed a little. He was real proud of his hometown, and didn' mind bragging on it.

I finally asked him if he knew the Shaw family. He wrinkled his forehead in thought. "haw... Well, of course, Radar. The Shaws are a very old and respected Bostonian family. Their history is quite as distinguished as the Winchesters. Though some of the faction have fallen a bit into disfavor in recent years."P> I thought about Ray, and hoped I wouldn't say anything to get me in trouble if Major Winchester said anything about him. "Like who? How?"

"Oh, nothing scandalous. And not even by blood, actually. No, it's just that Eleanore, a Shaw widow, married a politician."

I was puzzled. "The Boston high society folks don't like politicians?"

"No, no, I mispoke myself. It wasn't so much that she married a politician, it was the kind of politician she married." Major Winchester sneered. "John Iselin. A crass, plebeian she has shamelessly promoted and tried to elevate. At present he is riding the crest of the 'red menace' panic, purely to advance himself, I'm sure."

Yeah, that was Ray's parents alright. Well, mom and stepdad. "Do you know Raymond Shaw."

"Ray?" Winchester's face lit up. "Why, of course. He was several years behind me at school, but I remember him well. Fine fellow." He suddenly looked at me closely. "And how, may I ask, do you know Raymond Shaw, Radar?"

I tried not to blush, but heck, I can't very well control my blood, can I? "He... uh, he was at my boot camp. He was real decent."

Major Winchester studied me for a minute, then said, "Yes. Raymond Shaw is a decent man." That's all he said, but he gave me a little smile. I kind of wondered if maybe there were some of his friends in his society circle that knew about Ray's... interests. Well, if he did, it didn’t seem to bother Major Winchester.

A few months after I had my weekend in Tokyo with Ray, we had a scary incident. I got word from Sparky that some North Korean prisoners had escaped in the area. You might think that they wouldn't come near a military post, but a MASH is different. We aren't really fighting soldiers, and they know it. And they would have known that we’d have all kinds of supplies and medicines they could use. So we were pretty tense around there.

Then Major Margaret Houlihan, Hot Lips, went missing. She went into her tent one night, and the next morning she was nowhere to be found. We were worried sick, let me tell you. We searched the camp from top to bottom. They even looked inside the latrines. Yuck! No Hot Lips. So Colonel Potter had me put a call through to headquarters to inform them and ask them for help.

I guess I should have been expecting it, but I was so worried about Major Hot Lips that I wasn't thinking about any of my own problems. I mean, I'm the guy who knows things, right? And I hadn't felt a twinge or a hint. Looking back, I can see that was a good thing. Maybe if Major Houlihan had been in any actual danger, I would have felt something. As it was, I was really beating myself up over not being able to help any more than just searching, like everyone else. I felt like I should be doing more. I felt rotten.

And it didn't help any when Colonel Samuel Flagg arrived to investigate.