Page 29 of Finding Kenna
“I thought I’d start out by showing you Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, then we’ll head over to Ford Island. I want to show you one of my favorite places over there.”
“Awesome,” Kenna replied. She hadn’t really thought too much about what they were going to do while on the base, she was just excited to see Marshall again and spend time with him.
Going through the gate was uneventful, then Marshall began driving around. He first took her through one of the housing sections, and she was suitably impressed by how clean everything looked.
“Do you live on base?” she asked.
“No.”
She waited for more explanation, but when there wasn’t any, she asked, “Is it because you’re single?”
“Not really. I mean, yes, single sailors don’t live here in these larger houses, they’re reserved for families, but I like living off base. It somehow makes me feel as if I have a life.” He chuckled. “That’s not the best explanation, sorry.”
“No, it makes sense. I guess it would be like if I lived in the Outrigger hotel connected to Duke’s. It would feel too much like I was at work every second of every day.”
“Exactly,” Marshall said with a small smile. “So…where do you live?”
His question wasn’t exactly subtle, but she gave him a pass. “In a small apartment complex not that far from Waikiki. It’s on the other side of the Ala Wai Canal, but close enough that I can get to work without having to get on the Interstate. And before you get too excited, it’s just a two-level building, and no, I can’t see the ocean from my apartment.”
“I wasn’t going to ask about that,” he said.
“It’s usually the first thing people from back home want to know. ‘You live in Hawaii? Can you see the ocean from your apartment?’ As if everyone who lives here has a perfect ocean view.” She rolled her eyes. “But I’ve got a great landlord and my neighbors are pretty cool.”
“That’s good,” Marshall said.
Kenna thought it somewhat odd that he dropped the subject, but he probably remembered her being cautious about telling him where she lived. Which seemed silly now. She suddenly wished she’d let him pick her up, it would’ve given her more time with him.
They drove past a dog park and an elementary school. He showed her the commissary and the BX, the base exchange…basically like a big-box store that sold everything from snacks to clothes to tools. They drove farther onto the base and Marshall pointed out the building he worked in. He apologized for not being able to take her on a tour of any of the ships that were in port, though Kenna was still fascinated by the sight of them.
“The base isn’t as big as I imagined it’d be,” she told him.
“Well, the Navy doesn’t need a huge post like the Army does,” Marshall explained. “Our playground, so-to-speak, is the ocean.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. It’s not like you need a huge amount of land to drive tanks around on and stuff.”
“Yup. You ready to head over to Ford Island?”
Kenna had no idea how the base was laid out and didn’t know what was on the island compared to where they were now, but she nodded anyway.
Marshall smiled, as if he knew she was clueless, but he was a gentleman and didn’t comment on it. They drove back through the gates, past the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center and onto a bridge. She had to show her ID again at another checkpoint, but soon they were on their way once more.
“I feel as if I’m getting some super-top-secret tour,” Kenna told him.
Marshall chuckled. “It feels that way, but honestly, the base is a lot like any other neighborhood.”
Kenna wasn’t sure about that, but she didn’t comment. Marshall drove through another residential area, smaller than the one on the main part of the base. They passed a hotel for military personnel, another dog park, and then Marshall pulled into a small parking lot for the USS Utah memorial. He parked and met her at the back of his Jeep. He reached for her hand and they walked down the memorial walkway that extended into the harbor. At the end, there was a plaque describing what happened to the ship during the attack on Pearl Harbor in World War Two, and she could see the hulking remnants of the ship in the water.
There was only one other couple there, but they left soon after Marshall and Kenna arrived. It was quiet and serene, and Kenna took the time to reflect on the fifty-four men who’d lost their lives and who were still entombed on the ship under the water. Being there made her really think about Marshall and what he did. He was a SEAL. He wasn’t sitting behind a desk, safe here in Hawaii. She had no idea where he was sent or even exactly what he did, but it hit home that he definitely didn’t have a safe job.
She stepped closer and leaned into him, resting her head on his arm.
“You okay?” Marshall asked quietly.
It seemed proper to whisper here. In the shadow of the ship where sailors like Marshall had lost their lives.
“I learned about the attack on Pearl Harbor in school,” Kenna said. “And the Holocaust. And the Vietnam War, and other major conflicts around the world. But they were always just words on a page. Details to memorize for a test. Standing here, seeing the rusting hull of this ship, it’s so real. And now knowing you, and what you do, it just seems more…personal.”
“I didn’t bring you here to make you sad,” Marshall said.
