ANCHORS AWEIGH Chapter Two

Pretty Girls and Adventures on the High Seas

When Dad retired, my brother took over the family import-export business and it was beginning to do well. He tried to get me involved before I enlisted in the Navy but I had adventures in mind, not the kind while sitting in an office.

When I returned to the States and was mustered out of the Navy, my brother tried to involve me once again but as soon as I got my Seaman First Class papers, I was looking for a ship heading for the Far East.

My brother suggested I get a passport just in case I needed it. Although I thought it was a waste of time but because he insisted I might need it, I finally said, "okay."

I found a job on a freighter and was off to the Far East and the adventures of a lifetime. We put into some small ports but the old sailors warned me about going ashore. Too many sailors never made it back to the ship and some were found floating out to sea.

The fun times were ahead in the bigger cities where morals were looser or non-existent. By the time we neared port I was tired of stories and wanted to experience life for myself.

It was a deep port so we could pull all the way to the dock. The crew on this ship was a rough and rowdy bunch, so I felt I would be safe as long as I was with them.

Local dock workers did most of the unloading work and we were given a three day pass.

The guys had been talking about getting drunk and spending time with women. That was all they talked about after being at sea for a month. They went over their past adventures and the fights they had with the local people. After listening to all that chatter I didn’t know what to expect but I could hardly wait for this was going to be my greatest adventure so far.

I also wanted to see some of the sights and get some pictures of temples and the sidewalk cooking. The captain gave some strict orders about keeping out of trouble and being back on board before time to sail. I was sure I wouldn’t have any problem obeying him for I wasn’t going to get in any trouble.

The men hit the shore running and I was right in the middle of them. Some had been here before and knew where they were going while others like me were just trying to find a place with wine, women, and song.

I didn’t need the wine but was interested in the women. Later as I thought about it, it must have been all the stories that got me all fired up.

About six or seven of us went into this bar where there was music playing and women trying to get men to drink and buy the girls drinks also. I had heard about places like this but this was a real experience.

A beautiful girl came over to me and was rubbing up against me. As she was hugging on me she ordered drinks for us and we went to a table. I couldn’t understand much of what she was saying even though she was supposed to be speaking English.

I only drank a few swallows of my drink and was getting dizzy, and I couldn’t see things clearly. 

All at once a fight broke out. It was my mates fighting with some of the locals. The police were just outside waiting for a disturbance and they rushed in and arrested them.

They were going to take me but the girl I was with told them I wasn’t fighting and to leave me to her to take care of. The police left and the next thing I knew it was three days later and my ship had sailed without me.

I eventually realized I had been doped but couldn’t make any sense as to why the kept me there for they had my money and seaman’s papers. The pretty girl I had been drinking with showed up and we had some food. I had many questions and she answered most of them although not very satisfactorily.

As it turned out they had my papers and money and I had to cooperate with them or else.

The man the girl worked for ran the boxing matches among all his other enterprises.  I found out I was to be the Yankee villain and would fight all comers. I told them I wasn’t going to do it for although I had boxed a little I wasn’t much good at it.

Three goons showed up and whisked me away to where the boxing ring was. They stripped my clothes off and gave me some trunks to put on. Then I had to put on some very light weight boxing gloves. I thought these aren’t much better than fighting bare knuckles.

 

They urged me to enter the ring and a moment later there entered a giant of a man. I could see people betting on one of us although I couldn’t see anyone betting on me after seeing the monster man I was to fight.

 

There was some kind of gong and the fight was on. He lumbered over toward me and I felt frozen. He gave me a little tap and knocked me down. I rolled to my feet and realized this was real and I might be fighting for my life. I swung and hit him on the nose pretty hard.

It looked like it made him mad for the expression on his face changed and was frightening. The last thing I remember was being hit in the ribs so hard I couldn’t breathe.

I awoke the next day so sore I could hardly move. I already had it figured out but I asked Cheri Leng (That was the name the pretty girl gave me) what happened and she said after the rib blow he really went to work on me and after the fight (If you could call it that) the three thugs brought me back to her place.

Then I realized she could speak perfect English not like the gibberish she spoke while at the bar. She said she had to get me ready for my next opponent in four days.

I could hardly breathe and they wanted me to fight again. I told her didn’t they know I couldn’t fight?

She said it didn’t matter! The people wanted to see a white man get beaten up and they were willing to pay for the privilege.

To Be Continued