“…A little beer will do you good. And you could buy yourself a better fitting pair of pants. The one's you're wearing are huge. Come on.”
I acquiesced. I really did need a smaller pair of pants. As we crossed the river that separated the base from Olongapo City, well-tanned boys stood in chest high water yelling, “Hey, body! Throw me coin.” The way they mispronounced buddy as body made me think that the word, body, was more accurate than buddy.
“How can they fucking stand the smell of that shit in the water, much less, swim in it?” Barry asked.
We held our breath as we walked across the bridge. The boys continued pleading, “Hey body, throw me coin.”
One of the boys standing in the brown fecal smelling river looked like he could be one of my little cousins. Reaching in my pocket, I tossed a couple of dimes to him. He caught one and dove into the shit brown water to hunt for the one that bounced out of his hand.
“Oh, fuck!” No way could I do that,” Barry blurted. “I swear, my grandfather's fucking outhouse smells better than that shitty river.”
“Thank God, Barry, we didn't grow up here, having to swim in that sewer of a river just for a few coins.”
“Let's get the fuck outta here. My nose hairs are starting to fuckin singe,” he said as we sped the rest of the way across the bridge.
Olongapo City had a carnival atmosphere. The aroma of skewered beef cooking on a small black grill was a welcome relief from the putrid smell of the river.
“That's probably monkey meat.” Barry said, “It tastes good. You ought to try it.”
I rolled my eyes, “Get real, Barry. When is the last time you saw a monkey in Subic Bay?”
“This morning. He's your..”
