Read Sand in the Wind for Free Online

blacks. Chalice looked at the faces of the men standing behind him, only a few of them black. As other blacks approached, they joined the group at the door instead of going to the end of the line. Each new man was greeted with extended hands before melting into the crowd. Disgusted by the thought of having to wait in line for an hour, Chalice watched the black power handshakes that greeted the newcomers. Each man received extended hands and a phrase like, “Gimme some of that black power, brother.” The type of handshake being used started like a regular one, then the two men would open their hands and grasp each other’s thumbs to shake again. This was followed by each in turn adding another hand to the one extended, leaning down, and blowing into the three hands. They’d then grasp each other’s wrists. The ceremony ended with each man at the same time tapping the other on both sides of the chest with a clenched fist. Chalice stood thinking, ‘If that’s what it takes to give them self-respect, it’s all right with me.’
    As he continued to watch, he heard a series of four distant but loud explosions, then the scream of a jet engine. A few of the Marines standing in line yelled, “ Get some! ”
    Hamilton tapped Chalice on the shoulder and pointed out four clouds of smoke rising from the valley floor on the Arizona side of the river. “Phantom jets. Look, there’s two of them coming in from the left.” Chalice’s eyes caught a small silver speck as it dived towards the ground, then leveled off. When it reached the place where the first bombs had fallen, it banked sharply and four more clouds of smoke rose beneath it. The sound of exploding bombs was again followed by numerous cries of, “ Get some! ”
    “How come some of the smoke’s black and some of it’s white?” Chalice asked Hamilton.
    Hamilton started to answer, but Payne cut in, his voice jokingly diabolical. “Dark gray is from the HE, high intensity regular bombs. When they hit, arms and legs start flying all over the place. The white’s from willie peter, white phosphorous. When a hunk of it lands on a Gook, his body temperature starts it burning. It bubbles and burns right down to the bone. Even if Charlie knows enough to pack it with mud, he has to walk around looking for somebody to cut the phosphorous out before the mud dries.” At first amused, Chalice now found little humor in Payne’s graphic descriptions. “The real black clouds are napalm. If Charlie’s lucky he gets caught right in the middle of it and suffocates, otherwise he runs around in circles with that hot jelly sticking to him. When we find him he looks like a burnt turkey.”
    The jets made their last bomb run, then streaked deafeningly low over the hill to be greeted by raised fists and more cries of, “ Get some! ”
    The line had been slowly moving into the mess hall. The men filled their trays and sat down at a table near the long screen window overlooking the valley. While they were eating, Chalice didn’t pay much attention to the conversation. He just stared out the window, struck by the beauty of the cool, green valley below, finding it hard to believe that there were people wandering around in it intent upon killing him and those around him, and that for the next thirteen months his whole life would center upon killing them first.
    When they returned to the platoon hootch, Payne tried to talk Tony 5 into playing some cards, but Tony said he wanted to check out Chalice first. He asked Chalice where his pack was and they walked over to it. “I’m not gonna waste my time trying to convince you because you won’t be able to imagine how bad it is, but just for the record, the humping around here is murder. It’ll really knock you on your ass. It makes anything you did at Parris Island or infantry training look like kid’s stuff.”
    “Humping?” Chalice asked.
    “Yeah, marching with packs on,” Tony answered, his expression indicating that Chalice should