Summer Fun

The tangled webs being woven

The summer of 1982 passed in a whirlwind of fun. The highlights were weekends, when Jerry would ask the bachelors of 1 Squadron to come over for an evening of drinking and relaxation. He would set up his barbecue by the pool side and unlimited amounts of beer would flow amidst much light hearted revelry.

This was the recipe Jerry gave me for his super delicious chicken but it never tasted the same when I tried it so I don't know if he was withholding some secret ingredient.

Jerry's BBQ chicken

Marinade chicken in honey, lemon juice, chili, soy sauce and salt for six hours. Half an hour before putting on grill add one bottle Limca.

I found I was getting more and more attracted to Sud but he seemed quite disinterested, which irritated my ego greatly. He would turn on his charm for Jules, but was always pleasantly polite with me so I had to hatch many a devious plot to get his attention.

I would wander around casually in a pair of teeny tiny shorts hoping his eyes would pop out which they never did, or so I thought at the time. I  hovered around the pool like a damsel in distress, loudly exclaiming how I hated to be pushed in, which was an open invitation for Sud to do just that. I would cling to him screeching like a banshee while he mercilessly ducked me under water. In the next ten minutes I would be innocently hanging around the edge again, trying not to notice him creeping up on me to fling me in again. Oh what tangled webs we are driven to weave.....

On one occasion two of the bachelors pushed their vehicle back seventeen kilometres, because they ran out of fuel and were too nervous to come back and ask us to help out. On another evening someone got very drunk and broke an antique dinner set and minutes later an over excited youngster backed into a centre table and smashed it to smithereens. I don't know what explanations Jerry gave to auntie Rupi whose house he lived in, for all these unforeseen damages.

Unfortunately the parents did not let us go to parties at the air force since 'the accident' was too fresh in their minds, and no amount of begging and pleading could get them to relent. They were in any case disapproving of irresponsible men on two wheelers after drinks, so we gave up trying to convince them otherwise. We  just looked forward to the exciting sound of motorbikes rumbling in the distance, which always heralded an evening of gaiety and laughter.
Those were carefree times and we were quite bereft when the squadron would be out on a detachment and we had to spend a quiet weekend on our own.