The silence in the basement was broken only by the occasional roaming rat and creaking floors. There was nothing I could say to Chuck about the betrayal of his pregnant Vietnamese girlfriend. She sacrificed herself and the baby for the Viet Cong rebel cause, leaving deep wounds in Chuck’s head. I consoled him that Apple Valley was peaceful and there was no chance of any woman, least of all Amber, blowing herself up . Noticeably nervous that I was praising the motel manager, he was pacing back and forth stroking his beard. I teased him that Amber’s sensual appeal frightened a lot of people, including me. “Boss, you may be on to something. Maybe it’s because I like her, I don’t trust myself to be near her.”
The traumatic experiences of Vietnam had conditioned him to reject empathy that tri
