Now Bobby did read the paper. The 101st was in the news again, near a firebase called O’Reilly, “much like Firebase Ripcord which the 101st abandoned July 23d ... but this time most of the ground action is between the besieging NVA and the defending ARVN....” Bummer, Man. Bummer. He skipped around. In the entertainment section there was a short opinion piece on Hair, which was onstage at the Orpheum in San Francisco. Tonight, he thought. Boy, will she be surprised. Tonight he was going to take Red to an early dinner at The Cherry Flower, a Viet Namese restaurant in the city on Columbus Avenue, and then to the Orpheum. He’d had the tickets for two weeks—a present from Great Homes for being July’s Salesman-of-the-Month. He had told her only that he was going to take her out, for her to be re
