Chapter 2

Doug and Alice had met at a fraternity sorority get together on campus at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Doug’s fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE), had invited the Delta Delta Delta (Tri Delts) sorority to the fraternity house for dinner. This was the Greeks version of parading the virgins and in 1966 there were a not surprisingly large number of virgins of both sexes in the freshman class. Since Greeks tended to date other Greeks this was the perfect way to view the new pledges of both the fraternity and sorority. The method of pairing off for dinner was simple enough. The boys tossed one of their shoes in a pile in the center of the great room floor. On a signal the girls rushed to pick a shoe from the pile and matched it to the owner and the couple preceded to the dining room.

Alice had selected Doug’s shoe and when she returned it to him the two introduced themselves as Doug Greene and Alice Adams and headed to dinner. Alice was a junior and had been in the second class that admitted freshmen women to UNC. Before then, only girls who lived in Chapel Hill could be admitted as freshman and nursing students but they lived in a special dorm for nursing students which wasn’t on the main campus. All other women students admitted were juniors and seniors and of course graduate students.

Alice was not a stunner but was girl-next-door pretty with light brown hair and hazel eyes who was majoring in journalism. She was five six and about one twenty with prominent breasts and a nice figure. As was common practice with women at the time Alice did not wear clothes to accentuate her large breasts.

Doug was handsome at six-one and one-eighty with brown hair and blue eyes. He had narrow hips, a flat stomach and broad shoulders. He had registered in Industrial Engineering as his major. Doug had been a very good lacrosse player at Woodberry Forest and planned to go out for the team at Carolina.

When they were seated, Alice thinking Doug was a transferred- in grad student asked where he had gone to school before and was surprised to learn that Doug was a freshman. Since he had been a teenager Doug, mainly because of his size and demeanor, had appeared to others as older than his years. This was a time when the average height of the American male was five foot eight. Doug had started shaving when he was fourteen and at seventeen, with a day’s growth of beard, he was able to purchase booze from the ABC store without having to show ID.

Even though Doug looked older his mental and emotional development were still that of an intelligent eighteen year old boy. His time at prep school had given him an air of sophistication and the facility to deal with those older than himself, but he was nevertheless still a boy. Doug’s most valuable trait was knowing when to keep his mouth shut and listen to what others had to say. As a result he never appeared without knowledge of the subject at hand. He was like a sponge both in class and in social situations, absorbing all that was offered. The only place Doug’s age was bared was with his classmates who were the same age as Doug. With this group Doug was not reticent to show his lack of polish. Because he had spent the last three years in an all-male environment he had not developed the social skills of give and take with girls that would normally have been developed in the high school years. Doug was fully versed in the etiquette of male female interchange but he had never gone steady or had girlfriends or the opportunity to hang out with girls. He had had girls who were friends but no girlfriends. He was having to do at the college level what most boys had acquired in high school, the ability to engage in flirtatious conversation without expecting commitment. Because of it, Doug was a little reticent at jumping into conversations with the girls he met on campus. He envied those who played this game well and would himself master it by the end of his freshman year.

The next time Doug and Alice met was a Saturday night at a Sigma Nu party. As he entered the downstairs bar he saw Alice across the crowded room. Crossing to where she was standing Doug said, “Hi Alice, how have you been?”

When Alice just stared at him, Doug couldn’t tell if she was drunk or if he had made that poor of an impression as her dinner companion. “Doug Greene from the SAE dinner,” he said to jog her memory.

“Doug, yes sure. I’m sorry for seeming so dense but I’ve had a terrible night and am just out of it. Are you with someone?”

“No, I came alone at the invitation of a friend who’s a brother here.”

“Could you take me out of here to get some fresh air?”

“Sure. Are you alone?”

“No, but my date is drunk out of his mind and I don’t think I can stand having to mother him for another minute. Let’s go while he’s in the bathroom.”

“I’m not sure this is right Alice. I don’t want to be known as snaking other guys dates.”

“Don’t worry he’s so drunk he won’t even remember he had a date. Besides he’s not a Sigma Nu so your reputation will be safe. Please Doug can we just go?”

“Okay Alice, let’s go before people start wondering about us.” Once outside Doug asked, “Do you want me to take you somewhere?”

“Is there any way we can go to the Curve Inn to have a beer. I need a drink and to sit and calmly have a conversation away from the campus area. I don’t want to go on Franklin Street.”

“Sure, my car is right up at the top of Big Fraternity Court. We can drive.”

“That’s great, I didn’t know you had a car, but then why would I?”

“Yeah my folks got it for me after I graduated from Woodberry. I think it was the shock of my making it through.”