Chapter 2

The next day I was watching the news when I thought I saw the back end of Wesley's car. I turned the program up and found out that at the after prom party John had gotten drunk and on the way home had wrapped his camaro around a tree, Susan and the two kids in the back seat were dead. Wesley was badly injured; he lost most of a leg. It didn't matter though because he would never get out of jail with three counts of vehicular homicide. I was ashamed that I felt so little about Susan being killed, but I had already lost her.

Grief counselors descended on the school Monday, but I had no reason to talk to them. Graduation was a waste of time except for Lena's speech as valedictorian. She said that she hoped we were better prepared for the future than what the school had done for us. I don't think the principal understood what she was saying until she described the incompetence and greed of the administration as criminal. I hope somebody got a picture of his face.

I enlisted three days later. The Air Force was willing to take me as a communications specialist and I would report for training on August 4th. I didn't even tell my mom what I had done, I just went home and started packing. When dad got home he saw me and asked what I was doing.

"I'm packing dad. I'll put most of this stuff in storage and you can use my room for an office or guest room. I have to report August 4th."

"What did your mother say?"

"I haven't told her. There is no sense talking when she doesn't listen."

Dad was upset with me, but I didn't care. I was still pissed at my mom and her sister.

The Air Force was a revelation. I couldn't believe how fit I was after basic training and the school for radio repair I was sent to was exciting. Of course just before I was due to report Iraq invaded Kuwait and the Gulf War was on. The training commands were not affected very much other than as our instructors rotated out fairly often. As Nelson McReady I fit in very well. Our classes were coed, but there was no fraternization allowed. Of course some of the students did get together, but when they were caught all it did was enhance my class standing. I enjoyed the work and had a real knack for diagnosing problems. The instructors tried to trick me for the final, but I won out on them and was able to graduate top in the class.

My first duty station was to be in Germany, and I was given 30 days leave before I was due to report for transportation. The wonderful Gulf War had ended during my last month of training and the instructors no longer felt such pressure to teach us how to survive in the desert.

Having nowhere else to go I decided to go home. I called and told dad when I would be in and he agreed to pick me up at Indy. I was a seasoned air traveler now and the inconvenience of waiting on a connecting flight was minimalized by my new habit of always having a book with me.

When I saw my parents at the gate waiting for me I was struck by how old they looked. This was the first time that I had ever been away from them for more than a week and the difference in them was pretty striking. Mom looked like she was on drugs or something bouncing up and down on her heels and clapping her hands when she spotted me.

I stepped up to dad and clasped his hand. He pulled me in and gave me a big hug, the first I could remember. I didn't even have time to respond before mom was in my arms hugging me and crying. I couldn't say anything, I just hugged her back. I hadn't realized how much I missed my mother, not just having her near, but I missed talking to her, I missed her cooking, and I even missed her nagging. I don't remember looking down at the top of her head before though. When did she suddenly shrink?

"Oh my big strong man; I have missed you so much Ricky. I'm so sorry that I messed things up and drove you away; I promise that I won't do it again. Please forgive me Ricky, I'm sorry."

"It's okay mom. I'm just glad to be home for a while; I missed you too. Now let's get my bags and head home before you ruin my uniform."

The ride was the normal for around Indy, traffic patterns and orange barrels.

My room had indeed been made up as a guest room. Mom did it in such a way as to be able to make it my room again with little preparation. Dad told me later that she was distraught about having driven her baby away and was constantly hoping that I would return.

That night over dinner dad asked about my plans. "You took us by a bit of a surprise with your enlistment Ricky, what do you have in mind for next?"

"I'm sorry about that dad. I was going to do it anyway, but events precipitated my actions. I'm actually glad that I did because if I had waited I might not have gotten into the field I did. I really do like the work I am doing and I will probably do something similar after I get out. My plan is to save as much as I can for school and come back to college, hopefully here at Purdue. If I can, would I be able to live here to save money?"

"Of course you can Ricky," my mom said, "this is your home after all. All I ask is that you not shut me out again."

I promised to write often, and when I could I would get a computer and exchange emails with them.

Germany was such a different experience there is no way to really describe it. I soon got used to the beer and wasn't really sure how I was going to put up with the domestic stuff back home. I enjoyed my job and I was good at it. There were women around the unit and the base but the fast talkers and good looking guys got them, I wasn't really in the running. There was one waitress, Margo, at a local bar in Wurzburg that talked to me, supposedly to improve her English, but there was no romance there. One of the buys told me that she was trying to get me to pay her for sex, but I really didn't think so.

I got to be the guy they sent the problems to, I could fix things which would otherwise have been replaced, it didn't take long for my first promotion. I was informed by my commander that with the way the rank structure was in the Air Force, that I was probably as high as I would get in one enlistment.

One night I was drinking beer in the dayroom with a few guys when one of them suggested a house run. I asked what a house run was and they all informed me of the houses of 2 and 3 colors, two local bordellos. A house run was a quick fuck at each house. I decided that I had been a virgin long enough so I agreed. Imagine my surprise to find the girl from the bar at the first stop. I was walking up the stairway that had rooms at each landing with the unoccupied hookers standing outside their door looking for business. On the third floor there she was.

"Hello Margo. Will you accept me?"

"Ya Nelson, come in."

In her little room with just a bed and a night stand with a basin of water she explained that I had 10 minutes for 50 bucks. If I wanted longer I should say so to start. I was so nervous it wasn't funny, so I gave her a hundred dollars and told her it was my first time so please try to help me.

Margo was very gentle and after she took her clothes off she helped me undress. She brought out a condom and put it on me and didn't say anything when I shot off as soon as she had it on. Margo was very attractive and slim with small breasts and wide hips. Her brown hair was cut short and the hair on her mons was trimmed to a triangle. She allowed me to explore a bit while waiting for my time to expire and when I got hard again she put another condom on me. I had to pay another 50, but then she lay back and steered me in. I slid in easily and then she kind of clamped down and tightened up on me. Even after already coming once I didn't last long enough to need more money. Margo rolled the condom off of me and gave me a pat on the cheek.

"Thank you Nelson, I hope to see you again at the Scala."

It was strange the next time I saw her at the bar, I stayed away for a couple weeks, but she acted as if nothing unusual had happened. I said the hell with it and went along with her. I never went back to the house though, that was all of that I needed.

After 2 ½ years working in the field I was sent back to the school to spend my last 6 months teaching, unless I decided to reenlist. I was seriously considering it when my dad got sick and had a heart attack. He would be okay, but would be a while recovering. I went home on leave and helped mom out, and while I was there I applied to Purdue. When I got back to my station I set things up to get out and use my education benefits. In Germany I had taken courses on base and had enough credits to be considered a third year student.

Once I got home for good I spent quite a while with the military transition counselor at Purdue getting all my credits transferred. I found out that I also was given some credits for real world experience and the courses the Air Force had given me. I could graduate with a computer science degree within 2 years without taking on too much of a course load.

The next thing to do was to get a job. Dad had been in touch with some people who used electrical repair workers. I interviewed with a few of them, then got to a small shop that needed somebody to do evening work without supervision. It was very similar to what I had done in Germany and the pay wasn't too shabby either.

With all of this set I showed up for my first day of classes. I got settled in my first class when an attractive brunette sat next to me. I tried not to stare at her, but damn she had some nice legs. There was no time for anything else as the professor came in and immediately started to lecture. After listening to him drone on for 45 minutes I really wished that I had taken another math course in Germany.

At the end of the class I started out only to be stopped by a hand on my arm.

"Ricky, is that you? Damn, Julie said that you had changed, but she understated it quite a bit."

I looked at the attractive girl who had sat next to me and suddenly realized who it was.

"Lena? What are you doing here and who is Julie?"

"I am going to class here, and Julie is your mother idiot. Meet me at the union after third period and we'll talk, I have to get to my next class and so do you."

With that she turned and walked away. What in the hell was going on here? Lena was still in school, and she talked to my mother. I was tempted to skip the talk she wanted, but then I found out that she was in my computer lab 3rd period. She just took my arm and steered me to a table in the union without saying a word.

"Are you intending to eat lunch here or go off campus Ricky?"

"I wasn't going to bother Lena, I intended to study for a while and then eat later; I only have one more class today. Now what in the hell is going on? I expected you to have already graduated and how do you know my mother?"

"One thing at a time Ricky..."

"Hold it, please call me Nelson. That is what I have gone by for the last four years and I have always hated that other name. Now continue."

"Okay "Nelson", my schooling was delayed a couple of years so I am no further along than you are. You were very smart to take all those classes while you were in service. Julie is so proud of you she could just spit. Your folks are some seriously nice people Nelson and you need to forgive your mother for her actions, you know that she regrets it."

"Wrong Lena, I can overlook the actions of my mother and aunt, but I'm not sure that I will ever forgive them. They both knew why Diane did not want to go to the prom and they insisted anyway. I can think of no reason to them to do that. Now you have made me lose what should have been a good mood. I have to go to class now. Are you in any more of mine?"