Chapter 13

The next week on base brought some changes; with JB gone I got a couple new roommates. One was a nice young black guy from Detroit, just starting the basic avionics course; the other from Arizona, he was going to be an aviation ordnance man; handling the bombs, missiles, and guns on Marine Corps aircraft. I took them under my wing, like JB had done for me, and showed them around; I got both organized and oriented. Turned out the Detroit guy was a basketball player too, and we had the Motown music in common also; we got along quite well. It was exceedingly strange not to have JB around; the first couple of days I found myself looking for him, but I quickly adjusted. I kept playing basketball and jamming with the other musicians; when I told them about doing the show in Nashville, we tried doing those songs together. It wasn’t bad, but we were definitely amateurs.

I had been saving over half of my pay each month and had a nice nest-egg building; I used the extra money from the show to upgrade my uniforms, getting a half-dozen of the better, higher-quality shirts. They had the creases woven into the material making them look better, longer; and I bought a pair of the patent-leather Corfam dress shoes; no more shoe polishing. I also had my dress blue uniform modified to use removable anodized, gold-plated buttons; and got the same type insignia, belt buckles and waist plate; no more shining brass. Finally, I had Corporal chevrons sewed on all of the new shirts, and the NCO ‘blood stripe’ sewn onto the dress blue trousers; uniform-wise, I was mostly set for a couple years. It was also getting quite a bit cooler and the base exchange was having a sale, so I bought a black leather flight jacket; it was the most I’d ever spent on clothing.

In early December our class was told where we were being assigned next; Becky was being transferred to Naval Air Station Pensacola in the Florida panhandle; I was heading to Cherry Point in North Carolina. Becky and I decided to take leave after graduation and through the holidays; I’d drive her home, and she’d fly to Florida after the beginning of the new year. I needed to figure out exactly when to go to Erie, but that could wait; we’d figure out the details later, but it was a start of a plan. We needed to decide what to do about Christmas, and our farewell; Becky wasn’t ready to face those decisions yet, she got progressively quieter, obviously thinking about it.

The second weekend of December she and I headed to Nashville; it was odd going there without JB. We got to the Brook’s well after dark; they and Angie gave us a warm welcome and we spent the evening just chatting with them, mostly about JB. He had flown to North Carolina a couple days after the Thanksgiving weekend; had spent a week at Cherry Point in-processing, then ended up in limbo for a week. Due to the upcoming holidays, the system training classes he was going to next weren’t going to start until after the New Year; he knew he was going to be sent to NAS Oceana in Virgina Beach, but not exactly when. He also knew what system he was going to be trained on; the decision was eventually made to send him to the unit he was going to be finally assigned to, and do on-the job-training until the next formal training started. He had also found out that most likely I would be attending the same training as he was; we’d possibly be together for another few months.

He relayed that the attitude at the shop he was in was completely different, no more ‘spit and polish’; just a regular job. He was still in the transient barracks; but went to work every morning at 07:30, went to lunch at the chow hall pretty much when he wanted, then worked until 16:30 when the ‘night shift’ came on; interesting. He said the barracks wasn’t as nice, the chow hall was at least as good, and the base had plenty to do after work; but it would be nice to have transportation. He was given advance permission to take 2 weeks leave for Christmas and New Years; he’d be back in Nashville when Becky and I graduated. The Brooks and Angie were hoping Becky and I would spend at least part of the Christmas holidays with them; we told them we were still trying to decide. Angie, Becky, and I spent the night in the pool house; I ended up massaging both their feet while they talked into the wee hours; I was a little surprised when Becky just wanted to cuddle that night.

Saturday morning Becky and Angie spent an hour on the phone with the girls in Erie; I’m not sure what all was discussed, but Becky was in much better spirits afterwards. She borrowed the Buick; she and Angie drove to Becky’s parents and spent the afternoon visiting with them; I spent the afternoon with Bob, which ended up being very interesting and educational. He repeated that the show we had done had been very well received; if we wanted to do it again over the Christmas holidays the club would love to have us back. He figured that if we did it the Saturday night and maybe Sunday night before Christmas, we could probably make at least twice the money. JB was willing; if Bob gave the club the okay soon, they were going to advertise us as an upcoming attraction. The club was ready to sign ‘the no-name band’ for a monthly show, usually over one of the long weekends; Bob figured that when JB or I couldn’t make it he could get some of the local talent to fill in. He said I didn’t need to worry about joining the musician’s union yet; but it would be a way to make some extra money while in the Corps. I told him it sounded ok to me; but I’d better check with Becky, that was going to be our last weekend together. He asked how she was handling the imminent parting; I told him so far, so good; he just gave me a small sympathizing laugh.

Bob and I spent the afternoon together in the studio, much as JB and I had. We messed around with the instruments, trying new songs and practicing; he dug around in the back room full of old equipment, and gave me a small amp for my modified bass guitar. He kept poking around the old equipment, finding stuff he had forgotten about; I ended up with a pile of peripheral equipment he thought I could possibly use. He kept going back to how comfortable I was in front of an audience, and how well I connected and interacted with them; he said that military pay wasn’t all that good, and playing music was an excellent way to make some extra money, especially on the weekends.

I ended up taking Angie and Becky out on the town Saturday evening, the three of us ended up dancing most of the night. We got back well before midnight; I ended up massaging both their feet as they talked about the future. Becky said doing a show again at the club on Saturday and Sunday night before Christmas sounded good; she was going to invite a couple of her hometown girlfriends to the shows. Becky seemed to have finally accepted the fact that we would be parting soon, and was looking forward to what she might be doing in Florida. She and Angie even discussed what she should be looking for in a new boyfriend; mostly joking about, after being with me, what to avoid. We finally discussed what to do about Christmas; I told Becky she should really spent that day with her family, and that I really didn’t want to intrude on the Brook’s, even with JB and Angie there. It took some talking; but we decided to spend the weekend we graduated, just before Christmas, in Nashville with the Brook’s; Monday we would say our goodbyes, at least for a while; then I would drop her off at her parent’s house, and I would head for Erie.

We had a nice breakfast Sunday morning with Bob, Carol, and Angie; though they weren’t completely happy with our plan, especially with me traveling on Christmas eve, and possibly Christmas day. There was a long discussion about that, but eventually I prevailed; I wasn’t religious at all, and really preferred spending the day or so driving. We did discuss when we could maybe visit next year; I thought we’d probably be done with training by Memorial Day, and definitely by July 4^th; that gave us all something to look forward to. At noon Becky and I headed back; it had ended up being a very nice weekend.

Becky and I splurged the last weekend at Memphis and spent a night at the Peabody Hotel; very upscale. We got there Saturday night in time to see the ducks escorted from the lobby fountain, and take the elevator to their home on the roof; very charming. We got all dressed up; me in my dress blues, and Becky in a new, incredibly sexy, black cocktail dress showcasing her legs and giving more than a glimpse of cleavage; we almost didn’t make it to supper in the hotel restaurant. They had a piano and string quartet playing in the corner, the food was excellent and we spent a couple hours there; we even had our photograph taken. We then spent a couple hours on Beale Street listening to the music and dancing, then a couple more hours making love. It was a wonderful and magical evening, well worth the money spent.

The last week went quickly; a final few classes with lots of paperwork to fill out, pack all our belongings, and load the Buick. Graduation day finally arrived; I was promoted to Corporal, we quickly changed into civilian clothing; and Becky and I headed for Nashville for the last time, just before noon.

Since the Buick was packed, we headed directly to Becky’s parent’s house to unload most of her stuff. I made 3-4 trips from the car to the house with her bags, suitcases, and boxes while she talked with her mother and called some friends; first change of plans; we were talked into staying for dinner. I don’t think anyone thought we were lovers, but mostly when we were asked a question about us, I let Becky answer. We stayed until 7 pm, then headed to Nashville; we got to the Brook’s house just in time to go pickup JB at the airport. That night ended up being a late one; lots of catching up to do, and plans for the weekend to be made.

Saturday morning the ladies decided to go shopping again. My last letter from Trish in Pittsburg included a request I call her before Christmas; she had a couple favors to ask. I called and talked to her for about a half hour; once she heard I was going to be traveling to Erie Christmas Eve, she insisted I stop in Pittsburg. The favors included asking me to model for her and her advanced art class over the school holiday, if possible; and she really needed an escort/date to a semi-formal faculty/student New Year’s Ball. I told her I’d stop on the way to Erie and we could talk about it then; I’d probably be there in time to take her and her roommates to supper. I called the girls in Erie and told them I’d probably not get there until late on Christmas Day, and maybe not until the day after.

Bob, JB and I practiced for a couple hours Saturday morning; then Tom joined us for a couple more hours that afternoon, the ladies just hanging out and listening. We were doing most of the same songs from before, plus a few new ones that had been requested at the first show. We re-arranged the playlist some, Bob told me he wanted me to continue talking with the audience, so I gave a little bit of thought to that. We weren’t sure what to expect for a crowd; we had a light supper there, then everyone got ready and we headed for the club in the Buick and van. We weren’t supposed to start playing until 8:30 or so; when we got there at 7:30 the place was already starting to fill up. The management gave us a big table to the side of the stage again; we got our equipment setup pretty quickly, and we all got complimentary drinks, the guys sticking to sodas. Three of Becky’s girlfriends showed up; we chatted for a bit with them and by 8:15 the place was almost packed. The guys gave up our chairs for Becky’s friends, we headed for the stage.

We got a nice round of applause; Bob wished everyone a Merry Christmas and introduced the band, pointed out the tip and request jar; then turned it over to me with a smile.

“Okay,” I said, “I seem to be looking at some of Santa’s naughty list; hopefully you’re ready to have some fun. I’ve been wondering if I could get a copy of that list, they’re probably people I’d like to get to know. Anyway, we’re going to start with ‘Folsom Prison Blues’;” a few laughs and we were off.

The crowd was with us from the start; it seemed many had been at the Thanksgiving show and knew when to join in, the rest figured it out quickly; I point, they sing. In between songs I first bantered with JB about the insults we had heard from the drill instructors, that got several laughs; we did some songs that had been requested; I commented that the song requests were nice and we’d work on them, but that our ladies were sitting right there and we really couldn’t use the added phone numbers. I made a couple girlfriend jokes between songs; ‘never laugh at your girlfriend’s choices, you are one of them’ got a big laugh; telling them my beautiful girlfriend was so nice to pretend she wasn’t way out of my league, got a laugh from Becky and her friends. I said she had sent me a get-well card; I wasn’t sick but she thought I could be better; that got many of the ladies in the crowd pointing to their guys. The Motown and rock songs went over well, we got through the first set on a roll; we didn’t leave the stage immediately, we just went to the side to talk and evaluate how we were doing. After a few minutes we joined the ladies at the table and got a drink; they thought we were doing great.

We were ready to go again in 20 minutes; again, the bartenders and waitresses were so busy I told a few more jokes to delay a little. The biggest laugh came when I told the guys in the audience that their woman was probably hoping that tonight; when they got home, she’d be swept off her feet, thrown into bed, and then you’d clean the house while she was sleeping. We did a couple Christmas songs; ‘White Christmas’ and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and almost everyone sang along. I then announced we’d do a couple love songs; to “just be patient guys, if we get them right, maybe, just maybe, some of you will get lucky tonight”; lots of disagreement on that. We did ‘Wild Horses’, ‘Crazy’, and ‘Yesterday’, all seemed to go over quite well; then a few more songs we’d done the first weekend. We ended the second hour; telling the crowd we’d be back for one more set; then took our second break.

The final set was mostly slower stuff, trying to settle the audience a little before the show ended. We ended with a couple country classics at mid-night; then Bob announced we’d be back tomorrow night; the show was over and the juke box was turned back on. Like before, the ‘no-name band’ were all a little tired and ready to go; but the ladies weren’t. We spent another hour accepting compliments and re-hashing our performance, we danced a bit to the juke box; it was close to 2 am before we headed home. We spent another hour in the pool house unwinding, then headed to bed.

Sunday morning; we went out for brunch, spent the afternoon relaxing and talking; at 7 pm we went to the club to do it one more time. It wasn’t quite a crowded as it had been Saturday night, but still a ‘full house’. Our performance went a little bit better; practice makes perfect; I told some different jokes, Bob told a few, again we got a big round of applause when we ended at 11. That night we stuck around until midnight, mostly just talking while Bob conversed with the club management; then headed back to the Brook’s house.

That last night in the pool house was a little subdued; it was going to be the last night the four of us would be together for a while, probably not until next summer. The ladies had us massaging their feet for almost an hour before we called it a night; Becky and I went to bed and made gentle love for a long time before we went to sleep in each other’s arms.

Monday morning, Christmas Eve; our last breakfast together for a while, too. We kept it as upbeat as possible; the $525 Bob gave me for the weekend playing cheered me up quite a bit. $500, + $25 tips apiece; not bad for two 4-hour nights, plus another 10 hours or so getting organized and rehearsing. After breakfast it took a couple hours to get packed up and the Buick loaded; I called Erie and told the girls I probably wouldn’t get there until Christmas afternoon or evening, Becky chatted with them for only 15 minutes while I finished with the car; we managed to say our goodbyes to the Brooks and Angie, and headed out just before 11 am. It was a quiet 45-minute drive to Becky’s home, we held hands and talked a little, but we’d pretty much said everything we needed to already. I ended up stopping at her house for a few minutes; one last loving kiss, and I was on the road by noon.

The weather was cold but good, traffic fairly light; the Buick and I just cruised along. It was 550 miles to Pittsburg; I had forgotten about the time-zone change and called Trish at one of the stops for gas to let her know I wouldn’t get there until around 10 PM. It was a little before that when I found her apartment again without any problem; she welcomed me inside with a hug.

“Where are your bags?” she asked. “Aren’t you spending the night?”

“I didn’t want to assume that much,” I answered. “I thought I’d get here earlier; I don’t want to intrude.”

“Go get your bags,” she insisted, “There’s three empty beds here this week, you can’t leave me alone here another night.”

“Are you sure?” I asked her as I moved into the apartment; “I’ve got plenty of money, and I’m sure I can find a motel room somewhere close.”

“Please stay,” she quickly answered; “All my roommates went home for the holidays, and I’m going a little crazy here by myself. Besides, I need to explain about the favors I’d like you to do for me.” I looked around; she had a few Christmas decorations up, and a Menorah; when I looked at her, she said, “I’m Jewish, I’m not sure you knew that.”

“I didn’t, not that it matters to me. Are you sure you won’t get in trouble, spending the holiday with a heathen?” I asked.

She laughed; “Not as much as I would if my folks knew I was spending the night alone with a man in my apartment. Janice was supposed to be here, but at the last minute she decided to go home; you can use her bed; she said she wouldn’t mind.” Janice was her roommate that I had been with in Erie for a short period of time; she was my connection to Trish.

I agreed; I went back out to the car and got my overnight bag; then thought for a moment and grabbed my civilian clothing bag also. Trish was very nice, and lonely, and I wasn’t in a rush to get to Erie; I could spend a couple nights here. I put my bags and jacket in the empty bedroom; then joined her on the couch. We had exchanged a few letters over the summer; I got her caught up on where I was going and when I had to be there; and what I would probably be doing for the next six months. She told me what she had been doing the last couple of weeks; then got into the favors she needed.

She had two things, kind of related; the first is she wanted me to model again, but not just for her. Her art professor had been really impressed with the sketches she had done of me; they had been used in a brochure the art department had put out hyping the school. Trish wasn’t sure exactly what my travel schedule was; but if I could stop on the way to North Carolina after the holidays, the professor was going to open the classroom to a limited number of students, and she’d like me to pose for them. It would only be a day, maybe two, just before the next semester started; and I’d get paid for my time.

The second was also involving the university; the faculty was putting on a New Year’s Eve ball, a few of the students were being invited and Trish was one of them. “I’m pretty sure I and a few of the other girls were invited just to have a few younger faces there. It’s supposed to be a semi-formal affair; if you have a nice suit, I’d like you to take me; it would keep the older professors from hitting on me.”

I laughed at that; “So, what you really need is a bodyguard for the night. Well, your body is definitely good enough to need guarding,” I told her; “but, I don’t have a suit. I do have my Marine Corps dress blue uniform; I could wear that, but I’m not sure how well it would be received. I could rent a tux for a night I suppose. Let’s look at the calendar for a minute.” She got one from the kitchen, we looked it over and I sketched out an itinerary; “This is possible. I’ve got some extra money, I could buy an off-the-shelf suit between now and then, and come back here next Saturday on my way south. We could go to your dance Monday night; if your professor can set up the extra class a day or so after New Years, I could do the posing too. I could spend a couple days, then head for North Carolina the following Friday or Saturday; I don’t need to be at Cherry Point until Sunday evening, the 6^th; would that work?”

“That would be great!” she exclaimed. “I’ll have to phone my professor Wednesday to make sure she can arrange the class; I’ll let you know if she can’t. I don’t know anything about military uniforms; are your blues in your car, could you bring them in so I can see it, see if I’ve got a dress that would go with it?”

“Sure,” I told her, “I’ve got the whole outfit in my hanging bag, let me go get it out of the car.” It took just a couple minutes to retrieve it, and another minute to hang it up on display. “It’s pretty distinctive, and can be a little intimidating.”

“I don’t care how intimidated the others will be; I’d love to be escorted to the ball with you in that uniform!” she exclaimed. “I’ve got a couple dresses that will work with it; the other girls will be absolutely green with envy.”

We talked another hour or so; I explained the symbolism included in the uniform design. We chatted about a couple other things, maybe we could find a restaurant open later on Christmas Day and I could take us out for lunch or dinner, then head for Erie after that, 2 hours away. I got a quick kiss, then we headed for our respective bedrooms.

Christmas morning; I got up and did a short PT session, it was close to freezing and my sweats weren’t really heavy enough. I did find a donut shop close by that was open; I bought a couple different breakfast sandwiches and donuts, and took them back to Trish’s apartment. She was just coming out of her bedroom in a long heavy robe; she thought I was nuts to be out there exercising, but did appreciate the food. We had a nice breakfast, then she moved to the living room to see what was on TV while I showered and changed. I called Erie and wished them a Merry Christmas, and told them I wouldn’t get there until Wednesday around noon. Trish checked the newspaper and did some calling around; it seemed a couple restaurants would be opening at 2; we sat around watching TV and chatting for a couple hours; then she got ready and we went to dinner.