Chapter 36

The trip to Nashville isn’t getting any shorter; but at least by traveling at night, there’s less traffic. It was still ‘zero dark-thirty’ before we arrived, not quite 5 am but close; JB and I swapped driving a couple times and talked along the way. We didn’t solve any of the world’s problems, fortunately we didn’t have any personal problems to solve either; mostly we talked about me going to Japan. About halfway I remembered to ask JB if he’d brought Angie’s ring; he had to mess with me for a couple minutes before he pulled it out of his pocket and showed me. He was going to ask his mom and dad if it was okay to propose during the Thanksgiving family gathering.

We weren’t sure what we’d find when we got ‘home’, we’d given Angie and JB’s mom a couple days’ notice we were coming; the pool house was empty except for Angie in their room. I stayed up another hour and called the shop so I was accounted for; I got a couple hours’ sleep and woke up to check the weather. It’s close to freezing so I headed back to bed; a little before noon I heard JB and Angie in the other room; I got up to ‘shit, shower, and shave’, I’m ready for the day. I thought.

I joined all the others for an early lunch; Bob and Carol, JBs’ parents, were planning the Thanksgiving dinner and starting to prep for it; JB and Angie were just talking. Mostly about me going to Japan, and what that meant; all of us talked it out for an hour or so. Bob went and got a world atlas; we located Iwakuni about 30 miles southwest of Hiroshima, right on Hiroshima Bay. I told them what I knew about being transferred; I hadn’t begun to plan that far ahead, but was assured they would help anyway they could. I was welcome to leave my car and some of my stuff there if I needed, or anything else for that matter. That led to a discussion about Christmas; again I was more than welcome to join them. A quick check of the calendar; Christmas and New Years are both on a Wednesday this year. JB would probably take a couple weeks leave and do both at home; I wasn’t sure what I’d do. I didn’t want to take a bunch of leave then; something to be decided later. Then the conversation took a left turn.

“You need to call Ellen and ask her out tonight, she wants to do a double-date with you, and Karen and a friend,” Angie stated.

“Wait a minute; what? Ellen; Karen’s friend? Karen’s going on a date? I was hoping she would.”

“Karen is going out on a date with a new guy tonight; Ellen is her wing man, wing woman in this case; we’re all going, to check him out and have some fun.”

Well, at least we have something new to talk about, though it seems I need to get up to speed on this, and quickly. “Ellen is okay with me being her date?” I asked. “What about Karen’s date, where are we going, what’s the plan?”

About 30 minutes later, JB and I had been briefed. I was a safe, comfortable date for Ellen; we were going downtown and hitting a few of the clubs. If Karen and her date hit it off, we’d split up; if not, we’d stay together. Bob added that the ‘no-name band’ was performing Friday and Saturday night at a different club; JB and I had an open invitation to join them if we wanted. The whole night was supposed to be casual, just jeans; good thing because it was going to end up around freezing that night.

“So,” Angie resumed; “give her a call and ask her out.”

“I don’t have her number.”

“Here you go,” she said as she slid a piece of paper to me.

“Just for how long has this been set up?” I asked, reaching for the paper.

“A couple days,” she grinned.

“You are not really in charge of my love life,” I smiled back; “not even my dating life.”

“Somebody needs to be,” she chuckled.

“We need to talk. Why does that phrase strike fear in a man’s heart; but you ladies absolutely look forward to it?”

“It’s because we are good at talking, especially when it comes to feelings. Make the call.”

“And ask her to Thanksgiving dinner here tomorrow,” Carol spoke up. “Angie told me she’s alone in her apartment this weekend; her roommates went home for the holiday.”

I looked at JB and Bob, they both just smiled and looked away; they know a setup when they see one, hear one in this case.

I moved to the side table, picked up the phone, and dialed. After a couple rings; she answered. “Hello, Ellen? This is Carl, I got the impression you are expecting a call from me?”

“Well, I was hoping you’d be calling,” she laughed.

“I’ve been told I’m either your safe date for tonight, or somebody’s wing man; I’m not sure which.”

She laughed again; “You don’t really have to do this, you know.”

Time for me to reassure her; “I’d love to go out with you, I just didn’t think it was a possibility; at least not this trip. How have you been?”

We easily talked for several minutes, getting caught up a little. Eventually we all agreed we’d pick her up in the Buick about 7 and go get dinner somewhere, then meet Karen and her guy at one of the clubs at 8:30 or so. I was about to say goodbye when I saw Carol waving at me.

“I think we’re set, but I also think I’m forgetting something,” I said.

“I don’t think so,” she said.

Carol waved a raw turkey wing at me. “I’ve got it; I’m also supposed to ask you to the Brook’s house for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.”

“I don’t know; I was just going to take it easy here, maybe get some Chinese takeout or something.”

“It would be helping me out; if you come, I won’t be the only non-family member here.”

“I’m pretty sure they think of you as family.”

“You’re right, but it would be nice for me to have you here.”

A little bit more conversation and we’re set; I should sell sand to the Arabs. We said our goodbyes and hung up; when I turned to the others it was to a chorus of exclamations that I was family. “I know that,” I told them; “but now Ellen thinks she’s repaying a favor. She might have turned us down if I hadn’t brought it up.”

“He seems to be a devil sometimes.” Angie smiled; “but he’s always thinking ahead. Devilish is what he is.”

That got a laugh; it seems the evening plans are set. Bob and Carol are staying home and getting ready for tomorrow; the four of us didn’t think we’d be out very late. The rest of the afternoon was pretty pleasant, talking about everything going on; JB and Angie smiled and went to take a nap. I stayed and talked with Carol and Bob, mostly about JB formally proposing to Angie sometime this weekend; and helped with the dinner preparations. At six I went and made sure the ‘napping’ couple were out of bed and getting ready, then got ready myself. All cleaned up and waiting by the door; it took Angie an extra 10 minutes, but I’d allowed for that. Angie knew where we were going, at 7 sharp I was knocking at Ellen’s door. I gave her a low wolf-whistle when she opened the door; looking really good in her painted-on jeans, cowboy boots, and soft fuzzy sweater.

“You look fantastic;” I told her with a smile; “even better than I remember; and those memories are pretty good.”

“Thank you,” she blushed and smiled; “you’re looking pretty good yourself. Thank you for doing this; you really don’t have to.”

“Going out on the town with a beautiful woman; not a hardship, not at all. I think I’ve got the plan; dinner first, then meeting Karen at the club to meet her date, then maybe clubbing ourselves?”

“That’s pretty much it; a lot depends on how everything goes with Karen and her date. I’ll tell you more on the way,” she said as she grabbed her coat.

I helped her with it, and away we went. The girls chatted all the way to the restaurant, and then continued during the meal. JB and I got most of the details, and sub-plots; it’s supposed to be an innocent evening. Karen and Ellen both know the new guy a little; he’s in college with them and seems to be very nice. Karen will let us know if she’d like us to stick around; if she’s not completely comfortable with him. She’s pretty sure everything will be fine.

“Something’s not ringing true. What’s going on; what are you really worried about?” I asked.

“There are rumors of bad things, like what happened to me in Knoxville, happening here,” Ellen said matter-of-factly.

“That is not very reassuring,” JB spoke up. “Maybe we should have a little chat with him.”

“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Ellen said without a smile; “if we thought there was the slightest chance, he was involved with anything like that; Karen wouldn’t have agreed to the date,” Ellen continued. “She’s just being especially careful; I think the main reason she wants us there is so that Carl knows she’s okay, and trying to go out again.”

“I’m not supposed to put the fear of God in him, am I?” I joked. “I’m not all that intimidating.”

“I’ll bet you can be very intimidating, if you wanted to be,” Ellen said.

“Everyone gets that wrong,” JB stated. “We’re not trained to be intimidating; we’re trained to act. If we feel threatened, or someone we care for is threatened or hurt somehow; we eliminate the threat. Not all of got that in bootcamp; but that was what they were trying to instill. Carl got it.”

“Ladies and gentleman, we don’t need to discuss that here at dinner,” I quietly said. “Let’s just go out and have a good time.”

We finished eating; then headed to the entertainment district. For a Thanksgiving eve, it was pretty busy; I guess the party rarely stops in Nashville. We were a little early and found a parking spot near the middle; then tried walking around a bit, but it was just a little too chilly for that.

We got to the club and found Karen alone at a small booth, in between some hugs and friendly kisses we moved to a larger table and got settled; then got re-acquainted. She looked a good as ever and had a big smile on her face; “It’s so good to see you again Carl, and you JB; what’s been going on in your life?” That conversation took a while, then got derailed when I stated I was being transferred to Japan. Fortunately Karen’s date arrived, so we introduced ourselves and got acquainted.

His name was Alan; tall, slender and reasonably good looking; he also had a very nice personality, I’m sure he was on his best behavior. We chatted around the table about a lot of stuff, the band started and we danced a bit; it was a very pleasant evening. Around 10 the ladies took a group bathroom break; I finally had a chance to talk to Alan alone. I got right to the point; “We’ve heard rumors that bad things are happening to ladies around campus; is that true?”

“I’ve heard a couple rumors too, I hope that there’s no truth to them,” Alan whispered.

“I’ve had a little time to think about this; report the rumors to the authorities, let them check it out,” I told him. “If it’s just rumors, that will be the end of it. If it’s more than rumors, the guys involved have to be stopped. If you don’t help stop it, then you are at the very least condoning it.”

“I would never do anything like that!” he quietly exclaimed.

“Take advantage of a woman; or report the rumors to the police?”

“Take advantage of a woman, or hurt her; I swear!”

“Relax; we don’t really think you would,” JB added. “We’re just concerned, and want to make sure the women we care about are safe. One of the things you learn as a Marine is to step up, protect the weak, don’t just stand by and let things happen. We just want to stop things like that from occurring; and the only way to do that is not to ignore it.”

“I’m going to tell the girls the same thing;” I told him; “to report the rumors so they get checked out. Just encourage them to do that, and any of your friends that hear that kind of story.”

“Yeah, I understand that; and will step up myself,” he said, then paused before continuing. “You guys can be a little intense.”

“That’s part of the job; you should see the combat arms guys,” I smiled.

Fortunately the ladies came back then; Angie announced we were going to try a couple other clubs and do some dancing; did Karen and Alan want to join us? Alan looked at Karen, who was already sitting back down; he quickly got the idea and declined. We said we’d stop by again later, just to see if they had changed their mind, then escaped into the night. Only one last comment; that us three guys seemed to be having a serious conversation at the end; JB, Allen, and I just brushed it off.

Our next club for the night was in full swing, mostly college kids it seemed. We managed to snag an emptying booth, ordered same drinks, then headed for the dance floor. This seemed to be what the girls really wanted; they had a blast trying to teach JB and I to country dance. We managed the two step, and a couple simple line dances; but soon decided to move on. We ended up at the club where the ‘no-name’ band usually played; we knew there was a bigger variety of music played there. Once we got settled and danced a bit; Ellen wanted to talk to me. We went back to the table; she settled into the seat across from me, and grinned.

“This is all your fault,” she smiled; “at least mostly.”

“Is this the point where I plead guilty and beg for lenience due to my extreme youth and innocence?” I smiled back. “What am I guilty of, anyway?”

“Innocent?” she laughed. “Lots of things. First you got Karen to realize that the longer you are together, the harder it will be to finally part. So it’s your fault she’s going out on a date.”

“Okay, guilty on that one; what’s next?”

“Then you got me to open up about what happened to me, and really stand back and think about it; then decide not to let it dominate my life. You had a couple accomplices with that one; I ended up talking to Karen’s mom about it, and the other girls; but you’re the one that got me thinking first.”

“Can I plead ‘no contest’ to that one?”

“Then that whole weekend at Karen’s house was so comfortable and nice; I got to thinking about what I was missing, and realized that most guys wouldn’t think about doing what those guys did to me. Most guys are good guys, not bad.”

“JB had just as much to do with that as I did, maybe even more. He is basically a very nice guy and thinks before acting; I mostly act, and then think.”

“I’m not sure I believe that about you. Then there’s the last thing; I’ve been thinking that I don’t want to avoid sex for the rest of my life, don’t want to be fearful of it if the opportunity ‘arises’, so to speak,” she finished, still smiling.

“Not that I’m stalling; but why are you sitting across from me now, and not next to me?”