Chapter 2

It wasn't bad. They had classes that would get you a high school diploma and they taught several trades. I took the classes and got my diploma from the local high school and I was learning to be a welder when my eighteenth birthday rolled around. Only one to go was the thought I gave myself as a birthday present that day.

Three weeks after that birthday I passed the test for bridge certification as a welder. I had a high school diploma and a trade, but still had eleven months to go until I could get out.

I was checking out the program for taking college classes by correspondence, but before I could sign up for any I was called into Mr. House's office. House was called a Detention Specialist but what he really was was a case worker and I was assigned to him on the day I arrived at the facility. He was the one who explained everything about the place to me and told me about the opportunities available. After talking he laid out the program I would follow while I was there.

"How would you like to get out of here early" he asked.''

"How do I do that?"

"Join the Army. Granted, you will go from a regimented life here to another regimented life, but it will be a regimented life where you can get three day passes, annual leave and you can usually leave post at night and go into whatever town you are stationed near. Also, since you are looking into taking college classes the Army does offer educational assistance."

I didn't have to think long on it.

"Where do I sign?"

After basic at Fort Knox the Army took a look at my welding certification and decided that I needed to do anything but and they sent me to Fort Lee to become a supply handler. I learned to do all the things that kept the troops supplied and over the course of my three year enlistment I got to spent time in Germany, Korea and Spain. I got my first blow job and lost my cherry in Germany, hooked up with a horny lady in Spain and she taught me to eat pussy and how to best do a woman anally. My stint in Korea showed me that it was pure bullshit that their pussy was slanted like their eyes.

I hooked up with a real hot redhead when I was stationed at Ft. Lewis in Washington and she almost cost me my life. We had gotten together five weekends in a row and one night a buddy asked me why I was fucking around with a married woman. I didn't know she was married because she never wore rings. Because of what had happened to dad I was not going to mess around with married tail so on the next weekend I didn't get together with her like I was supposed to. She hooked up with some other guy and was with him when hubby came calling with an S&W .38 and it was a repeat of my family's situation. Wife and lover dead and hubby in handcuffs and on his way to prison. By and large the Army kept me well travelled and I got to sample pussy in a lot of places.

I was in Korea when I got the news from Aunt Cora that my dad had been killed. There was a riot at the prison and during it a couple of guys cornered one of the guards and were going to kill him, but dad went to the guards aid and was mistakenly shot by other guards who thought he was one of the guys attacking their fellow guard.

I took emergency leave and was able to get home in time for the funeral. The funeral had been paid for by the state since the attacked guard told the warden that dad was trying to prevent the guard's death. After the funeral Aunt Cora gave me a card from an attorney and told me to call him. I did and found out that he was representing the state. They acknowledged their mistake and offered me fifty thousand in compensation. All I had to do was sign a paper releasing the state from all further responsibility. I had a pretty good idea that if I hired an attorney and had him pursue the matter I could do a lot better than the fifty, but I just didn't want to go through the hassle. I would probably be some place half way around the world when he would need a signature on something or a question answered and I wouldn't be available. I signed the paper, took the check and gave it to Aunt Cora to pay her back some for the way she had taken care of me. She tried to refuse it, but I wouldn't take it back.

I spent a week at home visiting with Aunt Cora and what few friends I had. Cindy, Angie and Jack were all in college and they regaled me with all the fun they were having and wished that I could be there with them. I wished it too, but it was water over the dam.

While I as there I went out on a double date with Jack, Cindy and Angie and I went out on a date with Angie a couple of times. I did try to get into her pants, but she shot me down.

"Not until I get married" she told me, "And that won't happen until I graduate. Who know; you might even be out of the Army by then."

The last three months of my enlistment they kept after me to re-up. I'd get called into the first sergeant's office on a regular basis and get the sales pitch. I was told it was sure thing that I would make E-5 (Buck sergeant) within three months after re-enlisting. They almost had me sold on the idea, but I decided to wait until a couple of weeks before my time was up before I said yes. I thought maybe if I waited they would offer me some other inducement like maybe a choice of my next assignment.

I was down to four days and a wake-up when I got called into the first shirts (army slang for first sergeant) office and I went in prepared to sign on the dotted line. Instead of a sales pitch on reenlisting I was sent to the dayroom where I found a woman from the Red Cross waiting for me. Aunt Cora's friend Alex had gotten in touch with them and had asked them to find me. Aunt Cora had suffered a stroke and wasn't able to tell anyone my address. The woman from Red Cross gave me Alex's phone number and I called him.

Aunt Cora was home, but confined to a wheel chair. She couldn't use her left leg or left arm and her speech was slurred. She was being taken care of by an in home health care service. Alex told me that there wasn't anything that I could do, but he felt that I should at least know what was going on and as I hung up all my thoughts of re-enlisting were gone. Aunt Cora had been there for me when I needed it and now it was my turn to be there for her. Four days later I was on a plane heading for home.

I got home just in time for the funeral. Aunt Cora had passed in her sleep two days after I had spoken to Alex. Alex had tried to get in touch with me, but I was in out-processing at the time and I never got the message.

"I think she knew that the end was near Ty. She left a letter that I was supposed to send you if she died. I have it in my briefcase out in the truck. I was going to send it to you after the burying."

The letter brought tears to my eyes. It started out, "Dear Tyler, if you are reading this it means that I am no longer alive. I want to thank you for all the joy you brought me you came to live with me."

She went on to apologized for not being able to keep the teachers at school and the police off of my back and she told me that she loved me like the son she'd never had. She prayed that life would be better for me when I got out of the Army. The letter included the name and phone number of her attorney and told me that I needed to see him as soon as I received her letter. By the time I finished the letter I was bawling like a baby.

It took me a day to get myself together and then I called Aunt Cora's attorney and he told me that I needed to come in and see him and so I made an appointment.

My Impala had been garaged at Aunt Cora's, but the battery was dead so I used Aunt Cora's Yukon to drive to Auto Zone to buy a new one. Once the new battery was installed I was surprised that the car started right up. I looked at the odometer and saw that it had a hundred more miles on it since I last drove it. Aunt Cora must have driven it a few times to keep it up for when I came home.

I backed out of the garage and drove down to the 7-11 to buy a paper. I was staying at Aunt Cora's, but I was going to need to find me a place since whoever she left her things to in her will would want to move in and take possession. I got the paper and then went across the street to a Denny's to get a bite to eat while I went through the paper looking at the ads. I found several that I would look at the next day and then I headed for home.

As I drove I was asking myself if I should stay in town or move on. Would the cops have put me behind them and forgotten about me? The answer came almost immediately. I was three blocks from the house when I heard the familiar 'whoop, whoop, whoop' and looked in the rearview to see the flashing red and blue lights.

I pulled over and got out my Army driver's license out of my wallet and then rolled down the window. I knew I was going to get a ticket, but at least this time it would be legitimate. I'd been gone three years and my insurance had long since expired and so had my license plates.

I recognized the cop when he came up to the window. He was one of the ones who had hassled me way back when. He looked in the window and said:

"License, registration and insurance please."

I handed him the documents and he took them and went back to his car. Five minutes later he came back and asked:

"Are you discharged or just on leave for your aunt's funeral?"

I could have lied and said I was only back for the funeral, but I decided not to and told him that I was out for good.

"Then you have thirty days to turn in your service license and get a state license. Your plates and insurance are out of date. I'm only going to give you a warning on the plates and insurance, but you need to get them taken care of right away."

He handed me back my documents and a warning citation and said, "I'm sorry about your aunt. She was good people and she will be missed."

He walked back to his car leaving me leaving me wondering about what the hell had just happened. He had me cold on the plates and insurance and he didn't burn me? I figured that he must have cut me some slack out of respect for Aunt Cora. What other reason could there be?

I drove home and killed time until it was time for me to head out to meet Albert Mercer who was Aunt Cora's lawyer and get my second shock of the day. Aunt Cora's will left everything to me. Her house, her Yukon, her life insurance, some stocks and bonds and what was in her savings and checking accounts. Aunt Cora had mortgage insurance that paid of the house and the Yukon was paid for. Not counting the house and car Aunt Cora had left me a little over eighty thousand, but Mercer wasn't done with the surprises. He was also the trustee of the trust fund that Aunt Cora has set up for me when she had sold off dad's stuff. I'd known the fund was there, but I'd never looked into it. To me it was just a nest egg for when I got out of the Army. Aunt Cora had added the check for the fifty thousand I'd gotten from the state to it even though I'd told her the money was hers. The fund was worth three hundred thousand.

I couldn't believe it. In less than seventy-two hours I had gone from a corporal's pay to having almost half a million dollars. Mercer asked me what I was going to do with it and I told him that I didn't have a clue. I thought about it for a minute or so and then told him to just let things ride. I had him add the stocks and bonds to the trust, made the necessary arrangements to draw from the fund when I needed to and then I left. I went to the closest bar, had a few stiff drinks to calm me down and take stock of the situation.

I was twenty-one years old, debt free, had a free and clear house and money in the bank. I had a high school diploma, three years' experience in warehousing and moving goods and even though I hadn't joined two pieces of metal in over three years I was still a certified welder. The question was what do I do with myself now? I wasn't going to find the answer emptying long necks in a bar so I paid my tab and headed home.

I stopped at a liquor store and bought a case of beer and when I got home I put the beer in the fridge and then took two with me and went out to sit on the front porch swing. As I sucked on the long neck I was looking at the house across the street and I wondered if Jack would be coming home from school for the weekend.

The thought of Jack and school got me to thinking about school. At one time I had entertained the idea of college, but that had been back when I was pulling down grades good enough to get me scholarships. Back before my teacher troubles began. I could still do it. I wouldn't be the first guy to get out of the Army and go to school. I could certainly afford it now.

As I sat there drinking my beer and rolling the idea around in my head I noticed the daily paper lying under the rose by the porch steps. I got up. Got the paper and then sat down to read through the classifieds. There were several jobs I could do. Shipping and receiving clerk, warehouse worker, forklift operator and truck driver. I didn't see any ads for welders and on a whim I got up and got the Yellow Pages and looked through it. I found that the town didn't have a welding shop or if it did the shop didn't advertise. It was something I would look into the next day. I was going to spend the rest of the day unpacking the clothes that I was going to wear in the evening when I went to the Silver Spur.

While in the Army I'd learned to dance country/western at on post dances at the EM Club and I enjoyed it and The Silver Spur was one of the two places in town (that I knew of) that was country/western. It was a Friday night and the place had a live band on the weekends.

I stopped at the Denny's and had dinner and then headed for the Spur. I walked in the door after paying the five dollar cover and saw a line dance in progress. It was one that I knew called "The Skip."

I found an empty stool at the bar, sat down, ordered a PBR and watched as the line dance finished. I hoped that they would do more of them. The nice thing about line dances is that you don't need a partner and being that I was just back in town and new to the place I didn't know anyone that I saw.

On the other side of the room I saw three girls sitting at a table and when the next dance started two of them got up to dance with each other. The dance was a Texas two-step and I sipped my beer while I watched the couples dance and I wondered why the two girls were dancing together and why the third one didn't have a partner. The three were definitely lookers and guys should have been flocking to their table. I decide that if no guys joined them after a bit I'd see if I couldn't partner up with them. I'd make sure that they knew I wasn't trying to hook up with anyone of them and that all I wanted was dance partners.

The next dance was a swing and again two of the three danced with each other while the third sat at the table and looked around as if trying to spot someone who might ask her to dance. By the time I talked myself into it the dance was over and when the next one started several people got out on the floor and lined up for a Tush Push so I got up and joined them. The three girls from the table were out there and one of them smiled at me. I decided to take it as an invitation.

When the dance was over I went to the john to relieve some bladder pressure and when I got back to my seat one of the three was sitting on the bar stool next to mine. It was the one who had smiled at me. I sat down and reached for my PBR and before I could get it up to my lips she said:

"It didn't look like you were ever going to come over and ask one of us to dance so we decided to ask you. How about it Ty? Want to try and keep up with the three of us?"

"Do I know you?"

"No, but we know who you are."

"How could you? I've only been in town three days and this is my first in here."

"We know you from school."

"No way. That was only four years ago and not near enough time for me to forget the ones I went to school with."

"We were not in your class. You were two years behind us so it isn't likely that you would have paid any attention to you, but we all knew who you were. Everybody in the school knew who you were after you took down those three assholes and we all thought you got a raw deal out of it."

"I'm trying to forget all that."

"So we won't talk about it so how about it? Want three dance partners?"

Just then the band started playing George Straight's "The Chair" and the girl (she still hadn't introduced herself) said:

"This is a good song for the "Cowboy Cha Cha. Know it? If not I can teach you."

I did know the dance and I stood up and offered her my arm and we moved out onto the dance floor. When the tune was over she asked me to join her and her two friends at their table and I said I'd be glad to and I headed for the bar to get my beer and then I went over to their table.

As I walked over to their table it wasn't lost on me that this was how my life began; my father walking over to a table in the Silver Spur to join three ladies one of whom would become my mother. I couldn't help but wonder if it was the same table. The girl introduced her two friends as Tina and Shirley and then said, "And I'm Marla."

I sat down, ordered a round for the table and then spent the next three and a half hours dancing with the three. Between dances we talked and I learned a little about them. I made the comment that it seemed strange that three very attractive ladies didn't have guys flocking to their table asking for dances. Marla said:

"Look around. Do you see any other single guys?"

I looked around and didn't see any guys who weren't with someone and Tina said, "It usually isn't this dead. In fact we come here because this is where the guys usually are. I don't know why the place is so dead tonight."

"Probably because the dirt track has started its season" Shirley said, "Guys would rather go to the races than dance."

I found out that the three had gone from high school to college together, had joined the same sorority and had even found jobs at the same company after graduation. I told them about the places I'd been to while in the Army and Marla said that was one of the next things they wanted to do.

"As soon as we have saved up vacation time we want to travel and see some other parts of the world."

I of course had to ask why such lovely ladies as they so obviously were didn't have husbands, fiancée's or boyfriends and Marla said: