Chapter 5: Farewell R2C2, Hello the next part of my life

I spent the Christmas and New Year split between my grandparents and the Alvarez family. I was reasonably well received by Marianna’s parents, probably because Donna also vouched for me. I wasn’t surprised to find that several of the Alvarez family were musicians and New Year’s Eve was nothing short of a blast. With guitars, trumpets, Donna’s base fiddle, a couple of tambourines and a lot of hooting and hollering, it was the most fun I’d had at any party.

By the end of the evening, well after we celebrated the New Year, I was hoarse from laughing and singing ... as much as I could sing, as well as taking on more than a small amount of Tequila. I lost count of the number of cousins and other relatives who were there. Luckily, it was a nice night, not too cold, and we could use the patio area for some cool fresh air. The living room was like a sauna with all the people. But everyone was having a good time and that made the crowding tolerable.

“Thank you for inviting me, Señor and Señora Alvarez. I had a very good time.”

“You are most welcome, Nick,” Alonzo Alvarez said with a genuine smile and a firm handshake. Apparently I’d passed inspection, because there weren’t that many “Gringos” at the party. Their acceptance of me was just as important as my grandparents’ acceptance of their daughter.

The second week of January marked the beginning of my last semester of Russian River Community College. It was also my last opportunity to play organized baseball. I didn’t expect to be able to play for a major college team, much less have the time for it. I decided that I’d be going to Cal State in Sacramento, and I’d applied for entry, expecting my grades to be satisfactory. I was no scholarship student, so my grandparents’ education fund would come into play. I wondered, of course, where Marianna would end up. With her grades she had so many choices.

“So, when do you think you’ll know where you’re going to school?” I asked her one evening.

“I already do,” she said with a sly smile. “I’m headed for Sacramento State.”

“Really! But you had so many other choices, Marianna. What caused you to pick State?” I said, mystified at her choice.

“Oh, I have my reasons. I won’t be too far from home, so coming back here is only an hour or so. Plus, I heard you applied there as well,” she smirked.

I gave her a questioning look. “Surely that wasn’t the deciding factor.”

“Why not?” The look on her face was one of innocence.

“You did, didn’t you,” I said with a big smile.

“Well, you know ... we all need support when we’re away from home for the first time. We’ll be living on campus, so it just makes sense that my boyfriend is nearby. Besides, it will keep me from straying off the path.”

I stepped in and hugged her to me. “I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have support from than you,” I whispered, kissing her lightly.

“We can study together, too, you know,” she murmured. “We’ll have a lot of time together. Maybe you’ll get tired of me. Anyway, I’ll be able to keep my eye on you,” she smirked.

“Not possible,” I snapped quickly. “I have the most exotic girlfriend in the entire Sonoma County. It would take an awful lot for me to get tired of you, babe.”

“I hope so. Having you around is good for my self esteem. My handsome Anglo boyfriend is the envy of all my girlfriends.”

“Oh? Which girlfriends are you talking about?” I kidded.

“Oh no you don’t! You’re mine and I’m keeping you,” she said firmly with a light slap on my chest.

“Okay, okay, I was just kidding.”

It was fun to be with Marianna, but it was also good for my well being. She kept me focused on what was important and by often questioning me; she pretty much helped me decide on the courses of study I would choose for my college education. I had made up my mind that I would take over the Healdsburg Hardware when my grandfather chose to retire. He would still own it, but I would manage and operate the business. To do that, I needed a very specific group of subjects.

“How did you make out getting the courses you wanted?” Marianna asked when we met after orientation exercises.

“Some good, some not so good. I have to take the basic first year courses, so that limited the number of electives. I’m meeting with a counselor tomorrow and he should know which direction would make the most sense. When I graduate, I want to know what it takes to run a small business.

“I have to learn bookkeeping, managing cash, inventory, purchasing, and probably a bunch more. I have to know how much insurance, both liability and hazard for the building, the occupants, and the inventory. This is all the stuff my Grampa did by himself. I’m convinced a computer system will help with much of the manual workload, so that’s another course that I’ll have to take.”

“If your grandfather did all of that by himself, then it shouldn’t be too big a challenge for you, Nick.”

“For the basics, you’re probably right. But I have some ideas about how to grow the business. I’d like to develop some contractor business for home renovations and repairs. I’d have purchasing power from the buying group he belongs to, but he isn’t really able to take advantage of it. I could see the possibilities of having special sales ... seasonal and all.”

“You’ve been thinking about this quite a bit, haven’t you,” she smiled.

“Yeah. It’s something I really want to do and it would keep my grandfather’s heritage alive. He put his life into that store, and I want him to be proud of what it might become through my efforts.”

That got me a big kiss from Marianna. “I’m sure he’ll be even more proud of you than he already is.”

The baseball season was pretty much a repeat of the previous year. We were still the new guys in the league and our talent pool was still pretty shallow. But, as with year one, I still loved playing the game and I had a good year, even if the team was only a couple of wins better than last year. I’d made a few new friends on the team and at R2C2. Several of us were headed for larger universities, while more still were out on the job market.

Marianna and I were close and she continued to help me improve my guitar skills. I was getting a lot more confident with my playing and I’d heard more than one person tell me they were impressed. That was the motivation I needed to continue to practice. Of course, Marianna was my head cheerleader, so that was a factor as well.

John and Mitzi were still going strong and showing no ill effects from his brief encounter with Yvonne. I could see, little by little, he was becoming more outgoing, although by typical teenage standards, he’d still be considered exceptionally quiet. Both of them were planning on the technical university, and Mitzi made it plain with her application that they were a pair. With John’s marks, combined with hers, I felt any university would be happy to comply with her request.

My grandparents were cruising along just as they had for so many years. Now that John and I were out of the house more than when we were in high school, Gramma had more time to devote to her interests and she joined a social club. I kept encouraging Gramps to computerize, but he said more than a couple of times that he was too old to try and learn something complicated like that and he’d stick to the tried and true system he’d always used. Gramps surprised me when he hired a new young guy to replace me in the store. He felt I should be enjoying my college days and not tied to the business.

Our music group had been asked to put on a concert for Spring Break, and after some discussion, we gathered eight willing participants together to choose a selection of pieces. We decided that contemporary music would appeal best to our audience and we stuck to that. There was a lot of talent available, but we had never practiced as a single unit and that would take some time to get us all playing in harmony.

By consensus, we chose Mr. Hazeltine, our music instructor, to be our conductor and general organizer. He was fairly young in his mid-thirties and he didn’t take much convincing to agree. It was a good decision by us since he knew how to put the strengths and weakness together to get the best result. We argued over the play selection, but he made it clear that the music should suit the talents of the players, and that helped us pick a number of good pieces.

The program was designed to last about 45 minutes, but with the enthusiastic reception we got and the fun we had, it was not problem to add a couple of numbers that we had rehearsed but hadn’t included. At the end, Marianna got up and went to the microphone.

“This concert would never have happened without the help of Mr. Hazeltine. He taught us the difference between playing an instrument and working in a group to produce a harmonious sound. Your response told us everything we wanted to know. He succeeded, and we succeed. Thank you so much,” she bowed. It was our first experience with a standing ovation, catching us all by surprise.

I think Marianna got a lot of credit for the quality of the performance as well. She had two solo pieces that were absolutely perfect. Mr. Hazeltine recognized that she was the most talented of our group and made sure she was featured. That turned out to be both good and ... not so good. John, of course, was little recognized, but most of us knew how well he looked after the percussion department. It was one of those hidden components among all the others, but we knew how talented he was.

As the semester came to a close, I had received my application acceptance to Sac State, as had Marianna of course. We now knew which courses we were taking and I felt lucky that my chosen electives were all available to me. Marianna was placed in a special fine arts program due to her skills and a written recommendation from Mr. Hazeltine. She was surprised, but pleased that she would have a chance to enhance her scholarship with a successful completion of her first year studies. I had no doubt she would continue to be an ‘A’ student. I had no idea what to expect from my efforts, but with my improved study habits, I felt I should make it through to my second year.

I had enough transfer credits to permit me to graduate with a Bachelor of Commerce in three years if I kept my marks up. That seemed like a lifetime to me, but I had a goal and it was important that I achieve it. My grandfather was nearing his seventieth birthday and he was past due being ready for retirement. His health seemed good and his energy and activity around the store appeared normal to me. He was always a fit, slim, tall man, probably just under six foot and maybe a hundred and seventy-five pounds. My grandmother was about five foot four and slightly overweight, but not markedly so. Again, both seemed in good health. But Grampa would be well over seventy by the time I was ready to take over the store, so time was of the essence.

I think the two years we spent at R2C2 was a real benefit to both Marianna and me. We were ready for a university environment, so it didn’t come as a surprise. Yes, it was a much larger campus with many more students ... a number of them older adults, but the study habits and the greater distractions that could affect someone new to the experience didn’t have that affect on us. Mentally, we knew what was coming.

Naturally, we were both staying in the dorms, but separated from each other. I was commuting back to Healdsburg each weekend to see how John was making out as well as checking on my grandparents. After a couple of months, everyone agreed that I didn’t need to make that trip every weekend. All was well with John, thanks to Mitzi, and my grandparents were happy to see me whenever I could get there. That gave Marianna and me a little more time together. She accompanied me several times so that she could visit her home, but was happy if we could make it once a month.