Chapter 10

Sunday evening I went to the fraternity house for supper where I met the pledges. They all seemed so young and eager.

There I met Beauregard Lauder of Lauderdale County Mississippi. He introduced himself, "I'm Beauregard Lauder, but everyone calls me Colonel." He offered his hand and we shook hands. "I was away when you joined the chapter last spring, but Thornton spoke most highly of you. I wanted to welcome you. A noncommissioned officer with the Combat Infantry Badge and multiple awards of the Purple Heart, Bronze Star and Silver Star brings honor to the brotherhood and is especially welcome."

"I wasn't a hero. I was a draftee, who Thornton promoted to sergeant when I went back to the line after time at Thornton's HQ. He made me a squad leader not long before he rotated back to the states. When the company was ambushed soon after he left, I was wounded and came home. A number of the Alabama Guardsmen in my unit weren't as fortunate as I; they came back Quartermaster. Getting wounded wasn't heroic.

"Thornton was an excellent CO and I will always appreciate how good he was. I was lucky to have had a good CO. He was as good as an academy man." I paused, "Do you mind telling me how you became Colonel?"

He smiled. "My family has been active in the local militia in Mississippi since before Old Hickory and the Battle of New Orleans. Since I was a small child, I've been interested in military history. I was the cadet colonel of the JROTC unit in my high school as a sophomore and most people called Colonel, even before then. In the spring of my sophomore year in high school, I joined the Mississippi National Guard and attended the Guard's OCS program at Camp Shelby, one weekend a month and during two summers. For an honor's project in high school, I wrote a history of the Mississippi National Guard. The Governor spoke at our high school graduation and commissioned me a second lieutenant in the Mississippi National Guard then. He also appointed me the Historian, a field grade staff position. After I completed the Army's Command and General Staff Course by correspondence, I was promoted to major, which was at the end of the summer before I came here to college. After some of my early articles received recognition at the Army War College, the Governor promoted me to lieutenant colonel. When I received a few other accolades, he nominated me to be promoted me to colonel and the promotion occurred on my twenty-first birthday." He smiled, "Doubtless, it didn't hurt that my family is active on the local political scene in Mississippi, though we don't hold public office. I have no interest in the active Army or in political office, but I'm very interested in Southern and military history." He smiled again, "Duty calls; I must escort the Sweetheart to the table. It's rough duty, but someone must do it. I look forward to having you in the chapter and getting to know you. I've never know Thornton to be wrong about someone and he speaks most highly of you."

Colonel walked to the fraternity sweetheart and escorted her to a dining room table.

When I asked Thornton about Colonel, he drolly said, "He's a true character. He may be the most gifted writer on campus, including any member of the faculty. Besides being a gifted writer, his mind is razor sharp. In the fraternity, he operates like his family does: he doesn't hold elected office, but is a power as social chair. He has an amazing variety of interests. He's probably the most successful lady's man on campus. His family has a lot of parallels with yours, except their stage, Meridian, Mississippi, is much smaller. His father is an attorney and Colonel will go to Ole Miss Law School as soon as the Ole Miss is, as he describes, no longer 'occupied' by federal troops: a subject best to avoid with him. He was admitted to Ole Miss Law School last spring, but he deferred admission. For generations, Lauder men have been staples on the Ole Miss Campus. He would have gone to Ole Miss as an undergraduate except for the Meredith situation. As sharp as he is and with his writing and research skills, I have no doubt that he'll graduate first in his law school class.

"Though he should be a senior here, he's already completed most of the Ph.D. courses in some special graduate program in Southern History and Literature, where he the program's acknowledged superstar. I know his comprehensive doctoral exam is scheduled this semester. A history professor told me that Colonel's paper in last year's Journal of Southern History was better than dissertation quality. Last spring, he won the Faulkner Prize for Southern Literature; and he and his friend, Eudora Welty, are considered the best writers living in the Mississippi, and among the very best Southern writers. Everyone likes Colonel; I'm sure you will too. You have a lot in common, though he doesn't know how much."

Thornton had honored my request not to talk about my family's business interests, other than to say that he was a summer associate hired by my grandfather at a law firm on Wall Street and that the family had banking interests. Thornton knew something about my St. Joe Paper interests from the trip we made to Wakulla Springs, but he didn't know I was St. Joe's sole owner.

I commented, "He certainly is a surprising man."

Colonel was short and dapper. His eyes flashed and he looked like mischief. He was very smooth and had a way with words. He didn't lack confidence. And he liked women. I could see why the ladies were attracted to him.

Thornton said, "I don't know all of your family's enterprises or his, but I know his family has timber, banking, shipbuilding, property management, and legal interests in Mississippi. And like your family, they are comfortable with being comfortable. They don't feel the need to impress anyone. I think the Lauders prefer being big fish in a small pond, and as I understand it, there aren't any bigger fish in Southern Mississippi, certainly not in Meridian and Lauderdale County."

Most days I ate lunch and dinner at the fraternity. I was surprised that Colonel took a special interest in meals and meal etiquette. The fraternity's meals were outstanding. After lunch Monday, Colonel came to me.

I shook his hand and said, "Good day. The food here is outstanding. One of the brothers said it was because you are an accomplished chef."

"I'm not a chef. I learned some things about gourmet cooking as a youngster from my mother, while she taught me French. She thought it important that I understood the Cajun dialect. Before Mother met Father, she studied art in Paris. While there, she took some cooking classes at the Cordon Blue. I work a little with our cook here. She's a little prone to fry everything, but she and her assistant are actually quite good." He gave me a thoughtful look. "What classes are you taking?"

"I have a second semester freshman writing class, banking, accounting, botany, forestry, and private pilot training."

"An unusual schedule. You really need to be in Honors English with Richebourg McWilliams. He's a marvelous writing teacher. He helped me a great deal. If you would like, I'll call him and ask him to allow you in his class. If you were taking history, we would have almost identical interests. How did you get interested in pilot training?"

"It substitutes for the PE and ROTC courses I'm not required to take."

Colonel said, "I'd like to take flying lessons some time. You'll have to take me up when you get your license. I recall Thornton said you were interested in the law and banking."

"And I have some interest in forestry." After a pause, I asked, "Colonel, I'd like to bring a non-sorority freshman to the first date night. Will that be a problem?"

He said, "It's a bit unusual for the first dinner. We like to encourage the brothers to bring women from the major sororities, so we know the girls in the sorority houses. And traditionally our officers invite the presidents of some of the sororities the first date night."

"I invited Jeanette Elliott from Demopolis. She was a freshman in my orientation group, who reacted strongly after she overhead me say I was wounded in Vietnam. We talked and I learned that her father had been killed in Vietnam. He wasn't in my company, but many of the men in my squad and Thornton's company were Guardsmen from Demopolis. I helped her a little over a rough spot last week, but I also like her. I'd really like to bring her."

"He was an EM?"

I nodded. "Career NCO. She's going to school on survivor's benefits and had a rough rush and orientation."

"Are you her sponsor, so to speak?"

I thought a second. "You could say that."

"I know most of the sorority social chairs. If I may be of assistance with introductions, let me know. I'll welcome her to the house personally and introduce her to our sorority guests. If anyone makes her feel uncomfortable, they won't be asked back and their group will go to the bottom of my invitation list ... And please consider taking Professor McWilliams' class."

"I know how important writing is. I would like very much to be in his class."

Colonel said, "I'll give him a call now. You wouldn't want to miss a single one of his classes. They are that good."

Colonel called Professor McWilliams, and the Professor agreed to let me into his class, which met at one-ten that afternoon. Colonel and I knew writing well was the key to success in law school.

I purchased the books for writing class before I went. I was glad I added Professor McWilliams' class. From the moment he walked into the class, I knew he was special. He looked like a cross between Faulkner and Clemens; and when he spoke, there was no doubt he knew writing. He was Old South in speech and everything he did. I knew he would be fascinating.

Banking was more interesting than I thought; accounting, botany, and forestry weren't. Forestry and conservation attracted the less academically oriented athletes, which wasn't a good sign.

Monday afternoon, I read my writing texts from cover to cover. I also read the complete banking text that evening.

Thank you, Evelyn Woods!

I generally ate with the junior brothers, though I sat with the sophomores at chapter meeting. My initiation pin number placed me at the head of the sophomore class and seating at chapter meetings was by pin number. Tuesday afternoon, I finished my first complete reading of the forestry text. I understood most of the accounting terms from reading financial statements in the bank, but boredom kept me from getting through more than the first section of the text. Botany almost put me to sleep in the first chapter.

When the guest list for date night was posted Wednesday, Colonel signed after my name in the Guest Of column and added 'Guest of the House'.

Thursday night, I wore a Brooks Brothers dark blue cashmere blazer, a Brooks Brothers white button down oxford cloth shirt, a silk tie in the fraternity colors(gules and azure), gray wool pants, and highly polished cordovan tasseled shoes. Jeanette wore her black dress and pearls. We were a bit over dressed, but not enough to standout as out of place.

Colonel met us at the door and made Jeanette feel welcome. We were seated for dinner almost immediately. The dinner was white tablecloth. Waiters served lobster and a small medium rare filet of tender beef on good china. It was very nicely done. Jeanette and I sat at the table with Colonel and Sweetheart Cathryn Spring. Cathryn was a Kappa and an English major. She was very socially skilled and made Jeanette comfortable.

As was the ritual, I introduced Jeanette to the chapter. Colonel told me the protocol. She was to be introduced as Jeanette Elliott, a freshman from Demopolis. If she had been in a sorority, the introduction would have been included her sorority and designation as pledge, if appropriate. The brothers snapped their fingers instead of clapping.

After dinner, the Chapter President stood and said, "Colonel, would you do the honors?"

Colonel stood. "Gentlemen, I have the honor to recognize our housemother, Mrs. McFall." The chapter snapped their fingers. "Gentlemen, I have the honor to recognize Sweetheart Cathryn Spring." Another round of snaps. "Gentlemen, I have the honor to introduce Brother Jenkins, who will introduce our Guest of the House."

I stood. "Thank you Brother Colonel." As expected, everyone laughed. "Mrs. McFall, Sweetheart Spring, honored guests, brothers, and others (pledges were not recognized yet), I have the honor of presenting to the house, the Guest of the House, Jeanette Elliott, a freshman from Demopolis." The men snapped and I sat.

Next, the brothers with pinmates introduced their pinmates as wearers of the fraternity pin. Then the officers introduced their dates, the presidents of the seven major sororities. Then any date not previously introduced to the house was introduced by her escort. Jeanette was not only the only non-sorority coed, she was the only freshman introduced. The Deke pledges were not allowed dates to date night until after they had progressed past the first phase of pledging.

Cathryn said to Jeanette, "That was quite a coup. You should feel honored."

Jeanette said, "Rob was the one who was honored. I'm living in reflected glory."

Colonel said, "Well said. The chapter made a good choice for Guest of the House tonight, but you slighted yourself; it was more than recognition of him. You should know that our rules allow being Guest of the House only once, so don't feel slighted when you return and it doesn't happen again."

He smoothly let her know she was welcome and expected back. She is glowing.

Cathryn said, "Eunice Hughes Canter asked that I relay her best regards."

"Eunice is a nice person."

Cathryn said, "We thought so. She was our chapter president when I was a sophomore."

When Cathryn went to speak with some of the pledges, Colonel said to Jeanette, "I'm going to introduce you to all the chapter presidents. Don't engage in any conversation with them after the introduction, even if they try. Return to Rob. You'll score more points with them by being attentive to him than to them. Then it would be best to give your regards to the housemother and leave."

I understood the last comment was also directed to me; probably more to me. I nodded and moved near Mrs. McFall, a lovely older widow, who was the epitome of the gracious Old South. We chatted until Jeanette joined us.

Jeanette followed Colonel's instructions as he introduced her. She thanked Mrs. McFall and the chapter president, and then we left.

When we got to the car, Jeanette said, "That was little scary. I think more went on than I understood. I really liked your Sweetheart, Cathryn."

"Cathryn is pinned to a brother, who graduated and is in training in the Army. Colonel says she a peach. The chapter is very protective of the Sweetheart."

Jeanette smiled, "Colonel knows women. I wouldn't want my little sister to meet him."

We just made it back to her dorm before normal freshmen women's curfew, which would have been extended for a fraternity/sorority event. Jeanette's dorm wasn't setup for freshman, so we thought it was best not to call attention to Jeanette's status. She signed in and I left immediately.

When I got home, I soaked in the Jacuzzi and called Grandfather. We didn't talk long. I edited a paper for English and read assigned readings in some pilot manuals.

It seemed I spent more time on flying than my real courses.

Jeanette called before I finished reading. "A boy in my class called. He asked me to go to a party at KA with him Friday and to the game on Saturday."

"Did he seem like a nice boy?"

"He's in my English class. He seems nice."

"Why don't you go? KAs are supposed to be a nice group."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. You need to go out with different guys. Watch the alcohol."

"Okay. And I'll be careful. Thanks for tonight. It was great. I felt like a Princess."

"Goodnight"

"I finished the revision of my paper for Professor McWilliams. Then I reviewed accounting."

I had accounting at eight and banking at ten. I typed my class notes after each class. I sat with Colonel at lunch.

"How's Professor McWilliams' class?"

"Our first paper is due today. I guess I'll find out when he returns my paper."

"How are your other classes?"

"So far accounting and banking are straight forward. I spend the most time on English and flying. Botany and forestry aren't difficult. I read the forestry text. I think I already knew ninety percent of the book. Botany seems to be mostly vocabulary. I've worked in banking and read financial statements there, so I'm already familiar with the terms and applications in banking and accounting. As you know, English is an art the way Professor McWilliams teaches it. I don't know how good of a wordsmith I am."

"I'm sure you will do fine. Are you bringing Jeanette to the party and game?"

"No, I encouraged her to go out with a KA. I don't have a date."

He understood. "Why don't we give tri-delt a break this weekend? I'll get us dates for Friday, the game and Saturday night. How much of a sure thing do you want?"

"I'd prefer a nice girl, who is a bit of a challenge."

"Older or younger?"

"Older I think."

I'm not going to ask if it's a bit late for a date tonight and tomorrow night.

"What do you have after writing today?"

"Flight training from two-thirty until four-thirty."

"If there isn't an older girl, is a pledge okay?"

"That would be fine."

"I'll post a note for you about the date."

Professor McWilliams lectured on the overuse of adjectives, which was the topic of our assigned reading in the Elements of Style.

When he opened the class to discuss any topic, I asked, "How does a writer develop lyrical rhythm?"

Professor McWilliams grinned. "Part gift and a lot of sweat. It helps to read writers who are lyrically gifted."

After class, he said, "A thoughtful question. Colonel is rarely wrong about someone. It's a pleasure to have a thoughtful student in a freshman class."

I went back to the fraternity house before I went to the airfield. Colonel left a note to call tri-delt for Judy Stokes. I remembered Judy; she was the chapter president.

I called and someone got her. "Judy, this is Rob Jenkins. Colonel left a note to call you. I think it was about a date this weekend."

"Colonel suggested we might go out this weekend. I was going home, but I could stay over?"

"I'd love to go out with you. We have a band tonight; I think it's a Birmingham band called the Ramblers. I have tickets to the game and I understand we usually have a buffet before the game at the fraternity house. I thought we could get a group together and char steaks at my house after the game. We have a party with SAE Saturday night at SAE."

"That sounds good. We're close enough to walk over to the Deke house tonight from tri-delt. Would about eight be about right?"

"I'll see you at eight."

I remembered Judy from date night. She was tall, blonde, and nice looking. I remembered that she was left-handed and someone said she played the piano really well. I thought it was unusual what I remembered about Judy.

I drove out to the old Army airfield for my pilot lesson. Not everyone had read the assigned readings. Those of who had were assigned an instructor and went up in a plane; the others were sent home.

I wasn't a natural pilot or as they said, "I wasn't one with the plane." I had to work at it and was stiff, but I did everything by the numbers, which made the instructor happy.

I got back for the light supper the house had on Friday nights and talked with the sophomores about the customs of house with respect to parties.

At home, I took a short shower and got in the Jacuzzi. Dancing wasn't the best activity for my leg. My leg tired easily, so I used the Jacuzzi to loosen my leg muscles. I put a fifth of unopened Jack Daniels in the trunk of the car. The Monza's motor was in the back and the trunk was in the front, under what was normally the hood. I filled a pint flask full of Jack Daniels from a bottle in the bar at my house to carry. It wasn't far from my house to tri-delt, but I decided to take the car. If we wanted to go somewhere after the dance, I wanted the car close.

At ten till eight, I drove to tri-delt. Judy was close to ready and we left about ten after. The Deke house was one long and two short blocks from tri-delt. We went in the Deke front entrance and I got us setups and poured our drinks. We sat in the living room. Drinks weren't allowed in the parlor.

Judy took a sip. "This isn't Old Tennis Shoe from the State Store."

"I still have access to the NCO Clubs on military bases. I get a case of Jack Daniels when I go by one. The booze in the State Store is dreadful."

"A case or two of Jack Black should make you very popular. Colonel said you were planning on going to law school?"

"All the men in my family are attorneys. My grandfather and brother are partners in a Wall Street firm. My father was a partner until he died not long ago. I don't want to be on Wall Street, but I plan to go to law school. What are you studying?"