Chapter 4

I wasn't sure that was going to visit Mother was a good idea. I knew I should and felt guilty that I didn't want to go. I rested until the Thursday and went.

I flew commercial into Miami and took a limo to the guest condo at Mother's facility. I think she recognized me, but that was about it. It was Spring Break for some colleges, and college students were all over the beaches. I had supper with Mother at the dining facility in her building. The food wasn't anything like Army hospital food. The facility encouraged residents to eat in the common facility and interact with other residents, but they also served the residents who needed to be served in their units.

After Mother went to bed, I decided to go to a bar in Fort Lauderdale and hoped I might get lucky. Mother's place had a car and driver that was rarely used at night. I engaged it for the evening. I went to a bar on the ocean that I remembered that Thornton Canter had talked about as his favorite bar.

When I walked into the Oceanside Bar, I saw Thornton sitting at the bar with an attractive woman. I couldn't believe it. The bar had an intimate feel. It was pleasant and friendly, and I didn't feel crowded. I immediately understood why Thornton liked it.

"Captain Canter I presume," I said.

"I'll be damn. Eunice, this is Spec 4 Jenkins, excuse me Sergeant Jenkins."

Eunice asked, "The company clerk from New York? Nice to meet you. Thornton has told me about you. He speaks highly of you."

"When did you get back?" Thornton asked.

"A little over a month ago. I came to visit with my mother in West Palm Beach."

He said, "I never expected to see you here. Eunice, we need a girl for Robert."

She said, "Thornton, all our friends graduated several years ago and it's not our Spring Break yet. I don't know anybody here."

Thornton seemed drunk.

Thornton asked, "You wounded at Plei Me?"

I nodded.

He said, "I heard that bastard ARVN Colonel hung us out."

"I lost my buddy, Spec 4 Williams there. I barely made it out."

Thornton said, "A real fuck up that place."

"While I was in the hospital at Walter Reed, somebody sent me an article about the Colonel. He and most of his staff were killed in a drug raid or something."

He said, "It could've happened to a more deserving puke. Too bad it didn't happen earlier."

When Thornton went to the restroom, I asked Eunice, "How's Thornton doing? I never knew him to drink much."

She asked, "Were you wounded where the company was ambushed? I noticed you walked with a cane."

I nodded.

"He heard about what happened; he took those loses hard. It's taking him a while to get readjusted. We came for the weekend with a former player who has a plane and a place here. We try to get away when we can. I'd like to get away for Spring Break in a couple of weeks; someplace quiet. I worried about his drinking. Vietnam really did a job on him."

Thornton came back, and Eunice and I stopped talking about unpleasant things.

I excused myself and called the lodge at Wakulla Springs. I reserved the private quarters for the ten days of Alabama's Spring Break.

When I got back, I asked Thornton, "I'd like to visit the University sometime, would you show me around?"

"Be glad to. I'll arrange for you to have a picture taken with Coach Bryant and Eunice can introduce you to some of her sorority sisters. We can eat over at the house and you can meet the brothers. I think you'll like the University and the chapter. I love it."

I said, "I have a life estate in a place at Wakulla Springs in Florida. Would you like to be my guests there during Spring Break? Maybe we could go there after I visit the University?"

Eunice said, "Is that the place near Tallahassee with the clear spring and glass bottom boats? I heard it is very pretty."

I nodded, "It's pretty quiet there; not like here. I spent time in the winter there with at my grandmother's."

Eunice said, "Thornton, let's have Robert visit and then go there. My sister and her boyfriend go to Auburn. We had talked about going somewhere together. Could they join us? They're about your age."

"Sure. The lodge has several bedrooms and a private area that is very peaceful and nice."

Eunice said, "Her boyfriend is the little brother of Wayne Year, one of our best friends from high school. Maybe my sister could bring her roommate. Her roommate has a boyfriend who doesn't go to Auburn. Is that too many people?"

"There's plenty of room, but not much night life. Tallahassee isn't that far if we need to go in."

Thornton said, "Wayne was my best friend in high school. He was captain of the Auburn football team, when I was captain at Alabama. His kid brother plays at Auburn now. Carol and Tommy are good kids."

Eunice had gone to Ramsay High School in Birmingham with Thornton and Wayne. Eunice called her sister, but she was out.

A weekend with Mother was all I could take. I flew back to New York. I talked about college with Grandfather. He wasn't thrilled about me going to visit the University of Alabama, but arranged for me to go. He gave me a Diner's Club credit card and several gas cards. I took driving lessons and passed my driver's test on Wednesday.

I flew to Atlanta, then took a connecting flight to Birmingham on Thursday afternoon. Grandfather had a car rented for me to pick up at the airport in Birmingham. I drove to Tuscaloosa.

I didn't care for Birmingham. The airline service was poor and it wasn't an attractive place. Tuscaloosa and the campus weren't great either. A paper mill stank up the campus when the wind blew from the southeast. Fortunately, the prevailing wind was from the west. Next to the campus was a state psychiatric hospital, which I hoped I wouldn't need. There was also a small golf course. The fraternity and sorority houses were mostly very nice. The students were friendly and attractive. I liked the feel of the campus. I checked into the hotel and called Thornton. He wasn't in but I talked with Eunice. She welcomed me and said Thornton would be over to get me.

Late Thursday afternoon, Thornton took me to meet Coach Bryant and to have my picture taken with him. His secretary took my address. She said, "He'll personalize it and sent it to you. It's really his signature." I could see Coach Bryant thought a lot of Thornton. He asked about Thornton's parents by name.

Thornton introduced me to the brothers at the Deke house and we ate with them Thursday evening. We didn't stay for the party they had with a sorority that night. Everyone at the house was friendly. The chapter president said, "You won't have a problem being accepted in the chapter. Anyone Thornton recommends doesn't have a problem. A Deke who served with him in Vietnam is a lock to be accepted as a full member, not an affiliate. Thornton asked me to speak with you about the chapter. Do you have any questions?"

I thanked him and left with Thornton.

Thornton went took me to the hotel and went to the law library and. I drove around campus and Tuscaloosa and went to bed. Friday, I met with Dr. Robert Bailey, the head of the School of Accountancy. We talked about accounting and finance. I was impressed with their banking program. It wasn't Wharton or Columbia, but it was a much better undergraduate program for me than at Yale. And Dr. Bailey couldn't have been nicer. We talked about Jenkins & Jenkins. He recommended that I consider law school. The law school had a diplomas privilege, so their graduates were automatically admitted to the Alabama Bar. Everyone I talked to at the college went out of their way to make a wounded veteran feel welcome, which was different than Yale also. Dr. Bailey gave me the admission forms, but told me that Yale would probably be better if I planned to stay in the City.

Thornton got out of his last law school class at noon, and we went directly there to Wakulla Springs. We ate as Thornton drove to Florida. I wasn't that good of a driver. We took my rental car. We talked about the college, law school and the social life for the four hours it took to drive to Wakulla Springs. We stopped at a grocery and got steaks and fixings. Thornton was very positive about the instruction and his classmates at the law school. He said, "It's not cutthroat like some places. It's has a real team spirit. Everyone was very supportive of me when I had to go to Vietnam. Everyone has gone out of their way to help. It's the place to go if you plan to practice in Alabama."

We met Eunice's sister, Carol, Tommy and Carol's roommate, Mary Fish at the Wakulla Springs lodge. Eunice had t-shirts with our Greek letters. Carol and Mary were Chi Os, Tommy was an SAE, Thornton and I were Dekes, and Eunice was a Kappa Kappa Gamma.

Eunice introduced me to the others, "This is Robert Jenkins. Thornton and Robert were in Vietnam together. He hasn't been back long. Robert's grandparents gave the Springs to the state and we are his guests. Tommy, please don't pee on the houseplants." Everyone laughed.

"Robert lives in New York City, but we think of him as one of us, since her served a tour with Thornton's company in Vietnam. He's thinking about going to school here. You all can tell him about Auburn."

Carol introduced Mary. "This is Mary Fish, my roommate at Auburn. We live in Dorm A, where the Chi Os live at Auburn. We don't have sorority houses like the University. We have about half of one side of the dorm and a chapter room there. Mary is from Abbeville, which is in southeast Alabama, about a hundred twenty miles north of here. She's a math major and a really good roommate."

Mary said, "Thanks for inviting me. My father is a big Bama fan. I remember listening to games that Thornton played in."

We put our things away in the lodge. We had four bedrooms on the second floor. The couples each had a bedroom and Mary and I each had a bedroom. Each bedroom had a bath and there was a private kitchen and screen porch that overlooked the spring. Eunice put potatoes in the oven before we went out for a short ride in a glass bottomed boat. We finished as the sun set. After the boat ride, we drank wine and talked on a screen porch while the potatoes baked. We grilled thick steaks and talked easily. It was a nice group. We had large thick steaks, oversized baked potatoes, tossed salad, wine, strawberries and ice cream.