Return To Forever (6 page)

Mary’s move to her all girl dorm at Butterfield Hall was uneventful and went without a hitch. There was no prolonged goodbye with Joe as he would be visiting her the very next weekend. A couple of weeks later Joe would begin classes at the Community College, an event he really could not get excited about as it just seemed like an extension of High School but in a different location. None of his close friends were joining him so he would be a loner for a while.

Joe’s first visit to see Mary was one of the highlights of his summer. She was waiting for him in the dorm lobby and took him for a walking tour of the campus…more beautiful and serene than any place he had ever seen. The fall weather was sunny and crisp…perfect in every way. They walked and talked and found a secluded spot on the banks of the Red Cedar River running right through the middle of the campus. Joe had brought a blanket and they laid in the shade of the changing trees and explored each other’s body without regard for anyone watching.

Joe had never seen Mary more relaxed than she was that day. No parental pressure to worry about and no store manager looking over his shoulder. Joe considered spending the night in a friend’s dorm room but decided to drive home late after tucking Mary in for the night. It had been a glorious day.

CHAPTER 11

J
oe’s first semester at Community College was becoming a nightmare. He was so far behind the rest of his Calculus class that he just stopped going and eventually dropped it entirely. He had huge holes in his schedule and spent that time in the Student Union rather than drive all the way home…almost 45 minutes one way. Unfortunately for Joe, he found other Lansdale grads in the same situation and his incentive to attend class and study went up in smoke…literally. They would listen to music over the PA and drink endless amounts of coffee and coke while they shot the shit and chain smoked.

One of these “scholars in exile” was Gary Carter. Like Joe, he was very intelligent but totally undisciplined. He was a Co-Op student at Lansdale, working in the meat department at a Food Giant (not Joe’s store) and, like Joe, was still working part time while he tried his hand at college.

As a diversion from killing time in the Student Union, Gary suggested they rent motor scooters and tool around town. Joe thought this was a great idea and several times each week, when they should have been attending class, they rented scooters and had a ball…no helmets required. Without his nerd friends like Phil, Joe had no peer pressure driving him academically and by semester’s end, he was on probation.

In East Lansing, Mary was immersing herself in college life and becoming the social butterfly that was longing to emerge. Her roommate was totally different than Mary and led the charge to attend every party she could find. Sometimes Mary would tag along but study time took priority and she often found herself alone in her room cracking the books. Joe called every night and they spoke for hours on end, professing their love for each other though far apart.

Winter came early that year and on Joe’s birthday it was bitterly cold. It fell on a Sunday that year and Joe wanted Mary with him so he drove early that morning to pick her up and bring her back to his house for dinner and cake. Joe’s parents hadn’t seen her since last Christmas and were eager to cover her up with attention and love. After dinner they watched the Animals on Ed Sullivan before he took her back to her dorm. Joe noticed that Cleopatra was showing at the drive-in theatre near his house and wished he had the time for him and Mary to watch it together.

By the time Joe left East Lansing for the final trip home, the snow had started falling and the roads were becoming slippery. Fortunately at that late hour there was virtually no traffic and he made it back half asleep but in one piece.

The rest of the winter went pretty much according to script. Joe totally fucked off at school; went back to working part time at the store; and drove the ’60 Chevy into the ground. He started spending more and more time with Johnny learning the guitar and was starting to actually pass him in the skill of soloing. Their musical tastes were also going in different directions. Joe was big into the new British bands while Johnny’s was more traditional Elvis style rockabilly.

Joe’s nightly calls to Mary were occasionally finding her out and not available. When she did call back she would explain she had been at the library or with her study group. The weekend visits were curtailed as the winter progressed but when spring arrived Joe was back visiting on a regular basis. He didn’t sense any change in Mary but their intimate moments had yet to bare any fruit which frustrated him.

Phil had completed plebe summer and was up to his eyeballs trying to maintain his grades and make the wrestling team. Unfortunately, he broke his leg during one match and had to spend several weeks in the hospital. As it would turn out, he could never catch up with his studies and was falling farther and farther behind. One highlight of his hospital stay was lying alongside quarterback Roger Staubach, a senior that year, who was rehabbing his knee.

As the guys saw the Vietnam War heating up, consideration had to be given to their draft status. The college guys were OK with their 2S student deferment but others like Larry were 1A and would be the first called if LBJ decided to ramp up our involvement following the Tonkin Gulf escapade. Johnny’s parents literally pushed him in to enrolling in a Community College and Joe knew that if he lost his battle with probation he would be in the same boat as Larry.

—

Spring arrived and Joe had barely held a 1.8 GPA, close enough to stay enrolled but not good enough be taken off probation. His days of renting scooters ended when Gary Carter decided to join the Navy rather than risk being drafted by the Army. With his bad influence removed, Joe resigned himself to really giving the books some serious attention and was able to pass a couple of classes with C’s.

As May was coming to an end, Joe made his customary call to Mary on Friday to confirm the time he would arrive on Saturday. When he failed to get an answer, he called the dorm’s main line. The gal that answered said she had no idea where Mary was but would be happy to leave a message for Joe. Joe didn’t see this as a big deal and decided to head out in the morning and call her when he hit town from a pay phone.

He arrived at Mary’s dorm around 11:00 AM and told the girl at the front desk he was there to pick up Mary Donaldson. A call to her room went unanswered but Joe was told to wait in the living room. She was sure to show up. Almost an hour passed and no Mary. A couple of girls were leaving and Joe asked if they knew where Mary might have gone. Nothing. At that point Joe decided to walk around the campus to some of the spots she had taken him.

It was a beautiful day and warming up as Joe walked along the river hoping to spot Mary. He ended up walking to the Cook Recital Hall where music majors attended classes and rehearsed. There wasn’t much going on there with only a handful of students practicing their instruments. Still no sign of Mary. His next stop was a couple of Mary’s favorite restaurants. First up, Conrad’s College Town Grill. The place was packed and it took Joe awhile to search the loud crowd. No luck again. Her next favorite spot was the Stateside Deli which was less crowded than Conrad’s but still no sign of Mary.

At that point Joe was getting a really bad feeling. Either she was sick or hurt or purposely avoiding him. He decided to head back to the dorm in case she had returned. When he walked in the girl he had talked to before was gone. He waited and finally asked a girl walking in if she had seen Mary and was told she thought she was at the Stadium where the marching band was practicing. Strange, Joe thought. He never made that connection but it was far enough away that he decided to drive.

With football season over, the huge stadium was serving as the host of track and field events. Many runners were on the track but no sign of the band…and no sign of Mary. He asked a student if the band had been practicing earlier and it had. He said they had wrapped up about thirty minutes earlier. Joe was getting close to panic mode, a place he rarely went to, but his worst fears were beginning to take hold.

Joe spent the next few hours cruising the campus with periodic return visits to her dorm. By dusk he decided to throw in the towel and drive back home. Why was she doing this to him? He racked his brain as he drove, trying to recall any signals he may have missed. Nothing came to mind. She seemed to be her normal self when they last were together but something clearly had changed…and it had to be another guy.

He wished there was someone he could call that would know what was going on. Obviously her parents were not an option and Joyce was visiting CMU where she would be attending in the fall. When Joe walked in the house his mom knew instantly that something was wrong. Joe tried to explain what had happened without showing the emotions he was holding inside. His mom’s opinion gave him hope. “She may have been visited by her parents and couldn’t break away to call you or leave a message.” Brilliant…why didn’t Joe consider that possibility which made all the sense in the world. Joe let out a sigh of relief and kissed his mom and went to bed, convinced his mom and nailed it.

Joe hung around the house all day Sunday expecting Mary to call but she didn’t. He began to rationalize that she probably had her folks for the entire weekend and wouldn’t be able to call him until they left. For that reason he chose not to place a call to Mary which could present a problem if the parents were in the room.

He and his dad were intrigued with the Warren Commission’s report on the JFK assassination and spent most of the day Sunday reviewing the report’s conclusion that Oswald was the lone gunman. Both he and his dad were certain it was a conspiracy. After dinner, Joe retired to the basement to practice guitar and keep his mind off Mary, at least until he could call her tomorrow.

CHAPTER 12

J
oe sat chain-smoking in the student union trying to decide the best time to call Mary. He had forgotten her class schedule and wasn’t sure if she would be in her room or not but he got a pocket full of change and headed to the pay phone.

He was surprised that after two rings the phone was answered…by her roommate. “Hi, is Mary there?” he asked excitedly.

The answer was curt and to the point. “No, she is at class. I can leave her a message to call you if you want.” Joe thanked her and left his home number and she hung up immediately. No small talk at all. Joe forgot he had to work that evening and wished he would have left the store number. If she called, he wouldn’t know until he got home late that evening.

When Joe took his break that night, he called home to see if she had tried to reach him. His mom said no one had called and, in fact, the phone hadn’t rung all day. Perhaps she would call him at work, he thought and went back to finish up filling in holes in the veggie aisle before punching out for the night. No call ever came in to the store from Mary so Joe decided to call her from a pay phone before heading home.

He knew it was late but he simply had to reach her and find out what was going on over the weekend. Joe deposited the coins and dialed her room. The phone rang and rang but no one answered. It was as though she knew it was him and wanted no part of him anymore.

Joe jumped into his car, tears streaming down his cheeks, and drove past her house, a route he could follow in his sleep. He knew she wasn’t there but wanted to be close to her in some way…any way. As he drove, the Beach Boys song came on…”
Well it’s been building up inside of me for oh I don’t know how long. I don’t know why but I keep thinking something’s bound to go wrong.”
His heart had been ripped from his chest and he had never felt more alone. He turned into Hines Park and just drove in the darkness. What had he done wrong he kept asking himself and the answer was always….nothing.

Joe tried calling Mary every day for the next week and either got no answer or her roommate who played dumb, obviously in on the deception. He stopped eating and wanted just to be alone. He drove to school but skipped all his classes and just killed time until he had to go to work. His mom tried to comfort him the Italian way, saying she knew Mary wasn’t good enough for her boy and cursing her parents for driving a wedge between them.

As the weeks passed into summer Joe was still a zombie and would sit and listen to songs that reminded him of Mary…and cry like a baby. He returned to the night crew…full time, and totally blew off any college classes, which put him squarely on the list to be drafted.

Like a trained puppy, he continued to cruise her house hoping she was home for the summer and he would catch up with her by chance. He also called her house hoping she would answer but only heard one of her parents on the other end. If she did come home for the summer she was doing a damn good job of avoiding him. Nevertheless, every time he punched out and walked to his car he hoped she would be standing there waiting for him like she had always done.

—

Working the night crew kept Joe in rock hard shape but he was no longer the guy who made everyone laugh. He had developed a huge chip on his shoulder and was eager to have someone try to knock it off. The night crew leader, a tall lanky prick, took exception to Joe’s attitude and was the leading candidate to feel Joe’s pent up hatred.

At around 2 AM Joe was working the soap aisle which always made him sneeze. He was dead tired also and sat down on a case of bleach and had a smoke. FM radio was starting to emerge as the source for the latest hard rock albums and one of the crew would play a radio over the store PA all night long. Joe never heard the crew leader walk up behind him and when he yelled for him to get back to work Joe almost jumped out of his shoes. Out of instinct Joe threw a punch and dropped the guy to the floor. When he got up, his nose was bloodied and he started screaming he would turn Joe in when the store manager came in. He was also scared shitless and he avoided Joe the rest of the shift. With no truck to unload, Joe was standing at the time clock at 7 AM and punched out, leaving the store without a word to anyone. He was done as far as he was concerned.