MAKING PROGRESS... of sorts (Part 172l)

MAKING PROGRESS… of sorts (Part 172l)

There were two problems for me to overcome… finding a coat and tie… as they were required... but managed to find at least a jacket in the coat room of the library. The venue was the new (to me) athletic center and it was a 150% improvement over what we had while there. The featured classes for reunion had their tables clearly marked so I went looking for “Nels”. Not seeing him I asked a couple of his fraternity brothers where he was. They pointed to the head table and saw him among the various dignitaries who were to be honored. I found out he was on the planning committee for the weekend so he had to be there. That was a blow to my plan and left me trying to find a place to sit and to eat. I ended up next to one of the guys who was in my freshman dorm. Even though we’d never been all that friendly we did resurrect some fond memories of our time in that dorm, not the least of which was when he almost got caught with a girl in his room. There was one main stairway and a fire stairs. When the word was out that the campus cops were in the building the guy hustled the girl into the fire stairwell and headed down the main stairs to cut the ‘cops’ off. The problem with that was she was only partially dressed. No one ever got the whole story and, here it was ten years later and I was finally getting it. I’m sure it was embellished but, in any case, he told me the the girl made her way to the first floor where there was a door to the outside. She had no idea that after opening it and going outside she couldn’t get back in as the door locked when it closed. I remember it was in the Fall of the year and was a sunny day (Elle and I were ‘occupied’  at the same time but we were in the shadows of the library) so it wasn’t like she was freezing to death. In a panic, she climbed in behind the shrubbery that circled the building. He told me he was still inside trying to appease one of the ‘cops’ when the other one walked in the front door with the girl. He said he could hear cheering from out in the quadrangle as the cop told him to find clothes for her. As a result of the incident he said he was put on social probation for the rest of freshman year. Hearing him tell it I wanted to ask just what she actually was wearing but didn’t know him well enough to do it.

The formal part of the affair was over before 10pm. Each featured alumni class had a tent out on the grassy area in front of the student union building where the class parties would continue. I was able to get to “Nels” before he got caught up with the confusion of adjournment to confirm he’d be out there. I must’ve waited almost a half hour before he showed up. I was beginning to worry about getting back to the hotel when he walked up with a mousy looking woman he introduced as his wife. Not trying to be critical but she actually looked like the two of them belonged to each other. He apologized for taking so long explaining that his wife wasn’t feeling well and he had to wait for her. He also went on that he really couldn’t spend any time right then and there and asked if I was coming back for the prayer breakfast in the morning. When I said I’d be on my way home he pulled out a business card. Why I hadn’t thought of it earlier I don’t know. I took a peek at it in the dim light and saw a Texas address and asked him if that’s where he lived. He laughed and told me he lived near Chicago. As we headed for the parking lot I asked if he ever got to the East coast and he said at least two times a year. In a last ditch attempt I asked if we might get together the next time he headed that way. He nodded affirmatively and that was it. I was truly disappointed… and out $30 for a ‘rubber chicken’ dinner that I hadn’t wanted to attend. As I went looking for my fraternity brother, “Oddo”, for what I hoped would be a ride back to the hotel I did think back with a smile on hearing the story of the girl in the dormitory though.

Thankfully, when I connected with “Oddo” his wife was sober. I’d met her earlier so I wasn’t a complete stranger to her and they (she) agreed to drop me off. “Oddo” was one of the guys I’d wanted to talk with but hadn’t had a chance to find out how he ended up being a high school science teacher. He was in no shape to carry on a conversation so his wife got me caught up in just a few minutes. After graduation he’d joined the Marines because he had no idea what he wanted to do. He met her just before his tour was up and they got married right after that. She was a teacher and somehow persuaded him to get the courses necessary to be able to teach and he did. They ended up settling in his hometown and were still there. It was a short but sweet story and was over by the time we arrived back at the hotel.

Whatever the guys did after the wine party had pretty much wound down by the time I made it inside. “Panda” was passed out in an overstuffed chair and "Wick" was trying to talk with “Farley” and “Gip” and they looked looked like they were fighting sleep. “Farley” was an interesting character. His claim to fame was that he didn’t participate an any activities while attending college other than to join the fraternity. I confirmed that fact while putting my notes together for this part by getting out the yearbook and, sure enough, the only thing under his name was the high school he’d graduated from and the name of our fraternity. Since “Wick” and I hadn’t participated in the wine ‘orgy’ during the afternoon we were in pretty good shape so we sat there, keeping them awake, for a while. We were about to go upstairs to face the torture of our beds when “Panda” sprang to life. He was hungry and claimed he hadn’t had anything to eat since we’d all eaten breakfast. The next thing I knew the five of us were headed South hoping the diner we’d eaten at in the morning was still open.

When we arrived it still was but before we went in we told “Panda” that if he harassed any of the waitresses we were going to leave him there. That hour before the diner closed proved to be a lot of fun as we poked fun at each other and some of the other 'brothers'. The owner of the place, a woman about 40 or so, came over to talk with us just before she kicked us out. She asked where we were staying and when we told her about the old hotel she made a comment about how sad it was to see it now. She went on that she’d worked there for about fifteen years before getting the opportunity to take over the diner. Hearing that I couldn’t help but wonder if she’d been there when “Panda” pulled his stunt. I wasn’t about to bring it up but “Farley” did. I couldn’t believe my ears when I heard him tell her that we’d once been thrown out of the place. I can vividly remember her talking a step or two back and putting her hands on her hips and saying “You’re all shitting me! I know you are!” And that’s when “Panda” stood up, (the best as he could) and took a bow. It was something only he could do. There was silence for a few seconds before the woman, now deadly serious, told us to get out of her diner, immediately. She didn’t have anything in her hands to threaten us but I swear you could see fire in her eyes as she kept yelling “GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!”. We did, as fast as we could, and were outside when “Wick” told us we hadn’t paid and that he’d go pay the bill. We could hear her scream one more time… “GET OUT!” and then headed North, back to the hotel.

To be continued…