This was it. His last day of total freedom - August 4, 1976. It had been two months since he graduated from high school, six months since he had signed up to join the Army on the delayed entry program. The next day, he would use a voucher to ride a bus from St. Petersburg, FL to Jacksonville, FL for a brief physical exam (he had taken a full military physical back in February when he had enlisted) and to be sworn in. Then it was on to Fort Jackson, SC to begin basic training.
He had mixed feelings about his enlistment. All of the men in his family had served, though none with any particular distinction or elevated rank, and it was expected that he would too. His father had spent several years in the Army and had liked it immensely. He was well suited for it and was like a cross between the Robert Duvall movie characters ‘The Great Santini’ and ‘Colonel Kilgore’ in Apocalypse Now. In 1968, when Johnson announced increased troop levels to be sent to Vietnam in 1965, his father tried to re-enlist but was turned down. His father’s reason for trying to re-enlist was that “a guy can move up in rank pretty quickly in combat”. His reason for enlisting was to get away from his father and try to make something of himself, which was something he had a hard time imagining happening in St. Pete.
He was up early that day. He hadn’t really made any specific plans, but he was going to get together with friends and make a day out of it. As he walked to his car, he noted the clear blue sky and the vivid colors of the trees and flowers of the neighborhood. It was going to be a hot one. It was always a hot one it seemed.
First stop was the IHOP for breakfast. There he met two of his closest friends, Pete and Hairball. Hairball, whose real name was Dennis, got his nickname in eighth grade when he was diagnosed with a condition called trichophagia, which is the compulsive eating of one’s hair. He hid it pretty well until one day in class when he started holding his stomach and burping loudly. We all perked up, anticipating his hurling all over the classroom, which always provided immense entertainment and a nice little break in the scholarly day. That day though they got a bonus. After several minutes of grasping his midriff, whining, and burping, the heaves started. It wasn’t long before, with one big gasp, he hurled up a bunch of bile and a large, furry pellet. Most of the class were appalled, but he and his friends were fascinated at the scene and between laughing and congratulating him, bent down to closely examine the hairy torpedo. Hairball wasn’t finished though and now he was really crying and heaving. That’s when the ambulance came and took him to the hospital. got an operation to extract several more furballs from his gut and he eventually recovered and came back to school. Hairball never said anything about the treatment for the actual condition, but there were rumors that he had to go to therapy. Anyway, that’s he got his nickname. There was tension around the table, as they all knew it was his last day in town and the prospect of them going their separate ways in life was a daunting one. When the waitress delivered the plates of assorted eggs, meat, and pancakes to the table they all agreed that they would not let any gloom and doom keep them from enjoying the day to its fullest extent!
They decided that after breakfast a trip to the beach was in order. The notion of sun, sand, and surf was an enticing one, made all the more powerful with the addition of young ladies parading around in the smallest of bikinis. It was difficult to imagine, or find, as much fun for free. The day was spent, as usual, cruising up and down the beach, in this case cruising meant walking, with intermittent stops of various lengths to swim, sun, play frisbee, and watch women. It was an unexceptional day except that Hairball actually got a woman’s phone number (!), and Pete surprised some sleeping stingrays, but luckily came away unscathed. Lunch had been fried grouper sandwiches and beer. He didn’t get a lot of chances between between fullfilling his responsibilities at school, work, and home, to spend his days this way, but when he could, there was no place else he’d rather be, except maybe out fishing or crabbing. They decided to break around four and return to their respective homes for dinner and a shower, and agreed to meet that night at seven thirty at a little beer and wine joint they frequented.
After a few beers, they headed back out to the beach to cruise up and down the main road that ran the length of the city’s Gulf coast. It was a warm, balmy night and as they expected, carfulls of young people cruised up and down, occasionally stopping for drinks or food or a walk on the beach. They saw a lot of friends from school, engaged in a little faux drag racing end ended up at the Beachcomber to have a beer. He left Hairball and Pete at the pool table and went to the bar for another pitcher. As he passed a table with three girls he heard a familiar voice “Billy Simms are you just gonna walk right by me without saying hi?” He turned, recognizing the voice, to find a girl that he hardly recognized sitting before him. Lainie Pritchard looked different than the last time he’d seen her two years ago. Her chestnut hair was long and straight and her face was slimmer. She had filled out in the hips and breasts and she sported a deep bronze tan. She was sitting with two girls from his high school, Linda Fiorello and Dawn Murphy. Hairball had had a thing for Dawn for years but had never been able to approach her. He was totally awestruck whenever he was around her.
“Well hello Lainie” he said “You’re looking good these days. Haven’t seen you in a while. What are you ladies up to tonight?”
“We’re just out trying to have some fun, are you here alone?” she asked
“No, I’m here with Pete and Hairball, they’re over at the pool table.”
“Well hell, call them over and sit down, we could use some company.” she ordered
They all settled in and caught up with each other, exchanging stories about their final days at school and their summers since graduation. Pete informed them of his impending enlistment which garnered him admiring glances from all three girls. He chatted with Lainie and Pete chatted with Linda and Dawn, while Hairball sat in silence, clearly pining for Dawn.
“Hey” said Pete “why don’t we go to the Garden and see a flick! There’s a new flick called ‘Young Frankenstein’ out. It’s a remake/parody of ‘Frankenstein’ by Mel Brooks. C’mon, Billy and Lainie can go in and the four of us will hide in the back of the van.”
Sneaking friends into the Garden drive in had been a teen tradition forever and seemed like a fun thing to do on his last night. Besides, he had been wanting to see this flick.
Into the van they all piled, the four delinquents pulling a series of tarps and paint cloths over themselves in the back in order to camouflage themselves as work detritus. They had stopped on the way and stocked up on beer, soda and snacks and settled in to enjoy the show. Halfway through the film Hairball opened the back doors of the van and exited.
“Hey Hairball, where are you going?” yelled Pete
Several car horns went off around them accompanied by shouts to shut up and stop interrupting the movies.
“Billy, Hairball just took off man!”
By now he was sitting with his arm comfortably around Lainie shoulders with her head snuggling the crook of his neck. This display of affection, coupled with his impending military service presented the distinct possibility that adventures of the carnal variety might be on the table this evening. He wasn’t really that interested in Hairball’s comings and goings.
“Hey Billy man, really, I think something’s wrong with him. You don’t think he’s gonna start hurling up furballs again, do you?”
He and Lainie looked at each other, silently acknowledging to each other that he was going to have to check this out. Dammit!
“Allright man, where did he go?”
“I don’t know, he went out the back and walked away…”
He got out of the van and walked to the back of the vehicle, scanning the roadways perpendicular to the cars parked facing the giant movie screen. No sign of him. He didn’t want to start yelling for him knowing that it would elicit another chorus of horns and yelling, so he started walking from the back of the van toward the snack bar. Maybe Hairball just wanted some popcorn, or some fine drive in pizza.
He found Hairball sitting with his back against the side wall of the concession stand. He sat with his knees up and his head hung. The eaves of the little concrete building were lined with fluorescent lights that had a multitude of insects buzzing around them.
“Hey Hairball” he said, sitting down next to his friend “what’s up man?”
Hairball raised his head and looked him. His eyes were red rimmed as if he had been crying and his face was mottled with red. It looked like he may have had a little too much beer.
“Are you okay man? Are you sick or something?” he asked
“Nah...I’m okay I guess” Hairball replied
“Well what’s going on man, why’d you leave the van?”
“It’s nothing man, it’s just me being stupid.”
“C’mon Hairball, you’re not stupid. Talk to me.”
“Well, it’s a few things man. You’re gonna leave tomorrow and I don’t know if I’m ever gonna see you again. You’re one of my BEST friends man! I’m not trying to be a pussy or anything, but jesus, this is serious, you know?”
“Awww c’mon man, you’ll see me again! I’m just going to basic. It’s only about three months, then I get a month long furlough before I go on to my advanced training. I’ll be back. You’ll be here won’t you?”
“Oh yeah man, I’ll be here for sure. I mean, where the fuck would I go?”
“Don’t talk like that man. You’re one of the smartest guys I know. You could go to school or something, you’ll figure out. Hell man, you’re only eighteen!”
“Yeah I know. Hey Billy, do you think Dawn would go out with me?”
“Hell, I don’t know Hairball! She may or she may not. One thing’s for sure though. She won’t if you never ask her. I’ve been watching you sit around staring at her for eight years now! So if you want to take her out then ask her!”
“Yeah you’re right, but I feel like I can’t breathe around her man. I mean, she’s beautiful! I look at her and I want to melt, but when I try to talk to her, I just can’t. I swear man, there’s something fucking wrong with me.”
“Hey hairball, the only thing’s wrong with you is that you’ve always been smitten with Dawn. Ask her already, okay? Promise me?”
“Allright man, I’ll talk to her.”
“Now, is there anything else we need to clear up or can we get back to the show?” he asked
“Yeah, I’m okay, let’s go.”
They made it back to the van and he settled into his seat and soon his arm was around Lainie and her head was returned to the crook of his neck.
“Is he okay?” she asked
“Yeah, he’s fine. He’s always been a bit sensitive. He’s upset that I’m leaving and Dawn’s driving him crazy. He’s been in love with her since fifth grade but can’t bring himself to ask her out. He’ll figure it out.”
“Well, he’s lucky to have a good friend like you.” she said
“Don’t ever tell them I said so, but him and Pete are like brothers to me. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to either one of them.”
After the movie they all headed out to the beach to watch the waves, finish off the beer, and horse around. This was a time honored Florida ritual that usually ended up with an early morning breakfast at the Pelican diner. This night was no exception. By the time they finished breakfast and left the Pelican, the girls started to say their goodbyes.
“Hey Linda and Dawn,” he said “Could you guys give Hairball and Pete a ride home for me? I want to go back to the beach.”
The girls glanced at each other, came to a wordless agreement and nodded.
“Thanks a lot, I appreciate it. Well, gentlemen, I guess I’ll see you boys in a few months.” he said as he hugged his mates. “Ladies, maybe when I get home on leave we can do this again.”
As he walked to the van, he felt a hand on his arm and turned to find Lainie standing next to him.
“I’m not really sleepy, do you want some company?” she asked
“Sure” he replied
They sat on the beach and watched the waves, talking over the sound of the surf in the background.
“You know, I’ve always like you Lainie.” he said
“I thought you might, but you never called me.”
“Yeah I know. I guess I just got so tied up with school and work and everything. Plus you went to that Catholic school and I wasn’t sure what that was all about. I always figured you had a boyfriend or something.”
“Well I didn’t. It’s too bad that we finally get a chance to spend some time together and you have to leave tomorrow.” she said
“Yeah. But you know, I’ll have leave in a couple of months and there will be other time off. I’ll be back to see my folks and everything. Besides, I don’t even know where I’ll be stationed. It could be within a few hours’ drive of here, you know?”
“That would be nice.” she said “I’d really like to see you.”
“Just make sure I’ve got your address and phone number and I’ll contact you when I’ve got my information. We can stay in touch.”
After a short time spent contemplating the ocean and the night he asked her “Hey, you wanna do some pool hopping?”
“Let’s go!” she said
Pool hopping was a favorite late night activity for the local youth. The Gulf coast was lined with motels, hotels, and resorts of varying sizes. They all had pools. The object of pool hopping was to move from one pool to the next, swimming quietly and trying not to be detected by the management. If you were detected, then the object became to run away before the police came to arrest you for trespassing. Truthfully, most establishments wouldn’t really call the police after ejecting you and even if they did, the local police dealt with this sort of thing all the time and weren’t likely to arrest you unless drugs or alcohol were involved.
They hopped five pools in succession, spending about twenty minutes in each and ending up at a large hotel. They had avoided detection at all of them. As they lounged in the poolside chairs drip drying it began to be daylight.
“Hey Lainie, follow me.” he said
The hotel was a twenty story building with each room on each floor opening out on a walkway that faced the Gulf. He knew, from previous excursions, that on each floor, there were intermittent alcoves with tables and chairs, available for the guests to socialize and view the water. He led her to one of these alcoves and they sat.
“Now we have to be real quiet here, cause you know, people are sleeping in these rooms.” he said
“Why are we up here?” she asked
“Just wait.” he said
After a few minutes, the sun began to rise to the East, behind them on the other side of the building. When it was ‘high’ enough, pinkish-golden light shone off of the surface of the water as far as the eye could see. It was really something.
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