You're in the
Army Now
Part Two – "Well, Soldier, Yer In Luck"
by Don Drewniak
I took leave
beginning three days later. Two flights brought
me to Worcester’s small airport where
Dolores was waiting for me. Much of Thursday was
spent preparing for the drive to Hephzibah. With
our Mustang stuffed with her clothing and other
necessities, Dolores, Phaedra and I headed to
Hephzibah just before noon the next day. We
entered North Carolina early in the evening. No
more than the length of a football field to our
right was a large billboard that read, “Ku
Klux Clan Territory.” There was a painting
of a white-clad clansman on a white horse.
Dolores was
stunned. “Is it like this in Augusta?”
“No,
there is still bigotry, but I have never seen
anything like this.”
We were pulled over by a town cop some eighty
miles down the road. Dusk was approaching and I
unfortunately had previously turned on my lights.
The $%#@&*% informed us that a rear taillight
was out. I expected to get a ticket. Instead, he
told us that we couldn’t continue driving
until the light was fixed. That was pure bullshit.
With our Massachusetts plates, he knew we were
easy prey.
“I’ll
stop at the next service station.”
“Then
that will be a hundred dollar fine. Cash.”
That is the equivalent of $850 today.
“I am U.S.
Army going back to Fort Gordon. I don’t have
a hundred dollars.”
“Well,
soldier, yer in luck. My brother-in-law has a
repair shop four miles down the road. Cost ya ten
bucks. ($85 today.)
Having no
choice, I said, “Okay.”
“Follow
me.”
We were on our
way again a little over an hour later. The rest
of the trip was uneventful. Arrival at the
trailer was sometime around two in the morning.
After unloading the Mustang, we crashed and slept
until noon.
The air
conditioner: Phaedra spent the bulk of the summer
sleeping on top of it.
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