The Hollow Men - Episode 28
Drew completes his first semester at UT, and with Sam riding shotgun, goes home for Christmas.
Last week in Episode 27 Drew goes back to college, observes Black Friday (October 14, 1983) from a distance and gets a new four legged friend.
An Odessa Christmas
Sam and I stayed in Austin for Thanksgiving despite my Mom's insistence on me coming back to Odessa. My excuse was that with twenty-four hours of classes I really needed the long weekend to get caught up. She reluctantly accepted this, but only after insisting that I come to Odessa for Christmas. The week before Thanksgiving I drove down to the New Braunfels SmokeHouse and bought a smoked turkey breast and some turkey treats for Sam. On Thanksgiving day I baked some cornbread and a frozen pumpkin pie. Add to that some macaroni and cheese, green beans, and Sam and I had a wonderful, quiet Thanksgiving meal.
By the second week of December the semester was over. I completed 24 hours with a 3.75 GPA. I now had a total of 84 hours.
As soon as my last test was complete I drove home and walked over to the Belton’s house to get Diana. She walked back to my house and I showed her where I kept the dog food and how I had set up the garage for Sam to sleep in. I had put a nice dog bed in the garage, along with Sam's blanket and some toys for her. I then handed the keys over to Diana, gave Sam a good hug and left for the airport. I had a graduation in Lubbock to attend, Elizabeth was graduating with her Bachelor's in Education. It was a fast paced few days. My parents, Bud's parents and I stayed at a hotel a few blocks away from the campus. Saturday we all attended the graduation and Dad took all of us out to a nice steak restaurant that night. Sunday afternoon I caught a flight back to Austin and by Sunday evening I was back in my house. Sam was glad to see me and was ready for some quiet time. Talking with Diana on Monday I learned that Billy and Sam had played hard while I was gone.
Four days before Christmas Sam and I drove to Odessa. Sam turned out to be an excellent driving dog. She took position in the passenger seat and kept an eye on the road. After an hour or so of driving she grew tired of the road, curled up and fell asleep. We made a few stops along the way, mostly so she could drink some water, have a bite to eat and relieve herself. As we drove west the temperature dropped steadily. When we left Austin the temperature was in the mid 20's. By the time we reached Odessa the temperature was below twenty.
Due to our frequent stops, it took us about eight hours to make the drive to Odessa. Elizabeth, Bud, George and Mary were already at my parent's house. The twins were 13 months old and moved quicker than I would have guessed. They delighted at the site of Sam and at first she was enamored by them. She somehow sensed these little humans lived by different rules. She would let a big human know that she had enough by raising the fur on her back and letting out a low growl but she sensed that wasn't appropriate with the little humans. Once I watched her stoically tolerate George pulling on her tail. Another time she let Mary pull on her snout and lips. Both times she stood quietly, not moving a muscle but the look on her eyes were pitiful. I would walk over and tickle George and Mary, and they would turn their attention to me. Sam, grateful at being freed would wag her tail at me, trot into my old room and hop on the bed far out of the reach of the twins. She would come back out after an hour or two of rest.
It was clear Mom enjoyed having a dog in the house again. She made sure Sam ate as good as the humans. Dad also enjoyed Sam's company too and ended up doing something about it. Christmas Eve Dad got home around 5:30 pm and called me out in the garage. I walked into the garage, Sam followed me. She stopped at the door to the garage and sniffed the air, noticing something different.
“Close the door, Drew.”
I did and Sam trotted into the garage as I closed the door. Dad was standing near a cardboard box on the garage floor. Next to the box he had a space heater plugged in and where he was standing the heating coils took away the biting cold of the garage. I walked over, looked into the box and saw lying on a folded blanket a small puppy, barely weaned, sleeping.
“Do you think she'll like him?”
By this point Sam had walked over and looked into the box. Her stump tail swished hard and fast.
“I think she does. Where did you get him?”
“Not Sam, your Mom, do you think she will like him?”
“Oh, yeah, of course she will.”
“This will be her dog. After I saw how she cottoned to Sam I figured she wouldn't mind having her own. He's a mixed spaniel, part cocker, not sure what the other part is. A guy at work mentioned he had some pups last week but I didn't think about it until Sam showed up. I called him and he had one last pup, this feller. I really didn't work today. I built this sleeping box for him.” He pointed to a box on his workbench. The box was made of wood and was about twenty-four inches wide by twenty inches deep with a two inch lip.
“That ought to big enough for a few months at least. This morning I picked him up and took him to a vet. Clean bill of health, about seven weeks old. I'm keeping him in the garage tonight in the cardboard box just so no one will hear him and he doesn't get into anything he shouldn't. I want to surprise your Mom in the morning. After tonight he can sleep in the washroom until he's fully house broken and then we'll see where things go from there.”
My Dad stared down at the pup with a look of something so warm and gentle it was hard to recognize him.
“There's something about a pup's smell, you ever notice it? It just smells alive, innocent, like all of the good in the world.”
This was strange words coming from my Dad but I didn't say that, I just nodded my head and watched the pup sleep.
“You're going to keep an eye on him tonight?”
“Yeah, a bit. He should sleep the night away. I fed him before I got home, played with him some at the office, wore him out so he would sleep.”
“Sam and I will check on him during the night. She still sometimes wakes me up in the middle of the night to go outside.”
“Smart dog, did you teach her that?”
“Not really, she pretty much figured it out on her own.” I looked down at Sam and said “Smile for me, Sam.”
Sam smiled at me and my Dad. He laughed out loud at the sight of her smiling. The pup started a little, moaned once but didn't wake up.
“Oh hell, you caught me by surprise with that one. Never seen a dog smile on command. That's a good one.”
Dad put his hand on my shoulder and we walked back into the house.
Around 2:00 am Sam woke me up. We went outside, she took care of business and we checked on the pup in the garage. The little feller was still sound asleep. He must have been dreaming as his paws were twitching.
Christmas morning came early for my Dad, Sam and me. The rest of the house was dead asleep when my Dad leaned into my room at 5:30 am.
“Drew, you awake?”
“Am now.”
Sam had woken up too. I put on jeans, a sweatshirt, boots and washed the sleep out of my eyes while Dad and Sam fixed the first pot of coffee.
“Damn, it's cold.” I said as I shivered.
“It might make it to the low teens today. Overnight it was in single digits. The heater ran damn near all night long.”
Dad took a first sip of coffee and put on his jacket. I put on my jacket too. The three of us walked into the garage and found a little pup starting to wake up. He yawned, stretched and looked around. He saw my Dad and me, but his total focus was on Sam, who was standing on her hind legs, her front paws draped over the edge of the box so she could look at the pup. His tale started swishing back and forth, he was ready to play. Dad lifted him out of the box and we followed him out into the backyard. Business came first, and the little feller took care of his business in one part of the yard while Sam did the same in another part of the yard. Sam then trotted over to the pup and right away started teaching and playing.
It was very clear that Sam was intent on establishing herself as the master dog but she did so in a loving manner. She ran and darted at the pup, playfully nipping at him and pushing him around. It took a few minutes before the pup emboldened himself but before long the two of them were in full play mode, each one in the international play pose, then running at the other, growling and grunting, moving in quickly, taking playful nips. The pup soon started charging Sam with all of his strength, which wasn't enough to do anything but he was determined to knock her down. This went on for about 20 minutes until the pup's energy reserves were fully depleted. He lay on the ground panting and playfully growling at Sam, who sat a couple of feet away on her haunches staring back at the pup.
Dad picked the pup up and carried him back in the garage. The corner where he had set up the pup's box was nice and toasty. I poured some pup food into a small bowl by the pup's box. Once the pup was back on the ground he ran towards the food and quickly stuffed himself. Sam watched knowing that her food was in the house. After letting him eat and drink his fill, my Dad took the pup back outside. The pup walked around, sniffed the ground and took care of his business. My Dad praised him, the little tail nearly fell off from wagging and my Dad carried the pup back into the garage. He laid the pup in his box, talked to him gently for a couple of minutes while petting him. The pup yawned, stretched, laid down and fell fast asleep. Dad and I went back in the house, Sam stayed in the garage to keep an eye and ear on the pup.
Around 7:00 people started stirring. Bud wandered in first, poured himself a cup of coffee and wished us all a merry Christmas. Elizabeth came out a few minutes later, mumbled hello and took her coffee back into the bedroom where the twins were still asleep. Mom woke up around 7:30 and started fixing breakfast. My guess was that the twins really didn't understand the concept of Christmas yet and this would be the last time that Bud and Elizabeth would be able to sleep this late on Christmas morning.
Soon the smell of fresh baked cinnamon rolls filled the kitchen and living room. Mom had decided to make it easy on herself by baking two containers (8 rolls each) of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. A second pot of coffee was brewing when two sleepy twins came stumbling into the kitchen, wearing full length wool pajamas with footies, wiping the sleep from their eyes. Both Mary and George were excited to see all of the presents under the tree and at first were determined to go straight to work on unwrapping them all but the prospect of eating cinnamon rolls slowed them down a bit. Fifteen minutes later and after a thorough washing of faces and hands we were ready to go to the living room for the grand unveiling.
Elizabeth sat nearest to the tree and was about to distribute the presents when Dad stopped her.
“First, I have a little something for my wife.” He walked into the kitchen and into the garage. Sam followed him. Bud, Elizabeth and Mom all stared at each other and at me, confused about what was going on. Sam came trotting in the living room with her little friend excitedly running after her.
My Mom looked at the little pup for a moment and then at Dad. She smiled broadly and called to Sam. Sam, ever being the lady, walked over to my Mom and the little pup followed her. Mom gave Sam a pet then leaned over and picked up the pup. The little feller fit nicely in her lap and was wagging his tail and licking Mom all over.
“Now, who is this? Do you even have a name, little one?”
“Not yet, he's your pup so you get to name him.”
Mom looked at Dad and smiled one of her sweet smiles.
“What shall we call you, little one?”
The pup squirmed in delight and his little sharp puppy teeth nipped my Mom's hand. She shook her hand free and looked down warningly and warmly at the pup.
“Oh, those puppy teeth, they're like little knives, you little brute.” She shook her finger at the pup playfully scolding him. Then she smiled and said “That's the name, my little Brutus.”
Brutus might have been my Mom's puppy but Sam had taken all responsibility for lining him out. Early on that Christmas day she made it clear to Brutus that there were certain things a dog could do with the little humans but somethings were not tolerated. At one point Brutus was getting worn out but the twins wanted to keep playing with him. I could tell that Brutus was just about to nip someone but before I could do anything Sam trotted over to Brutus, got between him and the twins and started nudging him away. The twins kept trying to get to Brutus but Sam was fast and big enough to stay between them and Brutus. It wasn't much later that day when I saw her do something else that surprised me. Brutus started sniffing around in the living room, as a pup does right before relieving himself. Sam had been resting but immediately jumped up and nudged him towards the door. I opened the door and Sam nudged Brutus out into the yard and he made it to the grass. I don't think anyone else noticed what had happened but I paid attention for the rest of the day. Several other times that day Brutus would start hinting that he needed to relieve himself, Sam would nudge him towards the door, I would open the door and Brutus and Sam would go out.
The rest of the morning and the day went wonderfully. The twins fully enjoyed their first real Christmas as did Sam and Brutus. By 3:00 pm all four of them had fallen asleep on the living room carpet, amongst the torn wrapping and all their presents.
I watched two sets of parents that Christmas. My Mom and Dad who both had fallen over heads and heels for the twins and Elizabeth and Bud, who, despite being barely 21, had learned a lot in the last year and from what I could see had matured well beyond their years. I did not fear for the next generation.
Christmas evening Dad and I set up the washroom for Brutus. His water and food bowl were against one wall and against the other wall was his sleeping box with his blanket neatly folded in it. Sam and Brutus went outside one more time that night.
Around 8:00 pm Brutus trotted to the back door and stood there. I was on the carpet playing with George when Sam nudged me. I looked at her, she looked at the door and Brutus. It took me a second but I figured out what was going on, stood up, walked over to the door and opened it. Brutus and Sam went out, took care of business and came back in. Brutus yawned, stretched and walked to the washroom, messed around with his blanket, then lay down and fell fast asleep for the night. He was done with Christmas.
The next day was Monday and Dad planned to work part time during the week. The oil fields didn't shut down during the week between Christmas and New Years but things did slow down a bit. Mom had taken the week off in order to spend more time with the twins and now Brutus.
Monday morning Dad woke Sam and I again at 5:30. He had his cup of coffee and checked on Brutus. He was still fast asleep, but woke when Sam nudged him. The four of us walked into the living room, out the back door and out into the yard. It was still damn cold that morning and I shivered while watching Sam and Brutus.
“Supposed to warm up today, maybe as high as the 50's.”
“That's crazy, people will get sick with that kind of temperature change.”
“Some will, some will.”
It was still dark, but there was a hint of a glow to the east.
“Did you see what Sam was doing yesterday?”
“You mean housebreaking Brutus?”
My Dad nodded his head and took a sip of coffee before he spoke again.
“Yeah. Damnedest thing I've ever seen. First she smiles on command and now she's housebreaking the pup. That's a damn smart dog you got.”
“She is, she is. Didn't realize it when I got her, but right away she started showing her smarts. Did you notice how she knows she can't treat kids the same way as adults? I didn't teach her that, she just knows it.”
“And she was teaching Brutus that yesterday as well. Give her a couple of days and she will have that pup lined out.”
I laughed at that, but he was right. In a couple of days Sam would have Brutus lined out.
Dad went to work, Brutus, Sam and I went back in. No one else stirred until I made a fresh pot of coffee around 7:30. Mom was first up and was excited to see her pup. Brutus somehow knew that he was hers and he took a very quick liking to her. Mom fixed a good breakfast that morning, bacon, hashed browns, scrambled eggs and biscuits. We all ate good and Brutus had his first taste of scrambled eggs.
“Makes their coat shiny, you know” my Mom said as she put two plates of scrambled eggs on the kitchen floor.
I did know. That wasn't the first time Sam had scrambled eggs.
Before Sam and I left Austin I called Mr. and Mrs. Anders. I told them I was would be in town for the holidays, asked how Rick was doing and if I could drop by and see him after Christmas. They of course said yes and said they looked forward to seeing me. Around 10:00 AM, I cleaned up for my visit with the Anders. I put on a pair of jeans, a long sleeve T-shirt, comfortable shoes, a sweater and a light jacket. I told Sam that I would be away for a few hours, but that when I got back we would go for a long walk. The day was sunny and had warmed up to the mid 40’s. It was near perfect walking weather, sunny, brisk with a light breeze. I walked down the block to 1715 E. 11th and in a few minutes knocked on the door. Mr. Anders opened the door, shook my hand and welcomed me in. Mrs. Anders came out of the kitchen and gave me a good hug.
“Drew, there’s some coffee cake and iced tea ready for you in the kitchen.”
I had expected this. Mrs. Anders often showed her love through her cooking and she definitely knew how to bake. I sat down at the kitchen table and ate coffee cake while the Anders sipped their coffee and caught me up on things.
“Rick is doing fine. He spends most of his time in his room. He does chant from time to time.”
I asked if the chant had changed. The answer was no, he was still chanting “dogmy.” Rick was more active than he had been, walking around in the backyard, doing push-ups in his room, but he was still in his own world.
As I finished my third slice of coffee cake Mr. Anders suggested that Rick and I go out in the backyard as the day was so bright. That’s what we did. Rick seemed to enjoy the sun as we walked around the yard again and again. I caught him up on what was going on in Austin at school and with Mark and Jack. As I talked Rick appeared to be listening, nodding his head at appropriate times and glancing at me from time to time. I ran out of things to say but we kept walking along the fence. I was enjoying the warmth of the sun on my face when Rick mumbled “What’s next?” I stopped and watched him as he kept walking along the fence. He made the full circuit, walked up to me and said “with you?” He walked another time around and this time I fell back in step with him. As we walked I tried to answer his question though I didn’t fully understand it and didn’t know the answer. I had been wondering the same thing myself. I expected to finish my bachelor’s degree in the fall, but hadn’t thought much beyond that. We walked around the yard I don’t how many times but I never felt I answered his question when he stopped, looked at me and said “There’s more you can do. I’m hungry. Dogmy.”
We walked back in the house and saw that Mrs. Anders had prepared lunch for us: chopped steak, green beans, mashed potatoes, cherry pie and a small pan of biscuits. I stared at the meal, the same meal I ate so many times with Uncle Bill at Picadilly’s.
Mr. Anders explained the mystery to me. “I had lunch with your uncle last week at Picadilly’s. He told me that you always ate the same lunch while Rick was a little more adventurous. Once Ma knew you were coming over she insisted on fixing this for you.”
Some people know how to touch your heart with the simplest and yet the most generous of gestures. Mrs. Anders was one of those people.
We had a wonderful lunch and I used two biscuits to slop up that last of the cherry filling from two slices of pie.
Rick didn’t have anything else to say and eventually Mr. Anders, Mrs. Anders and I ran out of words to fill the space. That’s a good sign as any to know it was time to go.
Dad woke Sam and I Tuesday and Wednesday morning at 5:30 while letting everyone else sleep in. Both days the four of us, Sam, Brutus, Dad and me, would go out in the back yard watching the edge of the sun rise. No one said much but on Wednesday Dad was a little more talkative.
“How's school going?”
“Good, I completed twenty-four hours this fall and will take another 24 this spring. My plan is to wrap up my bachelor's degree this summer.”
“What are you going to do after that?”
I didn't know. I was enjoying school and had thought about continuing on, start working on my graduate degree in the fall but I wasn't sure yet. I could have made something up, but didn't see the point so I didn't.
“Don't know yet. Might start graduate school.”
“Have you thought about teaching? Like Elizabeth?”
“Not a whole lot. I would have to get an education degree in addition to my Literature degree to do that.”
“Sounds like you have some thinking and planning to do.”
I felt like the line had been tossed out and Dad was waiting for me to get hooked. It looked to be a beautiful day and I wasn't much interested in escalating things so I didn't. I smiled and nodded my head in agreement. We both were quiet after that. After a few minutes Dad said he had to leave, stood up, looked at me for a minute. I looked back at him, not quite sure what to do. I stuck my hand out, he shook it, told me to keep an eye out for the other guy while I was driving and left for work.
Later that morning, after another hearty breakfast Sam and I loaded up the truck and left for Austin. We were both ready for the peace and quiet of our little home. I also didn't want Brutus to come to the conclusion that Sam would always be there. As we drove off I saw some sad faces in the rear view mirror but the road awaited us so we didn't look back.
Next week, in Episode 29, Drew celebrates the beginning of 1984 with Mark, Jack and Sam, goes to graduations in Lubbock and Corpus Christi, completes his Bachelor’s degree and starts graduate school.