Marilyn looked around and said, "And you think Utica's a hick town!"
I looked around and shrugged. "Honey, they don't put the motels in the residential neighborhoods, do they?"
"Do they have one here?"
"I'm sure they do. It's probably very nice.", I said, putting a hopeful spin on things. Looking around I had to wonder. I was expecting a tumbleweed to blow by any second, followed by a cattle drive.
"Have fun! I think I'm going to stay in New York!", she replied.
I wrapped her in my arms and laughed. "I'm only here for six months. After that, I go somewhere else, a regular duty station. Probably a nice, dry lab building in Aberdeen, Maryland. It's very nice there. You'll see." I was shading the truth slightly. If I were to stay in the Army, in Artillery, sooner or later I'd be spending time here as an officer. Pretty much every artillery officer does, sooner or later. Who knew, maybe it was really nice, once I got to know the place. It had to be better than Utica!
We checked in and cleaned up. For the first time since we had left New York, we had enough energy to fool around in the shower together. Afterwards we dried off and got dressed, and went out for lunch. The restaurant in the Best Western featured - guess what? - steaks. I wasn't surprised.
We spent the rest of the day at the motel, resting up and goofing off. Over the next few days we drove around and saw what there was to see of Lawton, which looked bigger than Utica. I think if the Army decided to shoot cannons someplace else, the place would dry up and blow away quickly. Still, there were some nice areas, and some decent restaurants and schools and such. It was better than it had been back when the Indians were protesting the presence of the white man by using bows and arrows, of that I was sure. We found a storage locker place and unloaded everything I wouldn't be taking into the BOQ with me, and then sorted out what I would keep available. After that we dumped the panel van back on the rental company. Otherwise, we just took a vacation for a few days and played hide the salami in our room. I needed to store up some memories, because it was going to be a few months before I saw Marilyn again.
Monday morning I had to go and rejoin the Army. I wasn't entirely sure of the procedure, but based on my (limited) experience with the system, there was going to be an awful lot of hurry-up-and-wait. Report in time was 0900, so at 0800 I kissed Marilyn goodbye and headed over to the base. She would hang out around the swimming pool until I came back. Once I got the schedule straightened out, we would get her to the nearest airport, probably on Tuesday, and fly her back to Albany.
At the gate I was sent to the Staff and Facilities Battalion, where I was sent on to the Artillery School. I would go through check in there. It felt strange to just drive onto a base like this. By the time Parker joined the service, after 9/11, everything was tighter than a gnat's ass. Nobody could get on any base anywhere without an elaborate pass and check in procedure. A lot of bases they even inspected under your car and made you open the trunk up. I parked in a pretty fair sized parking lot and made my way inside, where I found I was just one of many freshly minted butterbars looking for their new home. But I also saw something else, my old buddy Harlan Buckminster! I had no idea he was going Artillery like me! Time for a little fun!
I slipped around the room and came up behind him while he was talking to another second john standing in front of him. The other fellow noticed me and his eyes flicked in my direction, but I held an index finger to my lips. Smiling, I muttered lowly, "Christ, what the hell is this man's army coming to when they let the coloreds become officers?"
Only a few people heard me, and there was some instant consternation. Of course Harlan heard me as clear as a bell, and he whipped around to face me. I just stood there grinning at him. He broke out into a grin of his own and replied, "Hell, I never knew you crackers had figured out how to stand shit six feet tall!"
Harlan lifted me up in a bear hug while I pounded on his back, and then he said, "Damn, it's good to see you! I never knew you were going Artillery!"
"Same to you. It is good to see you! When did you get in?"
"Just a couple of days ago. I've been staying at the Best Western. You?", he answered.
"Same here! How'd we miss each other? My fiancée and I drove out here right after graduation. Once I get out of here, I'll have to figure out how to get her back home.", I told him.
"No shit! At least Anna Lee drove her car. She can get home on her own."
"Anna Lee?", I asked.
"My fiancée. Hey, maybe we can get together after this and have dinner together, the four of us.", he said.
"I'd like that. What's the check-in procedure, anyway? My colonel didn't tell us much.", I told him.
Haran shrugged. "Probably pretty routine. Check us in, get us rooms at the BOQ, meet and greet with the school Commandant, maybe a quick physical. I doubt anything course related will happen until tomorrow."
I nodded. That made sense. "Think we might end up rooming together again?"
"Want to try?"
"Let's ask. What's the worst they can do? Say no?"
Harlan shrugged again. "Sure, why not. Maybe we can go out and find some Orange Army artillery to capture and bring back home."
I laughed at that. "We'll have to tell Marilyn and Anna Lee that story. I don't think they'll believe it unless we both tell it!"
Harlan started laughing at that, too. "So what made you choose Artillery?"
"It was either learn how to rain death and destruction down on the godless hordes while defending our fair nation, or get stuck in the motor pool. I went with option one. I figure I can kill more people that way than with my driving. You?"
"Same thing."
"You ever learn how to drive a standard?"
Harlan just laughed at that. Then things started to happen and we had to quit fucking off and pay attention. The rest of the morning went pretty much like Harlan had expected. Today was check-in day. We were called forward to a counter by a bunch of Spec 4s, had our orders and ID cards checked, assigned BOQ rooms, two to a room, and given a list of do's and don'ts for the BOQ. Buckman comes before Buckminster, so I ended up asking for Harlan as my roommate. The Spec 4s consulted their sheets and shuffled some things and I had a roommate. Then we stood around until we were sent to a large lecture style classroom, where we were seated and our teachers and cadre lined the room. In front was a lectern and a light bird welcomed us and gave us some more rules and regs. After that we did some more paperwork, had our security clearances checked, and went to the Officer's Club for lunch. A captain escorted us and gave us some more instruction on how the club worked, as well as other details on food and lodging. After lunch we were sent off to draw an absolutely outrageous load of textbooks, firing tables, and other essentials before being dismissed to sort things out at the BOQ. Harlan and I swapped room numbers at the Best Western so we could call each other and make dinner plans.
By mid-afternoon I was able to head back to the Best Western, where Marilyn and I loaded most of my gear into the Impala. It seemed pretty simple to get her onto the base, so we drove over and put my stuff in my room. Once we got to the BOQ, we found Harlan and his fiancée moving his stuff in as well, so we did the introductions. Anna Lee was much lighter skinned than Harlan, who was almost pitch black, but she had the same southern accent he did. She was tall and slim, and looked classy. We helped each other move, and then helped our fellow classmates get moved in. Unsurprisingly, I wasn't the only guy with too much stuff to pack in our rooms, so I led a small convoy over to the storage lockers and allowed Harlan to share mine while some of the other guys rented one and split it up between themselves.