Cars And Sons

Chapter 3

When Lee arrived at the Colonel's base later that morning, he was told the Colonel was in his quarters, and to meet him there.

Knocking at the door, Lee heard, "Enter," and came in, and shaking the Colonel's hand in greeting, stated, "Thanks for seeing me, Colonel. I know how busy you are, and-"

But his uncle shook his head answering with a gesture, "Nonsense. I always have time for you. Sit down, Son."

Lee looked at him warily, and sitting down on the couch, while the Colonel sat at his desk, responded drily, "Really? Since when?"

The Colonel, shaking his head, replied crisply, "Well, I see your smart mouth hasn't changed! What do you want?"

Clearing his throat, Lee put up a hand stating, "I-I'm sorry, Sir. I had a rather bad night...Do you know what today is?"

Colonel Clayton looked at his nephew and shrugged stating, "Well, I could be as flip as you right now, and tell you it's Monday, but you know that already...So?"

Lee swallowed commenting, "So, there was a car accident with Phillip last night-"

The Colonel straightened in his chair somberly and asked, "Well, is he alright?"

Lee nodded replied gulping, "I think he will be, but he has a concussion and some broken ribs at the moment. He woke up this morning, and while I'm very grateful...The whole family is, I just kept asking myself why-"

The Colonel, puzzled, queried, "Why what, Son? Why did he wake up? He obviously wanted to be back with all of you-"

Lee shook his head, and getting up to pace, growled, "No! Not that! You remember the mess with Blackthorne over a year ago that I told you about?"

The Colonel nodded slowly answering, "Yes, and I was damn glad you rectified that situation! What are you getting at, Son?"

Lee continued to pace, and running his hands through his hair stated roughly, "Well, from the police report the other night, my "Vette was totaled! I got a buddy at work trying to repair it, but-"

The Colonel shook his head, perplexed as to what his nephew was getting at, and said, "C'mon, Skip! What the hell are you trying to say here?"

Lee went to sit back down on the couch, and remarked softly, "I-I saw the "Vette, and something hit me inside...I mean, I don't remember any of that time after my folks died, but was their car like that, Colonel? I-I mean, could they have, maybe, at least tr-tried to get out?!"

Then as Lee began to convulse into heavy sobs, the Colonel, at last realizing what his nephew was going through at that moment emotionally, went to him, and rubbing his back answered gently with a swallow, "Oh, damn, Lee...I-I don't know, since I wasn't there until their funeral, and we'll never know if Matt and Jennie sensed there was trouble or not, but I'm sure they knew that if anything were to ever happen to them, that you would be looked after, alright? And I didn't do such a bad job, did I? I-I mean, sure, we had our differences, but we got through it, right? In spite of everything, you turned out fine, and you've got a great family now, so don't lose sight of that, huh?"

Getting his handkerchief out from his jacket pocket, the Colonel handed it to Lee, stating somberly, "Here...Look, Skip...We could talk about this all day, going over the whys and hows, but in the end, you and I both know that it isn't going to bring them back. Now, that doesn't mean that you and I can't have a sit-down once in a while about them, because Lord knows, I loved them too, but time marches on, okay?"

Lee nodded, and blowing his nose, and wiping his eyes, he cleared his throat, stating, "Yeah, I-I get it, and I'm sorry for this display, but when I saw the "Vette, and my friend described it as being a tuna can..."

The Colonel patted Lee's back answering, " Whew! I get now why it tore you up inside...I'm sorry, Son. You certainly grew to love cars later, though...I still remember when you went out with that colonel's niece from West Point, and you "borrowed" his Cadillac to go for a joy ride after getting your license-"

Lee put up a hand commenting, "Alright, alright! I went a little far then-"

The Colonel scoffed answering, "A little?! If it wasn't for me, you would've wound up in the stockade for the dented fender, and the racing strip scrape to the side of that car-"

Lee shrugged remarking, "I-I think that's the Army, Colonel, for the stockade, but I get what you're saying-"

The Colonel replied stiffly, "Horse feathers! I know about punishment, Skip, and you were teetering close enough to it...But enough about that... Are you feeling better about this now?"

Lee nodded slowly, holding the handkerchief, and heading for the door stating, "Yeah...Thanks for the talk here...I-I guess I'd better be going now-"

The Colonel then asked, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Lee looked at him blankly, and then saw the Colonel pointing to the handkerchief, and Lee chuckled as the Colonel replied, "You know where that goes, Son..."

Lee sighed, and commented as he headed for the bathroom, "Right,"and tossed the handkerchief into the hamper.

Coming back, Lee looked at the time, and remarked, "Well, I'll see you, Colonel-"

But the Colonel answered, "Wait, Skip...I was just going to pay your folks a visit...Want to come along?"

-SMK-

So the two wound up at Arlington Cemetery a while later, and looking down at them, the Colonel stated, "Matt, Jennie...I hope you're keeping an eye on your boy here. He sure has tried my patience over the years, but I don't regret for one moment taking him in. He's turned into a fine young man, with a wonderful family. I hope you're as proud of him as I am...God speed...I love you both..."

Then, the Colonel stepped back to allow Lee to have a moment with them.

Lee, swallowing hard, answered, "Mom, Dad...I've been trying to understand lately what happened to you and why you were taken from me when I was so young, but in doing that, I'm forgetting to be grateful for what I have right now, and the people that got me to this point...I'll love you both forever...I'll bring my family by soon, alright?"

Then as he stepped back, he and the Colonel hugged warmly, and the Colonel, clearing his throat queried, "Have time for lunch, Son?"

Lee nodded, and said, "Sure...Let me call Amanda, and let her know where I am-"

The Colonel asked, "You didn't tell her where you were headed?"

Lee sputtered, "H-Hey, c'mon! I-I was a bit upset when I left the hospital, you know? I just told her I needed some air-"

The Colonel, shaking his head as they headed for the car, stated, " It's been over three hours! Boy, no wonder I call you Skip!"

So, when they returned to the base, Lee called the hospital from the Colonel's quarters, and spoke to Amanda, stating, "Hi, Honey...Sorry I didn't call earlier, but I'm at-"

Then Lee's face changed, as the Colonel looked on, and he said slowly, "How-How did you...Oh, right...Well, how's Phillip?"

Listening, he answered concernedly, "Uh-huh...Well, that's probably the best thing for him, but Sweetheart, don't forget to get some rest yourself, all right? Okay...Are Dotty and Jamie... Oh, of course. We were there early enough...Listen, I'm going to have lunch here and then be back before dinner, okay? I love you...Yeah...Yeah, you too...Bye."

He hung up as the Colonel asked, "Everything good with the family?"

Lee nodded answering, "Yeah, Phillip's holding his own, and Dotty and Jamie are back at the hotel, getting some rest. Amanda knew I was here, and I didn't even tell her. Strange, right?"

The Colonel shrugged commenting, "No, not if you've been together this long. You know each other pretty well, and maybe she remembered what today was for you. Let's go eat...I'll buy."

Lee winced replying, "No offense, Colonel, but it's free there, and it's either the base meatloaf, or their version of stew today, right?"

The Colonel chuckled, responding, "No, Sonny Boy! There's a new place down the road called Anchors, with the best seafood around! Let's go..."

It was close to 5 PM when Lee returned to the hospital, and finding Amanda in Phillip's room, greeted her with a kiss as he saw Phillip asleep, and queried softly, "How is he?"

Amanda, hugging her husband, stated quietly, "The doctor says there's still some pressure, but not like before, which is a good sign, but they're continuing to keep an eye on it...How are you?"

Lee letting her go for a moment, went to Phillip, and swallowing, patted the boy's hand, answering softly, "You'll be fine, Phillip...Your mom and I will be right outside, okay?"

Then turning back to Amanda, gestured while he took her hand in his own, and led her out of the room, towards the waiting area.

As they sat together on the couch, Lee sighed and commented, "I want to apologize for my behavior since last night, Honey. And while I know I can get a new car, let me try to explain what I was feeling when I heard about the accident..."

So, Lee went through what that day dredged up for him concerning his parents, and ended it with, "And that's why I went to see the Colonel...I-I knew I couldn't possibly have remembered anything from that time, and I needed some clear prospective from him, you know?"

Then, clearing his throat, replied, "Also, I had a flash of Phillip not being here any more, and it scared the hell out of me! And what it would do to you and Joe, and the rest of the family, Sweetheart...I-I knew my place was with you, but my head was a real mess, and-"

Amanda shook her head and going into his arms, answered gently, "L-Lee, it's alright, huh? I told Mother you'd talk when you needed to, and to leave you be until you were ready, and I'm glad you did talk to your uncle today...Did it help?"

Lee shrugged lightly commenting, "Actually it did...We talked more now than we did in years past, and then went to the cemetery and then did lunch...So, are you ready to go back to the hotel for a while? We'll grab some dinner, and then come back here for a while before visiting hours are up, okay?"

Amanda nodded, replying as they rose then from the couch, "Sounds good, Honey...Oh, Suzanne's parents came and saw her, also. She has bumps and bruises, and a dislocated shoulder, but she'll be alright soon enough...Her memory's still a little fuzzy from what happened, though."

Lee stated with a shrug and gestured to Phillip's room, "Well, once they both start to recover, we'll find out what happened. The police did say that no one else was involved in the accident, Thank God...C'mon, let's go see him before we leave..."

TBC