Unfinished Business, Unresolved Feelings chapter 14
Colonel Clayton ushered the two MP Officers out the door and turned around to see Lee staring at the floor and shifting his gym bag from one hand to the other hand and back again.
"Now that we're alone would you care to tell me what kind of trouble you've gotten yourself into this time?"
"I'm not in any trouble and we're not alone", Lee stated with a nod towards the lieutenant who was standing awkwardly in front of her desk. Lee walked over to her, extended his hand and smiled at her.
"I'm Lee Stetson. I'm sorry to have gotten your day off to such a stressful start."
Lt. Simmons returned his smile and was relieved that he didn't appear to share his uncle's temperament.
"I'm glad that you turned out to be who you said you were. If you'll excuse me I should return to my duties", she said as she stepped behind her desk.
Colonel Clayton walked towards his office and indicated with a jerk of his head that he expected Lee to follow him. Lee followed him into the inner office and closed the door. The colonel sat down behind his desk while Lee remained standing near the door as his uncle shook his head disapprovingly at him. I'm a grown man but somehow he still has the ability to make me feel like a scared seven year old. I've got to get a grip on myself or I'll leave without saying the things I came all this way to say to him.
"Now that we are alone you can tell me what kind of trouble you're in. You look like hell, Skip."
"I am not in any trouble; that's not why I'm here." Well I'm not in any trouble that I can't get out of when I go back to DC. Lee's shoulders sagged, he didn't look the colonel in the eye, and he wasn't bristling with the hostility that his uncle had grown accustomed to.
"Oh, no, you're not sick are you? You're not-", the colonel found that he couldn't finish his sentence.
"No, I'm fine. Do you think I wouldn't come to see you unless I was dying", Lee asked, truly surprised that his uncle would think that.
"When you left", me, "to start college you told me in no uncertain terms that you would never set foot on another military base for as long as you lived. Now you show up here unannounced, when you've never visited me before, and you do look like shit. What would you think if you were in my place?"
Lee flopped down in the chair in front of the colonel's desk and raked his hand through his already disheveled hair.
"Ah, hell, I guess I'd think what you thought. I've had a really tough week. We need to talk, really talk, and not just provoke each other. Do you think we can do that", Lee concluded quietly.
"I'd like us to have a really long talk but this isn't the time or place to do it", the colonel replied. "You need a few hours of sleep and I need to get official clearance for you to be on the base. Let me take you to my place so that you can take a nap. I'll straighten out this mornings security flap and then we can have lunch together."
"Your place, huh?"
"Yes, my place, they've set me up with a small on base apartment. They want me to keep a low profile. My latest assignment is highly classified; most people don't even know my unit is here." Lee didn't immediately reply to him so the colonel took a deep breath and continued. "When I had that problem in DC a few years back you put me up at your place. Let me return the favor."
"Sure, why not", Lee replied as he was feeling overwhelmed by the physical and emotional exhaustion of the past several days. "Let's get going; I guess I could use a place to sack out for a couple of hours", Lee said as he slowly stood up.
"Where's the rest of your gear", the colonel questioned as he also rose to leave the office.
"This is it", Lee replied indicating his gym bag, as he proceeded his uncle out the door. The colonel shook his head imperceptibly and then shut the office door behind them. One thing I've learned about dealing with Lee over the years is that if I push him to talk to me he'll shut down completely. I'll just have to let him tell me why he's here in his own time; but I hope he remembers that I'm not a patient man.
A short time later Colonel Clayton was driving his motor pool issued dark sedan towards his on base apartment. Lee sat silently next to him; looking out of the car's side window. There is an overwhelming sameness to all these bases. I've never been here before but I'm sure that it wouldn't take me long to find my way around. They rode through miles of buildings that only varied in height; they were all painted the same beige color and were surrounded by similar minimalist landscaping. Beyond what Lee judged to be office buildings were rows of air craft hangars with long air strips between them. Lee was surprised that although he saw several airmen outside the hangars there wasn't a single plane in sight. Before he had a chance to question his uncle about the lack of aircraft the car turned down a side road and Colonel Clayton slowed the car and cleared his throat.
"Will you be staying inside the apartment until I come back to have lunch with you?"
"Yes, I told you I wanted to grab a nap. Is there a problem with my leaving the apartment", Lee asked in a sharper tone of voice than he had intended.
"I know that you aren't seven years old anymore. I asked because I haven't gotten you an appropriate visitor's badge yet. Security in this section is very high and I'd like to avoid having you get picked up again if you're walking around on your own."
"Sorry, I overreacted; I'll wait for you inside. Are we almost there yet?" What a question; now I do sound like I'm seven again. The colonel smiled at him for a moment and he couldn't help wondering if he had just read his thoughts.
"Its right across this next intersection", the colonel answered as he pulled into a turning lane that led to a complex of one story garden apartments. He pulled up to a security booth at the entrance to the complex's parking area and flashed his ID at a guard who greeted him by name. They rode past several identical buildings and stopped in front of one that had very few cars parked in front of it. The two men got out of the car and Lee followed his uncle to the door of his unit. Colonel Clayton unlocked the door and waited for Lee to walk in.
"Make yourself at home. The guest room is the door on the left. I'll be back in a couple of hours", the colonel stated and then turned around and walked away; leaving a surprised Lee alone. Lee walked into the main room and noticed that it didn't contain a single personal item; he hadn't really expected it to look homey. He was about to go into the guest room when he spotted a small picture frame sitting on the desk that was on the far side of the room. Lee crossed the room and found himself looking at a photo of himself when he couldn't have been more than eight or nine years old. I can't believe that he's carried this with him all these years. Could I have been as wrong about him as I was about my folks? Were any of them who I thought they were?