Horizons of Heroes Page 3

  He said that the hippie movement was pretty much over and whatever remained had gone underground. Jobs exclusively in the preview of men, like butchers, bartenders, and maintenance individuals, were now performed by both women and men. Long hair for men of all races was in style.

  Cameron’s mother’s house looked the same, maybe a little bit smaller due to the large Sequoia tree having grown for four years and was now taking over the front yard. He paid the taxicab driver and walked up to the door. The door was locked. His mother had never locked the door in all the years that she had lived in the house. What was going on? He rang the doorbell and his mother opened the door. Her voice was so filled with happiness as she said, “My son is home, my son is home from the war!” She gave him a wonderful motherly hug.

  A young boy appeared near the door.

  “Cameron this is your brother Benjamin. He’s nearly ten years old. Benjamin, this is your big brother Cameron.”

  Benjamin was nearly six feet tall. Cameron remembered when he was a young baby with lots of wrinkly skin and he had nicknamed him Squiggly. He used to spin him around like a rag doll on one hand. His half-brother was going to be a big handsome young man. Benjamin would grow up to be nearly 6 feet 5 inches and 275 pounds and no more spins on Cameron’s fingertips.

  “Mom, how are my sisters?” asked Cameron.

  “They’re all doing fine. All three are married, all are nurses, all own houses, and they each live within five miles. They are all doing wonderfully. So tell me all about your military service,” his mother asked.

  “Did you get my letters?” asked Cameron.

  “Yes, and I could certainly tell that my son was growing up to be a distinguished man in the service. I am so proud of you, Cam,” she said.

  “I was so fortunate, Mom,” recalling his travels around the world. “I spent time in the Far East and visited countries throughout Europe. I had a wonderful time in the Philippine Islands, Switzerland, Greek Islands, and Italy. I especially enjoyed Rome, Florence, Venice, the Amalfi Coast, Sorrento, Pompeii, and Brindisi. Mom, I even had a villa on the Adriatic Ocean in the city of San Sabina. I can’t wait for you to meet my good buddy, Big El. We started on the same day in the service and got out of the service on the same day. He lives in Rhode Island and is exceedingly smart, has a heart of gold, very funny, and is a great friend.”

  “One of the key things I learned, Mom, for a black man or any man who wants a chance to succeed in life, he must earn a college degree. So, I am going out to North University (NU) and see about enrolling.”

  “When I attend college, Mom, I will get the GI Bill, which as I understand will pay for my college expenses and a portion of the rent and food. I saved my money in the service and I hope to buy a car and not have to work while I attend classes.”

  “Oh Cam, thank you for the money that you sent home to us every month. We couldn’t have made it without your support.” She hugged Cameron. “Thank you, son, but now it’s time for you to devote all your energy and money to the next phase of your life. You don’t need to send me money. The girls are grown and moved out. My ex-husband sends money for Benjamin and me. Oh, your dad never did pay a dime of child support. Now I have met a man named Flint who I really like and he wants to get married and open up a restaurant. We will see if we can move forward on the restaurant idea. I’ve even picked out the restaurant’s name, La Brindisi, from your travels in Italy. I think it’s important now that your focus be on you and graduating from college. I love you, son!”

  “Thank you, Mom. “When will I meet this man?”

  “This weekend.”

  Cameron took several large boxes shipped from the Philippines and Italy downstairs to his mother’s basement. When Cameron’s sisters arrived a few days later, they walked directly downstairs and opened up the many gifts. It was like an early Christmas with carved wood statues and figurines, soup tureens, crystal wine glasses, and fine leather goods from Florence for them all.

  Cameron got a ride with one of his sisters to his father’s house. He managed to fit one of the wood boxes with gifts into the car. Everyone was very happy to see him. They loved the presents and were so thankful and pleased with Cameron’s thoughtfulness. His stepmom said, “This calls for a shot of southern comfort.” His dad, Dan, shook his hand. Cameron sensed his father’s pride for completing four years of military service in the Air Force. He asked his father if he had visited with many of his old Tuskegee Airmen friends.

  His father said, “Absolutely, many live in the Seattle area and we try to get together as often as we can. We have a bond that will no doubt continue forever!”

  Cameron briefly told his dad about his military experience but really focused on his desire to start college. The last time his father had seen him, he’d been a broken man after flunking out of Wilder College.

  “I think you are ready to start work in my real estate company,” his Dad suggested.

  “Thanks, Dad, but first I want to get my college diploma,” Cam replied.

  Cameron had matured beyond his father’s expectation upon his return from the military. “Let’s go hunting, son,” his dad said.

  “With ferrets, Dad?”

  “No, we are going pheasant hunting with my trained dog named Lady,” his Dad said.

  “Who is this?” asked Cameron as he noticed a cute, reddish-brown dog. “This is Lady, my hunting dog,” said Cameron’s father, Dan. “She is a Vizsla, very affectionate, gentle, energetic, loyal, and an excellent pointer. I have taken my plane over to Eastern Washington where the birds are nice and fat from feeding on dry corn in the fields. Lady’s a perfect hunting dog and with her point, I have shot many birds. Why don’t you join me this weekend?”

  “It sounds perfect, Dad. I bought a Remington 12-gauge shotgun in Italy and I’ve been dying to try it out.”

  Saturday came and Cameron was in his father’s floatplane with Lady heading to the city of Umatilla, Oregon. He’d always loved to fly with his father. His father had been one of the greatest pilots in World War II. It was certainly difficult growing up with a war hero for a father, but his dad’s daily battles in the skies fighting the enemy abroad and at the same time fighting racism in the military, had equipped his powerful father to help guide Cam through many difficult situations in the Air Force.

  They landed on a nearby lake, and hiked about a mile until they reached a large farm with corn stalk drying in the fields. The farmer gave them permission to hunt on his land.

  Dad had trained Lady well, as she pointed to the pheasants that were hiding beneath fallen corn stalks. Lady had a beautiful sleek auburn coat and obeyed Dan’s every command. What a glorious day, thought Cameron. The sun shone brightly in the sky. It was perfect hunting weather. Most of the corn had been harvested, but lying on the ground were stalks, leaves, husks, and cobs which still had many kernels of corn which the pheasants gobbled up like candy. The fallen corn stalk had a wonderful pungent aroma. Almost like smelling an expensive glass of Bordeaux wine. Lady eagerly walked the field, looking back at us as if to signal, “I am over here!” Suddenly, her body froze and her nose pointed to something in the stalks of corn. “Get them, Lady!” Lady charged the pheasants, who immediately took flight. The male ring-necked pheasants were absolutely beautiful with colors of red, and green, and a white collar. They were easy to differentiate from the females, who were several shades of brown.

  At a loud blow of Dan’s whistle, Lady lurched at the bird hidden in the corn field. The pheasant raced to fly away. Dan, with his Browning automatic shotgun, used one shot to knock the bird out of the sky. Seconds later, another bird took to the air and Cameron blasted away at the bird with his new Remington shotgun. It took two shots, but he got his first pheasant. Minutes later, Lady sprung a third and then a fourth bird. Within an hour Cameron and his father had reached their bag limit of pheasants. Lady was an excellent pheasant hunting dog. Tired, with her tongue hanging low in her mouth, she basked in the hugs and petting she received.

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nbsp; Cameron’s stepmother was so pleased to see all the pheasants that they brought back. She took two pheasants, feathered and cleaned them, and poured orange juice over them and let them marinate for about two hours. She then wrapped them in bacon and added salt and pepper and then baked them slowly along with wild rice. The quality and delicious taste of pheasant was really enjoyable to Cameron. Pheasant under glass is a meal fit for a king.

  He especially enjoyed his time hunting with his dad. Following this trip Cameron made it a point to join his dad at least two or three times a year for pheasant hunting in Eastern Washington. Dan always flew his plane on each pheasant hunt.

  The next day, Cameron met his mother’s future husband, Flint, a retired marine serviceman. In many ways, he felt sorry for Flint as there was absolutely no way for him to replace his father. But as long as he made his Mom happy, Cameron was happy.

  Several days later, Cameron went to visit his grandmother Priscilla on his dad’s side.

  “Grandma, I really missed you while I was traveling the world serving in the Air Force. How have you been?” he asked.

  “I’ve been fine, Cameron, just getting up there in age, but I’m doing fine,” she replied.

  “How are my aunt and uncles doing?” he inquired.

  “Your Aunt Carol has been working for a huge corporation where she is an executive secretary for a senior vice president. I hear she’s making a lot of money and loves her job. She is very talented and I am so happy for her. Oh, your aunt Carol is still married to Walter. He works on vintage cars and boats. I heard he recently restored a luxury Chris Craft wooden boat.”

  “Your uncle Warren is on administrative leave for being the first black police officer to shoot a white criminal.” Warren was the third oldest in the family. He was very light-skinned and he looked almost white. On one unfortunate day, he shot and killed a white person who was in the process of committing a felony. Shortly thereafter he discovered that it didn’t matter how white your skin looked. If you were black and killed a white person, everyone hated you. Society would not tolerate black men killing white men. He had one son and three daughters. “He’s not too happy with the backlash and the lack of support from his fellow officers and community. I don’t know what is going to happen to him, because he is not very happy.”

  “Your uncle David is a gifted electrician. He’s currently working on a state-of-the-art project for a major aviation corporation. David was the youngest of Dan’s siblings. He was a star sprinter in high school and went on to work for a large public works company where he was instrumental in developing state-of-the-art transportation networks. He had three sons and three daughters.”

  “Grandma, when dad and I served in the military, we fought for freedom for all citizens. How have race relationships progressed over the past four years?” Cam asked.

  “While I can’t speak for other parts of the country, here in Tacoma and Seattle it has not been good,” she replied.

  “Why grandma?” asked Cameron.

  “Most of the hatred towards blacks is no longer as easily transparent. It has gone underground in many respects. First of all, your dad and uncles will tell you, banks make it exceedingly difficult for blacks to buy houses and gain the basic building block for economic wealth. For example, the banks have adopted a practice called red-lining. They basically have drawn a red line around the central area of Seattle and won’t loan money in that area where the majority of citizens are black. It doesn’t matter how much income one has. If you are black and live in this area the banks won’t loan to you. Now piggyback that with the lack of education for blacks in Seattle. Fewer and fewer blacks are graduating from high school and going to college. Whites are moving to the suburbs leaving many vacant homes that are now decaying. With so many jobless blacks, they are relegated to trying to make a living by selling drugs. Many blacks in this climate of drug sales have been caught and have been sentenced to long prison terms. The climate for blacks is deplorable and hostile. It is the modern-day version of slavery, something your great-grandmother tried to escape, when she left Marshall, Texas over sixty-five years ago.”

  “How is great-grandma?” asked Cameron.

  “She’s fine and will be turning 100 soon. I’ll let you know when we have her birthday party.”

  “Grandma,” said Cameron, “I believe education is the key to economic prosperity and I intend to go back to college and earn my degree. When I was in the service, I met many brilliant men but most did not have a college degree and their opportunity for higher rank was very limited.”

  “Wonderful Cameron. I know you will be successful!”

  “Thanks, Grandma. It was great seeing you. I promise to keep you up to date on my progress through college.”

  Following his father’s military service as a Tuskegee airman, Dan had established himself as a very successful real estate broker. At one point he owned over 100 houses. Dan was wealthy at one point but it all came to an end during the Boeing bust in the 1960s and ‘70s when people were saying “Will the last person to leave Seattle turn out the lights.” Nearly all of Dan’s houses had three to four bedrooms. He was highly leveraged on all the houses. When the laid-off Boeing employees could no longer pay rent, he could no longer pay the mortgages, and he lost all the houses, except his home and one rental.

  Cam now made it a point to visit with his mother’s brothers and sisters to see how they were doing.

  His mother’s oldest brother, Paige Jr., had traveled with Cameron’s grandfather from Omaha, Nebraska to Seattle in search of work at the beginning of World War II. He eventually joined the army and was shipped overseas where he fought in the Philippines. He sent money home to his father to help the family. Eventually he married and had six children and became a very wealthy real estate broker.

  Next was Uncle Thas who became a merchant seaman during the war and then a longshoreman. Eventually he married twice and had four children. He was an extremely handsome man and his children could’ve been in a high-fashion magazine for their stunningly handsome and gorgeous features.

  Cameron’s Uncle Wyman was a college-educated mathematician and opera singer. Although he was close to graduating, he never graduated due to a lack of funds. He was exceedingly smart and had an operatic voice that inspired listeners.

  Then there was his Aunt Vine. She was a beautiful TV star who married a famous singer. One of his songs made it to number one on the hit parade. They had two gifted children who wrote songs for famous Hollywood singers.

  Uncle Lionist was the first to graduate from college. He became a First Lieutenant in the army. He was an excellent skier and had taught Cameron how to do jumps and flips on skis. He had even made a pair of wood skis for Cameron. He married a very beautiful lady and Cameron served in their wedding. Tragically his life was cut short while serving on military duty. They did not have any children.

  Next was Uncle General as he liked to be called. He had a wonderful smile and a great sense of humor. America wasn’t ready for a black movie star when the General came along. He was handsome with straight jet-black hair and a Clark Gable-like mustache. He had perfect diction. Cameron remembered seeing the reaction of ladies that were introduced to him. It was all smiles. He married a lovely artist and they had three children.

  Aunt Olive was the youngest of the children. Everyone wanted to spoil her. She was full of love, laughter, and happiness. It was no surprise that when she grew up with love all around her, she became an ordained minister. She met and married an inspiring man and they had three gifted children.

  All the aunts and uncles were pleased to see Cameron. They each painted a difficult economic climate for blacks. Cameron reiterated that he didn’t want to be a statistic so he would be attending college and he would obtain a degree.

  Cameron decided to call his uncle Walter to see if he could help him find a nice used car.

  His uncle said, “Sure I would be happy to do that and welcome back from the service.”

  They went
to several car dealerships and looked at many cars. Then they found a 1967 Firebird 400.

  “My God,” said uncle Walter. “This has to be the fastest car in Seattle. Probably not appropriate for a college student.”

  Cameron had never seen a street car that shot fire out of its rear end as the front end of the car raised one to three feet off the ground. While test driving the car, it roared like thunder as it proceeded down the highway. Cameron could easily handle the steering wheel, but it took practice shifting the powerful transmission as the car raced down the road like it was a contender in the Daytona 500.

  Walter laughed. “This car is in perfect shape mechanically but the gas bill alone is going to be very expensive.”

  He was so right, as Cameron could literally see the gas gauge fall when he gunned the engine hard. “Cameron, you don’t need to race any cars, including Corvettes, because this car will take anything that is street legal.”

  Cameron fell in love with the car and paid cash for it. He thanked his uncle for helping him find his dream car. The car needed new rims and wheels and a significant amount of detailing. Cameron laughed to himself as he now had the fastest car in Seattle but he had to drive slowly so as not to attract the police. Heads would often turn when they looked at his finely tuned muscle car.

  Cameron rocked in his newly purchased purple Firebird 400 as he drove down the city streets. Purple Haze, by Jimi Hendrix played on the radio. Cameron loved the song, having purchased a copy of it while in the Philippines. Cameron thought it was a prophecy song, as it spoke to him on the calamity of the Vietnam war, love, peace, drugs, freedom, and death, maybe even Jimi’s death. Cameron was so mesmerized by the lyrics that he went to the library to learn more about Jimi Hendrix. According to his research, Jimi was born on November 27, 1942 and died in London September 18, 1970. He was buried in the Greenwood Cemetery in Renton, Washington. Interestingly, Jimi’s parents had met in the same way as Cameron’s parents, at a dance in Seattle. Another interesting fact was that one of Jimi’s first songs was the theme from Peter Gun which was so popular with Cameron’s high school classmates.