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  Cameron had one more stop to make before applying to NU. He drove his hot rod over to visit his old grade, middle, and high school buddy, Nelson. Nelson was now sporting glasses, his brown hair more blonde and receding.

  He was really happy to see Cameron. Cameron learned that Nelson’s father had died shortly after he left to join the air force. “He really liked you,” said Nelson. “He knew if anybody could catch Ole’ fighter it would be you.” For years, Ole’ fighter had tugged and broken many fishing lines off Nelson’s dock. No one could catch it. One grand day, in the presence of Nelson’s father, Cameron caught the thirty-five-pound carp.

  His mother still lived in the waterfront home on Lake Washington. Nelson had completed four years of pre-med school at NU. He hoped to become a doctor in three to four more years. He had married a very smart and lovely Chinese lady named Irene. She was an accountant working in a large accounting firm in Seattle.

  After everyone had caught up on what they had been up to, Cameron mentioned to Irene that he heard she was an expert reader of Tarot cards.

  She told him that her parents taught her how to read Tarot cards long ago when she was a teenager and asked if Cam would like to have a reading? Cam really did not believe in the black magic of these cards but, ever since the Ouija board warning to Big El in Italy that correctly came to pass, he’d thought it might be interesting to see what these cards might have to say about his future.

  “Irene, do you mind giving me a prediction on whether or not I will ever graduate from undergraduate school?”

  “I would be happy to,” said Irene. Unlike most fortune tellers who keep their cards close by, Irene returned from her den down the hall and showed Cam a beautifully polished smooth wood box. Inside was an ornately decorated silk cloth bag that contained cards unlike any cards he had ever seen.

  “Cameron, I want you to cut the cards.”

  Moments later, after she had arranged the cards, she said, “according to these cards, Cameron, you are not only going to graduate from undergraduate school, but you are going to go much further.”

  “Are you certain?” Cameron asked optimistically.

  “Absolutely,” she replied.

  “Will you do me another favor?” asked Cameron. “I’d like to get a little more feedback from the tarot cards. I like to calibrate the cards for accuracy. Would you mind telling me how many years you and Nelson will be married?”

  “Cam, I never do my own readings, but I will humor you this time,” Irene said.

  After shuffling the cards, she turned over a card that had absolutely zero meaning to Cameron. Her face turned ghoulishly flush and she immediately put away the cards.

  “What’s the matter?” asked Cameron.

  “Nothing,” said Irene, “I just do not do my own readings.”

  Cameron had received a phone call from a NU counselor telling him he had been accepted into the university and when to report for classes.

  Now the only thing left on his to-do list was to find an apartment close to the university. The first apartment he looked at was elegant and very expensive. It was located on the shores of Lake Washington. He knocked on the apartment manager’s office door. He told the lady that he was interested in renting an apartment. She looked at him and said she was sorry but there were no vacancies and she had meant to take the sign down. Cameron did not believe her for a second. He looked her squarely in the eyes and said, “Did I just return from a battle abroad to give you the right to reject my right to rent one of your apartments based on the color of my skin?”

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  Cameron continued his search for an apartment. He came across a very nice apartment building about a mile from the university, which came with a heated swimming pool.

  Cameron stood facing the manager of this apartment and said, “All I want is a small apartment so I can attend college to see if I can graduate. I have the money. I am a veteran. I am a good American, I just need an apartment.”

  The manager started to say no, when his wife interrupted and said, “Can we call you back this afternoon?”

  “Yes, of course,” Cameron responded.

  The manager called back two hours later and apologized for his initial rejection. “I also served in Vietnam and I am going to school. Your message really hit home with me. You, Cameron, have yourself an apartment. When can you move in?”

  Cameron said, “Today.” The manager and his wife would soon become dear friends of Cameron.

  Chapter 2

  Big El

  Big El was raised watching Abbott and Costello, Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin movies. His father gave him a big box of popcorn each evening as he watched a new movie. Big El, knew that someday he might be a comedian. Even Cameron said that he was better than Don Rickles and Johnny Carson.

  Big El’s first job after the Air Force was working a for a friend who was an emergency room doctor. Dr. Avner handled trauma and emergency conditions such as bullet and knife wounds for Charter Oak Hospital. He was on call twenty-four hours a day. The hospital was experiencing an epidemic of shootings, broken bones, heart attacks, car accident traumas, and burns. The emergency room was a very challenging place to work with deaths occurring daily. Dr. Avner needed another volunteer and a staff member to assist him in the emergency room.

  So here was Big El lying flat on his back, lying on a metal gurney, wearing nothing but a hospital gown. He laughed out loud as he propelled himself from one wall to another with his exploding farts. He was amazed at how loud he could make the metal gurney ring in the sterile room and how fast he could make the gurney travel. There was no activity, a rare moment in the emergency room. Eventually, Big El reached the elevator door and he pushed the up button. He propelled the gurney like a motor scooter onto the elevator. As the door closed, he proceeded to blow farts like a conductor in a famous bass symphony. His smile grew louder. Four floors up, three nurses entered the elevator and the door closed quickly. The nurses gasped for air and said, “Oh, my God! Big El was so embarrassed. He said, “I am so sorry, I feasted on fried bats last night and those critters keep flying out of me.”

  Eventually, the hospital hired Big El at minimum wage to assist Dr. Avner and the nurses, with clerical and basic clinical tasks for incoming patients.

  Big El was happy with how things were starting out in his non-military service life. Although he missed all the activities with his service buddies, especially Cameron, he was now with Susan, whom he loved so much. With every flower he placed beside Susan’s dinner plate, every passionate kiss she gave him, he knew that he was with the most beautiful, loving, and marvelous woman in the world. He once told Cameron that Susan was much more than a soulmate. She was his universe.

  What Big El needed now was to find a better paying job so he could marry Susan. He considered his options and came up with three:

  First, he could return to college using his G.I. Bill. He figured that he needed to complete three and a half years of school. College graduates were not making huge sums of money at the time so he crossed off going back to college.

  Second, the University of Rhode Island was still offering him a full baseball scholarship. The thought of how statistically remote his chances were of making the big leagues and the months away from Susan were a deciding factor, so he crossed the training to become a professional baseball player off his list.

  Third, there was the State Patrol. Baroni, his old family friend, encouraged him to join the Rhode Island State Patrol. Big El loved this goal because he would be helping people and it would provide very nice benefits, so he could marry Susan and spend the rest of his life in her arms. There was only one problem. It was hard to get into the academy. This was what he wanted. Big El’s career goal of becoming a state trooper was now in focus.

  One evening at the hospital with patients lined up in the hallways, Dr. Avner told Big El, “Take this needle and thread and stitch this patient up now! We do not have one additional hand and I’m working on another
patient. Can you do that for me?”

  “Absolutely,” said Big El. “Are you going to give him any pain killer,” asked Big El?

  “We don’t have time,” said Dr. Avner.

  Big El washed his hands. He had zero training on how to put stitches in somebody’s body but he remembered darning a sock once. As the needle was inserted into the patient’s knee, with no pain medicine, the screams got louder and louder forcing Big El to complete the task quickly.

  “Great job” said Dr. Avner.

  “Just call me Dr. Big El,” he said, with a grin on his face.

  Shortly thereafter Big El got a job with the police department for the city of Gloucester, Rhode Island. After cadet training he teamed up with a veteran police officer. When they came on duty, they were assigned neighborhoods to patrol for DUIs, speeders, and other crimes. Big El was issued a handgun, a wooden baton, and a flashlight. He had extensive training as a cadet on the use of his handgun plus he was an ace marksman stemming from his military days. Months into his training, he was given his own squad car and given specific neighborhoods to patrol alone.

  He confided to Cameron that he was certain that he ticked off that police department because he didn’t write many tickets. Unless a driver was hitting other cars or speeding 20 to 30 miles over the speed limit he did not issue a ticket. He would pull the driver over and make them take a taxi home. He knew how difficult it was for people to make money and then have to pay hefty fines, so he gave sound but hard advice to many offenders in the town.

  Big El was surprised to hear that he had received several letters of praise from residents of the city of Gloucester. A judge and a priest topped the list.

  These letters made it impossible for the police Captain to fire his rookie policeman.

  In June, Big El received a letter stating that he had been accepted into the Rhode Island State Police Academy. It was his dream come true. Even though he had received some support from many friends and relatives, Big El had earned acceptance into the academy on his own. No one pulled any strings to help him get in. He had one mentor, Baroni, who encouraged him, but he earned entrance on his own. His classes would start in January.

  At the academy he scored high, and received the highest marksmanship scores ever achieved with a revolver, near-perfect classroom test scores, and he was well liked.

  To be sure, Big El was funny, witty, and a jokester at heart. His years of watching Abbott and Costello, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, and other comic movies during his dad’s second job at the downtown movie theater made it second nature for him to make people laugh which he loved. His instructors and fellow cadets also saw his brilliantly serious side when the occasion arose. Big El climbed to the head of his class. No one doubted that he had what it took to one day lead the men in the Rhode Island State Patrol in their navy-blue uniforms, with red stripes, and tan hats.

  Big El had a huge smile when he graduated from the academy. Susan, looked at Big El in his trooper’s uniform and said, “My you are such a good-looking man with your blonde locks of hair, blue eyes, rugged muscular German build, and big leather boots. I have a good strong man.”

  It was now spring of 1973. Big El had just rented a beautiful two-bedroom modern brick condo with a large heated swimming pool. Susan moved in with him. He laughed often and remarked, “You are the best roommate I’ve ever had.”

  Chapter 3

  Cameron’s College Years

  Cameron parked his car on the first day of his colleges classes in the parking lot where puddles of water had formed. He looked up towards the University and noticed the gray clouds and the big canopy of trees with their foliage of beautiful red, yellow, and green leaves. The leaves were falling and blowing in the wind on this chilly autumn morning.

  Cameron took a deep breath. From a .5 GPA to gold key numbers two and three: You can achieve anything you desire, it just depends on how hard are you willing to work for it. Go to college.

  This was it, this was his new battle, there was no turning back. This was it!

  Cameron followed many other students up the 2,000-step pathway to the buildings on top of the hill. He eventually located his curriculum advisor’s office.

  Cameron had been accepted into the University based on his high school GPA and his national merit scores, and definitely not his GPA at Wilder.

  “Good morning Mr. Price,” said the advisor. “I have some good news for you. The University has elected to give you credit for the one and a half years you attended Wilder College. Wilder College has a reputation for high academics and while you received a .5 GPA, the University believes that would’ve translated into a higher GPA here. This means that we will not put you on academic probation and you are 2 1/2 years from completing your degree.”

  This was spectacular news, “ Thank you very much,” Cameron responded.

  “Now, Mr. Price, here is your first quarter’s class schedule,” said his advisor.

  Cameron noticed the advisor never looked him in the eyes and tended to glance to his lower left when he talked to him. This was a sign of racial hatred that he had come to detect. He looked at his class schedule and instantly knew the advisor had set him up for failure: calculus, economics, statistics, organic chemistry, and physics. “No way,” said Cameron. “I am not going to take this heavy a class load.”

  “Yes you are,” said his advisor. “That is what I’ve scheduled you for, especially given your late admission into the University and the availability of classes.”

  “Sir, thank you for accepting my admission into the university, but listen to me closely. I have been away from the academic university setting serving our country in the military overseas for nearly four years. I am going to take easier classes so I have more time to better adjust to classroom expectations. So I am going to outline the following classes that I would like to take and you will not stand in my way. I’m going to take speech I, music appreciation, political science, and wealth accumulation.

  “No way, I cannot approve those classes.”

  “Are you paying for me to take classes at NU?” Cameron asked. “Why can’t I take the classes that I want to take and those that I’m paying for? Let me make it crystal clear to you sir, after I get written approval from each professor teaching those classes that I want to take, I will be back. If you don’t approve my classes, I promise you that my very next discussion will be in front of the local TV stations. I don’t think that the public would like to know how you propose to set up a returning black military veteran for failure.”

  Cameron left the counselor’s office and embarked on a signature-gathering campaign. In less than an hour, Cameron had received signatures from all the professors on his list inviting him to attend their classes.

  His counselor saw all the signatures and to Cameron’s amazement he approved the revised courses.

  Cameron walked daily to his classes up the 2,000-step pathway corridors to the University’s classrooms. He was motivated and focused like never before, putting in hours and hours of studying on each and every subject. He stayed up late each night practicing and practicing his speeches and other classroom homework. Eventually, he gathered enough courage to consistently raise his hand in class to answer the professor’s questions. He had no social life as he studied nearly every minute that he was awake.

  His mid-quarter grades were all A’s.

  On several occasions as he climbed the steps, he ran into fellow students. One was a cute blonde named Laura and then there was an adorable brunette named Polly. Cameron learned that Laura was from Idaho and wanted to get a psychology degree and Polly was from Eastern Washington and wanted to get an English degree. They chatted along the way. Laura mentioned that she had been married and her ex-spouse was now in prison for ten years on an assault conviction. He thought it was strange that she would tell him about her personal life after only walking a few flights of stairs. To be clear, Cameron was 100 percent focused on his college coursework and not the ladies, until he met Chaplin.<
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  Chaplin was a male friend of Nelson’s, who was also attending NU. He was majoring in psychology. Chaplin came by Cameron’s apartment occasionally on Saturday nights and the two would go out to several nearby clubs. After the fourth Saturday, they developed a routine that went like this: Cameron played several Smokey Robinson records on his stereo while they both drank a shot of Johnny Walker. After the third song, they were fired up and ready to have fun at the clubs and they did.

  On Sunday, Cameron was back studying.

  One evening Cameron received a telephone call in his apartment. When he picked up the phone and said hello, no one answered. He could hear that someone was on the phone and the person was breathing deeply and loudly. Cameron had never received an obscene phone call and he hung up. The calls persisted. Cameron had no idea who was calling him. He could not tell if the breathing was from a guy or gal. Nearly two months passed by with more calls of heavy panting. Then one Sunday evening, the phone rang again and the deep breathing started. This time, Cameron did not hang up the phone but said in Spanish, “Como se Llama?”

  The caller, believing she had called the wrong number said, “Oh I am so sorry. I obviously misdialed.” Cameron immediately recognized the voice. It was Laura, his stair-walking friend.

  “Laura, why have you been hounding me with your deep-breathing phone calls?”

  She hung up and Cameron never received another phone call from her again nor did he ever see her on the steps to his classes.

  Cameron’s first-quarter grades were in his apartment mailbox. He picked up his report card and slowly, very slowly opened it. He glanced down at the cumulative GPA. It read 4.0. He was shocked beyond belief. He was ecstatic. He did a little happy dance by his mail box, and wished that he could have been finished with college that very moment, however this was just the beginning.