Serial: "Hawkins County" Chapter 2 - 1970's Americana (continued)

"Hawkins County" has a dual story line until well into the second act. You have already met Pat O'Connor, the delinquent teenage boy on the run from the law. The premise of his story line: Can Pat O'Connor continue to elude capture by law enforcement for probation violation? Now in chapter 2, you will meet Jack Johnson, a nerdy college student whose life becomes enmeshed with Pat O'Connor's in way the two can not yet imagine. This is the second story line and character development, with Jack Johnson being the antagonist to the protagonist Pat O'Connor.

Dave smiled at Jack as he sipped his drink. The Green Beret tried college for three years but, unable to keep his grade point average up, the military draft finally caught up with him and he ended up in the Army Special Forces. The past year he was learning how to conduct guerrilla warfare, but since his leave happened to coincide with Jack's graduation, he and Rosie were able to come to the ceremony. 

Of all the guests who showed up, seeing Dave and Rosie was the most pleasing to Jack. When the couple got married six months ago Dave asked Jack to serve as his best man, and Jack considered it such an honor that he made the trip with Rosie to Fort Bragg for the wedding. Since Rosie had her nursing degree and worked full time at the hospital in Mankato, they now rented an apartment not far from Marianne's in Dovetail Falls. 

Jack ordered  another round for the table and paid for it out of the hundred dollar bill he got as a graduation gift from Esther and Senior. As he pulled out his Zippo and lit up a Marlboro, Marianne removed a Paxton from her purse and caught a light. Neither Rosie nor Dave smoked; they never developed the habit because Rosie was a nurse and they were both very sensitive to the cancer risk. 

"Dave, you and Rosie looked simply fab out there," Jack said.

"Thank you, Mister Johnson," Dave replied.

"Oh, you don't have to call me Johnson," Jack quipped. "You can call me Jack, or you can call be Big J, or you can call me JW, or you can call me Jackie Boy, or you can call me Jack Junior, or you can call me just plain Junior, but you sure don't have to call me Johnson." The whole table laughed as Jack stood and did his version of a pirouette.

"Say, Big J, where are your folks?" Dave asked. "I want to thank them for the meal. That was fabulous ham." 

"They were right over there a minute ago," Jack said, looking toward the bar. "They probably decided to call it a night. Tomorrow is a work day for dad." He took a gulp out of his drink. "Gots to make the reels don't ya know, otherwise all those yummy bullheads will swim away."

"Well, Rosie and aren't calling it quits," Dave said. "We're going to make a night of it. They'll have to kick us out at last call."

Rosie took Dave's hand into her own. "This is probably the last dancing we'll be doing for quite a while." 

"That's right, Dave, you're U.S. choice meat now, aren't you?" Jack said.

Marianne slapped him on the arm. "Jack! What a thing to say!"

Jack laughed and took a drag off his cigarette. "When do you report back to Fort Bragg?"

Dave looked at Rosie and kissed her. "The day after tomorrow at fifteen hundred hours." 

"Wow, that's coming up quick. It seems like you just got home."

"Time flies when you're having fun, but training time is over," Dave said. "Sometime within the next two months, they won't tell me exactly when for security purposes, I ship out to 'Nam."

"Holy cow, really?"

"Yup, they want to get their money's worth out of me, I guess." Dave sipped his drink. "But, I can't blame them. That's what this war is all about. That's why the Special Forces spent all that time this past year training me how to survive over there, and how to kill Viet Cong." (to be continued)

Read "Hawkins County" in the format of your choice at Lulu.com at this link:
http://www.lulu.com/shop/search.ep?type=&keyWords=hawkins+county&x=6&y=2&sitesearch=lulu.com&q=

Read "Hawkins County" as a kindle ebook at Amazon at this link:
http://www.amazon.com/Hawkins-County-ebook/dp/B006TA38G8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375926005&sr=8-1&keywords=hawkins+county

Read "Hawkins County" as a nook book at Barnes and Noble at this link:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hawkins-county-steven-merrill-ulmen/1007909849?ean=2940016542867&itm=1&usri=2940016542867

Your support of this title and your feedback is appreciated.