The Plan
All day, all night, Mary Ann
Down by the seashore, siftin' sand
Even little children love Mary Ann
Down by the seashore, siftin' sand
calypsonian, Roaring Lion
The Sun Deck is deserted, save for the couple in adjacent chaise lounges near the bow.
The cruise ship is a small one, The Marianne, flying a Brazilian flag and carrying perhaps sixty guests and a little more than half that in crew, rocking gently at anchor in the little cove as close to shore as the depth would allow..
Mid afternoon in the Baja, New Years' day, not a cloud in the sky. Guests and crew have mostly either gone ashore or are somewhere below sleeping off last night's party.
The couple on the bow appear to be asleep. He, balding, close cropped hair and a close but infrequently trimmed snow white beard, khaki shorts and faded tee shirt, deck shoes and sunglasses, baseball cap pulled down over the eyes, open book laying across his chest. Overweight, but not obese, been on Social Security for many years. A little over 200 pounds on a 5' 6" frame, his appearance belies his years.
Beside him, neatly dressed in navy knee-length shorts and a blue and white striped cotton pullover with sleeves just past the elbows, is a slight, almost frail, little lady of the same generation; short silver hair, big "sun shade" straw hat banded with a red scarf, sunglasses and a thick, fuzzy cotton robe complete the outfit. She sleeps, her book closed and squarely placed in the table beside her. She does not snore. A slightly stooped, five feet tall, she's maybe a hundred and five pounds, with a couple of rocks in her pocket.
He came up from below by way of the midships stairway (or whatever they're called on board ships), paused, leaned on the rail and carefully surveyed the deck. Young man, late twenties, clean shaven, close cropped hair that would have gladly stood at attention for a flattop. Deck shoes, no socks, sunglasses, khaki shorts. His tee shirt is white with huge numbers "84" emblazoned in dark purple on the back in the style of football athletes world wide. There is no name across his shoulders and his movements give a hint of his past that veterans everywhere recognize immediately. Five foot seven, 150 pounds, muscular, well tanned.
He discovers the sleeping couple, walks quietly but briskly to the bow, leans on the rail in front of them.
"Mr. Steve?"
The only movement is the opening of one eyelid.
"Yes?"
"Sir, I'm James Freeman"
"So?"
From beneath the sun hat, quietly:
"It's James, Steve, Katie's husband, you met him at the wedding, remember?"
" I knew that, 'course I remember", he said, opening the other eye and pushing back the faded cap,
"Hey Jim, 'thought you'd be in town with the rest."Is Jim OK? James sounds so damn formal."
"Jim's fine, but please not 'Jimbob', hate that; got stuck with that from grade school; middle name's Robert". "Had some reading to catch up on; new semester starts when we get back."
"Well, looky here Miz Rosie," the old man says in a mock Southern drawl, "we got us a young man who grew up with a double name and still knows how to sir and m'am."
"must'ave grown up somewhere in the South, probably west of the mountains, by the sound of ya'". "West Tennessee, maybe?"
Jim grinned, snapped to attention, "Well, almost; South Missouri, Bootheel country, Sir!"
"Oh my God, and military too," "Army?" Where th' hell did Katie find you?'
"Steve!" not so quietly, from under the sunhat.
"Sorry"
Jim leaned on the rail again, grinning, "University of Memphis, I was a student there; GI bill, she was doing a dance seminar in the School of Ed". "My good fortune".
"I'd say it was!" "Memphis State! School's grown a bit since '62; had only about five thousand students then, most of them commuters, had just barely attained university status. How many now?"
"thirty thousand plus, last I heard."
"That many, huh? and they still can't field a good football team." "Well, Jim, what's up? You didn't come out here just to listen to me rant about football".
"I need your help".
"Go on."
"Maybe Katie told you. I'm working on my Masters in Education with special emphasis on history, specifically 20th century; would like to maybe teach in Junior college to start, and see where that takes me".
"Not much I can help you with there, I barely got my degree, what with a wife, two kids and a full time job in the mix. I'm real proud of my 2.54 grade point average though".
"Oh, I think you can be a great help. Katie says you grew up in these parts too, and I'm thinking you may have lived through a very interesting time, to me, at least. She also said that one of you could explain the tee shirt; the number, I mean".
The sunhat slid back and she sat up, revealing a pert, slightly stooped but dignified lady who appeared to be seventy at most. "It's my birthday, my age, but Steve can tell you about that, it was his idea to begin with". He has a short version and a long one, I recommend the short one."
She looked at her husband.
"I'll do the short one."
"Several years ago, Miz Rose here, was snuck up on by cancer. Undetected in spite of all the recommended tests, the poking and punching, etc. Was admitted for optional surgery to remove what everyone agreed was a fibroid mass, just after Christmas. What they found was not a fibroid but cancer in the colon, already at stage four. Oops! Doctor removed all he dared, stitched her back together and personally directed her transfer to a specialized unit in one of the Baltimore hospitals, best in the state, we were told. A long rough ambulance ride, followed by pre-op procedures (again) in the middle of the night, a few hours sleep for me on the world's worst recliner, and in less than sixteen hours they reopened and removed everything that could be spared. About seven hours and twelve units of blood later, we were able to see her for a few minutes (all her sons showed up). That was our low point; the only time, the only time that I thought it was really over. I was mentally sorting out funeral homes as I drove home that night." "I had underestimated her again!"
"Things looked a little better the next day. Two weeks in the hospital, three in a rehab facility, and six months of Chemotherapy brought her back close to normal. Never yet as strong as before, fifty pounds lighter, and a little slower afoot, but she made it. During that summer as her strength grew and, as she had time to think, she got the idea of a "family cruise"; wanted to do it in Europe, river or canal. Most are scheduled at least a year in advance and it was too late for the following summer. Doctor hesitated, saying 'better to do it sooner rather than later', reminding us that what she had was 'treatable but not curable'. We understood. Someone suggested a Christmas cruise (ask Katie), and a trip such as this one evolved. Her birthday is in November and, based on what we then knew, no one was sure but what that one might be her last. So, in a subtle waving of the middle finger at the guy with the black robe and scythe, we had the birthday number printed on tee shirts. Every attendee received a shirt with a huge number 74 emblazoned on the back, as if to say 'we made it to this one and we will make it to more".
"The cruise was a hit and in a few years, she was still going strong so she did it again, this time with a '79' on the shirt. This trip is the third. I'm taking bets on her making one, maybe two or three more."
"That's the short version, the long one might cost you several drinks. So tell me about your education plans."
There was silence for a moment as Jim shifted gears.
"Wow! Uh, you see, I have to finish my Master's Thesis early this summer in order to take the degree and be able to start work in the fall. Arkansas State up at Jonesboro says they might be interested in an associate professor by then."
"and what's your thesis to deal with? Steve's curiosity is definitely aroused. He is now sitting upright, paying attention. "How do you plan to approach it?"
"The Demise of the Family Farm; Changes and Causes, the Great Depression and WWII. Sounds boring, I know. The approach is where I need your help. Only thing I can think of is a lot of exhausting interviews, but that's boring, everyone has done that; I would like to do something different and maybe unique. I'm just not sure what it is yet".
"So you want to interview me? That subject is not boring, trust me."
"No, I would like to hear what you know, but I don't know how to get there. Interview is not it."
"I need to think about it", Steve said as he checked his watch, "Bar should be open by now, why don't you wander on down there and order us a round. I'll have a martini, up, with an olive, Bombay Sapphire, glass of Riesling for the lady and whatever you like for yourself. Tell him to put it on our tab. Come on back and we'll talk further. I might have an idea."
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"So, what's your idea?" she said after Jim had walked away. "I got to hear this"."I don't have a clue; never did a thesis."
"Well, for pity-ann sakes, you better think of something."
"'thought you might have an idea, you seem to always be able to find something for me to do."
"Just tell your stories, the ones you are always repeating to me."
"He won't understand most of the things I can tell, he didn't live there; he hasn't seen it."
"Then do what you did when you first took me to meet your folks, take him there."
"Might work."
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"Oh, hi, Jim, back so soon?""Bartender's bringing 'em, should be here in a minute."
" 'think I got this thing figured out, when is your spring break?"
'Mid-April."
" If you can get away for a few days, I can take you to the scene of the crime and tell you what I remember in each area. This will jog my memory and should broaden the scope of what you're trying to do. If I understand it right, you don't know exactly what you're looking for, but you will know it when you see it. I'll fly down, meet you and we will do a short tour of the mid-south. Been meaning to visit some of my kinfolk anyway; they're good people, you'll like 'em. You bring a car and a recorder; you drive and I'll talk. You can sort it out and distill it later, and with a little luck, we can gather enough material to do your book.."
Jim was silent for a long moment, watching the ship's little ferry boats discharging the returning guests. " 'might just work, let me see what I can work out, and run the idea past my mentor. I will call you in a few days after we get back. Maybe I can get someone to help transcribe the recordings, I can edit, organize and rewrite; with a little luck I might just get it done by Fall."
"Just saw Katie and her sisters get off the ferry. I'd better go meet them. 'scuse me", and he was gone.
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He added the tip and signed the ticket.
"You were the same," she said with a smile, "but you are good, 'I think I've got this thing figured out,', Ha!, you just took my idea and ran with it! Where'd you learn that, management school?"
"Sales!", I had this boss once, never had an original idea of his own", he paused, "------ but that's another story"
She smiled, " I think I've heard it."
(to be continued)
Next: "Memphis"
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