Blossoms of Love (2 page)

The week passed too fast for everyone. Lamont was a little said leaving home for the first time. He finished packing his small bag with Paul and Allen’s help. The two youngest Ellmans following their brother downstairs where the rest of the family was waiting. Johnny would drive him to town. The other brothers said their good-byes. Allen cried as Lamont went toward the truck. Lamont ruffled his hair, “Be a good boy, little one.”

He threw his bag in the back of the truck then turned to his mother. He gently put his arms around her. She kissed him on the cheek. He said softly, “I love you Mom.” With tears in her eyes she managed to say, “I love you too. Please take good care of yourself.” Lamont grinned, “I will, I love me too.”

Then he turned to his father. They shook hands. Lamont could see a tear or two in his father’s eyes as John said, “Don’t stay away too long. You just remember what your mother and I have taught you. Always be truthful and honest.” Lamont answered, “I will Dad. Just as soon as I start getting paid I’ll send you some money out of every paycheck.” John said, “I won’t need it but you go on and send it. We’ll put it in the bank for you.”

Johnny and Lamont got in the truck. As the truck went around the bend in the road, Lamont looked back. All he could see was the upstairs window. He saw his mother standing in the window of his and Johnny’s room. He threw her a kiss. She waved until they were out of sight.

They were in town only ten minutes when Lamont had to leave. Johnny hugged Lamont to him as he said, “Damn, I’m gonna miss you.” Lamont looked at his brother whom he was very close to. “I’ll miss you too. I’ll miss home. I’ve got to do this Johnny. I’ve dreamed of this ever since I was twelve years old.” Johnny said, “Good luck brother. Like dad said, don’t stay away too long.” Lamont picked up his bag in his hand, “Take care of Mom and Dad.” Johnny answered him by winking at him as he walked away.

Lamont didn’t like the first six weeks in the Navy. It wasn’t as hard on him as it was some of the young men. He was accustomed to hard work. After the six week’s training, Lamont went to school to learn to be a pilot. He enjoyed the school because he wanted to fly airplanes. He finished the schooling with very good grades. He was one of the highest in his class. He was then assigned to an aircraft carrier. He was only on the ship a couple of hours when he met David Agar. They liked each other right away. David’s job was keeping the planes in perfect condition. The crew was given a weekend pass and then they were going to sea. David and Lamont went to town together. As they got to town Lamont said, “Dave, I’ve got to call home before we start hitting the bars.” Davis said, “I’ll call home too.”

They each went to a phone booth to make their calls. The phone rang twice before Lamont heard Allen’s voice say hello. Lamont said, “Hi little brother.” Allen asked with excitement in his voice, “Monty, is it really you?” With a chuckle in his voice Lamont answered, “It’s me.” Allen asked, “Are you coming home?” Lamont answered, “Not this time. Is Mom and Dad there?” He heard Allen yell, “Mom, Monty is on the phone.” It was only seconds when Lamont heard his mother say, “Hello son. Are you alright?” It was so good to hear his mother’s soft, sweet voice. He answered, “Yes, I’m fine. How is my best girl and all the family?” His mother said, “We’re all just fine.” Lamont said, “I have a weekend pass so I thought I’d call. Wish I could come home but I’ll have to wait until I get more than two days. We’re shipping out Monday. Now don’t worry if you don’t get a letter for a while. Mom, I’m a pilot now. Is Dad around?” Dorothy answered, “No dear, he and Johnny went to town to get supplies. Your father will be so sorry he didn’t get to talk to you. The ranch is really doing good. Your father and Johnny bought some more stock yesterday. Monty I wish you weren’t going to fly airplanes. Isn’t it very dangerous?” Lamont said, “It’s no more dangerous than anything else we do. Don’t worry about that Mom, I know what I’m doing. I sent you and Dad some money today. I’ve got to go now. Tell everyone hello. I don’t know how long we’ll be out at sea, but I’m sure we will get a few days leave when we get back. If we do, I’ll be home. Bye Mom, love ya.” She heard the phone click. She put the receiver back on the hook and smiled. She thought he seemed happy.

David was standing near the phone booth when Lamont came out. David said, “I just got to talk to our maid. Mother and Dad were gone.” Lamont asked, “Ready to have some fun old buddy?” David grinned, “You bet. Let’s go.”

They went to several bars before they met two girls they wanted to be with. The four of them went to a night club. On Sunday morning Lamont and David were broke, hungry, and lying in bed with two girls all nude and with bad hangovers. Lamont said, “Let’s get out of here.” David agreed.

They dressed quickly leaving the girls still asleep. As they walked down the street Lamont said, “Damn, I must have really got smashed last night. Did you get a look at what was in bed with me?” David laughed, “Yea, I saw. The one in my bed wasn’t any better.” They walked nearly two blocks then noticed the streets were empty. It was still very early. David stopped walking and began reaching in his pockets. He counted two dollars and ten cents. He looked at Lamont saying, “I’ve got two dollars and ten cents and I’m hungry. Ho much money do you have?” Lamont counted. He looked at David laughing, “I’ve got a sum of one dollar and fifty two cents.” David sighed, “Well, we can’t buy much to eat with what money we have. I’m afraid we’re out of luck.” Lamont said, “There’s only one thing to do. We’ll just go back to the ship.” He looked at his watch, “We can get there just in time for breakfast.” David agreed, “Let’s go old buddy.”

Lamont was right. The men on ship were eating when they arrived. They ate a hearty breakfast and spent the rest of the day on their bunks sleeping.

As the weeks passed, Lamont and David became the best of friends. Lamont began calling David what he wanted him to. “Since we are real friends, I’d like for you to call me Dave. David sounds so formal.” Lamont said, “Okay Dave, my family and friends call me Monty.” Dave smiled, “Alright, from now on it’s Monty.”

As the weeks passed, to Lamont’s surprise he was getting homesick to see his parents and brothers. Three days before Thanksgiving the ship was back on the west coast. The crew got two weeks leave. David watched Lamont pack a few things in his bag, “I don’t know what in the hell I’m gonna do these two weeks with you gone.” Lamont looked at him and asked, “Didn’t you get two weeks?” David answered, “Yea, I got two weeks.” He lit a cigar, “Tell you the truth, Mother and Dad are gone on a trip to the Smoky Mountains for two weeks. I think my youngest sister went too. My other sister, well, we just don’t get along very well.” Lamont smiled, “Go home with me.” He patted David on the back, “Come on, get a few things packed.” David looked at Lamont for a second, “Your parents wouldn’t mind.” Lamont answered, “No, they won’t mind. They’ll be glad to meet you. I wrote to Mom and Dad about you. I told them you were my best friend. Get with it bud. I’ve got a free ride on a Navy plane. I know these fellows who have to fly seven planes to the east.”

In an hour Lamont and David were on one of the Navy planes heading for Montana. They had to get off the plane in Butte. They rode a bus to Lamont’s home town. It was late afternoon when they got off the bus. David looked all around, “I’m surprised you’re from a small town. You know I like it.” Lamont laughed as he said, “You may not like it so much after you walk seven miles. Nobody knows we’re coming. It wouldn’t do any good to call home, this is Friday, no one’s home. Mom always works in her garden until meal time, the younger boys aren’t home from school yet, and the others are on the range or at the stable.” Lamont grinned, “There are no cabs.” David laughed, “So we walk.”

After they had walked nearly halfway, David wiped his forehead, “It’s twenty degrees and I’m working up a sweat. When you were home did you walk this often?” Lamont replied, “Sure, we just have a truck and Dad uses it only for the ranch.” It was getting dark by the time they turned the bend in the road. Lamont pointed towards the house. They could only see the upstairs window. When they got around the bend, David saw a large, two story, white-framed house, large trees surrounding it. Lamont said, “There it is. I was born there.” Lamont chuckled, “I was never more than forty miles away from here until I went in the Navy.” He looked at David, “I got homesick when we were at sea.” No one saw them coming up the road. Lamont knew they were all in the kitchen. The sun was just going behind the mountains. Lamont asked, “Do you like to hunt Dave?” David looked at his friend, “I’m afraid not. I was always busy chasing girls or drinking beer.” Lamont said, “Dave you don’t know what good living is. I like to get up early on a cold morning, get my gun, wear my boots and jacket, and start walking in the woods. It’s beautiful up there.” Lamont opened the gate to the front yard. David was still uncertain about coming here, “Monty are you sure your parents won’t care for a visitor?” Lamont assured him, “They won’t care. It doesn’t matter to Mom if she has one more mouth to feed. She’s used to cooking for a lot of people. Mom always enjoyed our friends. Now stop worrying.” Lamont opened the door to the living room. They could hear voices in the kitchen. Lamont motioned for David to follow him. They walked down the hall, passing through the living room, to the dining room where they were just sitting down to eat. John, Johnny, Berry, and Leon were already seated at the table. Paul was carrying bowls of food from the kitchen along with Dorothy. Allen was washing his hands at the kitchen sink. Lamont stopped in the doorway. Lamont asked, “Got room for two more hungry mouths?” They were all so glad to see Lamont, they huddled around him, everyone talking at the same time. David stood back and watched the family welcome him home. David envied Lamont, he knew he would never get such a welcome at his house. There was love and happiness on every face. When everyone had welcomed Lamont, he said as he looked at David, “Family, this is David Agar, my best friend. By the way, he likes to be called Dave.” John said to Allen, “Get another chair for Dave.” Dorothy agreed, “You boys must be starving.” David said as he put food on his plate, “I am hungry, the walk from town gave me a real good excuse to eat a lot.” Everyone laughed. David thought their housekeeper at home was a very good cook but she cooked fancy foods. Mrs. Ellman’s food was plain, but very good. David liked it better.

After being there only a few hours, David was glad he came with Lamont. Mr. and Mrs. Ellman welcomed him with open arms and Lamont’s brothers were very friendly. He felt he had known them for a long time. David had to sleep with Lamont because there wasn’t an extra bedroom. During their two weeks on the ranch, David went hunting in the mountains with Lamont and to his surprise, he liked it. He also saw three calves born and four colts. Lamont and Berry delivered them. He liked riding horses and loved the high jagged mountains. He was really sorry when it came time for them to leave. All the Ellmans asked him to come back and he promised he would. Of course, they were sad because Lamont had to go back.

On their bus ride back to Butte where they would catch the Navy plane, David said, “Monty, you have a very special family. They all love each other. You can see it in all of their eyes. Your parents are the greatest. Why you left all of that, I’ll never know.” Lamont sat quietly for a few seconds and then looked at David saying, “I’ll go back to stay one of these days. I just want to travel for a while.”

David sighed, “Well to each his own, but if I lived somewhere like that I’d never go far away. When you visit my family you will see what I’m talking about. I know my family has a lot of money, but money can’t buy what your family has.”

Lamont said, “I know you’re right, but it gets pretty rough when there’s not enough money to go around for what it takes just to live. I’ve seen the time when we’d go to school with jeans worn so bad there would be patches on top of patches. My Mom would wear old faded dresses, and Dad the same way. Day always had plenty to eat for us. I’m so glad the ranch is paying off now. With the money I send home and the ranch doing so well Mom and Dad can enjoy life for a change.”

David said, “I believe they enjoy life anyway.” Lamont sighed, “I’ve seen my Dad look sad many times and I’ve seen him worried because he couldn’t give us a better living. David said, “I sure do want to come back again.” Lamont smiled, “Anytime Dave.”

When Christmas came near the crew was surprised with an eighteen day leave. They were expecting to be on the sea somewhere. The reason they got another leave so soon was because the ship was being painted. This time Lamont was going home with David. This was Lamont’s first Christmas to be away from home. While he and David waited on the plane to come in, he called home. He talked to everyone and David told John and Dorothy to have a very merry Christmas. They got off the plane in Mobile, Alabama, just before noon. Lamont couldn’t believe how warm it was. People were only wearing light-weight jackets. As they got off the plane Lamont asked, “Is it this warm around Christmas every year?” David answered, “Yes, sometimes warmer than this. I’ve went around in my shirt sleeves.” Lamont laughed, “When I talked to Mom a few hours ago she said they had six inches of snow and it was still snowing hard.”

David saw their butler, “There’s Porter.” They walked toward a dark blue Lincoln. David explained, “Porter is our butler and handy man. His wife is our maid and cook.” As they got closer Lamont could see he was a middle aged man with dark expensive clothes. He was fairly tall and very slim. Porter smiled holding out his hand, “Glad to see your, sir.” David said, “Thanks Porter.” David looked toward Lamont and said, “Porter, this is Monty Ellman, the best damned friend a guy could ever have.” Then he looked at Monty again, “Monty, this is Porter Rich.” Porter shook hands with Lamont and said, “Glad to meet you, a friend of Dave’s is a friend of mine.” Lamont replied, “Thanks Porter.”

Porter took their bags and put them in the trunk of the car. As they rode through the city, Lamont thought to himself, “I’m glad I wasn’t born and raised here.” David broke his thoughts as he said, “The ocean is only a few miles from where I live. We don’t live in the city limits.”