Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Twenty-five years earlier.
Janis was a close friend from Radcliffe. She and her boyfriend Jessie went out with Cam on the weekends to break up the boredom of their studies. They’d been sitting in a little coffee shop near Harvard Yard having a small meal and a few drinks when she saw him. The face looked very familiar, as he stood at the bar of the café. She’d know those eyes anywhere. Even though the chin was hidden behind a few days’ growth and the curly hair was a lot shorter, no one could disguise the eyes or the way he slumped forward when he stood. His clothes looked shabby. It looked like he had been sleeping in the streets.
“Hold on for a moment,” she said to her friends as she stood up. “I’ll be right back.”
Cam walked to the counter where he was standing, trying to decide what to order.
“Bill?” she said, tentatively, “Bill Temple?”
When he turned, she was sure it was him. They’d dated in high school. He was from Concord, Mass, the town next to her hometown; Lexington. They had met through friends at a school dance. They’d had good times together but it had never come to anything. They had split up as friends.
“Cameron!” His face lit up with a big smile. He hugged her tightly.
“Come talk to me. Join us,” she urged him as she tugged on his hand. “I haven’t seen you in three years. What have you been up to?”
He looked around furtively. “I’m headed to Canada.” He made it sound like it was a secret. He waved away the bartender who had come up to serve him. He followed her back to the table.
She introduced him to her friends.
“Why are you going to Canada? Vacation?” she asked naively.
“You’re going to Canada, man?” Jessie lit up at the announcement. “Right on!”
“Keep your voice down,” Bill said softly. “I’m AWOL.”
It suddenly dawned on her. Bill had spoken about going into the army when they were dating; not that she was the cause of such a decision: it had been his plan for a long time.
“But you enlisted, didn’t you?” she asked, not quite knowing how to look at this. She knew he wasn’t worried about the draft.
Bill nodded. “But I can’t take this. They were going to send me to Vietnam. That place is a disaster area. I’m a disaster. I need to get out of here. Look at my hands!” His hands trembled. Gone was the cocky young kid who’d played volleyball and tennis with her; the guy who would call at ten o’clock at night to take her out for steamed clams at a local late-night café. She could see part of that long-lost boy still lurking in his eyes, but a lot of the fire was gone.
“Have you eaten today?” Cam asked, knowing that there must be something she should be doing or saying but not knowing what it was.
Bill shook his head. “I have enough money to take the bus to Burlington, Vermont. I’m gonna have to thumb from there.”
“Oh, no, man. Let me buy you something to eat. I hate what the government’s doing to you guys.” Jessie got up and walked to the bar to place a food order.
“I’m glad I ran into you,” Cam said. “Is there something I can do to help? Do you need to borrow money?”
Bill shook his head, dolefully. “I won’t borrow money because I can never repay it,” he said. “I can’t ever let anyone know where I am. The MPs would be on my tail in minutes. I’d be in prison for years and years. I probably shouldn’t have come in here.”
“It was meant for you to come in here. You had to run into me.” Suddenly, Cam knew that that was the truth. “How much money do you have?” she asked, knowing she was going to get more involved.
“I’ve got enough to get there and some until I can find a job,” he answered. “But not much.”
Something in the back of her mind told Cam she was going to make a big decision tonight.
They talked for several minutes, reliving old memories until Bill’s eyes started to get watery.
“There is something you could do,” Bill said, almost apologetically. “Would you call my mother and tell her you heard from me and that I’m okay? Please? I’m afraid to call because if they have the phones tapped, they could find out where I am.”
Suddenly Cam knew what she had to do.
“I’ll do better than that,” she told him with conviction. “You’ll come home with me tonight and you’ll get a shower and a good night’s sleep. In the morning, I’ll call your mother for you. I won’t say you’re with me, only that I’ve heard from you. Then I’ll drive you to Canada.”
Bill stared at her, trying to decide if she was serious.
“Cameron! Are you out of your mind?” her friend Janis said softly, her teeth clenched, her eyes wide. “How far away is Canada? You’ll miss all your classes!”
Cam looked at her. Here was the woman who, about an hour before, had told her she studied too much.
Shaking her head, Cam said, “It’s only seven or eight hours to Burlington, and a bit farther to St. Albans or the border. I can be back home by Monday night. I’ll only miss two classes.” Cam turned to Bill. “It’s the least I can do for an old friend.”
“You’d do that for me?” Bill was aghast.
“Yes, I’d do that for you,” she assured him. “I’m not fond of this military action either.”
“I thought you were planning to work for the government.” Janis interrupted. “Am I missing something?”
“No,” Cam told her. “Politics and government are two different things. I don’t have to like wars that politics got us into. But you can fight politics. You can’t fight government.”
“As decreed by Ambassador Cameron Andrews. You heard it here first, folks!” Jessie announced as he set a plate on the table in front of Bill. Bill looked down at a large cheeseburger beside a nest of French fries. Jessie placed a large cola beside it.
“I really thank you for this, man,” he said as he started to shovel it into his mouth. It looked like he hadn’t eaten in a week.
Janis gave Jessie a proud, playful shove.
“Do you want company on this picnic?” Janis asked her. Cam could see in her eyes that she really didn’t want to go.
“Nah,” Cam lied. She wasn’t sure what would happen, but she didn’t want to get anyone else involved. “We can’t all of us miss classes. Then someone would really get suspicious.”
“You’re a good woman, Cameron Andrews,” Jessie said as he slapped her on the shoulder.
“Don’t tell the whole world.” She wasn’t sure how she’d explain this. This was so unlike her. She wasn’t sure why she was doing this, except this was Bill. He’d always been a good friend. Now it was her turn to return the favor.
* * * *
Thirty-two hours later, they stood in the parking lot of the little motel north of Swanton, Vermont. The sun had been up about a half hour and the shadows were receding. It would be a sunny day.
“Well, I guess this is it,” Bill said as he hoisted his sack over one shoulder.
“And you’re sure this is what you want to do,” Cam stated just to have him confirm it. How many times had she asked that on this trip?
Bill nodded. “It’s what I have to do,” he admitted. Then he reached out and kissed her. “Thank you, Cam. If you ever get to Canada, you’ll have to look me up.” He smiled with bravado. Then, he reached out and caressed her face. “Too bad we didn’t do this three years ago.”
Cam looked at him with a wry smile. They’d made love last night in this little motel. Neither of them had gotten the sleep they’d need for their upcoming journeys.
“We never would have made it. We’d still be where we are now. At least we can appreciate the irony of it.”
Bill nodded thoughtfully. Then he leaned forward and kissed her very sweetly.
“Take care of yourself, Cam.”
“You, too. Be well, and good luck.”
And then he turned and walked north. Cam watched him trudge away, hoping he wouldn’t be angry when he found the three hundred dollars she’d hidden in his sack. She wished it could have been more, but that was all she had.
* * * *
Vermont, in the present
“Did you ever see him again?” Michael asked.
Cam shook her head. “No, but I heard he did go back home when the amnesty was granted. Lori said he stopped by once to say hello, but I wasn’t around at the time. Our paths never crossed again. I still think of him occasionally.”
“I imagine you’re both quite different now,” Michael whispered.
“Well, I know I am…and now I’m a home owner…in Vermont!”
“Then how should we celebrate?”
“I can think of a lot of ways.” Cam smirked.
“Ah!” Michael responded, the smile on her face, big and bright. “Where?”
“Anywhere you want.” Cam turned to her and smiled.
“Let’s try here.” She took Cam’s hand and pulled her down onto the long sofa in front of the fireplace.