University President Garland conferred with Alabama’s Commandant Murfee. Since the two of them were unwilling to commit the corps to a battle that would have amounted to a useless sacrifice, Murfee marched the boys back to the campus. In the middle of the night, they made their escape east along the Huntsville Road.
Woods Hall was the first building built after the campus was destroyed. It was constructed with brick from the ruined structures.
I thought the history of the place was fascinating. Now, though, I had to focus on recruiting.
The Quad was packed with tailgaters. There was a sea of tents and canopies set up. We talked to some students, and they had started camping out on Friday so they could get the same spot each game day.
Dad made the executive decision that we would skip meeting with the academic people and enjoy tailgating. I think both Mom and Dad needed a stiff drink. To be honest, after learning I was a father three more times, I could use one too.
We found a tent where they were making flaming Dr Peppers.
“I have to try that,” I announced.
“Are you kidding me? It sounds dangerous,” Mom said.
“It has Amaretto and rum in it,” our host said.
That was enough to sell Mom. At home, she was already well into the process of demolishing all the rum I’d brought back from Cuba.
These guys filled a shot glass with Amaretto and topped it with Bacardi 151. We were given a fire safety warning before they set the rum on fire and then dropped the shot glass into a half a glass of beer.
I’m not sure why, but Mom made me drink the first one. Everyone looked at me when I took my first sip.
“Uh, I’ll be damned. It really does taste like Dr Pepper.”
Three of those and I felt great. I thought I could walk to the game, but Fritz put a stop to that. Cassidy was a sourpuss because Fritz wouldn’t let her have one. All I know is that my mom wasn’t giving me sideways looks or commenting about how irresponsible I was. She and Dad had enough in them by now that they both found just about everything funny.
It could also have been the ‘moonshine’ drink we tried called ‘apple pie moonshine.’
After a couple of Dr Peppers, I was up for anything. Again, I was the crash-test dummy. This one had apple cider, apple juice, cinnamon sticks, sugar, and a terrifying amount of Everclear. I was sure that you could’ve lit it on fire too. The scary part was that after the first sip, which seemed only a touch strong, they went down easy. I’d had enough Everclear punch to know that was bad.
We hooked back up with Wolf and Tim. They’d been responsible and had met the academic people, which meant they were in about the same mood as Cassidy.
“Have you been drinking?” Wolf asked.
“Just Dr Pepper,” I said and started to giggle.
I was such a lightweight now. In the good old days of middle school, I could have handled way more than that. Brook had had four and was holding her liquor better than I was, even though she weighed at least a hundred pounds less. It could also be that I took a pain pill before I hit the quad.
“It had Amaretto, rum, and beer in it,” Cassidy told them.
“That sounds gross,” Tim said, throwing a face.
“He also had ‘moonshine,’” Cassidy tattled.
“Girly, you better stop telling everything you know,” I threatened and then doubled over laughing.
She didn’t think I was as intimidating as I seemed to think.
“What the hell? I think we need to catch up,” Mr. Tams declared.
Mom and Dad absconded with our golf cart and took the other parents back to the tent we’d just left. I doubted we would see them during the game. Tim and Wolf decided that I sucked, and Cassidy agreed.
◊◊◊
Number-1-ranked Alabama was playing number 6 Texas A&M. Alabama had won by 39 over Tennessee the week before. Texas A&M was smart in that they were coming off a bye week, giving them an extra week to prepare for this game. Even though it was a clash of top ten teams, Alabama was favored by 18 points, due to a combination of this being a home game and Alabama just looking that good.
I was right. None of our parents were in their seats when the game started.
Alabama got the ball first and ran all over the Aggie defense. I was surprised when Texas A&M stiffened at the 20 yard line to force a field goal. On the first series by the Aggies, they managed a first down but had to punt. Alabama used their physical superiority to run the ball right down the field. It looked to be a long day for their opponents until the Aggies stiffened and forced another field goal.
On the third drive, Alabama took it to the house to put them up 13–0. I admit that at that point, I lost interest in the game and began to people-watch.
