Before Don and I split I had already been talking about taking on another job. I’d applied for a job at a motel located between my apartment and school. I interviewed for a night auditor’s position but didn’t get the job. Right after I moved back in to my apartment I got a call that they were interested in me for a front desk clerk’s position. I took the job. It coordinated with my class schedule to work evenings and then I’d work day shifts on weekends. At that point I was going to school full time, working full time and still working the library job part time.

One of my biggest regrets about the whole junior year debacle is how my work degenerated in the technology department in the library. I sometimes spent most of my shift on the phone with home. My bosses were very lenient with me because they knew what was happening to me, but nonetheless, I became a liability. I missed at least one scheduled film showing I was supposed to do. I really was a mess during the split. Both bosses had counseled me and helped me throughout the whole marriage and split. My boss’s boss, Myron, saved my ass in my sociology class. Don had thrown away my textbook for that class. I was able to borrow a copy of the textbook from my professor and Myron let me into the copy room downstairs in the library and told me to photocopy as much of the book as I needed to and she would take care of it. I found other ways to cover the materials I had lost in other classes. I’ll just always regret that I went from model employee to someone they had to ease out gracefully in the end. I was never fired. When I went back to see if I could work again senior year they had set shifts in such a way that I couldn’t fit their shifts in my schedule. That was that.

Shortly after Don and I split I had two papers due. One was a 15 page paper in government, my major, and the other was a 3-4 page paper in philosophy. I put all of my energy into the paper in my major. Since I had such a full work and class schedule it was hard to find time to get to the computer lab. I was working there on a Sunday evening. I had to finish, save and print my government paper and then I’d use the rest of the night to write my philosophy paper. Back then we used the old 5” floppy disks and the computers were little more than word processors. I was all finished and went to save my 15 page paper to disc. I put the disc in the slot and nothing happened. I tried again, nothing. I pulled the disc out and took a hard look at it. I was holding nothing but the sleeve. Don had carefully removed the magnetic disc from the sleeve and had replaced it in my disc case. I had to beg the computer lab monitor to save my space on the computer while I ran to the bookstore to buy another disc. That ate up some of the time I needed to write my philosophy paper.

I bullshitted my way through the philosophy paper and was able to turn both papers in on time on Monday. I’m pleased to say that the 15 page Government paper earned an A. The philosophy paper, however, earned a C. I wasn’t used to getting C’s and I was sort of bummed. I knew I deserved it because I’d given that paper short shrift. However, I remember to this day what the Philosophy professor wrote under the C. “I know you’re capable of so much better.” Honestly, just his recognition of that fact made the paper feel like an A to me. I was capable of better; I just hadn’t had the time.

In April my Discover bill revealed that my card hadn’t been as secure as I’d thought. Don had made nearly $800 dollars in charges on it. There was no way I was ever going to get that money out of him. It was just another kick in the stomach. Now I had more debt than ever to repay.

I was walking two miles to school every day, each way. That was the only transportation I had available to me. It wasn’t all bad; my walk took me straight through Duke of Gloucester street in Colonial Williamsburg. I used to amuse myself thinking about all of the people who were inadvertently taking my picture while they were doing the tourist thing. I’d think about how when I became a covert assassin for the CIA I’d have to hunt all those people down and kill them to protect my identity. Eventually Dad sold me his bicycle and I was able to use that to get around. But I don’t think I got that until the summer. Think of all the lives he saved.

Around the time school ended the motel fired the night auditor they’d hired instead of me. By then I’d been working for them long enough that they thought I was a good candidate to work the night audit. I took over the job that May and for the next year I was a nocturnal creature. I worked 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. five nights a week. The blessing about being the night auditor is that they usually schedule you five days in a row instead of breaking up the week. Because you’re on such an odd schedule, if they don’t give you two consecutive days off you’re actually stepping foot in the building seven days a week. The other cool thing was that the night auditor didn’t have to wear the uniform of navy skirt and white shirt. I could wear whatever I wanted.

When school ended I got a roommate. I knew I needed to do it, even though I really didn’t want to. There was just no way I could support that apartment by myself under the circumstances. My best friend from high school moved in. The same one I’d had a roller coaster relationship with throughout college. We had highs and we had low lows. The funny thing was, even when we were extra tight in high school, we always knew we couldn’t live together for very long. As a matter of necessity, we tried. She was also supporting herself so she could go to summer school. Her boyfriend lived an hour away and by staying in Williamsburg she could be closer to him all summer. It broke my heart to have someone moving into “my place,” but I knew it was for the best. I tried to make her feel welcome. The fact that she had a car was a great help. I finally had a semi-reliable way to get to the grocery store.

When my grades came I had posted my best semester yet. Isn’t that sick? I spent the summer working all night, doing my thing during the morning hours and hitting the sack by one. I had to get up at 10:00 p.m. to go to work. I remember going to 10:00 a.m. bargain movies with B (high school best friend). I had occasional visits from Noni and Popi. While I loved, loved, loved seeing them it was always hard for me. I usually had to stay up “late” to be with them. I’d often pull days of 28-33 waking hours so I could be with visitors. I’d be with them all day and then go to work when they went to bed. My brother came down and spent a week with me. It was awesome hanging out with him that week because he was so much more grown up and we began dealing with each other on more adult terms. Plus, he brought a vehicle with him.

Don called me several times that spring and early summer. He always managed to piss me off because he’d call in the afternoon, which was the equivalent of me calling you at 2:00 a.m. I can’t remember much that we talked about. I’m sure I was cool if not downright hostile. He did allude to some possibly shady stuff with a new friend, but he always lied so I figured he was saying it for attention. Eventually he stopped calling.

Next…senior year.

Labels: college years