Page 113 - The Jazzsipper Novel

112

THE JAZZ SIPPER

Chapter Eleven-----A Day In The Life

Vance had been back stateside for about six months now and had just
completed his transaction. He was cashing in his last money orders. It was
fairly easy to do in the Tidewater area of Virginia. He was stationed at N.A.S
Oceana. The Tidewater area consisted of seven populated cities of eastern
Virginia, all in close proximity to each other. There were Virginia Beach,
Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Hampton, Newport News and Suffolk
Virginia. Between the Tidewater area and Richmond Virginia there were over
100 U.S. Post Offices. Vance went to every last one of them roughly four to
five times each. Vance’s homeboy from New Orleans had told him to go to as
many different post offices as possible so he would not draw any unwanted
attention to himself. It worked, although it took almost six months to complete
the process.

Time seemed to be flying, already Vance had completed two years of
service and had about one year left to do in the Navy. His last five months of
the cruise went by with ease. Vance, Larry and The Band had done about
twelve gigs throughout Europe. And, Francesca attended every one of them.
Each time the ship pulled into port, Francesca had the itinerary ready for Larry
and The Band. After the guys set up their equipment, Vance and Francesca
would disappear into the Art deco of Europe. They hung out in France, Italy,
Spain and England. Their days were always full of sightseeing and tasting
European cuisine. The nights were filled with constant affirmation of their
special friendship, even though they would consummate their physical
relationship throughout Europe, it was the intimacy and the pleasantness that
Vance really enjoyed sharing with Francesca.