#academyarchives

What Really Happened To Pam? Part II

Friday night, August 17th, Pam and Kirk stayed at Kirk’s apartment. Pam loved studying astrology, and was pretty darn good at it. It grounded her and kept her in tune with the universe. She and Kirk craved their time together and had spent that Friday night talking and making love.

August 18, 1973, Early Saturday Morning.

Waking early in his cozy little nest was a joy for Pam. She looked around, lying still, while Kirk slept, with his arms wrapped around her, Pam surveyed the apartment. It was so beautifully perfect. Kirk had impeccable taste. Nothing expensive, he had a knack for taking nothing and suddenly it became something special. They often spent their precious weekends scouring garage sales for hidden treasures. She slipped quietly out of bed and put on one of Kirk’s shirts. Pam loved the smell of them, and quietly put on some coffee, making a nice cup of mud to enjoy out on the small plant filled terrace, breathing it all in. There were a few white impatience blooming in a planter box hanging off the side of the terrace and a red bromeliad Pam had brought for Kirk as a part of his birthday present late last June. It was still looking good, and there was a cool stag horn fern they’d picked up last month at a nursery in Marble Falls. She admired that he was so good with plants. One day they'd have a beautiful garden. The birds and squirrels were busy and there was the slightest breeze coming from the South. The big oak trees were all healthy and strong, green and full.

Weeks after their first date, they’d talked about Pam moving to Austin as soon as they both graduated in the spring of ’74, when they’d look for a bigger place. They couldn’t wait that long, so she’d taken her Zilker apartment by the end of that summer. Things were on the fast track for Pam and Kirk. When he took her for dinner at Louie’s on the Lake for New Year’s Eve, Kirk had asked her to marry him. It was unexpected, yet it felt so right. It was their secret. They told no one. Soon they’d be looking for a bigger place together. It made her a little sad. She loved his apartment, they had such amazing memories here. This is where they really fell in love, but Kirk was right, and she agreed, so it didn’t matter. As long as they were together nothing else mattered.

She opened her Astrology book and read all their horoscopes, hers, Kirk’s, Sally’s and Jerry’s first, and then Franklin’s. Wow! It wasn’t looking so great for anyone.

By: Teri McMinn 2013