A Sniper in the Tower by Gary M. Lavergne Page A

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During one serious attack of depression, Charlie showed up after 10:30 P.M. at the home of one of his teachers, Barton Riley. He dropped a bundle of papers on the living room floor. The strain on his face produced a familiar film of sweat that distressed Riley. ''What's the trouble, Charlie?" Charlie replied that he was carrying too much of a load. During the lamentation he finally shared the real reason for his anxious state. "I've got problems." A vicious tirade of how much he hated his father followed.
"I just despise my father. I hate him. If my father walked through that door, I'd kill him."
"Charles, you don't mean that," Riley replied in a quiet tone.
"I certainly do."
They had been talking quietly for some time, and just when Charlie seemed to have calmed down, he surprised Riley by saying, "I can't resist it anymore." Walking quickly to a baby grand piano, Charlie seated himself, and without request, played Clair de Lune . The tune, familiar to all pianists, is normally played in a soft and lyrical style, but Charlie's loud and strong rendition woke Mrs. Riley, who had been sleeping upstairs. As he played he seemed to mellow. The power with which he played seemed to drain his tension. Riley recalled that he played very well. Music could have been a source of relaxation and peace, but tragically, for some unknown reason he normally refused to playeven for friends. 8
Soon there would be another anxiety attack during which Charlie decided to quit school. While walking through Taylor Hall, an engineering student asked Larry Fuess, "What do you think of Charlie dropping out of school?" Disturbed at the question, Larry got into his car and drove to the Shelley Street apartment and found Charlie, who reported he had, without telling Kathy, resigned from the university and sold his books and other items. Fuess found him packing bags, determined to leave everything, including Kathy "She'll be

 

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o.k.; she has a job now. She'll be better off." He wanted to become a bum; he did not know why, he just had to do it. He also spoke of the separation of his parents, and how he had "something personal to settle." Not surprisingly, when she returned from a day of work at Lanier High School, Kathy was shocked and bewildered. Charlie told her he was leaving her. Later that evening they visited Larry and his wife, Elaine. No one could get him to open up. "But Charlie, why, why?" pleaded Kathy. He said nothing, but just shook his head. 9
In an attempt to help his friend, Fuess called their instructor, Barton Riley Although late, Riley intervened, but this time he had run out of patience. "This is ridiculous, you are not going to do it!" Riley, himself an ex-marine, using a stern voice, ordered Charlie to skip his (Riley's) classes, focus on other classes and do make-ups later. Stunned, Charlie replied, "Yes, sir." When he saw Riley the next day he said, "Thank you, sir." 10 Giving orders may have been the best way to deal with Charlie; the kindness and patience initially exhibited by his teacher, and always used by his wife and good friends, did not work.
II
The phone calls from C. A. Whitman kept coming; Charlie estimated an average of one every forty-eight hours. Relentlessly, C. A. pleaded with him to intercede with his mother and try to get her to return to Lake Worth. C. A. believed that was the only source of conflict between him and his son: "The only animosity was that I fought like the devil to get her back." C. A. did not believe that Charlie had anything to do with Margaret's departure, but he surely believed that he could use Charlie to get her to return. 11 Charlie never had any intention of trying to convince his mother to return to Florida, but still, the phone calls kept coming.
"He was at the point of hypertension, even in his everyday life," observed Elaine Fuess. 12 While he may have shown all the other signs of hypertension, he did not suffer from high blood pressure. In an effort to help Kathy's uncle, Frank