Cece called and asked if I would send Ben’s saxophone back to him so he could be in the school band in Springfield, Illinois. I did, and in the lining of the horn case I put three hundred dollars. Later, while talking to Ben on the phone, he told me he was going to sack up some potatoes, get on his bike, and come back to Texas. I begged him not to do that because it would be too dangerous. I told him about the money in the horn case.
One day, Ben called a cab from school and had the cab take him to St. Louis, Missouri, around 70 miles, where he got on a plane and came back to Texas. After the plans were made, my mother‑in‑law, Nell, and my wife Tina became fearful for Ben’s safety, so they flew to St. Louis, watched Ben get out of the cab, and walk into the airport. They passed by him, handed him a ticket, and watched him all the way back to Houston.
Cece finally realized that Ben would keep running away, so she relented and allowed him to stay in Lake Jackson. But not before doing a lot of damage to my life.