Persuasive Lips (14 page)

Chloe
sat
cross-legg
e
d
on
the
floor,
adjusting
her
robe.
“Don’t
you
r
e
ad
the newspaper,
Mrs.
G?
The
beach
has
been
c
ommande
e
red
by
the
Army
Air
Corps
for their
boot
camp.
The
hotels
are
being
used
as
barrac
k
s,
for
heaven’s
sake.”
She
rattl
e
d the pennie
s
, staring into the can.

Faint
rays
of
sunshine
broke
through
the
vicious
storm
clouds
in
Chloe’s
mind.
Miami
Bea
c
h.
Warmth,
yes,
oh
to
be
warm
again.
Bakery,
y
um.
But
soldiers
ever
yw
here?
How depressing. Wait…sol
d
iers everyw
h
ere, abo
u
t to be
sent off to war…scared and lonely men.

Chloe
stretched
to
reach
the
desk
and
shoved
the
tin
can
on
top.
She
pulled
herself up. “Yes! Mrs. Grogan, Miami Beach sounds…perfect. “

The
landl
a
dy
plopped
Chloe’s
suitcase
up
onto
the
bed.
She
gra
b
bed
an
armload
of clothes
from
the
closet
and
tossed
them
o
n
the
quilt.
Removing
the
first
dress
from
its hanger, she
shook it out and rolled it into a tight cylin
d
er. “Ya get less wrink
l
es this way darlin’. I r
e
ad it in a
m
agazine don’t ya know. “

As
Chloe
touched
up
her
bruised
face
with
pancake
and
rouge,
the
Andrews Sisters’
snappy
song,
“Boogie
W
oogie
Bugle
Boy”
,
drifted
in
from
down
the
hall.
She coughed
while
smacking
a
powder
puff
all
over
her
forehead.
None
of
this
happened.
I don’t
exist.
I
’ll
just
disa
p
pear
into
pa
r
a
dise
and
e
verything
w
ill
be
a
ll
r
i
g
h
t
again.
She
turned
to Mrs. Grogan. “How do I look?”

“
I
shoulda
married
Max
Factor.
The
man
is
a
genius
don’t
ya
know.
Ya
’
d
nev
e
r guess
what
happ
e
ned
tonight.
Don’t
fo
r
get
your
lipstick
darlin’,
and
you’re
good enough
to
dance
at
the
White
House.”
S
h
e
hung
the
empty
hangers
on
the
wooden closet rod. “I’ll leave ya to dress, dear, and
I’ll go call ol’ Paddy. And then, when he says yes, I’ll order ya a cab.”

“
The
trains do run all night, don
’
t they?”

“
Yes
darlin’. Now you get ready quick and be on your way. “

When
Mr
s
.
Grogan
s
tepped
into
the
hallway,
she
hollered,
“Girls,
ya
turn
that racket
off.
I
don’t
care
if
ya
don’t
have
your
nursing
classes
tomorrow.
We
have
rules
in this house.”

Chloe
winced
as
she
painted
her
scabbed
l
ips
a
deep
wine
color.
Her
fingers
got caught
in
a
snarl
as
she
combed
t
h
rough
the
carrot-colored
strands
of
her
hair.
Satisfied, she packed her round makeup trunk.

Chloe
emptied
out
her
desk
drawer,
packi
n
g
her
birth
and
baptismal
certificates, high
school
and
college
diplomas,
pencils
and
a
ruler.
Hmm,
the
Mickeys
might
come
in handy…
Chloe
scooped
up
the
c
hloral
hydrate
c
a
psules,
dropped
them
in
a
n
envelop
e
, licked
it
shut
and
placed
it
on
top
of
her
r
o
lled
blue
gingham
dress.
She
stretched
a
sock over
the
can
of
pennies
and
sunk
it
into
the
bottom
of
her
suitcase.
Her
hand
trembled as she tossed in two pink envelopes, recent letters from her “sister”.

As
Chloe
lay
across
the
patch
w
ork
quilt
o
n
her
twin
bed,
she
was
grateful
the landlady
had
left
and
wouldn’t
see
the
tears
of
pain
as
she
strugg
l
ed
into
her
girdle.
She finished
dressing
and
then
slipped
her
coat
and
gloves
on.
Chloe
draped
a
beige
cowl over her head and wrapped it around her n
e
ck.

She
looked
all
over
the
space
that
had
b
een
her
home
for
the
last
eleven
months. The
furnished
room
for
let
seemed
emptier
than
when
she
had
first
moved
in.
Chloe placed her key on the desk then turned off the light.

She
tiptoed
down
the
dark
narrow
hall
to
t
h
e
kitchen.
Big
band
music
blared
from the
radio
in
the
back
room.
The
taxi
driver
announced
his
arrival
by
leaning
on
the horn.

Mrs.
Grogan pressed an envelope into her hand.

“
Here’s
P
a
ddy’s
address.
He’ll
be
a-waitin’
for
ya
darl
i
n
’.
He’s
good
stock
d
on’t
ya know.
He’ll
see
that
nobody
harms
ya
there
in
paradise.
Don’t
ya
worry
none,
I’ll
take care
of
y
o
ur
paycheck.
If
Paddy
fusses
’b
o
ut
the
telephone
then
ya
call
me
person-to- person
every
week.
And
drop
me
some
postcards.
And
if
I
ever
get
my
hands
on
the beast who did this to you…so help me…”

Teardrops
spilled
d
o
wn
Chloe’s
face
as
s
h
e
hugged
and
kissed
her
landl
a
dy.
Her friend.
She
hurried
to
the
cab,
not
allow
i
ng
herself
to
look
back.
She
was
grateful
she had slipp
e
d out without having to exp
l
ain her departure to the other girls.