Ellie smiled and reached out a hand to Joanne's shoulder, “Don't worry, two days and you never have to see her again, I get to fly home with her!”
Joanne laughed, “She’s feisty. I’ll give her that.”
“Oh yes,” Ellie chuckled.
The sound of her laugh generated a warm feeling in Joanne’s chest; so much so that she immediately decided that she had to hear it again.
Ellie studied the patterns on the carpet before looking towards the elevator where her grandmother was waiting impatiently pressing the call button repeatedly with her cane. She chewed her lip nervously before turning to Joanne, “About earlier. I’m sorry if she made you uncomfortable in the car. She seems to think that her role in life is to find me a partner or embarrass me in the process.”
“That’s okay. She does seem intent on finding you someone.”
“I’m the only single one in the family, she says that she needs to make sure I have love before she goes,” Ellie sighed, looking affectionately towards her grandmother.
“Sounds like my mother,” Joanne said sympathetically.
“I doubt she can be as bad as Lily over there,” Ellie grinned.
Joanne mirrored her grin, “Oh I’m fairly sure I could hold my own with some appalling stories of her set ups.” Her grin turned into a shy smile, “Maybe later when your grandmother is settled, we could meet in the bar and swap war stories.”
“Okay,” Ellie licked her lips nervously. The ding of the elevator door caught her attention. “I should go,” she said, pointing towards her grandmother. She paused as if to say something else then shook her head slightly before walking away pulling the suitcases behind her. She entered the elevator and caught a final glimpse of Joanne before the doors closed.
“She’s cute,” Lily said, studying the floor numbers, her eyes wide with fake innocence.
“You’re a nightmare,” Ellie growled.
“Did you get a date at least?”
“I’m meeting her for drinks later,” Ellie replied, rolling her eyes. “You don’t even know if she’s gay.”
It was Lily’s turn to roll her eyes. “Have I taught you nothing?” she asked, slapping Ellie’s forearm lightly. “Trust me…she’s gay. But if you’re not sure I bet if you asked nicely, she’d tell.”
Ellie laughed loudly, grateful that they had reached their floor, “Come you, let’s get you into your room and sorted before you cause more trouble.”
Chapter One
April 1943 – New York City
It was the drop of water on her face that finally woke Lily from her sleep. Opening one eye she glared up at her roommate, standing with a brown envelope in one hand and a glass of water in the other.
“I swear you could sleep through a hurricane girl,” Eva said grinning wildly. She placed the glass of water down on the nightstand and waved the envelope in Lily’s face, “It came, it’s finally here.” She held the envelope in front of Lily’s face as she flopped onto the bed beside her.
Drowsily Lily noticed that Eva was still dressed in her nightgown, her thick black hair remained coiled around rollers, which meant Lily hadn’t overslept.
“What time is it?” she asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands as she sat up.
“It’s midday,” Eva replied, rustling the envelope impatiently.
Lily let out a frustrated whine, “Eva, I could have had two more hours sleep, before I needed to get up. I didn’t get in until eight this morning.”
“And? Me and Eli got in at nine. You want sympathy you are lookin’ at the wrong woman,” Eva scowled. “So you gonna open this or not?”
Lily took the envelope from Eva’s hands and stared at the typed address, recalling that the other time she received an official letter from the army it was to tell her of her husband’s death.
“It’s for you. How many Lily McAllister’s you think live here?” Eva said impatiently, nodding encouragingly towards the envelope. “If you don’t open it, I will.”
She reached out to grab the envelope earning a slap to her hand.
“I’ll open it, just not with you sitting there staring at me,” Lily replied, clutching the envelope to her chest protectively.
Eva let out a dramatic sigh as she stood. “Fine, I’ll put the coffee on,” she narrowed her eyes giving Lily one last look before disappearing out of the bedroom. “You got five minutes missy before my little black behind comes back in there and makes you open it,” Eva called from the hallway.
Still smiling at her friend’s words Lily pulled back the bedclothes and padded over to her dressing table. She propped the envelope up against the mirror and studied her reflection, the rags she had placed in her hair when she arrived home earlier were now arranged haphazardly on her head. She reached up and methodically began to pull them from her hair revealing soft curls. She concentrated on the task, deliberately ignoring the envelope before her, until her dark brown locks were free of their bedtime constraints and she could no longer postpone the inevitable. She was considering letting Eva carry out her threat to open it for her when her friend reappeared in the doorway carrying two cups of coffee. She crossed the room and set the coffee cups down on the nightstand, then returned to stand behind Lily.
Sensing Lily’s nervousness Eva sighed. “Are you as good as your daddy says you are?” she asked, looking at Lily’s reflection in the mirror.
Lily dropped her eyes to gaze at her hands toying with the last of her rags, her brown skin reddened at Eva’s question. Finally, she raised her eyes to find Eva still waiting on a response. She nodded quickly as if worried she would be accused of bragging.
“If your daddy thinks you are good enough, why on God’s great Earth would you be worrying about the opinion of that dead husband of yours, a man that lied almost every time he opened that mouth of his?”
“I don’t need a lecture on how stupid I was Eva,” Lily warned.
Eva tilted her head to the side and her expression softened, “I didn’t say you were stupid honey, what would be stupid is to let Henry’s words dictate to you now. Open the letter and you’ll know whether you’re good enough.”
Taking a deep breath Lily picked up the envelope and slipped her fingernail beneath the seal. She slid the folded letter out and with a final glance up at the mirror at Eva, who was smiling at her encouragingly while clutching her hands to her chest, she opened the paper up and started to read its contents.
Eva waited an excruciating couple of seconds before taking a step forward, trying to see beyond Lily to the paper.
“Well?”
Lily turned and gathered Eva into her arms, “They want to see me.”
Both women started to dance around yelling in celebration.
“Is it over?” a male voice yelled from outside the room.
“Is what over?” Eva asked testily, as the owner of the voice appeared in the doorway, scratching absently at his overnight growth of beard.
“The war. Is it over?” he asked again as he pulled his suspenders onto his shoulders with a snap.
Lily shook her head, “Sorry Eli. No, it’s not the end of the war.”
Eli gave a disappointed shake of his head, “Then what the hell has got you two hollering so early in the day.”
“It’s Lily,” Eva said proudly, her arm still around Lily’s waist. “She’s got an interview to go fly planes.”
***
Headquarters
Army Air Forces Flying Training Command
Fort Worth, Texas
April 1943
Dear Mrs McAllister,
It will be convenient with this headquarters for you to be granted an interview any day, Monday through Saturday, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
This office is located in the Texas and Pacific Building, Room 1001. It is suggested that you bring your logbook and pilot's license at time of interview.
Yours very truly,
Jacqueline Cochran,
Director
Women’s Flying Training
Lily looked at the piece of paper again. Re-reading the words, a slow smile spread across her face. She folded the letter along its already worn crease lines, the damage betraying the number of times she had opened it to check that the content had not changed. She placed the letter back in the purse on her lap and watched the landscape change as she departed New York and traveled towards Texas. She let the noise of the train lull her as it beat its rhythm along the rail tracks, while half-listening to the chatter of the uniformed men sharing her carriage.
Finally
, she thought as the scenery swept by,
finally I'm
going to be doing something useful.
***
Sitting stiffly outside the office waiting to be called, Lily was dressed in her Sunday best. Her light blue suit, despite her best attempts to steam it in the bathroom at her hotel, was slightly crinkled from being in her small suitcase during her journey to Texas, her gloved hands toyed nervously with the handle on her purse.
“Mrs McAllister?” a woman said, looking up from the paper in her hand towards where Lily was sitting.
“Rivera,” Lily corrected. “It's Mrs Rivera,” she smiled as she stood up and shook the woman's outstretched hand.
The woman looked down at the paper and frowned, “I'm sorry…administrative error…come in.” She opened the office door and allowed Lily to enter first.
“So…tell me why you want to join the Women's Airforce Service Pilots?” the tall lean woman asked, as she sat down behind a large wooden desk, indicating Lily towards the chair opposite.
Lily swept her hand to arrange her skirt before she sat perched on the seat, her knees pressed tightly together, she swallowed nervously her hands still clutching the handle of her purse. She was thankful that she was wearing gloves despite the Texas heat, that way the director would not be able to see how white her knuckles were from her anxious grip. She reached a cautious hand up to her pillbox hat to check that it was still in place.
“I have been flying since I was able to walk and I want to serve my country Miss Cochran,” Lily answered, her voice unwavering despite the nerves. She gave each finger of her glove a gentle tug and slipped them off, before laying them neatly in her lap.
The director smiled and nodded in understanding, “You are married?” she asked gently, nodding towards the gold ring on Lily's finger. In these times, it always felt a dangerous question to ask. However asking questions was the point of these interviews.
“Widowed,” Lily responded, her jaw tightened slightly as she answered, “earlier this year.”
Deciding to move back onto safer ground Jackie looked at the credentials she had in front of her. “You have logged over two thousand hours in the air?” she looked up in surprise towards the young woman in front of her.
Lily gave her a slow smile. “Like I said I've been flying since I could walk,” she laughed. “My Dad co-owns a fixed base in Miami, so I've been around planes my whole life. I would have logged more but my air time was limited while I was away at school and then I got married.”
Jackie laughed, “You have a degree in music I see.”
“I majored in violin and was playing with the New York Philharmonic when I heard about what you were doing.” Lily could feel herself start to relax; her heart rate had slowed as her nerves started to disappear. “Miss Cochran,” she said growing in confidence, “I would relish the opportunity to use the talent that I was born within this service.”
Nodding, the older woman smiled, “I trust we're talking about your flying abilities and not your musical acumen?”
Lily frowned thinking she had made a mistake. Her nerves started to make an unwelcome reappearance.
“Yes, sorry. I meant flying,” she corrected, feeling flustered.
“Relax Mrs Rivera. I’m teasing,” Jackie laughed, her face almost immediately turning somber. “I am surprised that we haven’t seen someone with your experience before now, we’re on our ninth intake you know?” Her tone held just a hint of challenge in it.
“I’m aware of that. When I heard last year of what you were doing I wrote to my husband,” a touch of red appeared on Lily’s caramel skin as she recalled the memory. “He forbade me to join.”
“I am sorry for your loss, but I am glad that you reconsidered,” Jackie said kindly, smiling empathetically. “If you could
ensure that you show my secretary your pilot's license, log book and papers, we'll be in contact.” She stood up and stretched her hand out over the desk, “Thank you again for taking the time to come Mrs. Rivera. It's been a pleasure meeting you.”
Feeling disappointed that her interview had been so short, Lily stood up to shake the older woman's hand. As she turned to leave she opened her mouth to plead her case further but closed it again as she lost confidence, before quietly uttering her thanks.
“Thank you Miss Cochran.”
Lily left the office and walked over towards the secretary's desk, pulling out her papers for verification. As she walked, she noticed that another woman now occupied the seat that she been sitting in. However, in stark contrast to Lily's stiff demeanor today, this woman was relaxed, her body language oozing the confidence that Lily so desperately desired. Even her hair, swept up into a fashionable victory roll at the front, fell into relaxed waves of blonde curls, unlike Lily’s own tightly pinned brown locks. As Lily waited for her papers to be verified her eyes met with the blue eyes of the woman sitting waiting, they shared a smile of acknowledgement that both were here for the same reason. The blonde woman glanced towards where the secretary was jotting down information from Lily's license, raising her eyebrows conspiratorially towards Lily in recognition of the hoops that they were currently jumping through.