Small Town Girl (26 page)

The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

Jay shut his eyes, imagining the destruction as the president continued, naming other places the Japanese had attacked or
were attacking. Manila, the Philippines, Hong Kong, and on. All across the nation, people were listening to the president, ready to follow his lead. His path, the only path for America, was plain in his next words:

No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph—so help us God.

Not a half hour after the president finished his address, Congress declared war on Japan with only one dissenting vote. It’s what had to happen. Even before the workday was over, Jay could feel the shift in everybody he talked to. The week before, the war was “their” war. Now it was “our” war. He could feel the shift inside himself.

He worked late unloading a truckload of corn in case the boss couldn’t find anybody to help the next day. They were all suddenly living moment to moment with none of them knowing exactly what might happen on the day to come. Every time a news bulletin broke into the radio programs, everybody stopped whatever they were doing and bent their ears toward the words rattling out of the radio sets.

When the truck was unloaded at last, Mr. Lester put his arm around Jay’s shoulder. “Come on, son. I’ll buy you dinner and a drink before you head home.”

“That’s all right, sir. No need for that.” Jay looked at the
sky. The sun was going down. It would be dark soon. He needed to get back to Rosey Corner. He needed to look Kate in the eye and let her know he loved her. He had to give her the chance to love him back.

“But I want to,” the man insisted. “If you go off and enlist tomorrow, feeding you tonight is the least I can do, seeing as how I’m too old to line up with you.”

Mr. Lester could wield a shovel with the youngest of them in spite of his steel gray hair and deep wrinkles. He wasn’t a hard boss, but he did expect people to do what he said, especially the men who worked for him. It would be easier to just go with the man, let him buy him the food and take a few sips of the drink he offered. He wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

Jay followed him in his car out to the roadhouse where Jay had spent several Saturday nights when he was avoiding Mike. Once inside, Mr. Lester slapped him on the back and handed him his pay in cash, along with a couple of extra bucks for the meal, before heading home.

“That ought to buy enough to fill you up and let you buy a round for the guys on me. I’d stay and enjoy it with you, but the wife ruffles up like a mad old hen if I don’t eat what she cooks,” he said.

Jay watched him shaking hands like a politician as he made his way out of the roadhouse. Being friendly didn’t hurt business. Jay ordered a sandwich with the idea of eating it in the car on the way to Rosey Corner. It wasn’t really that late yet. It got dark early in December, but he had time. He didn’t know what he was going to say to Kate. What could he say when he was getting ready to enlist and leave Rosey Corner behind? But Graham’s words in the dark kept running through his head.
You got to give Kate that chance
. The chance to accept his love.

J
ay was picking up his sandwich to head out the door when a guy he’d met once or twice at the roadhouse came over carrying a couple of beers. Harry had obviously already downed a few.

“What’s your hurry, Tanner? You just got here.” He held out one of the glasses toward Jay. “Have a drink on me. Don’t you know there’s a war going on?”

He lurched toward the table. When Jay reached out to steady the man, some of the beer spilled on his arm. “Take it easy, Harry. Maybe you’d better sit down.”

“I’m not drunk,” the man said. “Not yet, but I intend to be before the night’s over. Might as well have a little fun before I cash in my number. You know they done bombed us. We’re gonna have to go over there and teach them a lesson or two.”

“So you joining up?” Jay lowered him into the chair by the table and sat back down with him to talk a minute. Harry wasn’t a bad guy. He just didn’t know when to stop. Drinking or talking.

“’Course I am. I’m a red-blooded American. Gotta toe the line for my country.” With a salute, he tried to stand but was too unsteady on his feet and sank back into the chair.

“That’s good, but maybe you ought to sober up first.”

“Sober ain’t no way to head off to war.” Harry sucked in a long draw of his beer before he pointed at Jay’s untouched drink. “Something the matter with your beer?”

“No, it looks fine.”

“It ain’t for looking. It’s for drinking.” He took another drink as he eyed Jay across the table. “You done gone and got religion down there in Rosey Corner? I hear you can’t even get a drink around there no more. Got this store, but you ain’t gonna get nothing worth drinking at that place. Rubbing alcohol maybe, and that stuff will kill you. The woman that runs it, she don’t hold with drinking. Leastways that’s what I’ve been told. But they say her husband used to tie one on now and again.”

He had to be talking about Kate’s parents. That was the only store in Rosey Corner. “Are you talking about the Merritts?”

“You know them then.” Harry tipped up his glass and drained the last of his beer. “Well, this was some time back. Maybe she reformed him. Women are good at trying to change a man, keep him from having the first bit of fun. That’s how come I’m still free and single.” He hiccupped. “If I want a girl’s company, I come around here and take my pick from the girls that don’t mind a little drinking instead of them Sunday school girls that think drink is gonna send you straight to hell. Where in the Bible does it say a thing about that?”

“You’d have to ask a preacher that,” Jay said.

“The way you’re giving that beer a wide berth, thought maybe you were thinking on becoming one.” Harry laughed. “Come on, Jay boy. Join the party. We might all be dead this time next year once they ship us out there where the bullets are flying and the bombs are falling.”

“True enough.” Jay took a sip of the beer just to get the man to leave him alone, and he was thirsty. He swallowed another drink before he set the beer back on the table.

He had no intention of getting drunk. Not tonight. Maybe never again. He’d had his times of drinking too much when he was trying to drown some troubles, but the troubles always floated right back up the next morning along with a pounding headache. The last time was after Mike told him he wasn’t good enough for Kate. He’d gone straight to the whiskey to prove Mike right.

But then he’d met Mr. Franklin and found the pup for Birdie. Blocked out Mike’s words and went back to Rosey Corner. Now Kate was dancing with him to music only they could hear. He wasn’t about to mess that up with liquor. He’d grab a bottle of pop on the way out to go with his sandwich.

When he pushed back his chair to stand up, Harry grabbed at him across the table, knocking over the beer. Jay jumped back, but not in time. The beer ran off the table and splashed on his legs. Now he’d have to go to Graham’s and clean up before he went to see Kate. He looked toward the window. It was full dark. The minutes were sliding away from him. He should have told Mr. Lester he wasn’t hungry and headed on down the road. He’d have been almost to Kate’s by now.

“And I was gonna drink that too.” Harry sounded ready to cry. He wiped his hand through the spilled beer and licked his palm.

Jay pulled a couple of coins out of his pocket and threw them on the table. “Here, have one on me, Harry.”

Harry started smiling again. “Always figured you for a good joe.” He grabbed the coins and called after Jay. “You better stay and meet some of the girls. I talked to one from Rosey Corner awhile ago. Pretty girl. Hadn’t seen her around here before. A mite young for me, but she was asking if I knew you.” Harry waggled his eyebrows at Jay.

Jay hesitated. It couldn’t be Kate. She wouldn’t be in a place like this, not unless she was with somebody else. Somebody like him. Then he knew. Even before he heard her laugh and
looked across the room to see her. Alice. Two men were smiling at her and pouring her a drink out of a whiskey bottle. It was plain she’d already had too much. Her head was wobbling to the side and her smile was loose.

It was none of his business, Jay told himself. The minutes were passing. Kate was waiting. Alice was a big girl. She’d been chasing after trouble since he’d first met her, and now she’d found it. But it wasn’t his problem. He didn’t even like the girl.

“You know her?” Harry asked.

“I know her. She’s just a kid.” A dumb kid.

“I think Smitty and Charley are planning on giving her some grown-up lessons tonight.” Harry laughed and lurched off toward the bar to get another drink.

None of his business, Jay reminded himself again, and he didn’t want to make it his business. He turned his back on her and the men. The girl would have to take care of herself. He would have never even known she was there if his boss hadn’t insisted on buying him supper. For all he knew, she might be there every night. But Harry said he hadn’t seen her before and Harry was there every night. Even if it was her very first time at a roadhouse, that didn’t mean she wasn’t getting what she expected. What she wanted.

Jay stopped at the counter and bought a pop and then headed to his car. He probably still had a couple of hours before it was too late to show up at Kate’s house. Time enough.

He was opening his door to slide behind the wheel when he heard a muffled scream. From the lights shining out the windows, he could see one of the men pushing Alice up against the outside of the building. His business or not, he couldn’t drive away and pretend he hadn’t seen her. Not when she was so obviously struggling to get free.

The man was too intent on attacking Alice to hear Jay come up behind him. Jay jerked him back and knocked him
down with one punch. Then he grabbed Alice and hustled her toward the car.

“Jay.” Her face lit up when she saw him. “You do care.” She leaned against him. A sick mixture of liquor and strong perfume assaulted Jay’s nose.

Jay pushed her away from him but kept a firm grip on her arm as he opened the passenger’s side door and shoved her in the car. “I care that you’re drunk and an idiot. Now keep your mouth shut or I’ll throw you back to the wolves.”

Jay was disgusted with her. Disgusted with himself for having to be a hero. He got behind the wheel and started up the car.

“I just wanted to have a little fun.” She sounded near tears.

“Was it fun?” His voice was hard.

“No.” She hiccupped. “He was hurting me.”

Some of Jay’s anger drained away. People messed up all the time. He, of all people, knew that. He blew out a long breath. “Bad things can happen to girls at places like this, Alice. But you’re old enough to know that when you go somewhere looking for trouble, you’re going to find it.”

“I was looking for you.”

“No, you weren’t.” Jay gripped the steering wheel harder. “Don’t even imagine that.”

She sniffled quietly for a minute before she asked, “Where are you taking me?”

“Where do you think? Your house.” He kept his eyes on the road. He didn’t want to look at the girl. He didn’t want to think about his ruined plans for the night. All because of her foolishness.

Her head shot up as she clutched Jay’s arm. “You can’t take me home. My father will kill me.”

“You should have thought of that before you sneaked off. Now you’ll just have to take your punishment.” He pushed her hand off his arm.

“You can’t take me home.”

After a minute when Jay kept driving without saying anything, she went on. The tears were gone from her voice and she sounded almost sober. “I’ll tell them you gave me the drinks, that you were trying to get me drunk so that you could take advantage of me.”

“They won’t believe you.” But even as he said it, Jay knew that wasn’t true. They would believe her long before they believed him. It might not matter that much what they believed, but would Kate and her family believe him over Alice?

She must have sensed his uncertainty because her own voice grew more confident. “You know Kate has a thing against drinking. Carl told me she was a real stick in the mud about having a good time, even though Mama says Kate’s father used to drink like a fish.”

Jay thought about Kate’s father drinking, maybe being drunk the way Harry had said. It was hard for him to imagine, but it wasn’t hard to imagine that Kate might not look kindly on somebody drinking. Especially somebody she was thinking about loving.

“All right.” He gave in. “If you don’t want to go home, where do you want to go?”

Her hand snaked back over to caress his shoulder. “We could spend the night in your car. You could keep me warm.”

“That’s not going to happen, Alice.” He shifted away from her hand. “Guess I’ll take you on home and take my chances on what people believe. It’s not like I’m going to be around here much longer anyway.”

She started sniffling again. “I thought you were nice.”

“I’m taking you home. That’s as nice as it gets.” He stared out at the road and hoped she’d just be quiet. That was the trouble with staying in one place so long. You got to know people, and even when you didn’t especially like them, you couldn’t turn your back on them. Or, in spite of everything, keep from feeling a little sorry for them.

She didn’t say anything for so long he thought maybe she’d fallen asleep, but then she spoke up in a small voice as they got close to Rosey Corner. “I don’t feel good.”

“I’ll bet.”

She looked out the window. “I can’t go home like this. Really, Jay, I can’t. You have to understand.”

Without a word, Jay kept driving. He couldn’t get to her house soon enough.

“If you’ll take me on down the road to my grandmother’s house, I promise not to say anything about being with you.”

“You’re not with me, Alice. I’m just taking you home.”

“But please let me go to my grandmother’s. I can sneak in there and nobody will be the wiser.”

“You’d better be the wiser and think twice before you do anything this stupid again.”

“Oh, I will, Jay, but I can’t go home. I can’t. Please. My grandmother’s house isn’t too far the other side of Rosey Corner. Please.” She was sounding like a little girl again.

What difference did a few more miles make? As long as he got her out of his car. It wasn’t like he’d never done anything dumb when he was her age. “Okay, tell me where.”

He looked over at Kate’s house as he drove by. The lights were on. It wasn’t too late yet. He even thought he spotted a face peering out the window, maybe watching for him. He’d have to drop Alice off and go back to Graham’s and clean up. He didn’t want to show up smelling like Harry’s beer. Or Alice’s perfume.

He turned his lights off and coasted to a stop at the driveway Alice pointed out.

“Ohh, I’m sick.” Alice dropped her head over and fumbled for the door handle.

“Don’t you dare throw up!”

Jay jumped out and ran around the car to yank the door open. She was retching as she tumbled out against him. He
tried to step out of the way, but he couldn’t completely turn loose of her. Not without letting her fall on the ground. So he held onto her as her vomit hit his legs. Could the night get any worse?

After she heaved until there was nothing left to come up, he gave her his handkerchief. She was shaking all over as she leaned against the fender of his car and wiped off her mouth. She held the handkerchief back out toward him.

“Keep it,” he told her. “You might need it again.”

“I’m not going to throw up more, am I?” she almost wailed.

“Maybe.” He turned her around and pointed her toward the house. He couldn’t keep from feeling sorry for her. “You’ll feel better after you get inside and warm up.”

She went a few steps before she turned around. “Thank you, Jay.”

“Just go.” He watched her until she disappeared through the front door. He’d never been so relieved to see a door open and close in his life.

He picked up a handful of leaves and tried to wipe off his pants leg. He smelled like a bar at closing time. Nothing he could do about that. He threw the leaves down and got back in his car, trying to keep the offensive pants from touching the seat.

He wasn’t going to make it to Kate’s house. He’d go by the store in the morning and explain what happened. If her mother was there, he’d get Kate to take a walk with him. If it wasn’t too cold. If a hundred things. But before the day was over tomorrow, he would tell her he loved her. He would.