“They’re staying in guest rooms on the lower floors. We’re not accustomed to accommodating colored guests. You must remain in your room here because your kind isn’t allowed in the dining room downstairs. Meals will be brought up to you.” Miss Martin gave her instructions as if reciting a weather report. No inflection, no change in demeanor.
Tidye stepped inside the room and knocked on the strange-looking unpainted tan-colored walls. “What in the world is this?”
“Terra-cotta. This is only the second building in the country to be constructed of fireproof materials.”
“Huh, finally some good news for us, given that we’re stuck all the way up here. I’d hate to think of our deaths weighing on your conscience if a fire broke out,” Tidye said, keeping her features expressionless.
Without another word, the maid huffed past them and headed for the stairs.
Louise gave a weary shake of her head and placed her valise on the ground before leaning over the washbasin to peer out the window. Thankfully, it opened with a groan, and a gasp of air stirred through the room. It was a small victory, but not enough to take the shame out of their circumstances. In silence, both women peeled off their travel clothes and lay atop the beds’ thin pale cotton spreads in their slips.
As promised, a maid delivered a tray with two plates of roasted chicken and baked beans, no dessert, and nothing to drink except for a small pitcher of lukewarm water.
“If I thought they’d care, I wouldn’t even eat their dried-out chicken and soggy beans,” Louise muttered.
“I thought the same thing, but I refuse to give them the satisfaction of us going hungry. Let’s not make ourselves any more uncomfortable than we already are,” Tidye said with a sniff.
When the light in their room started to fade, a knock at the door roused them.
Louise answered the door and found Caroline, wearing a mint-colored georgette dress, her hair in glossy waves. She held on to the doorframe, looking around their meager quarters, and wrinkled her nose. “This is it? After all of those stairs, this is all you get? When I received my room assignment, the manager said that this is the tallest building in Denver. He wasn’t kidding, huh?” Caroline shook her head in apology. “I’m sorry. This is terrible.”
“Never thought I’d look forward to sleeping on the train,” Louise said.
“Oh dear, I know. This isn’t much, but I nicked a few slices of lemon chiffon pie from the dining room. Figured you both enjoy sweets.”
Louise accepted the pie wrapped in a napkin edged in scalloped trim and thanked her.
“If only Howard was stopping in Denver, we could just get off the darned train and ride with him,” Caroline said.
“You miss him, huh?” Tidye asked.
“I just wish he had qualified for the men’s team.”
“He’s a good one, Caroline. He’s really proud of you.”
“I know. I can’t wait to see him when we get to Los Angeles. Poor guy, he’s going to be sleeping in his car most nights unless I can sneak him into our hotel. I can count on you girls not to rat me out, can’t I?”
They all laughed, and Caroline stayed for a couple more minutes before saying good night and heading downstairs. After she left, Louise took the napkin filled with pie and dropped it into the hallway wastebasket before shutting the door behind her.
Tidye nodded with satisfaction. “They can keep their darned pie.”
After Louise switched off the light, they lay in their beds staring into the darkness.
“I’m getting worried Coach is going to change the relay team and we’re going to be dropped,” Tidye said.
Louise rolled to her side, trying to make out Tidye’s outline in the darkness. “Why? What makes you say that?”
“Well, why are we stuck up here when everyone else is downstairs?”
THE NEXT DAY, aboard the train, Louise and Tidye lay in their berths, subdued, but relieved to be leaving the humiliation of the Brown Palace Hotel behind. From her upper bunk, Louise flipped the pages of a Photoplay. The experience at the hotel had left her with a tense stomachache, but the constant swaying of their train eventually lulled her into a sense of lethargy until a screech from Tidye’s bunk pierced the quiet. Startled, Louise shimmied to the side of her own bed and peered over the edge, where she came almost eye-to-eye with Babe. A smug grin split across the blond woman’s angular features. Tidye sprang from her bunk, her clothes dripping with water as Babe tucked a silver pitcher, the kind the waiters in the dining car carried, under her arm.
“Why on earth did you do that?” Tidye shrieked.
Babe guffawed and leaned over and smacked her thighs. “Lordy, I wish you could see your face right now.”
Outraged, Tidye pulled her soaked dress from her chest and stared at the drips of water pooling underneath her feet. “Have you lost your mind?”
Drawn to the commotion, Mary and a couple of other women appeared in the berth, circling around Babe and Tidye with grim expressions.
“What?” Babe surveyed the group. “It was a joke. Y’all have no sense of fun. I was just trying to liven things up.”
“I suppose it’s no accident that I’m the one you picked for your stupid joke.” Tidye was practically spitting in fury.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’m pretty sure you know exactly what I mean.” Tidye poked a finger straight at Babe and the Texan took a step backward.
“Sheesh, I thought I was doing you a favor. It’s blazing hot. Figured you’d appreciate cooling down.”
“Yeah? Well, I don’t appreciate it at all. Keep away from me, you hear? I don’t want any more of your jokes or favors. Nothing, got it?”
“Spoilsport. Can’t we have a little fun around here?” Babe huffed.
The other women averted their gazes and shuffled from the compartment. Only Mary stayed behind and helped Tidye step out of her wet dress.
“How can you stand to room with her?” Tidye fumed.
Mary bit her lip. “No one else would, and I
