“Want to go to the washroom with me?” Gertie whispers while they debate the merits of speed over savoring, abandoning the topic of a song for now.
Jerald stands and we slide out.
Lily jumps up from her side. “I’ll go too!”
We three wind our way through the crowd, officially greeting familiar faces with brief conversation. In the girl’s room we go where we’d intended all along — the mirror, where we fluff our hair and get to the nitty gritty.
“You like Hank, don’t you?” I ask Gertie since I’ve not had a chance to talk with her alone since we met them last night.
She shows us a smile I don’t recognize, one just for him. “He’s awful nice. And witty. And cute. And...oh, I’m a goner!”
Lily smirks, pulling lipstick from her handbag. She’s the only one among us who wears any. “He seems to think an awful lot about you, too, Gert.”
“You really think so?”
“Anyone with eyes can see.” Lily offers me the lipstick. “Would you like to try some? It’d be nice with your complexion.”
“My Mother would flip her wig, but thanks all the same.”
“How about you, Gert?”
“Nah, I’m afraid it’ll wipe off and I’ll look silly and never know it!”
Lily slides the stick away, clasping the handbag shut. “There is always that possibility if you’re not practiced. I swear I have to remind myself all the time, since I bite my lips constantly!”
“I have that habit, too,” I sigh. “Can’t seem to break it.”
She smirks, and wiggles her finger in front of my mouth. “Don’t think Jerald seems to mind, the way he’s always looking right here!”
With a private grin I stare at the floor, remembering his face. “He does do that.”
Gertie agrees, “The way Jerald looks at you, May!”
“Makes Peter and Hank feel like boys, doesn’t it?” Lily laughs. “I hope every boy finds something worth fighting for, if that’s what it does to him!”
A toilet flushes and the stall opens. Ethel steps out, chewing gum, curious eyes on me. “Don’t know how you did it.”
“Did what?” I ask.
“You know what!” She waves her hand up and down. “You don’t seem that special to me.”
Fire lights up my belly. “Every one of us is special, Ethel. And maybe you not thinking so is what makes you less!”
I walk out. Gertie follows. Lily, behind her, sticks out her tongue right before the door shuts.
19
JERALD
When the girls return, I’m waiting at the end of the booth. “I hate to say it, but I have to take you home.”
May frowns at the wall-clock, disappointed. “Already?”
“We have eleven minutes. I’m not sure if that’s enough, and I made a promise.”
“Oh alright,” she smiles. “So long, everyone!”
“So long, May!” They wave as Gertie and Lily sit back down.
I take her hand to lead the way, and May waves to kids she knows. Place must be the most popular in town on a Saturday night. I’d forgotten all about it, and visiting feels like almost being in a dream. This world is so different from the one I’m returning to. Not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad to be reminded of a world outside of the war. Then have to go dark once more.
“You are my sunshine!” Hank sings, standing on the booth, “…my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey.” More kids join in until everyone is singing, “You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away!”
The air is cool outside as we laugh and continue the lyrics until we can’t remember them. I prop my jacket on her shoulders to keep her warm.
“Did you see Gertie joining in?” May beams and glances down to her dress. “I’m the only one still wearing what we wore to the fair.”
“I think you look swell.”
“Even if I wore a potato sack.”
“That’s right.” I toss my keys in the air, wishing time didn’t move as quick as it does when you’re having fun.
On the ride to her house, May hugs my coat tight around her body and asks, “What’s it like to live on a submarine?”
“No place for a lady, I can tell you that.”
“You sound just like my Father. He says that about the factories.” Caressing my coat’s lapel, she tells me in a voice not angry, but thoughtful, “I think you men underestimate us women.”
I frown, “That’s not what I meant at all. If anyone were to ask me, I’d say that women haven’t been given the chance to show what they’re capable of. Pops is of the same mind. He believes in equal rights for all, that everyone should have the opportunity to show what they’re made of — no matter gender, race, or religion. It’s only then that we’ll see real growth, that’s what he says. And I agree with him. It’s just, on a sub, the stench isn’t pleasant for a lady.”
May looks at me. “Stench?”
Turning onto the road she lives on, I explain, “Water is rationed. We often go ten days without bathing.”
“Oh!”
“On top of that, all the fellas smoke cigarettes, so add smoke and the faint scent of sewage and you’ve got home sweet home.”
May scrunches her nose. “Is it really as bad as all that? And you love it?”
Yanking keys from the ignition, I throw May a proud smile, “I sure do.”
I hurry to escort her up the path, porch light on and curtain falling back into place on one of the windows.
“Mother was checking to see if it was us.”
She hands me my coat as the front door swings open, and there stands Mr. Kearns, not Mrs.
“I hope I’m not late, sir.”
May exclaims, “Gertie and Lily were there! We had a malt-drinking contest, and we won, of course.”
Her Father checks his watch, sternness softening. “Can’t say that two measly minutes is late, now can I?”
“That’s awful good of you, sir. I appreciate it.”
Mrs. Kearns appears behind her husband, watchful of me.
May smiles, “Good night, Jerald. Thank you for a lovely
