Historal fiction of Appalachian woman in WWII military and beyond.
Chapter 5
There had been time for two cigarettes before the train appeared at the Balsam Depot to take her back to Chattanooga. The train arrived in Chattanooga only minutes before departure time for the bus ride back to Oglethorpe. Arriving late in the evening, Dal reached her room in the EQ and dropped her suitcase to the floor, then stretched full length on the top of the bed and fell into a deep, dark sleep.
She awoke to reveille not sure of where she was. It took a few minutes to realize she was in her bed in EQ. When she realized she was on her bed in uniform she jumped to her feet at attention, then relaxed. She was still on furlough. Ok, first a shower, then a fresh uniform, then check in with the commanding officer’s clerk and then report for duty. No need to hurry, most of the personnel were still gone. She listened to hear if there were any sounds coming from the other rooms and there were none. It was safe to follow through with her plans.
Later in the day, sitting in the mess hall smoking a cigarette, Dal began to feel anger rising again with the thoughts of her reception at Eileen’s and having to spend Christmas with her family. In front of her on the table lay a tablet and pen along with several wadded pieces of paper, evidence of the results of her attempts to write Eileen a letter. She didn’t know what to write. I haven’t done anything to be treated like that! Let Eileen write and apologize to me! Who does she think she is? She has no right to treat me like that and to turn her mother against me too. No, Dal thought as she gathered all her papers together and got up from the table, let Eileen apologize before she gets another letter from Dal Dawson. She’ll be sorry she messed up my Christmas furlough. There are new friends here who appreciate my company and I’ll just have a good time with them and let Eileen stew in her own juices for awhile. The girls should be coming back any day now and Jane should be coming in soon. They’ll be much better companions than I found back home. There’s the New Year’s party to look forward to and 1945 will bring better times. Confidence began to replace anger as her thoughts continued to churn.
The first reveille of 1945 found Dal waking up in Jane’s arms. The night before had been a revelation for Dal with Jane teaching her how to feel love in a whole new way. She had felt wanted and admired and appreciated and excited and touched and understood for the first time in her life. This was more than just a new year for Dal; this was a new way to live. All the yearnings and longings and frustrations she had endured for so long were now fading into feelings of strength and freedom. This was a revelation she could live with, but only in private. Jane had warned her how dangerous it could be if anyone were to find out about their lovemaking. They must be extremely careful whenever they were around anyone, especially on base. This was something to be shared with absolutely no one, ever! Secrecy was no problem for Dal; she had lived with secrets all her life. This felt good and nothing was going to jeopardize it.
A routine was established so that poker games and group activities in their EQ were on week nights leaving their weekends free. Dal and Jane could leave base and spend their time in total privacy in town. Most of the WACs were busy with their own lives during off duty hours. Some were married or had boyfriends stationed overseas or in bases too far away for visits. Many stayed in the EQ on Friday and Saturday nights waiting for phone calls, writing letters, curling their hair, doing their laundry or other chores. Since Dal and Jane were both single and had no boyfriends, no one thought about their leaving and returning to base together. They were friends and it was a natural thing to do. Sometimes there were parties in other quarters they would attend, sharing time with buddies, but they would always find excuses to leave before the last bus of the evening left the base taking them to town. This lifestyle, however, was only destined to last a few months. In mid-April Dal received word from home heralding changes.
April 14, 1945
Dear Dal,
We just can’t believe that our dear president has died. I know he was ill for a long time but we really thought he would be all right. It is so sad and all that anyone can talk about. We listen to the radio all the time hearing about what’s happening and all the people that have gone to Washington to pay their respects. I wonder what this will mean with the war now that we will have Truman in office. We don’t know if he’s going to make it worse. It’s a frightening time for all of us.
Rick is scheduled to come home on furlough next month and I pray this won’t change those plans. I have worried so about him and am anxious to see him again. He has made rank again and is a Corporal now. He hopes to make Sergeant again soon. The war is crazy. It’s good you can be safe and so close to home.
Love from all,
Mother
There had been rumors flying about the base that the war in Europe was over and Germany would surrender. The rumors proved true. May 8th became the official day the surrender was complete. There were celebrations everywhere for “Victory in Europe” day. The men in Europe would be coming home and that meant that most of the WACs at Oglethorpe would be needed more on the west coast to help the efforts of the troops still fighting in the Pacific Theater. Dal received orders to report to Fort Hamilton, California by May 28th. That gave her barely more than a week to get there. Jane promised to request a transfer and get there as quickly as she could. It was wartime and it was the Army and there was nothing to do except follow orders. Dal packed her duffle bag and was soon on her way.
Fort Hamilton had been built as the headquarters for the 1st Wing of the Army Air Corps. It was utilized as a point of departure for air troops bound for the Pacific. There were so many troops moving into and out of the base that multiple units of temporary housing had to be added to accommodate them. Fort Hamilton, just north of San Francisco, was a drastic change in climate from Oglethorpe and just as drastic a cultural difference.
Dal reached the base in total awe of the countryside she had seen. She had crossed the United States by rail from Chattanooga to St. Louis to Kansas City to Denver to Salt Lake City and across the deserts and mountains of Nevada and California to San Francisco. She had glimpsed the Pacific Ocean from the bus windows as she rode to the base. This was why she had joined the WACs; she was seeing the world. Dal thought she was being transferred to Fort Hamilton to continue her work as a mechanic and upon arrival was pleasantly surprised to find that she was being assigned as a driver. She was also gaining a stripe in the process and that meant a raise in pay. Making a career of the military might have been a good idea after all. As soon as Jane arrives all will be well in my world and better than it has ever been before! These thoughts kept her whistling as she completed her daily tasks.
Dal’s job as a driver soon made her familiar with every corner of the base. While her delegated officer was busy about his business, she was making sure the jeep was in tip-top condition so that it was ready to roll whenever the orders were given. She soon made friends among other drivers and the mechanics in motor transport where her jeep was serviced. She was assigned temporary housing until something more permanent became available and the way personnel were shifted from housing unit to housing unit made it impossible to make friends among the women in her quarters.
Often, while waiting at one desNitation or another for their officers to reappear, the drivers would get a little card game going or sit in the shade and swap war stories while smoking their cigarettes. The drivers shared meals at the mess hall too since they were not in a routine that allowed regularity of where and when they ate. Many times meals were spent alone among a hall full of strangers. So many troops were transferred through this base that familiar faces were few and far between.
June 21, 1945
Dear Dal,
I’m a married woman now. Dan Crayton and I were married at Patterson Chapel on the third of this month. Dan and I have bought the old Helton place and mother is going to live with us there. We’re closing up the old home place for now. I will be teaching at Qualla this fall and Dan has a job as a prison guard at Whittier. He is assigned to guard the chain gangs. You may know his family, they are from Sylva.
Mother sends her love,
Eileen
Dal was lying on her bed as she read Eileen’s letter. Tears began to flow. She didn’t understand why she was crying when all she felt was anger. I’ve been betrayed and rejected. That’s why Eileen was so cold at Christmas. That’s why she didn’t want me there. She was seeing Dan Crayton, the biggest drunk and whore-hopper in Jackson County. How could Eileen do such a horrible thing to me? How could she throw away our lifetime friendship and reject my love for this worthless man? There’s no going back now. Eileen has put up a roadblock that will end our friendship forever. She has taken away everything I have always held dearest and given it to that man. Why has she done this to me? What have I ever done except love her with all my heart? Dal wiped away the tears with the back of her hand and jumped up from the bed. There was only one solution for getting this off her mind. It was definitely time for a trip to the enlisted men’s club for a drink.
The club was packed with uniformed men and women as Dal made her way from the door to the bar. Beer in hand she turned to survey the crowd and see if there was anyone she knew well enough to join their table. A familiar voice carried itself over the sea of confusion of chatter and music. Dal searched the room frantically. Where was that voice coming from? She couldn’t find the owner. Maybe it was just someone who sounded like him. Maybe it was just wishful thinking. She turned back to the bar and ordered another beer. A strong arm wrapped around her shoulder and she was turned into a big hug from someone in a Marine uniform just as that familiar voice said, “Dal, I’ve been looking for you all day. I couldn’t find you. How the hell are you?” and Dal wrapped her arms around her brother and gave him the biggest hug she could muster.
“Bring your beer over here and join me and my buddies. I want to introduce them to my little sister.” Rick led her to a table toward the back of the room. “Hey guys, behave yourselves now, this is my little sister, Dal.” He offered her a chair and continued, “Dal, this is Jake and Crawford and Grady and Chief.” As he introduced each one of the men, they nodded their heads and raised their beers in salute.
“How long have you been here Rick? Why didn’t you let me know you were coming?”
“Just got in today and we ship out tomorrow. I’ve been home on furlough, but I’ve spent most of it on the trains. Mama said you were home for Christmas. That meant a lot to her. I’m glad you could be there. I was there for Nita’s birthday. I gave her some red lipstick and a little compact with a mirror in it and a pair of nylons. You would have thought I’d given her a thousand bucks! That kid’s a looker. When she gets out of school we’ll have to carry shotguns to keep the boys away!” Rick opened another beer from the collection of bottles on the table.
“Where are you staying tonight?” Dal asked as she reached for another beer.
“Right here, don’t need to sleep tonight. We’ll get plenty of that on the ship on the way over to wherever we’re goin’ this time, right boys?” And they all lifted their bottles and clanked them together. “We may get there in time to turn around and come back. I’ve heard that there’s some big secret that’s going to end the war once and for all, then we all come home.” He lifted his bottle again for another round of bumping them together in a toast to what he’d said.
Dal knew Rick was well on his way to being falling down drunk and there’d be no time for them to speak together in private. She wanted to talk to him about all the things that had happened. All the things, that is, except Jane. Rick would understand about Eileen’s betrayal and their daddy’s behavior at Christmas and how unfair life had been to her, but that wasn’t going to happen tonight. The way he and his buddies were bragging about all their war stories and what they’d do if they had the chance and the ways they were trying to get the attention of some women at another table told Dal it was time to go back to her quarters. Her brother was there to party and she felt like an intruder.
“I have to get some sleep, Rick. I have to be at work and alert in the morning. I’m glad I got to see you and your buddies. Why don’t you write me sometime?” Dal shouted, trying to make herself heard over the rising volume of the sea of voices in the club.
Rick stood up and gave her another big hug, “I love you Dal,” then fell back into his chair and gave all his attention to his buddies and their stories.
Dal waved as she left the table but no one noticed. She waded through the crowd and welcomed the change as she slid out the door and into the quiet night. The walk back to her quarters helped clear her head and she had no trouble falling asleep when she finally crawled into her bed.
1 July 1945
Dearest Dal,
Here’s wishing you a happy birthday next week. I have sent a package and am hoping it will arrive in time for your celebration. I have heard nothing about my transfer but have heard all sorts of scuttlebutt, the base is buzzing with stories. There is news that Ft. Des Moines will be closed and that the army is doing away with the WACs. It’s a known fact that there are lots of women being discharged for no reason at all. There’s talk about some big secret the military has that is going to end the war soon and all the men will be coming home and that is why so many of the women are being released from their duties. I’ve also heard that after Ft. Des Moines is shut down that Oglethorpe will be next. I think it might be because it is a training base and if the war does end soon there won’t be any need for training bases. There is so much talk about changes that I’m worried it will keep me from getting my transfer at all. We need to make plans to get together somehow if I can’t get to Hamilton. Write soon and let me know what you think we can do.
Love,
Jane
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15 July 1945
Dear Jane,
Got your package on my birthday and thanks for the new dungarees and shirt. That was a perfect present and just what I needed. I’m very fond of the army Zippo lighter; every time I light a cigarette I’ll think of you. Yes, it is too bad they didn’t make any for WACs, maybe ladies aren’t supposed to smoke! Too late for me, I’ve been smoking since I was four. The best thing happened. My brother Rick showed up here on his way back to the pacific front and took me out for a birthday dinner and a night on the town. We had a great time. Wish you could have been here to meet him. It wasn’t on the day of my birthday but it was still a great birthday present. He was only here for one day and he wanted to spend it with me. Some of the other drivers took me to the enlisted club on the night of my birthday and bought me beers and we celebrated. Now I’m twenty-one years old, no kid anymore!
Things are really buzzing on this base too. We have the same rumors you do and more GIs coming and going than you could believe. I’m driving officers all over this base every minute of the day. No one really knows what’s going on, it’s a well kept secret for sure, but it must be really big because there’s been all kinds of big brass showing up here and all kinds of meetings with all the officers. The drivers usually get wind of what’s happening but this time we don’t know anything either.
Thanks again for the birthday goodies. I’m going to go use the Zippo now. Keep trying for that transfer.
Love,
Dal
On August 9, 1945, President Truman announced the dropping of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. On that same day another atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki, Japan. August 15, 1945 was “Victory in Japan” day as the Allies announced the surrender of Japanese forces and World War II ended. There were celebrations around the globe and Fort Hamilton was no exception. There were no strangers on base that day as everyone grabbed and hugged and kissed whoever was nearby. Dal felt as if she had been the loser in a boxing match by the time she got to her quarters. The drivers were getting together at the enlisted club for a celebratory party and she was invited. The war was over. Rick would be coming home to stay. His enlistment would be over within six months. Dal’s enlistment could be over too unless she worked quickly to re-enlist. Women were being discharged to open positions for the returning men. The WACs that Dal knew were happy to do this. The return of the men from overseas meant life would be normal again with marriages and pregnancies and the men taking over the jobs as their wives stayed at home taking care of the house and the babies. Dal wanted no part of that American dream. She wanted a military career and now was the time to insure the possibility. She would request a meeting with her commanding officer first thing in the morning.
Dal’s re-enlistment request was granted and came complete with Sergeant’s stripes and a raise in pay. Her new orders with her re-enlistment established her as the main driver for the base commander and that gave her top status among the company of drivers. She was moved into permanent enlisted housing and although the room she was assigned was designed to house four, she was the only occupant. The months following the end of the war were busy ones as shiploads of men arrived from the Pacific and scurried about the base securing all the necessary paperwork to be officially discharged and sent home. Dal’s job was an easy one. The CO spent more time at the golf course and Officer’s Club than he did covering the base for meetings with his fellow officers.
Dal picked up her mail on the way to her quarters. She opened the letter from Jane first.
3 September 1945
Dearest Dal,
I finally got my transfer and it is sending me to Fort Lewis, Washington. I am so angry. It’s because of my classification. Clerical staff is needed there to help with the separation papers for all those men coming back from the Pacific. They are flying us on airplanes to get us there faster! This will be the first time for me to fly in one. I am so excited about that but mad that I can’t come to Hamilton Field to be with you. I know you’re really happy with the job you have there and it’s selfish of me, but would you put in for a transfer to Fort Lewis? I made Sergeant too, by the way. I think they are promoting all the WACs that are staying in as some kind of reward to keep a few of us. There’s still talk here that there will be no more Women’s Army Corps and that we will be regular army and that’s okay with me! Fort Lewis is near Seattle and I hear that it’s beautiful country there. Need to run, have loads of work to do.
Love, Jane
Dal smoked a couple of cigarettes as she pondered Jane’s news and then opened the envelope from Balsam.
October 8, 1945
Dear Dal,
We’ve had lots of good news. The best of course is that the war is over and Rick has written that he will be coming through some fort in the state of Washington to separate from the Marines. He will be coming home to stay. Naomi has just found out that she is pregnant again. Junior says this one has to be a boy. She’s due in February. Meg just turned a year old in September. We had a nice little family party here for her and she got some of the cutest little dresses from the sisters in Virginia. Mother is not doing so well. Letters from the sisters say that Mother is having her sinking spells more often now and her memory is not at all good. The doctor thinks it may be hardening of her arteries. They are already talking about who should take care of her if worst comes to worst.
Nita is already excited about her graduation next May. She is so happy about finishing school and getting a real job and being little Miss Independent. She and Martha talk about nothing else except getting their own little place and working as reporters for the newspaper.
Polly has had a rough summer. She had a bad bout with influenza for three months. It would be nice to hear from you more often and to know more about California. I don’t expect I will ever see it for myself.
Love,
Mother
Dal had saved the letter from Qualla for last.
October 10, 1945
Dear Dal,
Your letters have been very welcome. I’m glad we are on speaking terms again. I’ve missed you. Mama has been doing better and is in better spirits. I know you are on the other side of the country but we have been hoping that you could come home for the holidays this year. It’s been almost a year since we’ve seen you and you’re welcome here any time. We have two extra bedrooms upstairs and Dan would be pleased to have you visit also.
I’m enjoying teaching here at Qualla. It is such a welcome change to have the two other teachers to work with and discuss the children’s progress. Most of the schools now are going to multiple classrooms and only combining two or three grades together in one room. It is so nice to be teaching curriculums for only two grades at a time. I have the sixth and seventh grade students. I like this age for children because they are old enough to not be such behavior problems as the younger ones and they are capable of doing so much more. There is talk of adding a kitchen and lunchroom in the school and everyone is very excited about that idea!
It’s time for the milking and then supper. I wanted to take a few minutes to let you know that we are all hoping to see you sometime soon.
Love,
Eileen
Dal cleared a month’s furlough with her CO and the base commander and found a substitute driver to cover her absence. Her status on base and her drinking buddies from the enlisted club helped her secure airplane rides from air base to air base taking her all the way to Oglethorpe in only four days with layovers that allowed sleeping time between flights. Dal was on the train from Chattanooga to Balsam before Halloween. When she arrived home she found that Rick had not returned and there had been no more letters from him since the one in late September. Dal assured her mother that this was nothing to worry about. There were thousands of GIs on their way home from the Pacific and it took time to get them all where they wanted to go. She told her about the mountains of paperwork involved in separating from the military and that he was probably stuck somewhere filling out forms. The war was over and it was time to stop worrying. Rick would get home as quickly as he could.
Dal only stayed at the house long enough to get the grime of travel washed away and change into some clean dungarees and a fresh shirt. Her mother had been the only one at home while she was there and she counted that a blessing. She didn’t want to see her daddy. She was disappointed that Rick wasn’t there, that was the only reason she had stopped at Balsam. Within an hour of arriving, Dal was back on the train and on her way to Qualla. Eileen had a telephone in her home now and Dal had called several times along the way to tell her she was coming and when she hoped to be there. From the depot at Whittier she called to tell them she had arrived and Eileen assured her that Dan would be there momentarily to pick her up in their pickup truck. True to Eileen’s word, Dan arrived shortly after Dal’s call and as they rode to the house he told her excitedly about the new 1946 Oldsmobile he had ordered and hoped would arrive before Christmas. It was exactly like the first automobile to roll off the assembly line following the end of the war. It was a beauty and he waited every day for the phone to ring telling him his car had arrived and he could go to Asheville and drive it home. As they turned into the graveled driveway leading to the house, Dal could see that improvements had been made to the old Helton place. There was a new screened in porch covering the front of the house and freshly painted wood covered what had once been a shingled exterior. As Dan drove around the house to the rear Dal could see a newly built garage large enough for two vehicles. Dan and Eileen were obviously doing very well.
As she exited the truck the back door swung open and Eileen came running out to greet her with a warm smile and open arms. The women hugged freely, happy to see each other and happy to be on good terms again. Eileen hooked her arm in Dal’s and led her across the back porch and through the door into the kitchen. Aunt Sallie was rising from a kitchen chair as they entered the room and turned with arms outstretched. Dal hugged her gently and Sallie suggested, “Why don’t you give Dal the 5 cent tour?” Eileen agreed and hooking her arm in Dal’s once again steered her through the kitchen and into the next room which housed a formal dining room.
The room was filled with a large table with a lace tablecloth, 8 matching chairs, a matching sideboard, and a matching corner hutch that all appeared to be in a highly polished cherry wood of good quality. There was a thick rug covering the floor underneath all the furniture. As Eileen steered Dal through the dining room they approached opened French doors that led to the living room. To their right was a wall with a large mantled fireplace, the far wall held huge windows that gave a beautiful view of the mountains in the distance beyond the screened in front porch. The wall to the left held a door that led to a front bedroom that Eileen explained was Sallie’s room. The living room furniture looked new and also sat on a room sized rug. Sallie’s room held her bed and chiffarobe and small dressing table from the old place and looked just as Dal remembered it except it too sat on yet another room sized rug. Beside Sallie’s door was a hallway that led past a set of stairs and to the right behind Sallie’s room was the largest bathroom Dal had ever seen outside of military barracks. The bath held a large claw foot bathtub, a porcelain toilet, a large porcelain sink built into a wall to wall cabinet filled with drawers and doors, and a hot water heater. The floor was tiled in a watery blue colored sea of squares. Dal looked in wonder at Eileen and she just smiled and nodded.
Taking Dal’s arm again, Eileen steered her from the bathroom, down the hall past the staircase to another bedroom on the right. This room held two beautifully carved beds, one in each corner against the far wall with a small cabinet in between. At the front of the room there was a large dressing table with a matching chair and against the wall behind the door was a tall armoire. All the furniture was a matching design and was of highly polished walnut wood. Dal just shook her head in amazement. The door to the left at the end of the hall beneath the steps led back into the kitchen.
“That’s the nickel tour. What do you think?” Eileen asked as she offered Dal a cup of coffee.
“I think you must have robbed a bank in a big city!” Dal grinned as she took her cup and set it on the table.
Eileen laughed. “Dan inherited a tidy sum when his mother died this summer. His sisters inherited the family home and all the furnishings. The money from selling the business when his father died last year was divided between him and his brother. Dan gave me this house and all the furnishings for my wedding gift. The land is his, of course. Isn’t it something?”
“It’s something all right.” Dal sipped her coffee looking around the kitchen at all the modern conveniences. It looked like a picture from one of the new magazines. “I’m truly happy for you Eileen. I’m glad you and Aunt Sallie can live in so much comfort. I know Uncle Zach would be happy for you too.”
Eileen’s face clouded at the sound of Zach’s name. She turned to the stove to get the coffee pot. “Ready for another cup?”
The women drank coffee and chatted about the war and what might happen now that it was over and about the people in the community that had died since they had last talked. They talked about the weather and the farm and Qualla School. It was pleasant visiting this way and there were plenty of smiles and chuckles among the stories. Daylight was fading as Sallie walked into the kitchen asking about supper.
Dal woke up the next morning in the upstairs bedroom nearest the stairway and looked out the window at the pasture dotted with grazing cattle. She could hear the others moving around below but wasn’t in any hurry to start her day. No requests or demands had been made on her visit, she’d been invited to just relax and enjoy her stay. Eileen was preparing to go to school as she did every week day this time of year and Dan was preparing for his work day at the prison. Dal would be left with Aunt Sallie until they returned in the afternoon.
The autumn landscape outside the window was like a picture postcard. Mother Nature had been generous with her colors and the trees were dressed in a multitude of shades of yellows, oranges, reds, and browns. Dal heard the truck being cranked and warmed up for its morning journey as she put her feet to the floor. She descended the stairs to the bathroom as she heard Eileen call out a goodbye just before the back door slammed. The house grew quiet with only the ticking of the mantel clock interrupting the silence.
On the night of Halloween Eileen needed to be at the schoolhouse for a program that had been prepared for the children and their parents. Sallie went to bed early and Dan and Dal were left to entertain themselves. Dan turned on the radio and turned the tuner hopping from station to station without finding any programs either of them was interested in hearing. He suggested a walk to the barn and Dal accepted. When they arrived at the barn he took down a lantern and lit it and walked to the back of a stall where a small door had a hasp with a lock. He then took a key and opened the lock and pushing the door inward held the lantern and motioned for Dal to enter. Dal knew this was probably where Dan kept his liquor. She knew there was no way Eileen would allow it in the house and that when he wanted to drink he simply came to the barn and indulged his habit. She had known from the invitation to take a walk that it would mean sharing a drink with him. That was fine with her; she hadn’t had a drink in the two weeks since she had left Hamilton Field. If Dan’s liquor was as good as Eileen’s furniture, she was in for a real treat.
She woke up alone in the barn sometime in the wee hours of the morning. The liquor had been very good and smooth and mellow and plentiful. She decided it would be a good idea to wait until Dan and Eileen had left for work before returning to the house so that she didn’t chance Eileen catching her in this condition. Dal had no idea how much alcohol she had consumed but knew without doubt that it was enough to cause her to pass out without a memory of when it happened and enough to leave her with a humdinger of a hangover. She crawled over into the corner of the stall and pushing the hay into what resembled a pillow, lay down slowly and fell back to sleep. When she woke up again it was the middle of the morning and she managed to get into the house and upstairs without seeing anyone. She grabbed a change of clothes and quietly slipped downstairs to the bathroom for a thorough cleansing, head to toe. She had finished her bath and was midway through brushing her teeth when Sallie knocked on the door.
“I’m almost finished Aunt Sallie, be right out.”
“It’s the telephone, Dal, it’s your mother and she’s calling from the store. I’ll tell her you’ll be just a minute.”
Dal finished up quickly and put the pile of dirty clothing on the stairs. The phone was in the living room on a little table beside one of the matching pair of overstuffed chairs.
“Mother, is something wrong? Did someone die?” Dal felt panicky as she spoke.
“No Dal, its good news. I thought you’d want to know that Rick will be home this weekend. He called King’s Store this morning and left me a message. Norton just came and told me. I thought you’d want to be here to see him when he gets home. He said he thought he would arrive Friday night or Saturday morning.”
“You’re right; of course I want to see him. I’ll be on the Saturday train. Tell Nita I’ll be sleeping in her bed.”
“Okay Dal, we’ll see you Saturday.” There was a moment of static and then silence.
Dal spent the afternoon washing her clothes in the wringer washing machine on the back porch and hanging them on the clothesline to dry. It would be best to take care of her laundry here where she could make use of the modern conveniences. One more day here and she would be on her way home to see her brother. This had been a good furlough except for that hangover and not being able to remember much about all the drinking. Eileen and Aunt Sallie had treated her like they had in the old days when Uncle Zach was alive and it was good to know that she still had a happy home with them to come back to whenever she needed it.
Saturday morning arrived and Dal got off the train at Balsam. Walking up the hill to her parents’ home was a happy journey this time. She stepped through the front door into total silence. Everyone was still asleep. She filled the coffeepot and put it on the stove, then shoved wood into the stove’s firebox and poked the embers until the wood caught and there was a good blaze. The stove heated quickly and the coffee pot began to perk.
Susie came into the kitchen just as Dal sat down at the table and lit a cigarette. She walked over and gave Dal a hug across her shoulders and went to the sideboard for the flour and rolling pin to start the biscuit making. Nita ran through with a “Hi Dal” as she raced to the door and out the back toward the outhouse.
“How’s Sallie and Eileen?”
“They’re fine. Living in a big house with lots of fancy new furniture. Dan has given Eileen everything she could ever want. They bought the old Helton place and the pastures are full of good looking cattle. Eileen and Aunt Sallie are very happy there.”
“That’s wonderful. I know it must have been quite a blow when Zach died. Eileen was always a daddy’s girl and Sallie was probably lost without him. I’m glad they’re doing so well.”
“Who the hell is that ugly old broad in my mama’s kitchen at this ungodly hour?” boomed down from the loft, then Rick swung down from the railing like a monkey from a tree limb. Dal stood up just as he reached her and they hugged like grizzly bears. Rick grabbed her cigarette and walked around the table to hug his mother. “You fixin’ me some good gravy old woman?” Grabbing Susie around the waist, he danced her around the kitchen floor a few steps before turning her back toward the stove.
Dal sat down and lit another cigarette. “When did you get in?”
“Last night. Thought I’d never get here. Had to sleep places smaller than foxholes. It was a helluva trip. You just get here from Qualla?” Rick pulled out a kitchen chair and turned it around backwards before straddling it.
“Yeah, rode up the mountain this morning. How’s it feel to be a civilian?”
“Like I might have to work for a living.”
Susie brought two cups to the table and poured them each some coffee. “I’ll have the biscuits and gravy ready in just a minute or two. Dal, your daddy’s not here this morning. It’s just us.”
Nita came back from the outhouse and stood behind Rick hugging him around his shoulders and rubbing her face against his curly hair.
Susie turned to look at her children, “Nita, go put some clothes on, you can’t run around here all day in your nightshirt. Your room needs to be ready for you to share it with your sister, she’ll be sleeping in your bed while she’s home. Dal, how long can you stay?”
“I’ll need to leave in about a week to get back to base on time. It takes a few days to fly on airplanes using military hops. It took four days to get to Oglethorpe and a day for the train from Chattanooga. I’ll be here till a week from Monday if the good lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise.”
Susie served biscuits and cornmeal gravy and coffee while Dal and Rick swapped war stories. Nita would interject occasionally with “tell another one!” and the stories became more and more exaggerated. When they’d finished eating and had smoked a couple of cigarettes and downed several cups of coffee, Dal and Rick both rose from their chairs and nodded toward the back door. Rick spoke first, “Let’s take a walk Dal”. Susie was insisting that Nita clean her room and make space for her sister, a request that was met with moans and groans and the slow shuffling of Nita’s feet leaving the kitchen.
Dal followed Rick out the back door and around the house, then down the hill to the road that led to their uncle’s house. When they passed Norton’s, Polly was in the wire fenced chicken yard scattering feed to the hens and waved to them as they passed by. Dal and Rick called out “Hey Aunt Polly” in unison and kept walking. They had taken the higher road at the fork just before Norton’s house and the fallen leaves crunched under their feet as they walked. There was something almost sacred about this stretch of the old dirt road. It was enclosed in trees and so still and quiet there was almost the hushed sound of their Indian ancestors who had walked here centuries before them.
As they began to hear the rushing water of the creek they knew they were near their grandmother’s house. It had been kept closed since she had moved to live with the sisters in Virginia and opened only for their mother to give it a good cleaning twice a year in case any of the sisters’ families wanted to travel this way. No one had visited since the war began and gas was rationed. Their mother had been faithful in keeping it cleaned twice a year and Norton had seen to it that the house had been maintained in tip-top condition with repairs and fresh paint. Rick and Dal walked down the familiar path around the house to the front yard. The porch stretched across the front of the impressive two-story home and continued around one corner and halfway down that side ending in a sweeping set of wooden stairs with elaborate banisters. The front stairs were rock work done by their daddy before their births and the rock work was continued beneath the porch decorating the basement foundation of the house. Each step had a rock pedestal with a cement top placed at each end just the right size for a large flowerpot. Their grandmother had always had a fondness for flowers.
Sitting on the porch at the top of the front stairs, smoking their cigarettes and enjoying the chill of the November day, Rick turned to Dal with a look of grave seriousness. “Dal, we need to talk.”
She felt the hair rise on the back of her neck. Rick was never serious unless someone was dying or there was terrible news.
“I don’t want you to blame anyone for this and do something you’ll regret later. I want you to listen and try to understand. We can handle this; just let me tell the whole story before you say anything, okay?”
Dal nodded.
“Daddy’s not at the house because he’s over on some of his family’s land near the Woodley’s place building a cabin to live in.”
Dal let out a sigh of relief. Good, the old man had left or Mother had finally thrown him out. That’s good news. Mother and Nita would be better off. Why was Rick so serious? They should be celebrating!
“He’s building a cabin to live in because Grandmother said Mother and Nita and I can live here at her house but Daddy is not allowed here unless he stops drinking and never hurts Mama again. You know how well that went over. He threw a skillet through the kitchen window and used words I never heard from Marines or sailors!”
Dal shook her head. What was Rick talking about? Why did they want to live here? What about their home? What about the house by the hotel? Who was going to live there?
“All that money we sent to mama to pay taxes and to put into savings until we were discharged is gone.”
Dal jumped up off the porch and almost fell down the stairs. Skidding down them, she hit the ground stomping. Pacing heavy-footed back and forth across the yard in front of the steps, she screamed; “Gone? Gone? How the hell can it be gone? Where the hell did it go? Who did it? What do you mean it’s gone?” After a few minutes of this outburst she calmed down enough to look at Rick and ask, “They lost the house too?”
Rick nodded and lit another cigarette.
Pacing back and forth across the yard below the steps shaking her head, her fists clenched wanting to hit something, she mumbled and cursed lowly, her thoughts tumbling over and over: that son of a bitch Junior probably got most of it; all my money gone; didn’t even pay the damn taxes to keep our home; all my money gone; it’s a damn good thing daddy isn’t here, I’d stomp him into the ground; dammit all to hell; damn them all to hell; Mother and her weak little anything you want attitude; Daddy and his stupid ideas and too lazy to work; Junior and his mama give me this and mama give me that begging; who the hell do they think they are?; all my money gone; damn them.
“Dal? Dal? Look, it’s all over and done now and there’s nothing we can do about it. We need to get Mama and Nita moved out of the house and over here as soon as we can. They were supposed to be out of the house last month. Skeet says we can use his truck and he’ll help us move them over here. There’s nothing else to be done. Dal?”
She stopped pacing and looked up at Rick. He offered her a cigarette and she took it from him. Her eyes looked far away as if she were not inside her body. Her movements were stiff and lifeless. Then she smiled. “Okay Rick, let’s go get them moved. I’m having the allotment check stopped as soon as I get back to base. You going to support them now?”
“I’ve already got a job lined up at the rubber plant. I start work next week. Grandmother is sending Mama some money to help a little and Nita graduates from school this year and will be going to work so we figure we’ll do okay. You keep your money. We’ll do fine, just fine.”
“Let’s go get Skeet and his truck and get this show on the road.” And as they walked back the way they’d come they laughed and swapped stories about scrapes they had gotten into as children.
Skeet had been discharged from the Navy at about the same time Rick left the Marine Corps. He was working to reopen his gas station beside the four-lane. His dad had died during the war years and he was caring for his mother in their family home. He had a 1939 GMC diesel truck that he used to pull vehicles to his garage for repairs. The truck bed was more than big enough to move the beds and chiffarobes and other bits of furniture Susie wanted to keep. There were four bedrooms upstairs in the old Conley house and even though the house was already partially furnished, there was plenty of room for her to keep her own things. Over the years some of their grandmother’s furniture had begun to disappear and they suspected it probably now decorated the sisters’ homes in Virginia.
Skeet was home when Dal and Rick arrived. He put his arms around their shoulders and the three of them walked down to the gas station. He unlocked the door to the garage and led them inside. Walking to the back, he opened an old ice box and took out three bottles of beer. “Here, you look like you need these as much as I do.”
They found some old cane bottomed chairs in the garage and took them outside to sit on while they drank. After swapping war stories for a while, Skeet suggested they take a ride into town. Dal and Rick agreed. By the time they reached Waynesville, the sun was setting. Skeet pulled into Sugar’s Place and they all went inside. The men switched to drinking homebrew but Dal continued to drink beer. It must have been strong beer because she began to feel a little dizzy and sleepy. At some point in time they were riding in a car and then were in a house with some other people. Dal had felt woozy when they handed her another beer and someone she thought she remembered from a long time ago asked her if she’d marry him and they had both laughed.
She woke up in Nita’s bed. It was Sunday afternoon and the house was quiet. Susie and Nita must have gone somewhere after church and not come straight home. Dal staggered from the bedroom, through the kitchen, and out the back door to the outhouse. She thought she remembered Rick telling her in the dark to be very quiet, but she wasn’t sure. Her head was pounding like it would explode. She was still wearing the clothes she had worn home from Qualla.
Susie and Nita were coming in the front door as Dal came back through the kitchen. They had their arms full of dishes loaded with food and the smell made her hungry. Rick slid down the steps from the loft and wrapped his arms around his mother and sister while they were setting the dishes on the table. Susie stirred the fire and put a fresh pot of coffee on to perk. Dal and Rick sat at the table and ate as if they hadn’t eaten for several days. Susie and Nita just smiled and passed them more food until they held up their hands in protest. While they enjoyed their coffee and cigarettes, Susie put the dishes away and cleaned the kitchen.
That last week of Dal’s furlough was spent helping Rick pack and move Susie and Nita into Grandmother Conley’s house. They also did a little repair work to make sure the house was ready for the winter season. Several nights that week they would end their day’s work with a ride into town with Skeet to Sugar’s for a few beers, but none of those nights resulted in anything resembling that first trip that had left Dal with only fuzzy memories.
Read more about MAMA DAL and Nelma Jean Bryson HERE.
Copyright 2008 Nelma Jean Bryson. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
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