Chapter I: Two Stories

            Amy sighed while sitting at the bar.  She rubbed her finger along the glass rim.  Even though she had just looked, she couldn’t help but looking at her watch again as if that would force her sister to come to her so they could go home. Deep down she knew she would go home alone.  Again. But still she played along to the game they had somehow fell into without ever discussing it. Her sister, Ruth, and her were so different yet Amy loved her.  Even though Ruth was older Amy felt like she needed to protect her.  Even if the person Ruth needed the most protection from was usually herself.

            That’s why Amy sat at a bar even though she would rather not be sitting there that particularly hot July day.  Of late, the bar had become somewhat of a military hangout spot.  Soldiers heading to basic training, soldiers on leave, and the women looking for a good but short time with a soldier congregated at this place. Ruth fell into that last category.  Amy was always a little uncomfortable but Ruth seemed to thrive in the atmosphere.

“Here again, Amy?” a voice asked.

            Amy looked up and blinked a couple of times to shake off her train of thought.  “Hey Sid,” she said acknowledging the bartender.  “Ruth just has to say goodbye to her fella.  He is shipping out tomorrow.”

            Sid shook his head.  How many fellas has Ruth said goodbye to just this week?  “You know I can’t let you sit at the bar.  You’re too young.  If anyone reported it, my head would be on the chopping block.”  Not that he particularly cared about any of that.  It was more out of concern that he wanted Amy to leave.  His wife used to babysit Ruth and Amy after their mom died so he felt like the girls needed some adult to watch out for them.  Their dad certainly wasn’t stepping up to the plate. Amy needed to go home and tend to things a 16-year-old girl should be focused on.  Not be here at this bar watching out for her older sister.

            “Ah, c’mon Sid,” Amy said.  “The tables are all full and you know I have to wait for Ruth.”

            He shrugged his shoulders.  “More Ginger Ale?” he asked.

            She took a swig and finished what was in her glass then scooted it toward him.  “Please.”

            He filled her glass as a young man dressed in a new and clean Navy uniform sat on the bar stool next to her.

            “Bartender,” the young man said, his voice squeaking slightly.  “Whiskey.”  He slapped his hand down on the table with a dollar bill.  “Keep it coming until that’s used up.”

            Sid looked down at the money and back at the sailor.  He raised an eyebrow. “You sure about that?” he asked.  Despite the uniform the Navy man looked like he had just learned to shave.

            “Yes,” the sailor said defensively.  “I’m reporting to training tomorrow.”

            Sid shrugged his shoulders.  If the young man was old enough to defend the country, who was he to question if he was old enough to drink? “Ah, you are looking for some liquid courage,” he slid a shot of whiskey to the young man.  “I’ve been there.”

            “I have courage,” the sailor said but his voice betrayed him with a squeak. 

            Sid held his hand up.  “Son, anyone in their right mind needs courage to enlist.  Especially now.”

            The young man looked at him.  “What do you mean, especially now?” His lip quivered just a little before he regained control.

            “I mean, son, there’s a war going on right now.  Anyone in their right mind would be nervous about heading into war.”

            “Our country’s not at war,” the young man forced a scoff but looked unconvinced. 

            “Son, before this is over, our country will be in the midst of this war.  Mark my words.”  Sid looked at the young man and could tell he needed to back off before he caused an AWOL to happen.  He shrugged his shoulders.  “But what do I know? This one is on the house.  If you need more after then you can pay me.”  He slid the bill back to the young man.  He nodded at Amy and then tended to other customers.

            Amy watched Sid walk away and then whispered to the sailor.  “Don’t listen to him.  He fought in the Great War.  He’s a little skittish and wary of war and all that.  My dad says the U.S. will never jump into another war so soon after the last one.  He says we’d be morons if we did.  And he is a history professor at the university so he knows what he is talking about.”  She left out the part that her dad was on a leave of absence because the deans at the university didn’t like that he habitually showed up to work drunk.  And they had even less tolerance for the version of history he taught while drunk.  This young man needed to believe her dad had some authority behind his words even if she had started to doubt the accuracy of anything her dad said.

            The young man nodded.  “Thanks,” he said and looked at the shot of whiskey in front of him.  Amy watched him look at the glass.

            “You having a staring contest with that thing?” she asked.

            “What?” he asked without breaking his stare.

            “Are you okay?” she asked.

            He nodded.  “I report to basic training tomorrow.”  He kept his eyes on the glass.

            “I heard.”  They sat for another few moments, neither one moving.

            “Hey Amy,” Sid called to her from the other side of the bar and nodded toward the door.

            She looked over just in time to see Ruth leave with a group of people and sighed.  “Thanks Sid,” she put some change on the bar.  She stood up and looked at the young sailor still sitting there staring at his full glass of whiskey.  “Hey, my sister just left,” she said fighting back some annoyance in her voice.  “Do you want to go somewhere and maybe talk?”

            He looked at her surprised that she was talking to him.  But he didn’t answer her.

            “C’mon,” she said and nodded her head toward a table that had just been vacated.  “We can talk over there.”

            He nodded and took the glass and drank the contents quickly.  Whatever he thought whiskey tasted like that wasn’t it.  He started coughing and his eyes watered. It felt like he swallowed a lit match and could feel it all the way down.

            “C’mon,” she said again gently and guided him to the table.

            After they sat down, he was finally able to regain his composure. 

            “First drink?” she asked and smiled.

            “That is horrible!” He said.  “How do people drink that stuff?”

            While she couldn’t say from personal experience she did think of her dad.  “I think it grows on people,” she said.

            He looked at her and nodded. 

            “I’m Amy,” she said extending a hand.

            He shook her hand.  “Pete.”

            “Going to basic training tomorrow?” Amy asked.  “Where at?”

            “I’m going to California for six weeks.”

            “Clear across the country?” she said.  “And so far away from the action.  See?  You probably won’t even know there is a war going on.”

            He nodded slowly and wanted to believe her.  But he knew his luck didn’t work like that.

            “My sister wrote to a fella that ended up in Hawaii.  Hawaii!  Can you imagine?” she said smiling.

            He looked at her.

            “Do you know Hawaii? It’s one of our territories.  We have a base there.”

            He nodded his head slowly.

 “Well, I haven’t been there or anything,” she continued quickly.  “But I did a report on the states and a few of the territories in school last year. I called it The Great 48 and Friends.” 

            “School?” Pete asked.  “I didn’t get a chance to go to college.  I enlisted instead.” He didn’t mention the part about dropping out of school when he was 16 so that he could go to work and support himself.  Or the fact he was broke and that was the reason he joined the Navy.  Having his meals paid for by Uncle Sam was an enticing offer.

            “Oh, I’m not in college.  I’m still in high school.” Amy explained but a little flattered that he thought she was older so she sat up taller. 

            “High school?” he said and his face reddened a little. 

            “I’m 16,” she replied and sunk back down a little.

            He looked at her and then straight ahead at the window behind the table and saw his reflection.  “I’m 18.”  Those numbers suddenly seemed so far apart.  One was associated with school and innocence while the other was facing adulthood and the reality of war.

            “Same as my sister,” she said softly.

He didn’t hear her because he was looking around at the room.  “Aren’t you a little young to be sitting at the bar then?”

            Amy was glad Sid wasn’t close enough to hear that. “My sister, Ruth, came to say goodbye to a friend.  She wanted me to come with her.”  Which was true.  Ruth always wanted Amy to come but she also wanted Amy to loosen up and have more fun.  According to Ruth, Amy was too serious and a real stick in the mud.

            “Am I keeping you from your sister?” Pete asked looking around.

            “No,” Amy looked down.  “She left with some friends.”

            Pete looked at her and compassion softened his face.  “Oh. I’m glad you’re here with me.”

            Amy could feel her cheeks get a little warm.  “So, it might be possible you end up in Hawaii.” she said changing the subject so that her cheeks would not get any redder.

            He nodded. “That sounds nice.” He repeated what she had told him, “ There’s a base there…”

“Pearl Harbor,” she said.

“Right,” he said impressed.  This girl was not only pretty but she was smart.  Too

smart for the likes of him.

            She could tell by looking at his face that he was still worried.  “Let’s just say you will go to Hawaii.  It’s miles away from…” she thought it best not to mention too many specifics, “anywhere.  Just right out there in the Pacific Ocean.”

            He thought about it and nodded.  Miles away from anywhere sounded pretty good.

            “But you have to believe it if you want it to happen.”

            Pete had a hard time believing in anything good but he tried for her sake.  All he could do was nod his head.

            “That’s not convincing,” she said warmly.  “Say, I will go to Hawaii.”

            He felt a little silly but she looked at him earnestly.

            “I will go to Hawaii,” he said so quietly that she only could hear part of it.

            “No,” she shook her head.  “That will never do.  You have to say it like you mean it.”

            “I will go to Hawaii,” he said again a little louder.  Then, just to humor her, he shouted it loud enough to make several other patrons look in their direction.  “I will go to Hawaii.”

            She smiled and chuckled a little.  “Now the universe knows you’re serious.  I bet anything that your letters will be postmarked Hawaii.”

            He looked down.

            She noticed his demeanor changed so she continued. “I looked up some facts about Hawaii for my report.  You’ll love it there.  It’s so pretty.  The weather is much better than here,” she said trying to remember the positives she learned about months ago.  I’d like to go someday.”

            “I’ll take you,” he said quickly. and then realized his forwardness.

            She looked away.

            “Hang on, I didn’t mean to imply…” he stammered.  “I just meant, it sure would be nice to spend more time with you is all.”  He looked down.

            “Well,” she said kindly.  “I would love to go to Hawaii.”  She doubted she would ever see this man again so why not play along?

            “I mean,” he said encouraged by her response, “we can go and I’ll show you all around.  By then I’m sure I’ll be an excellent tour guide.” He tried to make it sound casual.

            It took her a moment before she could say anything.  “I’m sure your family will write to you lots.”

            “Yeah,” he shook his head.  “I don’t have any family.  I grew up in an orphanage.”

            Amy looked at him.  “I’m sorry,” she paused and wondered if she should continue to pry.  “What happened to your folks?”

            “My dad, apparently, left the picture before I was born.  Didn’t want to do the dad thing, I guess.  My mom died when I was two.  I was told it was a car accident.”  They sat for a moment and she put her hand on his.  “What about you?” he asked shifting the focus off of him.

            “My mom died when I was little also.  My dad is still in the picture, barely.  Mom’s death was hard on him so he went looking for comfort in the bottle.  So, I can tell you whiskey does grow on a person.  But don’t let it grow on you.”

            “Don’t worry,” he said.  “I think it actually made me a little sick.”

She nodded a little ashamed that she slipped into the mother hen role with him. “It’s basically just been Ruth and I since I can remember,” she continued.  “We take care of each other.  But Ruth likes to go out and be around people.  She has been coming to this place since all the military personnel started hanging out here.  She hates being at home with dad.  I think it’s harder on her because she can remember him before he climbed into the bottle.”  Her voice trailed off and she became aware of how much she just disclosed to someone she only knew the first name of. Something about him made her want to tell him all about her.

            They sat for a moment.  He wasn’t sure what to say to her about her family. Eloquence was never his strong suit. Not knowing what to say, he said the one thing that had been on his mind since they sat down. “I’m sure you have a beau or two in school,” he said quickly without looking at her.  “But would you mind if I write to you while I’m gone?  I don’t have anyone to write to and it might help me, you know, to have a friend to write to.”

            “Of course,” she said.  “I would like a friend to write to, as well.”  She looked at him and could see the worry in his eyes.  “But you are going to Hawaii so you won’t be near Europe and all that nonsense.  You’ll be fine.” Little did she know those words would haunt her.  “The worst thing you’ll have to worry about is a volcano erupting.”

            The worry lines on his face seemed to deepen.  “That’s actually not comforting.”

            “You’ll be fine,” she said again and looked into his eyes.  He locked into her gaze and for the first time since he signed his papers, he felt calm. 

            “Look,” he said and held up the dollar bill Sid wouldn’t take.  “You hold onto my lucky dollar until I come home.  That way you won’t forget me.”

            “Your lucky dollar?” she asked.

            “I had it when I met you.  That makes it pretty lucky. Tonight has been the luckiest night of my life.”

            She smiled.  “I can’t take your dollar. We’re friends now. Friends don’t forget friends.  I will remember you.  Besides, we have a plan for you to show me Hawaii.”

            He looked at her unsure that she would remember him after tonight.  “Fine,” he said and took the dollar.  He ripped it vertically in half.  “There, now you keep this and remember me.”

            She was shocked at his action and picked up her half of the bill.  “I will keep this half and when you return, we will put the two halves back together again.  And we’ll use it to celebrate.”

            He smiled for the first time and put the other half into his wallet.  “Deal.”

            “Now,” she said standing up, “why don’t you walk me home and we can exchange mailing addresses so we can write each other.”

            He stood up and held out his arm.  “Lead the way, my lady.”

            She did lead the way.  The long way to her house.  By the time they reached her house, they each had a very good friend.  And an evening neither one would forget.

Chapter II: Two Letters