Chapter V: Two: Fates

            Seaman Pete Romero died December 7, 1941. 

At least, that was what Amy figured. Since she wasn’t his family legally, no official telegram or notice was ever sent to her.  It took her a year to get some sort of confirmation even though when she never heard from him, she knew it had to be true.  She spent months rereading every letter Pete had sent to her and attempted to track down anyone he mentioned.  Finally, from a merciful clerk at Pete’s training base in California, she was able to locate the cook he mentioned in his last letter.  Lewey, or William Lewiston as she discovered, was discharged after he lost one of his legs during the attack.  He lived in Alabama. 

Finding out Pete’s fate was not something she could ask in a mere letter.  She tried several times but the words didn’t come out quite right. Instead, she decided to drive to Alabama during Christmas break. Ruth’s husband Freddy was in Germany so she dragged her with her on the road trip.  Ever since Ruth married and the start of the war, their dad came home less and less often so Amy really didn’t think he’d notice if she was gone for a few days.  He typically walked to the corner bar so Amy didn’t think he’d notice if his car was missing for a few days either.  She was right on both counts.

Ruth and Amy arrived at a small home outside of Mobile Alabama.  An older woman answered the door and led the two sisters into a dark bedroom.  A young man laid in bed listening to the radio.  His dark hair was matted to his forehead in sweat.  The pungent smell of body odor assaulted Amy’s nose but she forced herself not to react.  Ruth wasn’t as subtle.  She gasped and hovered by the door to the kitchen.

“Bill,” the older woman said.  “You have company.”  She turned on the light and looked at the two sisters.  “Do not upset him,” she warned and slipped out of the room. Amy couldn’t see her but felt like she was had to be within earshot in the small house.

“Hello Mr. Lewiston,” she said instantly regretting the face-to-face idea.  “I’m Amy Parton.”

He attempted a weak smile.  “I recognize you. I only saw your picture every day for months.  Your Romeo’s gal, aren’t you?” 

“Romeo?” she asked.

“Romero.  Pete Romero.  You’re his dollar girl.”

Her half of the dollar was still a sensitive subject for her.  After she lost it that December afternoon, she attempted to find it but the wind had carried it away.  She never found it and still felt guilt about losing it. “I guess I am,” she said.

He nodded.  “I knew it.”

Amy lost her nerve to ask what she wanted to and there was a moment of silence.

“If I remember right,” he continued, “you are a long way from home.  What brings you down south, girls?”  He looked at her and then at Ruth. “Come for the warmer temperatures?”

Ruth had tried to talk Amy out of coming but now that they were here, she wanted her to follow through.  She cleared her throat, “My sister has a question to ask you.”

He looked at Amy.  “I’m all ears.  As you can see, I have no place to go at the moment.”

“I’m sorry,” Amy said looking down at where Lewey’s missing leg should have been.  “I can’t imagine what you have gone through.”

“Hell, girls.  I’ve been through hell,” he said and closed his eyes.

She swallowed.  “It’s just that, Pete and I were not related.  And I never received word about Pete’s…” she couldn’t bring herself to say death.  “Fate.”

He opened his eyes and looked at her. 

“You want to know what happened to Romeo?” he asked. 

“I just need to know. What were his last moments?”

“His last moments?” he snarled.  He reached over to the table next to the couch and put a cigarette in his mouth.

“She just needs confirmation,” Ruth explained.

He lit the cigarette and took a long drag. 

“Please,” Amy pleaded.

“Truth is, I don’t rightly know.  I had gone into town to pick up some supplies for meals.  I was on my way back when it all started.  My jeep was knocked off the road and it pinned me under it for a few hours before anyone found me.  By the time they found me they had to cut off my leg to save my life.” He started coughing. 

His mother came back into the room.  “You’ve upset him,” she said.  “I’m going to have to ask you to leave now.” Her southern drawl sounded pleasant enough but Amy could tell she was angry with them.

“I’m sorry,” Amy said.  “I didn’t mean to upset you.  I just haven’t been able to find out about Pete and I thought he deserved to have someone know.”  Ruth pulled her toward the door.

“Wait,” Lewey said.  “Mother, I told you not to fuss so much.  I can take care of myself.”

Amy stopped

“Romeo was a good guy.  A real good guy.  I did hear from someone in the hospital that he was among the initial survivors gathered on the beach.  There was a small group of them.  They set out in teams to provide rescue efforts.  Pete’s team made one or two trips pulling sailors from the water.  But then something happened and he never made it back to the beach.”

It took Amy a moment to process his words.  “You mean…”

“Your fella died a real bona-fide hero, ma’am.  Somebody should know that.  You should know that.”

Amy couldn’t move.  How many times in the past year did she cry over Pete? So many times she thought her tears had dried up.  But she was wrong.

Ruth wrapped her arm around Amy.  “Thank you, sir,” she said and pulled Amy toward the door.

He nodded and watched the two sisters exit.

Once out the door, Ruth overheard his mother say, “I thought you couldn’t remember anything about the hospital?”

“I was so in and out of it, I’m not sure if that conversation actually took place.  But it sounds like something Romeo would have done.  And that’s all that girl needs to know about that day.”

Ruth looked at Amy and could tell that she was too busy crying she didn’t hear the conversation.

Amy graduated high school in May.  Ruth came to the ceremony but their father was absent.  Ever since Ruth broke the bond by marrying and moving out, he had simply quit trying even minimally and drifted out of their lives.  Amy left for California the next day and only returned briefly six years later to oversee her father’s burial.  Instead of studying science, she became a nurse and joined the Army Nurse Corps during the Korean War. 

            After the Korean war, she moved to Idaho and lived outside of Boise.  While she dated a few men she never found someone with the same spark she had with Pete.  She never married.  Instead, she devoted her energy to being an aunt to Ruth’s three children. Unlike Amy, Ruth had no trouble marrying and married three times.  Her children all had different fathers.  One day, shortly after marrying her third husband, Ruth asked her why she never married, Amy replied, “You married enough for the both of us.”  Besides, Amy loved traveling and being the cool aunt too much to trade it all in.  She traveled to all 49 states but refused to visit Hawai’i.

            Her oldest niece Becca had grown up hearing the story about Pete Romero.  Her aunt let her read all of Pete’s letters and Becca felt like she knew him just as well as her aunt did.  In fact, she started calling him Uncle Pete. So, for Amy’s 56^th birthday, the two of them traveled to that 50^th state. 

            They toured the memorial site and Amy was quiet the whole day.  She excused herself from dinner and found a quiet beach to sit on. 

            “Hello Pete,” she said to the water.  “It’s been a long time.  You probably don’t recognize me because I am not the young girl you saw forty years ago.  But in my mind’s eye, I still remember everything about you.  I’m so sorry I lost my half of our dollar.  But you were wrong.  It wasn’t my good luck charm.  You were.  You changed my life and set it on a better course and I thank you.”

            She pulled two pieces of paper out from her purse.  One was the list of places to visit in Hawai’i that her and Pete compiled together.  The other was an old letter.  “I have our list here.  Better late than never, huh?  Becca and I plan to check all these off before we leave.”

            She unfolded the letter.  It had arrived right before Christmas in 1941 and was the last letter she received from Pete.

            December 5, 1941

            “Dearest Amy, even though it is the beginning of December, the weather is pretty mild here.  I don’t mind it though.  It helps me not think of Christmas.  Christmas in the orphanage was pretty pitiful, let me tell you.  But I can’t wait to get home and spend a Christmas with you.  I’ll be a fancy cook in a fancy restaurant and make lots of money.  Then I will be able to buy you anything you want.  The sky is the limit!  Whenever I get stressed about what my military future holds, I close my eyes and picture our future together.  I only see good things! 

            “I have a buddy here from Idaho.  It sounds like the perfect place to raise a family.  What do you say?  You game for settling in Idaho?  Of course, we may have to visit all 48 states just to make sure we choose wisely. Should we plan to visit all the states when I get back?  Plus, come back here and visit Hawaii?  There is so much I want to show you.  I see you in all my future plans.  I hope you see me in all your plans, dearest Amelia.  You are my family.”

            She lowered the letter and looked at the ocean.  “You have always been a part of my plans, dear, sweet Pete Romero.”

            Wherever her half of the dollar bill ended up, she hoped it brought good luck to whoever found it.   Even though she wouldn’t call her life easy and it had been filled with a measure of sadness and loss, overall, she felt she had a full and satisfying life.  

She chuckled.  To think, it all started with that torn dollar bill.  Maybe there was some luck in it after all.

Start again with Chapter I: Two Stories