“Sergeant Rains, I thought that was you. How lovely to see you.” She glanced in the direction where Rains had been looking and her smile widened. “I wouldn’t have taken you for one with a sweet tooth. May I buy you an ice cream?”
Rains hadn’t even realized that she was in front of the soda fountain. Still flustered from the feeling of Bett’s hand, she stammered a bit. “No, uh, no thank you, Private. I’m not allowed to accept gifts from members of my squad.”
Bett’s eyes danced and she moved a little closer. Rains felt her skin would not stop burning anywhere Bett touched, but without her touch, Rains feared she would freeze. Bett seemed unaware of this danger and was smiling in her mischievous way, perhaps thinking she had caught Rains off guard. She pressed her advantage. “Ah, we’ll have to go dutch, then.”
Rains knew this expression from hearing girls talk about their dates. Was that what Smythe was suggesting? For a moment the dream scene changed, and she saw Bett’s beautiful face in candlelight, empty dinner plates between them, and then the flickering screen of a movie—something she had actually only glimpsed from outside the doors of a theater. Bett’s hand was on the armrest of a padded chair and Rains felt herself reaching for it…and then they were back in the PX.
“Uh, no, Private, I’m not allowed to fraternize with enlisted personnel.” She tried to step back but realized she was already against one of the shelves.
Bett’s expression changed to one of exaggerated sadness, but her eyes were still laughing. “So many rules, Sergeant. I honestly don’t see how you keep up with them all.” Bett stepped as close to her as she could get without them actually touching, almost floating there as the very thin slice of air between them was filled with the perfume of Bett’s body and her face filled Rains’s field of vision. Rains found herself unable to look away, only falling deeper and deeper into those eyes.
“Just tell me this,” Bett said softly, but with an undertone of such sensuality that the trembling Rains had been feeling in her stomach turned into a jolt between her legs. “If we were somewhere else at some other time, would you join me for an ice cream?”
If we were somewhere else at some other time…When Bett said the word cream, Rains saw Bett’s lips as in slow motion, and for that moment, everything else and everyone else faded away. The desire to kiss that luscious mouth was so strong that she leaned forward until she could feel the space evaporating and it was replaced with the soft wetness of Bett’s mouth. She had no idea that she’d answered until she heard the word in the air between them.
“Yes.”
Then her hands were in Bett’s hair and she could see the pulse throbbing in Bett’s throat and it matched hers exactly. She knew that Bett could see into her, could see the desire so compelling that it couldn’t be hidden anymore, and her hands were pulling, demanding, so when Bett’s knees weakened, Rains held her up with her own body, and just that quickly, she was wet and throbbing with want. Bett’s mouth wasn’t moving, but her thoughts resonated out loud. I want you. I want you naked, in bed. You said yes. Please take me somewhere. Take me.
Just at that moment, the PA system crackled overhead. “Paula, please report to the cashiers. Paula.”
Instantly, the PX came to life, filled with people moving around them. At any second someone would look over and see her with Private Smythe in her arms, their mouths still shining from a kiss that Rains didn’t actually remember but that echoed all along her nerve endings. As Bett pressed her face into Rains’s chest, the buttons of Rains’s jacket seemed to open themselves the second Bett’s fingers touched each one. Rains struggled to control herself. No, no, no! Her own breathing was harsh and shallow as she loosened her hold, making sure Smythe could stand on her own. As soon as she did, Rains sidestepped. “Please excuse me, Private. I must go now.”
But she was still standing there, feeling almost too swollen to move, when she heard Bett’s voice, sounding very disappointed and yet so alluringly husky that Rains knew Bett was unmistaken when she promised, “Another time and another place, then.”
Sergeant Rains awoke with a very keen awareness that no matter her feelings, she needed to keep some physical distance from Private Elizabeth Smythe.
*
On Thursday, Rains came to their table in the mess hall during dinner. “I’m sorry, Private, but I have a conflict during our meeting time tomorrow. Are there any urgent issues that we need to discuss?”
Bett’s heart sank. She hadn’t admitted to herself how much she’d been looking forward to another chance to be alone with Sergeant Rains, but now she felt it deeply. Is she avoiding me on purpose? She tried to think of a pressing matter, but there was only one: I want to see you. Rains cocked her head slightly and Bett realized she was waiting for an answer. “Uh, nothing really urgent, Sergeant.” Rains nodded and started away. Desperate for something to keep her there, Bett blurted out, “Although Private Archer wanted to know how it is that you can keep your hat on through all the exercise we do.”
Rains’s gaze shifted to Archer, who was starting to choke on the drink she had just taken. Rains’s ever-present and apparently immobile hat was actually a matter that the squad had speculated on frequently. Jo was desperate not to be the one to broach the subject, however.
“Whoa, Queenie, I didn’t—” She coughed some more and Rains detected some movement under the table.
Bett smiled her most winning smile, but Rains’s neutral expression had changed to a more intimidating squint.
“Is there anything else, squad leader?”
Bett was normally quick to make up a good lie, but the look in Rains’s eyes told her she wouldn’t get away with anything more. She ducked her head just a bit, hoping, “Not at the moment, Sergeant,” would get her off the hook. Rains shot one quick glare at Archer, who gave her head a quick shake, and left without another word.
Chapter Eight
On Friday night, the barracks were bustling as many of the girls were getting ready for another night at the NCO club. Everyone had an escort, of course, but tonight there was also going to be a band and dancing. Tee declined, as always, but to everyone’s surprise, Helen announced that she would be joining them. Jo had asked Bett twice if she wanted to go, but Bett couldn’t seem to get interested in group drinking or gather herself for an evening of declining offers to dance or being pawed when she couldn’t refuse any longer.
“Don’t say no yet, Queenie,” Jo suggested, assessing Bett’s mood. “Just see how you feel after dinner.”
How did she feel? As if she was waiting for the other shoe to drop, wanting to know that Sergeant Rains had read her note and forgiven her, worrying that Rains would come up with another conflict the next time they were to meet, feeling that there was a difficult problem she was working out. She found it hard to think amidst all the racket, so she decided to spend the time they had before dinner taking a walk around the base. As she walked, Bett considered her predicament. There was no one to turn to for advice. She didn’t really know anyone on the base well enough to talk openly about an issue that could potentially put them both at risk, the mail was too slow to be of much help, and she certainly couldn’t discuss the matter with a friend on a semipublic phone call at the PX. I wonder who Rains talks to? Bett pondered, and then remembered how Rains had asked her about being lonely when she was away at school. Probably no one, she decided.
She just happened to be walking by Officers’ Row when her sergeant came out the door of one of the living quarters. Bett felt a funny little thrill, seeing Rains when Rains did not see her, and she began carefully following the sergeant, who seemed rather preoccupied as she headed across the grounds. Suddenly Rains turned and Bett realized they were at a gate. Bett waited in the shadows of the early fall evening while Rains signed out. Bett waited what seemed a safe interval and followed, and tried to make out what Rains had written on the ledger. It looked like the first word was MEL but she couldn’t make out the second name. When her scrutiny of Rains’s handwriting caused th
e MP to look at her curiously, she quickly wrote MEL by her name also.
“Are you meeting with Sergeant Rains at the restaurant?” the MP asked, glancing at the book. “Technically, she’s supposed to escort you off base.”
Restaurant? Bett glanced quickly again. She searched her mind for the acronym M-E-L but couldn’t think of anything it could stand for. She smiled at the MP and leaned in a little closer. “Yes. I’m her squad leader, and it’s my fault she’s not escorting me. I’m running late. Please don’t get me in any more trouble.”
The MP sighed. “Well, you’d better get going. She’s a few minutes ahead of you and it’s getting dark.”
Bett nodded and pretended to hurry away, but she didn’t really want to catch up with Rains yet, so she slowed once she was out of sight of the gate. After a few minutes, however, she realized the folly of her plan. She wasn’t that familiar with any of Des Moines, outside of the base, and the area of town she was walking through looked pretty rough. Many of the buildings were a bit run-down and even the streets looked poorly maintained. She squinted ahead, trying to see Rains’s form in the darkness, but had completely lost her. At an intersection, she wondered whether Rains might have turned. One more block, she told herself, and then I’ll go back. At the next corner, a fire was burning in a barrel and several older men stood around it. Bett was torn; should she approach them and ask for directions or avoid them? Would her WAC uniform give her some protection in either case?
One of the men called out to her, “Hey soldier girl, what you doing out here at this time of night?”
Bett inhaled and took a chance. “I’m meeting a friend at Mel’s, but I’ve lost my way.”
The man detached himself from the group and came toward her. “Mel’s, huh?”
Now that she had stopped walking, Bett felt the evening chill. She shivered and crossed her arms around her waist, hoping she didn’t look frightened, only cold.
“Don’t the Army give you no coat?” the man asked, noting her movements.
“Yes, but I was running late and I accidently left without it. My friend is expecting me. Could you kindly direct me to Mel’s?” Bett tried to strike the right combination of appreciation and urgency.
The man indicated that she should go a block right and two blocks left. “Mel’s on your right-hand side at the far corner,” he said. “But I think they closed already.”
Closed? Bett wondered. She thanked the man and started away.
“Careful, soldier girl,” the man warned. “Not everyone out here as nice as me.” The men around the barrel began laughing and calling out playful insults. Bett waved and hurried on. After a block she turned left. There weren’t many lights on and Bett mentally kicked herself for being so rash. If she couldn’t find Rains or if Mel’s was indeed closed, could she even find her way back to the base?
From the corner of her eye she saw a tall thin man come out of an alley just after she passed it. “Hey!” he called. “You got a dime, sister?”
Bett didn’t answer but started to walk faster.
“Hey!” the man called again, and she could hear his footsteps following her. “I need a dime from you.”
Bett looked back to see that the man wasn’t far behind. She was trying to see if anyone was with him when hands grabbed her shoulders from the front. Without looking around she let out a little scream of shock and was beginning to struggle when a familiar voice asked, “Private Smythe, what are you doing here?”
Relief made Bett’s knees week. “I got lost,” was all she could manage, thinking she had never been so glad to see anyone in her life.
Sergeant Rains held her arms an extra second and then turned her to face the man who was approaching them. She kept her hands on Bett’s shoulders, standing close behind her. “Do you have a dime?” she murmured to Bett.
“Yes.”
“Give it to him.”
Bett unbuttoned the pocket of her jacket where she routinely carried a few dollars and some change. The man stopped when he was close enough to focus on Rains. “Oh, friend of yours, Rainy?”
“Yes, Jimmy. She didn’t know. We got it straight now.”
Taking her cue from Rains, Bett extended her hand with the dime in it. “Sorry, Jimmy.”
The man opened a mostly toothless mouth as he took the coin. “What’s your name, sister?”
Rains answered for her. “This is Smitty.” Then to Bett she added, “Jimmy is the toll collector on this street.”
“Oh, I see,” Bett answered, playing along.
Jimmy straightened a bit. “Next week will be thirty-five years on the job.”
“How wonderful for you,” Bett said, and she felt Rains tug just a bit at her shoulder.
“We’ve got to get going, Jimmy,” Rains said. “We’ll see you next time.”
“Okay, Rainy,” Jimmy said and turned his bleary brown eyes to Bett. “And no more running the toll, young lady.”
“Yes, sir,” Bett replied sincerely. “I certainly won’t make that mistake again.”
Jimmy nodded, satisfied, and moved back into the night. Rains dropped her hands from Bett’s shoulders. Bett turned slowly to face her, knowing she was in big trouble.
“Explain to me how you came to be here, Private,” Rains asked, her eyes boring into Bett with a mixture of concern and anger.
“I saw you leaving the base and I was trying to follow you,” Bett said in a small voice, not able to meet that intense expression.
“Why?” Sergeant Rains demanded. “You know you are not allowed off base without an officer. And you have no business following me.”
“I know, but I wanted to talk to you and you’ve ignored me for days,” Bett blurted out. “When you canceled our meeting, I thought that maybe if I could catch you off the base we could talk like we did before.”
“Anything I need to say to you I can say during drills, Private.” Her voice was almost stern until she noticed that Bett was shivering. “Where is your coat?”
“I wasn’t planning on being out this late. I just happened to see you and…” A little spark of argument formed as Bett looked at her. “You aren’t wearing a coat either.”
“Yes, but I am used to this climate and you are not,” Rains replied and looked around. “As I am familiar with this neighborhood and you are not.”
Bett nodded and looked down again. “I’m sorry, Sergeant. I know it was a stupidly impetuous idea on my part.”
Rains seemed to waver for a second and then said brusquely, “Come on.” She continued down the street but walked slowly enough to keep Bett close beside her. In the middle of the block, she guided Bett across the street and they continued to the corner, where a tiny sign that said Mel’s hung from a darkened window. Rains opened the door and motioned Bett in behind her.
“Gracie?” she called out.
“Come on back, Rainy,” came a distant answer.
Bett followed Rains past the room full of tables with chairs propped against them through a swinging door into a brightly lit and warm kitchen. The scent of food was in the air, although the area was clean. Sitting around a large, stainless-steel island was an older couple, both round and smiling. When Bett entered, their faces went blank.
“Who’s this little piece of white bread?” the woman asked, a tinge of hostility in her voice.
“A private from my current squad,” Rains said. “She’s pretty smart, Gracie. I think she might be able to help us. And her writing is certainly better than mine, so she can help us fill out the forms if we decide to go that way.”
Bett was very grateful that Rains didn’t add anything about her being uninvited. Just then, her stomach growled loudly enough that everyone could hear.
The man started laughing. “Well, I guess we got to feed her no matter what else. You hungry too, Rainy?” He stood.
“Yes, Melvin. Thank you.”
The woman pushed herself to her feet and they both began bustling around the kitchen. Rains began talking to Bett as if they were i
n the middle of a casual conversation.
“So like I was telling you, Melvin and Gracie have a good kind of problem, in a way. Sometimes they have too many customers, and there’s no place for folks to sit,” Rains explained, and Bett heard a bit of drawl and slang in her voice that wasn’t usually there. “Folks sometimes take one look inside and just turn around and leave if they can’t get a seat, even paying regulars. So we’re trying to figure out about expanding. How much for the vacant place next door, how to knock down the wall between them if we get it, that kind of thing.”
Bett nodded, genuinely interested.
Melvin left what he was doing at the stove to tell Rains, “Man say he want two thousand dollars for that space. Been empty since before the war. Two thousand dollars! That means we got to go to the bank and that’s not good.”
The sergeant shook her head. “It’s too much, Melvin. You should offer him the seven hundred fifty you got, tell him take it or leave it.”
Bett spoke for the first time. “You said sometimes there are too many customers. How often does that happen? What time of day? And what is your most frequent clientele? One or two people or larger groups?”
There was silence in the room. Gracie spoke, still sounding suspicious. “Where you from, honey?”
Rains looked away, running her hand over her mouth. Bett answered, “I’m from California, but I spent several years in England.”
“She went to school there, Gracie,” Rains filled in. “High school and college.”
“Hmph,” the large woman replied, her grunt a short cut-off sound of doubt, not like Rains’s more drawn out, thoughtful sound.
“I’m asking because the first thing we need to know is whether or not your need for expansion is permanent,” Bett explained. “Before you pay the man next door anything, you might be able to solve your problem at least temporarily with the space you have.”
Basic Training of the Heart Page 15