by Linda Ellen
Instead, he just shrugged in acquiescence, and then smiled indulgently as she let out a small squeal, leaned up to give him a quick kiss and a soft, “Thank you!” and placed the box in the basket on her arm.
As she turned to find the other items they needed to finish decorating their tree, Vic shook his head, silently hoping his fetching wife never fully realized just how much power those eyes of hers held when she trained her gaze upon him and blinked up at him pleadingly. If she ever did, he knew he’d never have a minute’s peace.
But then again, he smirked as he followed her around the store… that suited him just fine.
*
Christmas 1941 was the most enjoyable either had ever spent, in spite of…or maybe because of… the fact that no one knew what the world would be like a year from then, and who would be gathering together to celebrate Christmas.
For Vic, he finally felt like he had a family, whereas before, he was either only staying with relatives who more often than not made him feel like a bothersome guest, spending the holiday away from home, or alone in a rented room. Now, he had a wife he cherished, a son he adored, a mother-in-law and brothers-in-laws who treated him like family, as well as friends and people he cared greatly about, with whom to spend the most family-oriented holiday of the year. They had even spent time together with Jack’s family and exchanged small gifts.
For Louise, she had never been so happy and content. Marriage to Vic seemed to get sweeter and more wonderful with every day they spent together. Although she missed her father dearly on that first Christmas without him, and even Edna, she felt so grateful gathering with family that she loved, and to finally be living her dream come true. In many ways, the reality was much better than the dream had ever been. During her ill-fated marriage to TJ, holidays had always been a source of aggravation and tension, as he had never wished to spend time with her family – although they had spent much time in the company of his parents and siblings, who had always seemed to have something snide to say.
Christmas morning, Vic and Louise awoke in each other’s arms to the sound of their little boy squealing in delight as he obviously had climbed out of his baby bed once again and entered the living room to find the toys and gifts Santa had left the night before. Santa named Vic, that is. The couple had splurged and bought Tommy a red and white tricycle, which Vic had painstakingly put together, and a toy car, complete with a motor that wound up and would send the car forward on a hard surface.
Chuckling, Vic and Louise got up and tiptoed to their door, covertly watching Tommy as he excitedly played with his new toys before catching them spying on him and running to them for a round of hugs and kisses.
For Vic, Louise had purchased a pair of slippers and a tan Catalina sweater with a reindeer emblazoned across the chest. He indulgently smiled and gave her a grateful kiss for each one, although in truth he thought the sweater was hideous and he hoped he could find a place in the bottom of a bureau drawer in which to hide it. He wouldn’t tell her that for the world, however, and rather than hurt her feelings, he would don the awful thing every year if that’s what she wanted.
She, however, adored the robe and slippers Vic had picked out for her, although she swatted at him for teasing her about how the salesgirl at Macy’s had blatantly flirted with him as she helped him with the purchase.
Later, Vic came into the bedroom as Louise was donning a dress she had purchased on impulse during a Lerner’s shopping trip with Fleet. It was a long dress with a deep green velveteen bodice, and a linen skirt that sported red and green diagonal stripes. The bodice buttoned up the front and had dolman sleeves and a round, scooped neck. She sighed as she glanced at her husband leaning against the doorway.
“When I bought this, I didn’t think about needing a necklace to wear with it,” she admitted with a touch of disgust. “Plus I can only wear it at Christmas time. It was stupid. I shouldn’t have bought it just because it was on clearance. Fleet can talk me into anything,” she admitted with a soft snort. “Besides, it’s too dark. Makes me look too pale.”
Glancing at him again, she noticed he had one hand behind his back, and a Cheshire cat expression gracing his face.
“Victor Herbert, what are you up to?” she queried fondly as she picked through her jewelry and small number of necklaces to decide which would look the best.
He pushed away from the doorjamb and sauntered toward her. “Oh…I’d say no good, but I’d be lyin’…” he teased, slowing to a stop at her side. Staring at their reflections in the mirror, he raised his free hand and caressed her cheek with the backs of his fingers as she stopped her movements and leaned back against his chest, enjoying his attentions. He was thinking the dark rich color of the dress made her skin take on the luminescence of velvety smooth white rose petals, only warm and soft to his touch.
“This dress looks real pretty on you…but I think it would look even prettier if you wore this with it…” he murmured, bringing his hand around from behind his back and presenting her with a small wrapped gift.
With a gasp, Louise put down her amethyst necklace and turned to look up into her husband’s face, the absolute adoration in his eyes sending warm rays like sunshine radiating throughout her body.
“But Vic…you’ve already given me so much…” she began to argue, but he laid a gentle finger on her lips and shook his head.
“I missed so many Christmases with you…I got a lot of catchin’ up to do.”
At that, Louise giggled excitedly, truly touched by his sweet gesture. Carefully removing the wrapping, she discovered a black velvet box about five inches long and upon opening it, she gasped in pleasure. There inside was a stunning necklace that appeared to be made of emeralds and diamonds. Surely not!
“Oh my goodness Vic, it’s lovely!” she whispered, drawing it out of the case and holding it up in awe. The dozens of facets on each stone twinkled and sparkled in the light of the lamp on her dresser as she turned it this way and that. “How did you afford such a thing?”
Vic smiled softly, adoring her reaction, and the fact that she thought it was real. When he had seen her in the green velvet dress, he almost couldn’t believe his luck; it was perfect. Feeling as if it were meant to be, he went on, “It’s glass, but they sure look real, huh? I thought it would look beautiful on you – and make your eyes look more green.” He took it from her hands and motioned for her to turn so he could fasten it around her neck. She watched in the mirror and reached up, fingering its smooth pointed edges. When he finished, she turned her head to beam at him.
I was right…her eyes are the color of pine trees now…
“Vic…you’re so wonderful…you’re so good to me…I feel like I don’t give you half as much as you give to me,” she murmured, lovingly nuzzling his hand as it came to rest against her cheek.
He just shook his head before bending to press his lips to hers, softly, warmly. Pulling back a bit, he whispered, “I wouldn’t trade having you look at me like that, every day for the rest of our lives, for all the gifts or money in the world. You’re all I want, my Mary Lou. All I need is your love.”
Tears filled her eyes at his sweet words and she placed both hands on his face, pulling him close for a kiss that revved his motor into high gear. When she finally pulled back, he was breathless and so was she. “You’ve had my love from the first moment we met, my Vic. My Prince Victor,” she added playfully. “And you’ll have it ’til the day I die.”
Her words and the expression in those eyes that could always reach in and grab his breath away, made him throw caution to the winds and he suddenly scooped her up in his arms as she gave an excited squeal. He quickly moved over, intent on laying her on the bed – when his plans were rudely interrupted by a loud knocking on the front door, and Billy’s voice hollering, “Hey, where is everybody? I’m hungry! Ain’t you got dinner cooked yet?”
With a low, sensual groan, Vic gave her neck just above the necklace a sexy, open-mouthed kiss as he breathed in a deep breath of her
Emeraude perfume, before chuckling and setting her on her feet again.
“You can give me my Christmas present tonight, after everyone leaves,” he growled playfully.
“Your wish is my command,” came her sultry reply, her eyes raking him suggestively as she giggled and turned to flounce away out of his reach and out of the bedroom to intercept her errant brother.
From the other room, Vic heard Lilly’s voice asking, “Where’s Vic?”
His wife replied, “Oh, he’s…taking care of something.”
No one but Louise knew why it was a few minutes before Vic joined the rest of the family.
*
The days moved on, with the war in Europe and the Pacific now the top headlines in the paper every day. It was the main topic of discussion in every workplace, store, bar, church group, and home. There was no getting away from it. Underneath every conversation and in the back of everyone’s mind was the nagging thought of who would go, who would stay…who would live, and who would die…
The six friends got together at Ruth and Earl’s on New Year’s Eve. Vic took along the couple’s bottle of champagne from the Brown and the guys drank a bit too much, resulting in the girls shaking their heads and rolling their eyes at their men’s foolish antics. Indeed, Louise had never seen her new husband inebriated, and she found she didn’t like the change in his personality when he was under the influence. He became reckless and silly, and acted very much out of character – to the point of taking Earl’s small pistol, stumbling his way to the front porch at the stroke of midnight, and firing it up into the air. The girls squealed and yanked their men back inside, afraid the neighbors would call the cops and they’d all be arrested.
Louise was quite relieved when the incident was over and she and Ruth managed to get the pistol and stash it away in Ruth’s lingerie drawer.
Little did Louise know, however, but a precedent had been set. Vic would make it a tradition to fire a pistol into the air on New Year’s for the rest of their marriage, much to her chagrin.
1942 began by the Matthews settling into a comfortable routine of working, taking care of Tommy, and finding creative ways to carve out some time alone together.
The months cruised by and as winter came to an end and the plants and trees were beginning to bud, Vic grew more and more tired of being cooped up all day in that smoky backroom. It was frustrating that he couldn’t seem to break out of the cycle he found himself in, not to mention the fact that they’d had a few tips that the law might be keeping an eye on the building. For that reason, Steve, Vic’s boss, had been looking around for another location to move operations. He had also scaled back on the hours the men were in the room taking bets over the phone lines, which had resulted in Vic bringing home less money. He knew he should step up the pace and look for another job; the problem was that he was stuck in that room during peak business hours when most employers interviewed.
With this heavy on his mind on a Friday afternoon, Vic exited through the connecting door of Willie’s Pub. Carefully scanning the street and looking to his right as he turned to the left, he ran smack into a soldier walking past the pub.
“Pardon me,” Vic mumbled at the same time that the other man, with the distinctive friendly drawl of the Deep south, said, “’Scuze me.”
Vic cast a quick glance at the man, looked forward, and did a double take, his eyes large with disbelief as he stopped dead in his tracks. Reaching out, he gripped the man’s arms.
“Well, son of a gun!” he burst out, his face transforming into a wide grin at the same time as the other man’s. His eyes scanned the crisp military uniform, sharply creased tan pants, immaculate shirt, and well-fitting hat – perched upon a familiar head covered with close cropped nappy charcoal curls. White teeth gleamed in a face the light hue of café au lait, as round eyes the color of rich dark coffee beans sparkled gaily back at him.
“Floyd! Is it really you?”
Floyd Grimes grinned back at his friend as they simultaneously reached to vigorously shake hands. “It sho’ nuff iz me, Chief.”
Vic laughed, both of them moving over to allow people to pass by on the sidewalk. “Man, it’s good to see ya, Floyd.”
“It’s powerful good ta see you, Chief, but what’chu doin’ here? Last I heard you’s workin’ a good job up in Indiana.”
Vic shook his head, chuckling as he stood back a step and ran a hand back through his hair. “Man, so much has happened. I tried to let ya know, but when I sent ya a letter, it came back with no forwarding address.”
Floyd nodded. “That’s cuz I went in the army. Been nigh on two years now.”
Vic’s mouth dropped open. “How come, man?” Then he laughed. “Seems I remember you said you’d rather dig ditches than eat army chow every dang day.”
Floyd laughed good-naturedly. “You right. But…” he paused, and for a moment, Vic saw a hint of sadness flicker in Floyd’s normally mirth-filled eyes. “Mamaw died…and I even got married, but…muh wife died too…no fam’ly…” Then shaking his head, the levity came back into his eyes and he went on, “Then one day I was sittin’ outside a dina’ with a coupl’ fellas and a man walked up, said he was recuitin’ fo’ the army, and before I knows it, I’m eatin’ that army chow I hate.”
Vic couldn’t believe it. Floyd – right there in the flesh, standing on the street in Louisville. He and his friend spent the next few minutes getting caught up on one another’s lives. Floyd was, of course, thrilled for his friend to have reconnected with the girl he loved, and if he was surprised about her having a child with that other man, he didn’t let on. It was as if the years melted away and they were just as close as they had been the last time they saw one another – saying goodbye as they stood at the door of the transport that took Floyd into town to catch the bus back to Alabama. That was three years ago…
“So, when did they send you to Fort Knox?” Vic asked as he leaned his forearms on the bar inside Willie’s Pub and took a sip of his beer as his friend did likewise. They had walked inside the establishment and taken seats at the end of the bar, and been served, in spite of Willie’s objections over serving a Negro. At Vic’s scowl of warning, the big-bellied, cigar-chomping barkeep had raked his eyes over Floyd’s immaculate uniform and grudgingly acquiesced, growling, “Well, seein’ he’s a friend a’ yers,” and had grabbed two cold ones, popped the tops, and shoved them in front of Vic and Floyd before moving on down the bar. Willie’s racial prejudice was just another of the things Vic had grown to hate about the place where he spent his days. Even his boss, Steve, made an occasional derogatory comment towards people of color. That kind of mindless prejudice is something Vic had never understood, nor participated in.
Floyd shrugged as he took another sip and wiped his mouth with the back of one hand. “They put me in the mota’ pool at Rucka’,” he explained, meaning Camp Rucker, the largest military installation in Alabama. “Then afta’ Pearl, dey sent me ta Knox ta help work on the jeeps and tanks they’re gonna send overseas. I’ll be ’dere a while ’til they send me on down the line,” he added with his customary chuckle.
Vic nodded, and then sat gazing for a moment at his long lost friend and shook his head, still amazed that the two had literally run into one another on the street. Otherwise, they might not have gotten together, because Floyd had been of the firm belief that Vic wasn’t even in town. He had merely hitched a ride into the city with some fellow soldiers to spend a few hours of leave and see the sights of the town his old friend from his CCC days had told him about – Legendary Louisville, the bustling Derby town.
With a wide grin and a clap on the back, Vic said, “So…how’d you like to meet the sweetest and prettiest girl this side of the Ohio?”
His friend’s grin was even bigger than his own as he nodded obligingly. “Chief, I’s beginnin’ ta think yo’d neva’ ask.”
With a laugh that felt like old times, they each tossed some coins on the bar and headed for the door, blissfully unaware of the smoldering ga
zes burning their backs as they left.
*
“Thomas Joseph, stop that this instant,” Louise fussed as she ran hot water in the tub for her bath. It had been a long day, and an exhausting week. She had picked up the pace at work since Vic had told her of his cut in pay, trying to earn a little more on her pay card to make up the difference.
Looking forward to putting her feet up after supper and relaxing, she was thankful that Lilly had made an extra large pot of stew for their supper, and had taken only a portion for her and Billy when she left to go home. All Louise needed to do was mix up some muffins to eat with it.
Tommy, however, had finally begun to act out what everybody called the Terrible Twos, although he had officially turned three in April. Just then, he was running up and down the hallway yelling like an Indian on the warpath. As soon as Louise had arrived home, her mother had informed her that she had luckily discovered Tommy just before he could eat a piece of chocolate laxative, from the package Louise had left on the bathroom sink. Her mother had then assured her she had transferred the package to the bureau in the bedroom, well out of his reach.
“Much as I love my Grandson, that boy has run me bedraggled today and I’m sure glad it’s Friday,” Lilly had declared as she beat a hasty escape to her own place for some peace and quiet. Louise didn’t blame her, though. A toddler was enough to run anyone bedraggled.
“Go sit with your blocks and play quietly. Mama wants to relax before supper,” she told her son as she headed into the bedroom for clean lingerie and her bathrobe. The thought of washing her hair and soaking in a nice hot bubble bath had been paramount in her imagination all day long, and she was determined that nothing would prevent it from becoming a reality.