“Or decency,” Daisy said.
“Do you think he shot your father on purpose?” Fluff asked.
“I don’t know why he would.”
“What about the authorities? Do they know? We should march down there and tell them what really happened.”
We. Daisy loved how Fluff immediately considered anyone’s problem her own. A sign of true friendship if there were one.
“They already know. Walker made his dad go fess up. And if you don’t mind, I’m worn out from crying and I’ve been round and round in my mind all day. Can we just look at the stars for a while?”
One by one, they arranged themselves with their heads together on the blanket—Palmolive soap, night-blooming jasmine and the faint smell of night mingling together. No one spoke. The collective breathing of the group soon fell in sync, causing a swelling in Daisy’s chest like she had never felt before. A moment later, Blanche appeared, rubbing her head against their legs. Daisy reached down and stroked her, feeling the ever-growing bulge in her midsection. Any day now, the kittens would arrive.
* * *
At Little Robert, the first class of filterers would be announced at the end of the week. Aside from bragging rights, a filterer got to wear a red bar with a blue stripe pinned to the collar of her uniform. Out of the four of them, Daisy was the only one gunning for it.
“I’m not interested, nor does my brain work that way,” Fluff had said.
Betty was too distracted. “I can’t seem to focus for too long on any one thing.”
And Lei had been chosen to be shift captain, in charge of scheduling and making sure rotations ran smoothly.
For the first time in her life, Daisy had been studying like mad. There was beauty in numbers and how with enough information stored in your brain, you could take unconnected plots and see a pattern. Now, she focused on memorizing the multitudes of codes, how to manage planes in distress—God forbid, and handling divergent echo interpretation reports. Studying also took her mind off the Montgomery mess, and waiting for her mother’s letter that may never come.
Nixon had been worried about “turning the WARDs loose” and allowing them to run the show without oversight. There was no doubt the man was working himself to death. A rash had formed along his temple and down one side of his neck. “Looks to me like something’s burrowing in there,” Fluff said in the break room one day.
Lei lowered her voice. “That’s what happens when you can’t delegate. When you don’t trust anyone to do the work as good as you would. It’s a sickness.”
“Maybe that’s what’s festering in his neck.”
“I know it takes time to become experts, but we’re fast learners. Someone needs to tell him that,” Daisy said.
Fluff laughed. “That would go over well. Hey, Nixon, we’ll take over from here.”
“This war is going to change how women are viewed, mark my words. We are just as smart if not smarter than the boys, we’ve just never had the chance to show it. Look at all these recruiting advertisements and posters plastered everywhere—aviation, munitions, shipbuilding. It’s our chance to shine, ladies,” Betty said, holding up her Coke to toast.
Daisy tapped her coffee mug. “About time.”
Fluff smiled. “By the time we get to Lizard, we won’t even need them.” Lizard was rumored to be their next digs, a state-of-the-art communication facility in a tunnel somewhere beneath Fort Shafter. Construction was going twenty-four hours a day, as it was in the shipyards, but they were still a month out from finishing.
Two filterers would be picked for each shift, and a handful of girls on Daisy’s shift were interested, one of them being Thelma. Despite her personal shortcomings, Thelma was sharp. Daisy would give her that. After work at night, Daisy pored through calculations and manuals. She made note cards with code names and had Fluff test her. Fluff loved codes and code names, so they both benefited.
“You know, we’ve assigned code names to everyone but ourselves,” Fluff said one night as they sat at the table with a bowl of macadamia nuts.
“What if we just use our first initial?” Daisy said, not wanting to get distracted.
Fluff lit up. “I would be Fox and you would be Dog. I love it!”
“And Lei is Love and Betty, Baker.”
“They couldn’t be more perfect!”
Fox, Dog, Love and Baker. Strangely, the names all fit. Fluff certainly was a looker, Lei took everyone under her wing, and Betty had been baking nonstop ever since Chuck went down. Daisy would have preferred horse, but dogs were loyal and intelligent and considered man’s best friend. Dog was certainly better than Victor or Yoke.
“But we might need our last initials too, for clarity’s sake, so we don’t get confused with all the other gals,” Fluff said, in a most serious tone.
“I doubt we have to worry about that.”
“Just for fun. I’m Fox King and you’re Dog William,” she said, laughing.
William. W. Walker. Daisy could be thinking about anything—laundry, radar countermeasures, what shoes to wear—when Walker would appear in her mind.
Fluff snapped her fingers. “Honey, you have that faraway look again and I think I know why. It’s William Mike, isn’t it?”
Daisy nodded.
“Damn him. In my experience, men are not all they’re cracked up to be. Some are easy on the eyes to be sure, but you can generally count on them either lying to you, cheating on you or dying on you,” Fluff said, cracking a mac nut shell and slipping the nut into her mouth. “Man plus woman equals heartache. How’s that for an equation?”
Daisy mostly agreed. “Men are negative numbers.”
“They’re absolute value inequalities.”
“Calculus.”
“Geometry proofs.”
Fluff folded over laughing, though Daisy had to admit she enjoyed geometry. It was the only subject in the tenth grade that she excelled in. “So how come we keep coming back for more? I can’t seem to get Walker off my mind, even knowing what I know.”
“Human nature, I guess?” Fluff said.
“This is new territory for me. Boys have always been just that—silly boys. Walker is a whole other species and I never expected to fall for him like this.”
“I don’t think anyone expects it. That’s why they call it falling in love.”
A bolt of lightning shot through Daisy. Was this what had happened to her? Had she somehow fallen in love with Walker without even knowing it?
* * *
The following afternoon on the ride home from Little Robert, Fluff seemed extraordinarily giddy. Her cheeks were pink and she kept smiling off into the distance.
Betty nudged Daisy. “What’s gotten into her?”
“I have no idea.”
The minute they entered the house, Fluff announced, “Lieutenant Dunn is taking me out tonight for a bite. I know you two don’t approve, but I’m going anyway.”
Daisy frowned. “Wait a minute. What about our conversation about men yesterday? Have you forgotten so quickly?”
“Didn’t I say it’s in our nature to keep trying? Plus, Dunn is different. He’s older and more mature and he seems to genuinely like me.”
“Going out with a superior officer is not a good idea, Fox King. And you know how Nixon feels about it,” Betty said, unbuttoning her uniform and grabbing three cold Cokes from the fridge.
“I disagree,” Fluff said, flopping back on the couch.
“What if something goes wrong? Then you still have to work with the man,” Daisy said.
Daisy saw his appeal. The easy smile and broad shoulders with tapered waist turned many of the girls to mush. But he was too slick, too friendly, too touchy. With everyone. They soon gave up trying to persuade Fluff to stay home. Options were limited on where one could go at night, and Dunn had told her it would be a surprise.
; “Let’s hope it’s a good surprise,” Betty said, as soon as Fluff walked out the door. Without Fluff home to lighten the mood, the evening unraveled like an old sweater. At seven o’clock, Betty pulled out a box of photo albums and broke down over every picture of Chuck. Her whole body quaked with sobs and tears wet the pages. Daisy sat on the bed with her for moral support.
Betty slammed her palm down on the pillow. “Twenty-six-year-olds are not supposed to be widows! Our life together was just getting started, you know? Chuck wanted to move to San Francisco after his next tour and open a restaurant. We were going to have three golden-haired children and a houseful of collies and I was going to bake pies and scones and sourdough bread. It’s not fair,” she moaned.
“Fairness is a figment of the imagination. I learned that long ago,” Daisy said.
Betty’s blue eyes were pleading. “All’s fair in love and war. Whoever came up with such a dumb saying? It really should be all’s unfair in love and war. And all is miserable and painful and awful.”
“Maybe not all. Think about the wonderful times you had with Chuck and how much he adored you. You were one of the lucky ones, Betty. You had more love in a matter of years than most people get in a lifetime,” Daisy said.
“Okay, so it’s war I don’t like, not love. All the senseless killing, it’s not natural. Is it?”
“Seems like war has always been around, mostly because men are unable to come to agreement in other ways,” Daisy said.
“Women should run the countries.”
“Tell that to the men.”
While last night Fluff was consoling Daisy, now Daisy was consoling Betty. And who knew who would be consoling whom tomorrow. On one day or another, they all held each other up. Everyone’s turn would come. It was simply the way of the world.
* * *
In the morning, Daisy woke at the foot of Betty’s bed, a thin blanket draped over her. She felt around for Betty’s foot, but the bed was empty. Fresh-roasted coffee lured her into the kitchen, still in her nightgown and hair in all directions. No matter how early she rose, Betty was always up first. For the first time in weeks, she looked as though she had actually slept some. Not only that, but she hummed as she stirred batter in the big stainless bowl.
“I’m making banana pancakes,” Betty announced.
Living with Betty had its perks.
“Were you awake when Fluff got back?” Daisy asked.
“No, but I peeked in when I got up to make sure she’s here.”
After freshening up some, Daisy returned to the kitchen where pale light filtered in through the branches outside. Their shift began after lunch, so there was no hurry. “How’d you sleep?” Betty asked.
The persistent ache in her chest felt less bothersome. “Better than I have in days. I think all that crying knocked something loose inside me.” Betty nodded. “Hurts are cumulative, so a good cry is like a pressure-release valve. You might start off crying for one thing and before you know it, you’ve taken a walk down memory lane and are crying for things you thought you got over a long time ago.”
There was a long list where Daisy was concerned. “Must be.”
Betty set a bunch of bananas in front of Daisy to peel and chop. Banana pancakes had become a morning tradition on days off or later-shift days, and Daisy was thoroughly addicted. Betty made plenty extra for Fluff, who had still not risen. They ate and cleaned up. Fluff was still in bed.
“This is unlike her,” Daisy said.
“Either she had a really good time or a really bad time. Or maybe she’s come down with strep throat like Ming and Ruth.”
Daisy washed a load of laundry and hung it to dry, then sat down and studied again. Betty cut up an old army blanket and stuck it in a box for Blanche’s anticipated birthing session, which would be any day now. By ten thirty, when Fluff still had not come out of the room, Daisy went in to check on her. Fluff lay on her side, facing the window. Betty came and looked in on them.
“Fluff, are you awake?” Daisy said softly.
“No.”
A bad feeling settled in her stomach. “What’s the matter, are you not feeling well?”
“You could say that.”
When Fluff half rolled over, you could see red scratches crisscrossing her arm and even a few on her face. Daisy felt the hair raise along the back of her body. “Honey, what happened to you?”
“Nothing.”
This was so unlike Fluff, who never missed a chance to speak her mind. In this case, nothing clearly meant nothing good.
Betty came over and sat on foot of the bed. “Why are you all scratched up, hon? You need to tell us.”
“I just want to sleep. Everything’s fine, just leave me be,” Fluff said, dully.
Daisy joined them on the bed. That metallic taste that filled her mouth when she thought about Johnny Boy flooded in. “You’re stuck with us here. Neither of us is going anywhere until we know your story.”
Fluff sighed, then propped a second pillow under her head. There could have been several nests in her hair, birds and all. “The scratches are from kiawe trees behind Hickam.”
Daisy frowned. “What were you doing in the kiawe trees behind Hickam?”
“Trying to get home.”
All these one-line answers were not helping. “How about you just start from the beginning and tell us everything. Think of me as Sherlock Holmes and Betty here as Watson,” Daisy said.
Fluff tried to smile. “You guys were right. Dunn is a schmuck.”
Daisy should have seen this coming.
“Go on.”
“You’re not going to give up, are you?” Fluff said, rubbing beneath her eyes with both fists.
“Nope,” Daisy and Betty said in unison.
Fluff took a deep breath, then began. “After he picked me up, he told me we were going on a picnic on a secret beach to watch the sunset. I thought it sounded so romantic. I’d never seen him out of uniform and he looked so dashing in his linen button-down that matched the blue of his eyes. Once we got to the trailhead, instead of a picnic basket, he pulled out a burlap bag, which was fine, you know, since most guys don’t own baskets. Anyway, we walked a trail through some marshy land and ended up at a tiny beach. It was lovely at first. He told me how he’d been wanting to take me out for a while now and how he finds it hard to concentrate when I’m in the room.”
She rolled her eyes, which were now watering.
“Turns out the burlap bag had a bottle of whiskey and a tin of sardines and crackers. He set out two shot glasses in the sand and we toasted to the sunset. I thought nothing of it. I can handle a little whiskey. And we talked and talked and I thought it was going quite well, other than the fact that he was speaking to my breasts much of the time. I kid you not, his eyes dropped about every five seconds or so. I should have known what was coming next,” Fluff said, rolling her head to look back out the window.
Daisy glanced at Betty, who shook her head in disgust. “And?”
“I was feeling a bit tipsy and charmed and suddenly he pulled me up to standing and started kissing me against the coconut tree. His kisses were a little rough, but I figured he was drunk and excited. I went along with it for a while, but a voice inside kept screaming that gentlemen don’t act like this.
‘Let’s go for a dip,’” he said.
“I told him no thank you. He kissed me again, more tenderly this time, but pretty soon his hands were all over me. That’s when I stepped back and said it was probably best to head home. We had only moonlight to see by. He apologized, said I was just so damn sexy, and then pulled me down so I was sitting on his lap. By then I was done. I just wanted to go.”
Fluff stopped and asked for a glass of water, which Betty delivered.
“The bottle was next to him, and he took another huge gulp. It was clear he had passed beyond a level of common decency. Af
ter more groping, he unzipped his pants and forced my hand into his crotch.” She held up a bruised wrist. “I knew the only way out at that point was to play along, so I did for about five seconds and then when I felt him relax, I jumped up and ran.”
Daisy wanted to both cry and cheer for her friend. “Good for you.”
Betty let out a big exhale. “Thank heavens.”
“I ran along the path, but it was uneven and hard to see and I tripped and fell. He was coming after me so I crawled under a nearby bush and held my breath. He passed not four feet from me, muttering every curse word in the book. I knew I couldn’t go back the way we came, so I waited for what felt like hours and then headed inland. Have you ever gone hiking at night?”
“Only beach walks,” Daisy said.
“Well, I don’t recommend it, especially around here. I ran into a swamp full of muck that nearly sucked my shoes off, then a thicket of kiawe, all the while not being able to see two feet in front of me.” She pointed to the mess on her head. “I had to tear out chunks of hair caught on the thorns. And if that wasn’t bad enough, a big fat rain cloud covered the moon while I was in the thick of it. Hours later, I made it to a road, and by some miracle that road led me back here.”
“What did the guard at the gate say?” Daisy wanted to know.
“I told him I’m an officer and I’d been sent on a secret training mission that went afoul,” Fluff said with a light returning to her eyes.
“You did not!” Betty said.
She nodded. “I asked him if he’d ever heard of Operation Whiskey Dog—that just came to me on the fly. Of course, he just gave me a funny look and let me through. I tell you, most of these boys don’t know what to do when faced with a female officer.”
Betty turned to Daisy. “If it were up to me, Dunn would be put on the next submarine out of here. What do you think?”
“Nixon needs to know about this,” Daisy said.
Fluff grabbed her wrist. “No! Let it go, you two. No one is going to believe me over Dunn.”
Radar Girls Page 20
