by Linda Ellen
Alec, however, seemed oblivious to his pal’s angst. Playful as always, he reached over with one hand to give Vic a teasing smack on the back of his head, chuckling, “Last one there’s a rotten egg,” before he sprinted into the other room.
Vic rose slowly to his feet. He didn’t know what, and he didn’t know how, but something would have to change soon.
He just hoped it would be for the better.
*
“Hoe’d schtill, wi’ ya?” Fleet mumbled, bobby pins clamped in her teeth as she held the wooden-handled curling iron to a section of Louise’s hair. Louise fidgeted yet again, twisting to try and see the progress her friend had made on her hairdo. Fleet had curled the lower portion into large, full waves becomingly framing Louise’s chin and neck the way Jean Harlow had worn hers in a movie. She was now working on curling the top backward into a loose, but controlled swirl and fixing it with the pins from her mouth.
“It just doesn’t look right for some reason…” Louise murmured.
“Well, it won’t if you keep messin’ me up,” her friend grumbled. “And remember, I still have ta finish my makeup, and it’s gettin’ late.”
“You’re right, I’m sorry. I just…I want everything to be perfect tonight. For some reason, I feel nervous,” Louise admitted, wondering at the unsettled feeling she had been experiencing all afternoon. Edna had grilled her, giving her the third degree. While dressing, Edna happened to pick up a pair of her shoes and looking closely, spotted a scuffmark on one side.
“You been wearin’ my stuff again, haven’t ya,” she had sneered, holding out the shoe right under Louise’s nose. “This scuff wasn’t there the last time I wore these. What’dya do? Play dress up or something?”
Louise had frantically placated her sister, suggesting that perhaps she had scuffed the shoe while moving things around in the closet. Edna grudgingly bought the excuse, but the incident had left Louise shaken. What would her sister do if she knew the whole truth – that she was using her makeup, her clothes…she had even borrowed Edna’s clutch purse for that night!
Once again, she determinedly pushed aside the fact that she had racked up so many half-truths and outright lies in her relationship with Vic that she was starting to lose track of them herself.
Fleet chuckled and shook her head, standing back to admire her handiwork. “Honey, you got no reason to feel nervous. You’re gonna knock his socks off.”
Louise grinned at her friend’s image in the mirror, and then looked back at herself, twisting this way and that as the edge of her dress moved against her calves like a soft mist.
As Fleet put the last pin in her friend’s coiffure and lowered her hands, they both gazed for a moment at Louise’s reflection in the old mirror in Blanche’s room. Fleet had painstakingly applied Louise’s makeup and the overall result was nothing less than stunning. The dress, a 1920’s style party dress belonging to Fleet’s mother, was made of champagne colored embroidered lace over silk, and was truly exquisite. Blanche had worn it to a party back in her younger days, and then never again. It had remained hidden away in tissue paper in an old trunk. The silk lining was sheath like, while the outer shell formed a scooped neck and short, capped sleeves. It hung in one piece straight down to the uneven hem, like that of a scarf, with the straight edge of the lining visible underneath. The soft color gave her alabaster skin a warm glow. Louise felt as if she were about to step onto the big screen at Lowe’s Theater.
“See, I told you that dress would look great on you,” Fleet complimented.
“Thanks. You look good, too,” Louise returned, switching her eyes to her taller friend’s attire. Fleet had chosen a summer evening dress that fit her figure perfectly, with lovely pink and gold flowers on a black background. The low, scooped neckline rounded out to short draping sleeves where the soft material fell in tiny gathers. The skirt reached nearly to the floor, allowing a view of her gold cage-front t-strap shoes.
“Alec’ll be followin’ you around like a puppy on a leash,” Louise teased.
Fleet wiggled her eyebrows at that thought. “That’d be somethin’ huh? I don’t think the boy knows how to be serious,” she added, a momentary look of something flashing in her eyes.
Louise studied her friend’s expression for a moment. “You really like him, don’t you,” she finally stated.
“I’m crazy about him…even though he’s a goofy nut,” Fleet admitted with a smirk. “But I’ll be dogged if I tell ‘im that. And don’t you say nothin’, neither,” she ordered with a stern glance at Louise. “I have a feeling Mr. Alec Alder is just a Good-Time Charlie that don’t want no ties…just like most guys,” she added softly, thinking of her own long-lost father, and all of her mother’s and grandmother’s ‘gentlemen callers’.
Louise reached over and laid a hand over Fleet’s. “Oh honey…I don’t think Alec is like that. I don’t think Vic would be friends with him if he was…” she encouraged softly.
“Maybe…” Fleet pressed her lips together for a moment, and then determinedly stood up to her full height. Squaring her shoulders, she winked at her friend. “Ah heck with it. We’re gonna have fun tonight, huh?” Hurriedly setting about applying the finishing touches to her own makeup, she gushed, “I been lookin’ forward to this dance for weeks. Alec says the band that’s playin’ is supposed to sound near as swell as Benny Goodman…”
Louise stared thoughtfully at her own reflection in the pitted mirror as her friend droned on, wondering why she couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. The woman staring back at her seemed like another person altogether, not the carefree girl who had played ‘hide and seek’ with her younger brother at the country club during the flood. Had she really changed that much since this ‘adventure’ had started?
Determinedly, she shook off a tiny cold chill and rubbed goose flesh from her arms.
Tonight, she would have fun. She would worry about details some other time…
*
Ten minutes later, the girls had just made it inside the vestibule of the house across the street, their hearts pumping madly from nearly getting caught in their deception, as the black hearse rolled to a stop at the curb. Sporting jackets and ties, Alec and Vic immediately opened their doors and sprang out to go get their girls.
Comically, both young men skidded to a stop, emitting identical wolf whistles, when the young ladies opened the door and stepped out onto the stoop.
Louise giggled and Fleet struck a pose, raising one hand to flip a curl teasingly over her shoulder.
Vic whistled again as he stared at the ‘vision’ that was his honey. “Shew, girl, I’m gonna have to fight the other guys off with a stick, you lookin’ like that!” he complimented as he moved forward and lifted a hand to Louise. Queen fashion, she placed hers within, and gracefully flowed down the steps. “Mmm mm, that’s some dress,” he added approvingly, his eyes taking in every detail, from her red, shiny lips to the gold high-heeled pumps she had secretly ‘borrowed’ from her sister.
“Thank you,” she answered sweetly, her own eyes running over the handsome figure he made in his jacket and tie. Thinking the persistent wave refusing to lie down on his slicked back hair gave him a sort of rascally air, she purred, “You look really good, too, Vic.”
He grinned and leaned forward to give her a kiss, but stopped an inch away. “Is it okay to kiss ya, or are ya gonna say I’ll mess up your lipstick?” he grumbled teasingly.
“I’ll freshen it up before we go in,” she giggled, tilting her head back for his kiss and relishing the manly essence of aftershave clinging to his cheeks and neck.
Fleet had descended the steps and curled her hand around her escort’s arm as he moaned, “Oh babe, you are looking fine in that dress. We might not even make it to the dance,” he added with a naughty snigger.
Fleet’s mouth dropped open and she gently whacked Alec’s arm before raising her hand to touch her hair, her nose raised in a perfect imitation of a Hollywood starlet. “I b
eg your pardon. I didn’t get this dressed up, and wait weeks for this night, just to end up in the back of a hearse doin’ what we do every Friday night, Mr. Alder. We’re going to that dance.”
Vic and Alec both let out a chortle, followed by Alec inclining his head in acquiescence. “Yes ma’am.”
The four laughed happily as they moved to the car and slid onto the back seat.
“Hi Louise, hey Fleet. You guys look real snazzy,” Ruth chirped as she turned on the seat to look back at them while Earl put the car in gear. She glanced down at her own dress, bemoaning, “I didn’t have nothin’ that swell.”
Earl glanced over as he negotiated a turn. “You look keen, Ruthie. You look good no matter what you got on,” he added with a wink. She giggled with pleasure at his unexpected compliment and leaned over to give him a loud smack on the cheek. Her mood restored, she squealed excitedly, “This is gonna be a real wingding. I heard the band that’s playing tonight is just aces!”
“Yeah. I’m so excited. It’ll be just like a movie with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers,” Fleet gushed in agreement.
Louise exchanged glances with the other two girls, nodding in accord. Picturing herself and Vic out on the floor, ‘cuttin’ a rug’, as the saying went.
“You been talkin’ about nothin’ else since I took you to see those two dance movies,” Alec griped good-naturedly.
“I got a feelin’ it’s gonna be a long night,” Earl joked, prompting everyone in the car to laugh at his aversion to dancing.
Ruth couldn’t resist teasing, “Well, maybe Fleet’ll let me borrow Alec for a few turns. Or maybe somebody else might ask me…like that guy on the Idlewild cuttin’ in with Louise.”
“Hey, you just watch that stuff,” Earl huffed with pretend affront, only to grin down at Ruth as she scooted closer to him with a giggle.
Louise glanced at Vic, noting his hastily concealed scowl. She pressed her lips together, deciding not to join in the teasing.
Thankfully Alec changed the subject and they rode the rest of the way in companionable conversation.
*
It had been a glorious evening. The six friends had arrived at the Knights of Columbus dance hall, spilled out of the car, and hurried into the building amidst some gawking from other attendees regarding their unusual mode of transportation. As they had entered the ballroom, the girls had ‘oooed’ and ‘aaahed’ as they gazed around at the stylishly dressed couples milling about on the polished tile floor. The large room’s four brass chandeliers, with glass lantern-shaped globes, hung from arched beams high in the ceiling, giving the space an air of grandeur.
“Hey, look there,” Ruth prompted, touching Louise’s elbow and pointing toward a sign standing next to a small table holding a pad of paper. The sign read, “Singing Contest tonight. Prize awarded. Sign up here.”
“Oh Louise, get in that!” Fleet encouraged, nudging her friend toward the table.
“Oh, I don’t know…” Louise drew back, glancing up at Vic’s expression as if for permission. Singing that night had been the farthest thing from her mind. Having no idea in advance, she hadn’t warmed up her voice or picked a song, the normal things a person does to prepare for a contest.
He grinned at her, clearly proud. “Yeah, honey. Go on. You wowed ‘em last time.”
With a nervous giggle, Louise gave a tiny shrug of acquiescence and leaned to pick up the pencil next to the pad and quickly wrote her name.
*
An hour later, the dance was in full swing. True to the ballyhoo, all of the attendees thought the band was A-1, and did sound amazingly like Benny Goodman’s orchestra. The place was comfortably packed, but nothing like the miserable conditions they had endured on the boat.
Taking a break from their regular set, the bandleader, Jeff Treymer, stepped to the microphone. Flashing his pearly whites at the crowd, the dark hair and tanned skinned young man presented quite a handsome package. He prompted more than one young lady in the room to harbor star-struck hopes and dreams toward the locally famous musician as he announced that the singing contest was about to start.
Nervous and jittery, Louise turned to Vic. “Wish me luck?”
He grinned encouragingly and bent to kiss her cheek. “Go get ‘em,” he whispered.
Finding there were only three contestants, two girls and a guy, the bandleader motioned Louise and the other two to come up on stage. He had them introduce themselves, and they drew straws to see who would go first. First in the draw was Dale Venter, and he did a passable job singing Pennies from Heaven, although he didn’t sound much like Bing Crosby. The audience gave him polite applause.
Then the other girl, a tall blonde named Jean Dragoo stepped up to sing, sporting a tight red dress that showed off her quite voluptuous attributes. Her choice, a Billie Holliday song, “A Fine Romance”, was delivered with several markedly flat notes, but the men in the room didn’t seem to notice and gave her a rousing response when the bluesy tune finally came to an end.
All that time, Vic had been gazing with pride at his girl up on the stage, standing demurely and waiting for her turn. He could tell she was nervous, but he could also tell that she was conquering her nerves and pushing through to just make herself do it.
When Louise stepped up to the microphone and the first strains of the same tune she had sung on the Idlewild, Once in Awhile, began, she raised her head and looked out over the audience for the twinkling brown eyes that always gave her courage. She found them, watching her with such confidence and affection that she took a deep breath and plunged into the song, delivering a performance that trumped even the one from the night on the boat. By the time she was finished, everyone in the house knew she would win.
Then, everything happened quickly. Voting by rounds of applause, Louise was declared the winner, and she was receiving her prize – an intricately carved wooden jewelry box, shaped like a miniature treasure chest. Amidst congratulations and pats on the back, Louise found her way back to her friends and flew into Vic’s arms, feeling as if she were floating on top of the world.
The dancing began again with a rousing swing number and the friends crossed to the side of the room, laughing and teasing with their ‘starlet’.
Resisting his girl’s insistence for another dance, Earl mumbled, “I think I’ll go on over to the refreshment counter and get me a soda. Anybody else want anything?”
When the others began giving their orders, Vic laughed at Earl’s comical expression. “I could stand to skip a dance, I’ll go with ya.” Alec gave Fleet a quick kiss on the cheek and called out, “Hey guys wait up!”
The three girls left to their own devices turned to one another, Louise still giddy with leftover nerves.
“This has been some night, huh?” Fleet gushed, reaching out for her friend’s prize and taking a closer look. “This is nice. You deserve it, you did great.”
“Thanks, Fleet,” Louise returned, glancing over her shoulder at the guys at the other end of the large room. “So…how goes it with you and Alec tonight?”
“Oh…he can’t seem to keep his hands off me,” Fleet replied, rolling her eyes. “I’m still waitin’ for some ‘a those tender words of affection, though.”
Ruth laughed and shook her head. “Alec’s all fun and games. I wonder sometimes if he’s got a serious bone in his body.”
The taller, willowy girl eyed her friend with a knowing look. “I know. That’s what I’m afraid of.”
“Well, I say…” Louise began, only to be interrupted by a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to find the same young man she had danced with on the Idlewild, standing there grinning down at her.
“Oh…hello,” Louise greeted, and his grin grew even larger.
“So you remember me, huh? That’s good – because I sure remember you,” he crooned confidently. “Congratulations on winning the contest.”
“Um…thank you,” Louise replied, her smile genuine.
Holding out one hand toward her, the stranger murmured
, “Care to dance?”
“Well…” Louise glanced at her friends, eyebrows raised.
“Go on, honey,” Fleet encouraged. “Vic said he wanted ta sit one out, right?”
“But…” Louise hedged, remembering the heated words between Vic and this guy that night on the boat. Truth be told, she was not in the least interested in dancing with him. Though passably nice looking, with wavy, light brown hair and blue eyes, nothing about him appealed to her.
He, however, took her hesitation favorably. “C’mon, I won’t bite,” he teased, boldly grasping one of her hands and pulling her into his arms before she could protest.
She gasped a bit at his forwardness and glanced over her shoulder at the girls, who were giggling and shaking their heads at her reaction. He maneuvered them into the mix of dancers.
“Name’s Tom, but everybody calls me T.J.” His eyes ran appreciatively over her lovely face, hair, and dress. “What’s yours?” he added when she didn’t immediately respond.
She glanced at him, while mentally calculating how long the song would last. “Louise,” she answered politely. She smirked silently regarding the state of his memory, since the entire room had been informed of her name during the contest.
“Louise…pretty name,” he complimented, striving to keep them pressed closer together than was needed for the faster tempo. “Seems like we’re destined to keep running into each other,” he pressed. “Can’t say that makes me mad, though. I sure wouldn’t mind taking a dish like you around. So…what are ya…twenty? Twenty-one?”
“Um…” she blustered, smiling with a light blush in spite of herself. It felt good to be receiving such compliments. She hadn’t truly realized just how the elegant dress had enhanced her appearance.
At the end of the large room, Vic turned from taking two sodas from the server, his brow furrowing as he looked down to the space where they had left the girls. At first he didn’t see Louise, but then stopped cold as she turned while dancing – with what looked like the jerk from the dance on the boat! And she was smiling up at him!
