by Linda Ellen
The wattage of his smile brightened again as he dwelt on encouraging thoughts. Knowing the young men were on the other side, he gestured toward the forest the crew had yet to clear on this, their current project.
“Hey, go tell the guys for me that it’s chow time and I’ll give ‘em a lift back to camp.”
“Sho’ thing, boss,” Floyd answered, turning toward an opening in the trees and taking off in a loping run.
Vic watched him go with a fond half grin and small chuckle. As he waited for his crew to emerge, he looked back down at his friend’s short letter. He read Alec’s words again of how he’d already bought his bus ticket and would arrive in two weeks, that he would spend one night, and head back to Louisville for his job on Monday morning.
Resting his head back on the worn cloth of the driver’s seat, Vic thought back over the weeks that he had been at the camp. Working harder than he ever had in his life – felling trees, driving the large army trucks, digging ditches and postholes for fences, and anything else that needed to be done – he had quickly proven not only his determination and strength, but his skills and knowledge as well. True to his word, Major Connors had promoted Vic to Crew Manager after the first week.
He happened to be one of the three oldest enrollees in his barracks, including Floyd, who was also twenty-one, and a bespectacled, rather thin young man named Scottie, who helped out with clerical work in the camp headquarters’ office. The rest were mere youngsters of seventeen or eighteen. Upon finding out his age, the other enlistees quickly began teasingly calling him ‘old man’. As the weeks passed, however, the goad had turned into a way of showing their affection and respect.
When Vic wasn’t working hard at his tasks, the other fellows would often see him gazing at the picture he kept taped to the headboard of his bunk. Each of them had snuck peeks at it, and all agreed that the girl was truly a looker – and their ‘Chief’ was surely smitten. Vic had shared a bit about her with them, specifically, her name, her features, and her many talents, although her age he kept as a secret.
None of the guys had seen the second picture Vic kept squirreled away in his wallet. That one was for his eyes only, and it had jumpstarted many a session of daydreams for the young man.
Floyd had quickly become a confidant with whom Vic could discuss his plans and ambitions. The happy-go-lucky young black man had even expressed an interest in making Louisville his home when his two-year hitch was up. He shared that he had been raised by his elderly grandmother in Alabama, had spent three long years knocking around the country once he had graduated high school, and had become tired of rambling and joined the CCC – to stay put for awhile and make something of himself. Hearing Vic talk about the town on the Ohio River had warmed his heart and he felt as if Louisville might be a place he could call home.
Vic had assured him he would be more than welcome, and would definitely be invited to the wedding – provided the girl did, indeed, say yes. Sometimes, though, it seemed the two years of his enlistment stretched out before him as an eternity.
Coming out of his musings a few minutes later, Vic watched as the tired, muddy crew of 17-year-old boys trudged to the truck, playfully shoving one another as they climbed up into the cloth-covered back end.
“Thought you’d never get back, old man!” one of the young men hollered up toward the cab. “I’m about to die ‘a starvation!”
“Aww I think you got enough insulation to hold you at least a day, Wolf. You ain’t gonna starve,” Vic called back.
Everyone laughed, including the speaker, whose nickname was ‘Wolf’ because he had the habit of wolfing down his food – and anything left on anyone else’s plate.
Vic turned the key and started up the old rattletrap truck, casting an amused glance at Floyd as he climbed up into the passenger seat, his customary chuckle reverberating from his chest. Floyd tilted his head back and began to croon, “You get a line and I’ll get a pole, honey, honey. You get a line and I’ll get a pole, babe. You get a line and I’ll get a pole, we’ll go down to that crawdad hole…” to which all the guys in the back, and Vic as well, joined, “Honey, baby mine!”
In this way, they passed the time traveling back to the camp.
*
The following Saturday, Vic looked up from checking the oil in the truck he had begun to think of as his vehicle, and a broad smile instantly suffused his face. He watched as his best friend made his way toward him from the vicinity of the Major’s car that had just pulled up to the door of headquarters.
Quickly wiping his hands on the rag he kept perpetually in his back pocket, Vic came around the front of the cab. “Alec,” he called, grabbing his friend in a firm man-hug. “You old seven times a son of a gun, it’s good ta see ya!”
Alec returned the friendly embrace as they clapped one another on the back. “Good to see you too, man.”
“I was just gettin’ ready to head out to go pick you up in Dana…”
Alec grinned at his friend, noticing the healthy glow to his cheeks, and the joyful confidence in his expression. He could see that life at the camp had been good for Vic. There was a spring in his step, and purpose in his stride. He no longer gave the appearance of a man treading water in the center of the river, but rather a man that had ‘made it’ to the shore. Inwardly Alec cringed, hating more than ever the reason for his trip – and what he knew it would do to that joy and confidence.
“Aww well, the bus got in a little early, and your boss happened to be in town. I saw the logo on the car, and, well…he offered to give me a ride.”
Vic nodded with a dimpled grin, thinking that was something Major Connors would do.
“How is everybody?” Vic asked, starving for information.
“Everybody’s fine. Just fine,” Alec returned with a nod as he glanced around at his surroundings.
“Well…come on man, tell me. You know I’m dyin’ here…” Vic prompted, but his friend cleared his throat and sidestepped the request.
“Why don’t you show me around this place. What’dyall do here, anyway? Besides play in the dirt,” he added with a teasing shove.
Seeing nothing he could put his finger on in his friend’s eyes, and knowing Alec’s penchant for teasing and prolonging suspense, Vic shrugged obligingly and chuckled, “Okay, okay. I’ll take ya around.”
For the next thirty minutes, Vic showed Alec ‘his’ truck, and they made the rounds of the camp, visited the mess hall, recreation hall, infirmary, and garage, as well as some of the outbuildings.
Finally, with a grin, Vic murmured, “C’mon, I saved the best for last,” as he motioned for his friend to follow him down a path that led deep into the untouched portion of the forest. Over his shoulder, he remarked, “I found this spot by accident. None ‘a the other guys know about it.”
After several minutes of uphill climbing, traversing bushes and boulders, they finally came to the cusp of a 130-foot sandstone bluff that overlooked a river below.
“Down there’s the Illinois River,” Vic murmured as he sat down. Buttoning his jacket against the brisk winter breeze, he stuffed his hands into his pockets as he allowed his feet to dangle off the rock ledge. The view was spectacular. Below them, across the expanse of the swiftly flowing river, were rolling hills and valleys, picturesque canyons, and waterfalls. Being winter, the sky was a light gray with just a hint of blue. The trees were bare of leaves, but somehow starkly beautiful.
Alec for once was rendered speechless by nature’s beauty as he secured the zipper on his own jacket and silently lowered himself down beside his friend. The world, from that vantage point, seemed serene, calm, and quiet. It made them both feel like they should whisper.
Suddenly, from somewhere off to their right, an eagle left its nest high in a tree and took to flight, soaring high above, its majestic wings barely fluttering to keep it aloft.
After several silent, reverent minutes, Vic mumbled, “This is where I come when the waitin’ gets too much. Lookin’ around at all this…kind
of puts things into perspective…you know? Like…it took a lot of years for nature to make all of this. It’s like Doc and Irene tell me…good things come to those who wait…and believe.”
Alec swallowed and for a moment closed his eyes, the secret burning in his gut truly squeezing his heart for what he knew he had to do to his longtime friend. At that moment, in spite of knowing and even understanding the circumstances, he felt a momentary hatred rise up inside of him toward the girl that his best friend loved. He wished he had taken the easy way out and simply written or called… But, how do you write something like that in a letter?
Vic went on, “You shoulda seen this place when I first found it. It was still autumn, and the leaves were so many different shades of oranges and reds, browns and yellows…kinda like a patchwork quilt…”
Alec mumbled something unintelligible as he continued to stare out at the view, his mind only half seeing the vista as he scrambled for a way to start the inevitable conversation.
Finally, Vic couldn’t take the waiting anymore and murmured, “Is she still mad at me?”
Alec’s brow furrowed and he turned his head toward his friend. “Mad?” The situation had marched on so far from the original fight, Alec had forgotten about it.
Vic shrugged, continuing to watch the eagle’s lazy drift. “For the things I yelled at her when I found out. I was just…off my nut about Ger’ gettin’ arrested and I…well, I wasn’t very nice.”
“Oh…” Alec paused, wondering if that was part of the reason…
“Did ya talk to her?” Vic asked softly, thinking it was going to take more work than he had thought to get her to come around. She sure could be a stubborn little thing…
Alec clamped his lips together for a moment, took a deep breath, and murmured, “Man, I been goin’ over it and over it in my mind, tryin’ to come up with a way to…but there just ain’t no easy way but to just come out and say it…”
An overwhelming surge of dread and fear rushed through Vic’s entire being as he turned his head and then his body toward his pal, staring at his profile. “Say what…” When Alec still hesitated, he added, “What, man?! C’mon!”
Alec turned and met his friend’s eyes. “She…Louise…she got married, man.”
Vic sucked in a breath and his eyes widened. He looked and felt as if he’d been sucker-punched. His mouth dropped open as he staggered up from his perch and backed up a couple of steps. Gasping for air, he rasped, “What?? B…but…when? Who? If this is some kinda joke, Alder, I’ll wring your neck!”
Now that it was finally out, Alec braced himself to just spill the rest and get it over with, the way one would rip off a bandage. The sooner done, the sooner the healing could start. Standing, he faced his friend and jammed his hands deep in his coat pockets. “I went by there, like you asked, but it was a couple ‘a weeks because I came down with the flu. Had a bad case of it – and then Mom and the sisters got it and…” he paused, knowing that sounded like an excuse. He had wondered from the moment he’d found out what happened, if it would have made a difference if he had gone over to see her right away. But he’d put it off, and felt positive that what had occurred was to some extent his fault.
“Anyway,” Alec continued, “I knocked on the door and a guy answered, I think it was her brother…”
“Sonny…” Vic numbly supplied, hoping against hope that he had misunderstood the bombshell Alec had dropped on him.
Alec nodded. “Yeah, and when I asked for Louise, he asked who I was. I told him my name and that I was a friend of yours and he acted like he’d heard about me…then he told me she got married, like a week before I went over there. I’m sorry, man…if I’d gone the day you left…” he stopped as Vic shook his head with a grimace and held up a hand.
Married? She went from being just a kid to…she got married?? Nearly hyperventilating, his eyes burning with shocked tears, Vic tried to gulp in the cold air surrounding his head, but his lungs couldn’t take it in. There was a pain deep in his gut, so sharp it was causing him to double over, making his whole body feel as if it had suddenly turned to lead, all the while his universe seemed to be crumbling like dry toast under his feet.
“NO!!” he suddenly bellowed, clamping his eyes shut and gripping his head with his hands as he sank slowly to his knees. Didn’t she love me at all? Was the whole summer one great big lie? Her kisses…so sweet…so full of fire… The pain of this betrayal was worse than any hurt he’d ever felt in his life. It was over the top – way more than he could survive, he was sure. Right then and there, he wished he could just die…just be put out of his misery. In five minutes, he had gone from hopes and plans for a bright and happy future to the pit of hell, and he could see no way out.
“I…I’m sorry, pallie,” Alec stuttered, swearing silently that he was the worst scum bucket on earth for botching this…maybe I shoulda wrote it in a letter… Drawing near, Alec dropped to his knees beside his distraught friend and reached out to lay a tentative hand on Vic’s trembling shoulder in an attempt to comfort. “Man, I’d give my right arm to not ‘a been the one to come and tell you that…” he mumbled softly.
However, Vic couldn’t hear his friend’s consoling words, above the pounding of his own heart and the buzzing in his ears.
The world had ceased to exist.
He wondered what he had done to deserve this…his sweet Mary Lou…married…another man taking what should have been his…
*
The next afternoon, the two long time friends stood together at the tiny bus depot in Dana, each one with his hands stuffed in his pockets, staring at the hard packed dirt beneath their feet.
“I’m sorry, man,” Alec mumbled, apologizing for what seemed the hundredth time. He still felt guilty that he’d been the one to deliver the devastating news, but the four of them – Earl, Ruth, he and Fleet, had discussed the situation at length and determined it would be easier coming from him rather than Vic reading it in a letter. Alec had truly been worried for quite a while up there on that cliff, not knowing what his friend would do, and had kicked himself for choosing that location to administer the ‘blow’. For a few moments, he had even been afraid Vic might literally jump off the edge. Alec had talked to, reasoned with, and comforted his pal until his voice literally gave out before Vic finally began to come out of the shock. Then he’d been full of questions, morbidly wanting to know all the details. Although Alec hadn’t planned on divulging the last tidbit of information, Vic had pried it out of him, namely who the low down scum was that had taken his girl.
White-hot anger had blazed through Vic then. He had yelled about it being that creep that had swept Louise right out of his arms, the one that kept calling him ‘Mac.’ It seemed the fact that he was the one made it that much worse. Alec thought the whole thing was pretty rotten, and that the guy was no better than a fox that creeps into the hen house when no one is looking. Vic had admitted that it felt like a personal slight, a punch to the jaw, as if he were being mocked and laughed at behind his back. Alec thought, privately, however, that the anger had seemed to help Vic cope, at least better than the crushing heartache.
For Vic, it had added fuel to the fire when Alec had related the ‘rest’ of the story Sonny had been more than willing to reveal of the emotional blackmail Louise had suffered, and he wished ardently that he had been there to whisk her away from her torturers.
Remembering that night he had gone to talk to her, but had chickened out at the door and slunk away, made him feel sick to his stomach. He should have spirited her away for a private talk – and not have left such an all-important task to a letter slipped under the door! Why hadn’t he realized that it was sliding under a throw rug? Once again, it was like someone or something had it in for him.
As a result, he had spent a fitful night on his bunk, tossing and turning, and suffering disturbing dreams. He imagined Louise in a white gown, arm in arm with her new ‘husband’ as they laughed at him, or Louise the helpless victim as the interloper forc
ed her to comply. That was even worse, and he longed to go to her and ‘save’ her, as in his dreams she was crying and whispering his name…
Meeting his friend’s eyes as they stood together, and seeing Alec’s obvious guilt and angst over the whole situation, made Vic attempt a tiny smile. It ain’t his fault. Like they say – don’t shoot the messenger.
Slowly offering his hand, Vic mumbled, “I ‘preciate you comin’ all the way here to tell me in person…”
Alec let out a soft snort as he shook Vic’s hand. “Man, it was about the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”
Vic nodded. There was nothing else left to say. They’d talked it all to death up on the cliff.
The two long time friends felt quite awkward together, each with their hands shoved in their pockets, staring at the trees in the distance. Suddenly remembering a happy tidbit he had wanted to impart, however, Alec smiled and cast a glance over at his friend.
“Oh, by the way…wanted to let you know, Ger’s off the hook.”
Vic met his eyes, a tiny spark of joy kindled. “He is?”
Alec pursed his lips and nodded. “Yep. Somethin’ about they didn’t have enough evidence or whatnot. They let him go six weeks ago. I saw him last week, and he told me he and the girl are gonna get married when she turns sixt…” he stopped, grimacing as he watched the cloud come back into Vic’s eyes. Looking away, Alec muttered a few choice words, cursing himself for his stupidity.
Minutes later the bus arrived. Still slightly worried, Alec met his friend’s eyes again.
“Man…don’t do nothin’ stupid…” was all he could think of to say before climbing aboard.
Vic managed a lame half-smile and mumbled, “Aw man, you know me better than that.”
He stayed long enough to see his friend off for his journey back home. Then, with a heavy heart, his mind in turmoil, Vic climbed into the cab of his truck and began the drive back to the camp.
