Until Tomorrow, Mr. Marsworth

by Sheila O'Connor

  Tomorrow, I’m sending Dad this story, so he can think about it, too. And I’m asking him why he let Billy give up on Mom’s dream, and what he thinks of peaceful boys in prison, because if we don’t get Billy money it’s prison or the war. Dad ought to be afraid about this draft! He better not write back: “Be good for Gram. Don’t give her any trouble. Say your prayers. Have fun.”

  I need more than that from Dad, I really do.

  Determined,

  Reenie Kelly

  P.S. If you sit down with this story on the Tribune’s front page, you’ll see my first Plan B. We don’t have $10,000, but at least I’m going to call the place that helped the older brother stand against the draft. Twin Cities Draft Information Center in Minneapolis. The story said they offer counsel and it’s counsel that I need. Plus, I’m going to ask a counselor how to bring Skip home from Vietnam. Cross your fingers for good counseling!!! Stay tuned, Mr. Marsworth, a letter will be coming with whatever I find out!!!!

  Did this center help you back in World War I?

  Monday, July 22, 1968

  Dear Miss Kelly,

  Well, you are most certainly resourceful. I wish I had a tenth of your sharp mind. Perhaps one day they’ll let you run the world.

  I did not live in Minnesota during World War I, but I know about the center and I know it serves men well. No doubt a counselor from that center will enlighten you this morning, but more importantly, I hope Billy will seek their counsel on the draft. As you read in the Tribune, the choice for peace or war must be left to one’s own conscience. You can’t object to Billy being drafted; Billy must object.

  The path to peace is difficult; be prepared for that, Miss Kelly.

  It may well include a fine and prison; often times it does.

  I quite agree, Miss Kelly, beyond the generals and explorers, the inventors and the villains, why not teach the lives of peaceful men and women who have stood against the wars? Or the peaceful men and women who have made a stand against injustice of all kinds? Perhaps someday every child in America will know the work of Dr. King.

  I send good wishes for Plan B, and in the meantime I cast my vote for Billy’s shutter choice of cobalt blue. Please accept this $40 for future service and supplies. You and Dare have earned this and much more.

  Sincerely,

  H. W. Marsworth

  P.S. I read the brothers’ story with purring Clyde asleep beside me on the couch, and I thought how sweetly simple the life of Clyde must be. Not a single thought of war disturbs his dreams. I’d wish the same for you, Miss Kelly, but of course you are much smarter than a cat.

  Monday, July 22, 1968

  Dear Mr. Marsworth,

  I’m already smarter than I was in my last letter!

  WHAT I LEARNED FROM KEITH THE COUNSELOR,

  by Reenie Kelly

  Billy has to call the Draft Information Center, or better yet he needs to go in person to be counseled, except it’s all the way in Minneapolis, and we don’t know that city, and I can’t ask Gram to drive us to a place against the war. Do you know how to get to Minneapolis?

  It’s not too late for Billy to say that he won’t fight, but it would be better if he’d been against the war in public so there’s proof. A letter to the paper like you wrote. And he should have said he was a pacifist when he signed up for the draft.

  There’s a bunch of questions Billy has to answer, like is he against all killing, and would he defend his family if a murderer broke in, and how long has he been against all wars? He has to be against ALL wars, it can’t just be the war in Vietnam.

  It would help if we weren’t Catholic, because I guess a few religions are just plain opposed to war. Mennonites and Quakers are the two that I wrote down. We didn’t have those folks in Denton, not a one. Are you a Mennonite or Quaker, Mr. Marsworth? The only Quakers that I’ve heard of are on the can of oats. Could Billy be a Quaker or would he need that goofy hair?

  What else? Keith, the counselor at the center, said the same as you: Peace isn’t easy. But, the sooner Billy stands for it, the better off he’ll be. Once you’re fighting in the war the way Skip is, then you’re stuck. Or mostly stuck. Even if you hate it, and say you think it’s wrong.

  The thing Billy needs to be is a concionxx—oops I mean CONSCIENTIOUS (I had to use the Webster for that word) OBJECTOR. It means Billy would object to war based on his conscience, but first he has to get the draft board to believe he’s really, truly, deeply, way down in his soul opposed to war. Or any kind of killing. Then he might get a peace job in the Army if he’s drafted, or stay home in America and get assigned to peaceful service if the draft board is convinced. Or he might say he won’t obey the draft at all because his conscience says he can’t. (Is this what you were, Mr. Marsworth? It’s what Muhammad Ali is now.)

  Still, Keith said Billy’s best option would be college. If not Mizzou, then a school we could afford, but even at a college, Billy has to stand against this war. Otherwise he could be drafted once his college years are done. (Do you think the war will last that long???)

  WHAT I WONDER

  How can we get to Minneapolis?

  How to find a college our family can afford. Do you know another college, Mr. Marsworth?

  How exactly did you end up in prison, and will Billy go there, too?

  What will Billy say about the center? Does he deep down in his soul object to EVERY war? Would he defend our family if a murderer broke in?

  On my way now to the library to learn more about this subject, but whatever you can tell me on conscientious objectors sure would help. We spent the last half of fifth grade learning how to research, and as long as I don’t need to bother with those footnotes, I’ll be fine.

  I might even try to find another college while I’m at it, Mr. Marsworth.

  Is Dare Kelly going to help me? No he’s not. Dare’s fine with weeds and painting, but he doesn’t care for books. He’s not a fan of peace, so for now I’ll keep this subject to myself. (To myself, and you and Billy.)

  Stay Tuned,

  Reenie Kelly

  P.S. Do you really think they’ll let me run the world???????

  P.P.S. THANK YOU so much for that money! I’ve never ever earned $40 in my life. We’ve got a coffee can marked BILLY stashed under my bed with all the money that you gave us minus our supplies, plus my earnings from my paper route. I can’t pay for Billy’s college, or a $10,000 fine, but every penny I deposit gives me hope.

  Tuesday, July 23, 1968

  Dear Miss Kelly,

  As to your litany of questions:

  Indeed, I am a Quaker, but I do not have "goofy hair." How unfortunate to be defined by breakfast oats. When you’ve exhausted current research, perhaps you’ll broaden your impression of the Quakers.

  Yes, I was a conscientious objector in World War I, but I would caution against using my example in future conversations with your brother. I’m not a man admired in Lake Liberty, and didn’t Billy say himself that I was wrong? Let Muhammad Ali be the best example for you now.

  Finally, if you’re on the hunt for colleges for Billy, you might consider the one on that red pennant in the shed. Brandenbrook. (I, too, remember what you ask.) Their president, Dr. Roland Price, is a personal acquaintance, and he might have a scholarship for a nearly straight-A student as fine as Billy Kelly. What college doesn’t need a boy to pitch and play guitar? Of course, time is of the essence, so if this option interests Billy, he should inquire soon.

  In all of this, Miss Kelly, in each choice and conversation, you must follow your own dreams, honor your own conscience, make your own decisions as you’ve assured me that you do. As you already know too well, the Kelly clan is fiercely independent. I’m afraid my interference wouldn’t be welcomed. Might you find a way to suggest Brandenbrook to Billy without mentioning the "trator" so many here despise?<
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  Can you agree to follow your own conscience, young Miss Kelly? As you say, please answer yes or no.

  Sincerely,

  H. W. Marsworth

  Tuesday, July 23, 1968

  Dear Mr. Marsworth,

  Yes! I’ll decide things for myself, I always do. I’ve got a good head on my shoulders. I’ll get things figured out. (Whatever hints you give me, I’ll keep quiet.)

  Do you know what I like best about my route? Opening your milk box to a letter left inside!!! Days that you don’t write, I do feel sad. I don’t mind coming back to check for letters any time of day, but a first-thing-bright-and-early-morning letter is the best!!!!

  Brandenbrook????

  I’ll go back to the library when it opens up at 10:00. Yesterday I went for my first visit, but crabby Mrs. Strait from 207 Hillcrest (and later those monsters Rat and Cutler) made me wish I’d stayed at Gram’s. Why does everybody hate me in this town??? (I might not be a “trator,” but when it comes to being hated, you and I are two peas in a pod.)

  Anyway, yesterday I found ONE book in the library about conscientious objectors, and it was way up on a dusty top shelf in Adults. A very tip-top shelf. The pretty librarian Miss Peabody had to climb up on a ladder to pull the old book down.

  “Will you be reading this?” Miss Peabody asked as she set it on the counter. “You know it’s not for children?”

  “It’s for my older brother.” I only told that small lie so she’d let me check it out.

  “The Kelly boy who works at Casey’s Conoco?” There was crabby Mrs. Strait with her BIG NOSE stuck in my business. Her arms were full of romance paperbacks, but she was busy asking questions about my one boring book. “Your brother wants to read The Conscientious Objector? Why exactly would a Kelly boy read a book like that?”

  “Well, I don’t know,” Miss Peabody said softly. “People should be free to read—”

  “Shouldn’t that book be banned?” Mrs. Strait said too loudly for a library. “The kids today don’t need books about objecting. We’ve already got those draft dodgers marching on the streets against this war. All those dirty hippies with them. Kids like that are cowards plain and simple.”

  “Well,” Miss Peabody said, like she wasn’t going to argue, but she didn’t really agree.

  “Not Ali,” I said. (I don’t like frumpy Mrs. Strait with her hair pinned up in curlers, and those angry painted eyebrows like two frowns over her face. Plus, she’s never tipped me once.) “Ali couldn’t be a coward, he’s a boxer. He’s a champion. He fights.”

  “That boxer is the worst of them,” she said. “And you can tell your brother I said that. Or I’ll tell him myself next time he pumps my gas. And your grandmother, Blanche Kelly? Did she approve this book?”

  “Don’t ask,” I said, reaching for the book. The last thing I needed was Gram discovering my Plan B before I’d even talked to Billy. “Billy’s not against the draft, he’s really not. It’s research for his college, for a paper.”

  “In the summer?” She arched those frowny eyebrows. “Now I’ve heard it all. We don’t need another draft dodger—”

  “He’s not,” I said.

  Then I rushed to write my name down on the card, and guess whose name was just a few lines above mine? Betsy Brighton! I swear it, Mr. Marsworth. In 1949 Mom checked out The Conscientious Objector, by Walter Kellogg! I could almost feel her when I held it in my hands.

  Do you know why Mom read it in 1949? Was that when Dad went to Korea? Because Mom didn’t have a brother to keep out of that war.

  I wish she’d left a note inside, you know one of those little scraps of paper you sometimes find in books? Wouldn’t that be a miracle???

  I saved the best for last because I knew you’d be surprised!!! Betsy Brighton and her daughter reading the same book!!!

  So far the book looks old and boring, with little tiny print, and dull language from the old days, mostly military stuff, but if Mom read it once, then I can, too.

  Tomorrow, I’ll go back to research Brandenbrook, and hope Mrs. Strait stays home to clip her shrubs. (She’s always clipping shrubs.) Do you think she’ll blab to Gram and Billy? Fingers crossed she won’t. Shouldn’t a library be private?

  Yes it should!

  Betsy Brighton’s Reader Daughter,

  Reenie Kelly

  P.S. Oh, I almost forgot to tell the worst: Rat and Cutler saw me on the street on my way home, and they started chanting “Misery,” then Cutler snatched that book by Walter Kellogg and called the Kellys cowards, and he took off on his Sting-Ray, before he circled back to throw that book right at my face. That’s right, Mr. Marsworth, Rat and Cutler strike again! No matter what we do, they never quit. We try to teach them lessons, peaceful and not peaceful, but those two never learn. Another lesson is in order, but you don’t have to know.

  Wednesday, July 24, 1968

  Dear Miss Kelly,

  In all your ingenuity, might you find a way to strike a temporary truce with those two boys? Each time you and Dare teach them a lesson, they teach one in return. Children fight, I understand that, but I would like this trouble with these bullies to be done.

  How amazing that your mother signed that same card long ago. Even as a young girl, your mother was inclined toward peace like Billy, but I hope she never read that awful book. Please don’t read it either. In fact, kindly throw that dreadful book into the trash. I will gladly pay the fine to have it gone.

  If an old man’s memory serves, I recall the author was a soldier with a deep disdain for peace. That book he wrote about the World War I objectors slandered many of the men who refused to fight that war. Objectors at that time were beaten, starved, imprisoned, even killed, and yet that book by Walter Kellogg turned a blind eye to those atrocities.

  It wasn’t until World War II that humane treatment for objectors was achieved by the Society of Friends. In fact, those Quakers with the "goofy hair" won the Nobel Prize for Peace for their work during the war.

  As our library has failed, the Draft Information Center in the city would be the best place for advice. I hope Billy will consider a visit before long. The work they do is quite heroic; he might be impressed. Their city office has been bombed, but they didn’t quit. I would call that courage.

  Please give up Walter Kellogg, and do not pursue more "lessons" for those boys. Go back to John Donne. "No Man Is an Island." Perhaps those boys would like a copy; there are lessons for us all in those good words.

  Sincerely,

  H. W. Marsworth

  Wednesday, July 24, 1968

  Dear Mr. Marsworth,

  The one book on objectors and you don’t want me to read it? Or anybody ever? Even though Mom did?

  How can any kid in this dumb town learn how to object? Not every kid can drive to Minneapolis to find help.

  And I’m not giving Rat and Cutler a copy of that poem! My conscience says I can’t. Those two would never understand a John Donne poem! And I can’t throw out a book. I’m surprised you even asked that, Mom never ever would. (You see I ALWAYS follow my own conscience, Mr. Marsworth!)

  Did you read this morning’s paper? Two more Minnesotans died this week in Vietnam. Lt. Harrison E. Wellman Jr., 25, and Pfc. Jeffrey Overton, 20. Jeffrey was a Pfc. like Skip, and the paper said he’d only been in Vietnam two months. Harrison for four months. Harrison left a brother and a sister just like Billy would. I don’t want to ever read William Kelly has been killed. To see Mom’s name in the obituaries was sadder than you know.

  Two months. Four months. That’s all the time it took for those two soldiers to be killed. I wish I had a way to bring Skip home. Every day he’s fighting is a day that he could die. I don’t know if he’s near Quang Tri or Dak To where these two men were killed. Skip never says exactly where he is, but I’ll ask in my next letter. I hope it’s someplace safer, fingers crossed.

  This week I’m gettin
g Billy to that center, I definitely AM. (Please pray that it’s not bombed again while we’re inside!!!) And in the meantime, I’m going to the library to find out about Brandenbrook. Encyclopedia under B is where I’ll start.

  Dare bought the cobalt blue paint for $2.49. It cost more because it needed to be mixed. We’ll start on your fresh shutters sometime this afternoon. You sure you want to pay us all that money, Mr. Marsworth? (It’s a lot more than we’re earning, even Dare says it’s too much.) We’re both so happy at that cottage, we don’t need a single cent to make it good as new.

  More Later,

  Reenie Kelly

  P.S. Could you also pray for Harrison and Jeffrey, and their families left behind, and say a couple extra prayers for Skip, and I will, too, because nothing but our prayers can help them now. Maybe I should write the president again.

  WARNING LONG LETTER UP AHEAD!!!!! READ UNTIL THE END!!!!!!!!

  Wednesday, July 24, 1968

  Dear Mr. Marsworth,

  That book spy Mrs. Strait went into Brindle Drug and told Gram about the book! Then she drove down to the Conoco “to have a word” with Mr. Casey, who “had a word” with Billy, and now I’m in hot water just for checking out that book. One book! It isn’t even on the side of the objectors!

  I told Gram and Billy the author was a soldier, not someone against war, but neither of them cared. Gram said I disgraced the Kellys just by checking out that book, and Billy said I shouldn’t have lied to the librarian. He was embarrassed to be blamed, and more embarrassed to be scolded by his boss.