The Journey Home

by K'Anne Meinel

  Between the three of them they found where Cass was staying despite the identical row of little houses. Both women found it a cute little luxury, they were billeted with other women and there were six of them there. They too found it odd that Cass was alone in this little house by herself, that wasn’t the Army way.

  “Tomorrow we will take you over and get you some outfits suitable to this climate, if you are going out to Wiquaqau you are going to need the proper clothes and your woolens aren’t gonna cut it, you will expire from the heat!” Annette told her.

  Cass thanked them both hoping she had finally made some friends. That night after the women left she sat down to write to Stephanie and the family telling them more about her plane rides, the noise, the places she had seen, however briefly, and telling them she was in Hawaii and how exciting it was. She didn’t realize in their isolation they would consider Pearl Harbor to be in the war zone and not realize she was living practically in the lap of luxury in her private little bungalow.

  Cass wore her ‘fatigues’ which allowed her to wear pants the next morning to breakfast. They were still warm, too warm for this climate, she had been miserable until she stripped naked to sleep. She was pleased to see her new friends and even more so when they waved her over to join them and several other women who looked at her curiously. Pamela and Annette introduced her to everyone but Cass was beginning to feel a bit overwhelmed as they fired good natured questions at her, she couldn’t possibly answer them all.

  “I’ve arranged with Major Volure, she’s our C.O. so that you can shadow us and get an idea of what you are in for out in Wiquaqau. That is after we get you some lighter clothes,” Annette smiled at her.

  “Oh that would be great!” Cass enthused and began to eat a little faster so that they wouldn’t have to wait for her.

  “There’s no rush,” Annette informed her amused.

  Cass grinned, she was taking little bites in case anyone wished to talk to her but she was taking them faster. Cass found at this breakfast there was none of the hostility that she had encountered at training; no one thought her ‘special,’ they instead treated her like an equal and were pleasantly inquisitive about her background and volunteered information about theirs. She finally felt like she was making friends and was only sorry that in a few days she might be leaving them.

  It was fascinating to shadow the other women and see some real cases. There had of course been practical nursing in Milwaukee, it was a required course, but the men there hadn’t seen ‘action.’ Pearl not only had been hit, and hit hard, but it was now a receiving point for cases coming in from the Pacific before they went on to the West Coast and from there to other hospitals.

  “Were any of you here when it happened?” Cass asked quietly after seeing some rather dreadful burn cases, the smell would never leave her nostrils she thought. Everyone knew what the ‘it’ was that she referred to.

  Annette nodded and lost her smile. Later Pamela informed her that Annette had lost her fiancée on one of the boats that had gone down. Cass wanted to reach out to her new friend but didn’t know how. They had done so much for her in the short time she had been here and she felt terrible that she might have unintentionally brought some hurt to her friend.

  They drove her around too and showed her the bay itself where men were still working to get some of the wrecks out of the way; she was surprised how many were going to stay exactly where they were as a memorial to the men who had died in them. It really brought ‘the war’ home to her, that and the men processing through the hospital who had already seen action.

  “What do you mean you don’t know how to drive a Jeep?” Pamela teased her, that was basic training.

  “I was busy studying, when did I have time to learn?” Cass asked in return.

  “Oh we are going to have to correct that!” Annette told her and then proceeded to teach her.

  “I don’t get this clutch thing!” Cass said later exasperated. “Horses don’t have a clutch!”

  They all laughed, one of the other gals, Kim had joined Pamela and Annette in their teaching of the ‘newbie.’ They were all having a marvelous time as she lurched the Jeep up and down as they ‘taught’ her how to drive. By the end of the week though she had caught on and could ‘feel’ when to give it more gas. Their duties didn’t suffer and in fact everyone heard about Cass from Merrill as the women excitedly discussed what else they might teach her. When they found out she had no makeup, had never tried it, and owned no dress for a dance that was coming up, she became their new ‘project.’

  “I do not think the cows are going to care if I where ‘Ruby Red’ or ‘Mango Mauve,’” Cass complained good-naturedly as they discussed lipsticks. She had never had any sister to share these things with, girlish things, and her relationship with Stephanie was never like this. She had to admit she was having fun.

  “What do you mean you have never danced?” Kim asked in mock outrage. It had become a familiar refrain, the ‘what do you mean you have never’ with Cass as there were a lot of ‘firsts,’ for her.

  The six women that lived in Annette, Pamela, and Kim’s barracks proceeded to teach her how to dance.

  “See I knew you had to of danced before,” Annette teased. “But this isn’t a Polka like you learned back there. This is a Foxtrot!”

  Learning to dance was fun, even in the ‘regulation’ heels that the Army provided her with. The heels that the girls insisted she buy to go with the gown they had found were much harder. Cass had never owned heels and they were a long way from the moccasins she wore as slippers or the boots she had made in town that fit her feet perfectly.

  “Don’t tell me you went barefoot growing up,” Pam teased as it was her turn to teach her to Waltz in the heels.

  Cass laughingly admitted she had. “You should see the boots I wear to plow,” she teased in return.

  They unfortunately knew she wasn’t kidding and laughed at her attempts to make jokes about herself, they knew, she knew that she had led a sheltered life. They seemed to enjoy seeing her come out of her shell. They tried to get her to go with the men who frequently asked the nurses out to the bars around the island but Cass wasn’t so enthused about that. She had confided about her own ‘fiancée’ she had lost so long ago to disease. It seemed to give her common ground with Annette.

  ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

  The dance that they had all eagerly anticipated came around. The ‘girls’ met at Cass’s little bungalow, providing them with more room to get ready than their barracks and a hot shower that didn’t have ‘issues.’

  “Oh heavenly, my hair is completely clean for a change!” Kim sighed after her own shower as she came out in a robe rubbing her auburn tresses.

  Cass had showered first knowing her friends would want to use her bathroom and to have her completely dry for their ‘experimentation’ with makeup and hair styles. They were so excited about doing her up that she didn’t have the heart to say no and to be honest, deep down, she was looking forward to what they might come up with.

  “You know Cass, most women would cut this off to the neck, this is beautiful but very hot to wear,” Kim told her as she expertly pinned and brushed her lush locks out.

  “My mother would be horrified if I had cut it like everyone does these days,” Cass told her.

  “Your mother isn’t here to see and it’s practical in hot climates like these!”

  The girls were thrilled to find out that Cass shaved her legs and underarms like all the rest and they didn’t have to ‘tell’ her how to go about it. Pamela even confided that some women shaved their ‘privates’ to keep that hair free. Cass wasn’t willing to let a razor come near that sensitive flesh. They all joined in to laugh when she described what her legs looked like under the standard issue stockings before she learned to shave.

  When they stood her in front of the full length mirror in the small bedroom the three women crowded behind her Cass looked at herself in a real honest to goodness gown for the first time, in heals, and
with her tresses done up. She didn’t recognize herself and she was amazed at the transformation. They had expertly applied makeup, her hair shone in the electric light, and she looked amazingly feminine for the first time in her life. She also felt pretty, something that had never happened as long as she could remember. The gown they had found her was practical, the skirt could be shortened later for other dances but this was a fairly formal affair and its burgundy color complimented her dark hair. The makeup was light and enhanced rather than covered and Cass’s healthy glow shone out making her beautiful. The women were even amazed at her transformation.

  “You’re beautiful Cass,” Annette told her with a weird little catch in her voice.

  Pamela nodded as she glanced over at Annette and then back to Cass, “Yes Cass, you look amazing.”

  “We did goooood,” Kim interjected and they all laughed.

  The smile on Cass’s face was a reward but her quiet little, “Thank You,” spoke volumes.

  It was apparent they weren’t the only ones who thought Cass looked amazing and beautiful as the men who frequently asked her to dance. While they had given her a ‘crash’ course in dancing, Cass still didn’t feel confident enough to dance with everyone and she seldom gave in and danced with the men vying for her attention. It was obvious she was a hit. The company photographer took her picture several times and promised her copies for the ‘folks back home.’ She wondered what they would think of her all done up like this. She did insist that they have a picture of the four of them, Annette, Pamela, and Kim all together and got him to promise to send her four copies.

  “That was fantastic,” she panted as she sat down and sipped at her Coca-Cola.

  “I’ve never seen a Fox Trot executed quite like that,” Annette commented drolly before they both busted out in laughter.

  “He was rather…exuberant…wasn’t he?” Cass got out through the laughter as she referred to the gentlemen she had just finished dancing with. It had been funny and as Cass didn’t have a lot of experience she had had a good time.

  “Why aren’t you dancing?” she asked after their laughter had died down.

  Annette shrugged. “Oh I dance now and then,” she said with a sad little note in her voice.

  “May I have this dance?” a Major was at Annette’s elbow as she said that and she had no choice but to let him lead her off. She glanced back at Cass with devilment in her eyes.

  Just then Pamela returned to the table with a drink. “Are you having fun?” she asked, she was out of breath and she waved off her boyfriend, a cook on one of the ships in port. He went off to drink with his buddies.

  “Yes I am,” Cass told her and then proceeded to detail the funny Fox Trot she had just had.

  “I’m surprised to see Annette out there, oh, it’s a Major, she’s dancing because she thinks it’s mandatory.”

  “Mandatory?” Cass asked wondering if she had missed some unwritten Army regulation again.

  Pamela shrugged. “She doesn’t dance unless someone out ranks her.”

  Cass wondered at that but didn’t ask any questions, she found that by being quiet people tended to volunteer a lot more information than was asked.

  “It’s not like when Stanley was alive, apparently they cut quite the rug,” Pamela informed her.

  “Cut a rug?” Cass asked not familiar with the term.

  “You know, they danced a lot, they danced well, so much so they cut a path in the rug?”

  Cass nodded understanding now.

  “Did you say his name was Stanley?” Cass asked amused, she had heard about Annette’s fiancée but not his name.

  Pamela nodded and leaned in; Cass could smell the alcohol on her breath. “Yes, he apparently died when the bombs hit one of the air fields. He was working on airplanes.”

  Cass felt bad for Annette but the amusement still shone in her eyes.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “I have a horse, a female horse, that I named Stanley,” Cass informed her prissily before they both succumbed to giggles.

  “Oh no,” she laughed carefully wiping her eyes. “You have to tell Annette that!”

  “Oh no, I couldn’t,” Cass said horrified at the thought. How disrespectful!

  “No believe me, Annette would find it hilarious and she needs humor in her life!”

  The conversation changed and they were both asked to dance again. Cass had a wonderful time even if she did refuse repeated requests for dates. She used the same excuse over and over again that she was shipping out shortly. But she didn’t know when she was shipping out; she had already been there two weeks.

  “Isn’t this place marvelous?” Annette joined her on the balcony to take a break from all the dancing; the cigarette smoke was thick enough to cut a knife.

  “It’s a long way from Merrill, Wisconsin,” Cass replied wondering what Stephanie was doing right at this moment.

  “What’s it like there now?” Annette asked.

  “Well, they would have finished the sugaring off.”

  “Sugaring off?” she asked in wonderment. Sugar was gold in the islands.

  Cass nodded realizing she had to explain. “We tap the maple trees and boil the sap for syrup and then some of it for sugar, if you boil it long enough it grains and become a dark sugar. Fortunately there are a lot of maple trees or we wouldn’t get much sap because you have to boil a lot to get a little.”

  “Sometimes it sounds so beautiful there when you describe it but a lot of hard work.”

  Cass had to admit, until she had gotten out and seen other things she hadn’t realized how much hard work it was. She missed every bit of it though and couldn’t wait to get back to it someday.

  “You don’t talk about your fiancée much; did you lose him so young?” Annette asked. She fumbled with her purse and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, offered Cass one and when refused she lit up her own.

  Cass was astonished; she had never seen Annette smoke. “Well he died quite a few years ago, I didn’t love him but he would have done okay as a husband.”

  “Done okay?” Annette asked amused.

  Cass grinned, that did sound bad. “We were compatible, we both knew farming and he understood about my doctoring and midwifing, he would have allowed it.”

  “Allowed?’ Annette nearly choked.

  “It’s a different world up there, a little backwards I have to admit, but the male is usually ‘in charge.’ It’s probably one of the many reasons I didn’t see myself marrying anyone else, I don’t like that mentality. I like being independent.”

  “Yes women like us frequently do,” Annette said with meaning as she looked through the smoke of her cigarette at Cass.

  “Women like us?” Cass asked to clarify.

  Annette smiled, an understanding smile. “You talk a little too much about your housekeeper Stephanie. Only another woman who has been in the position you are in could understand.”

  Cass looked into her eyes, the lights from the ball casting an unfamiliar look into them. She had to be misreading what Annette was implying. She hoped she was but as she gazed into them she knew Annette knew. Her face paled. “I don’t know what you mean,” she denied.

  “Yes you do,” Annette said forcefully. “It’s okay; I’ll keep your secret. I don’t think anyone else has caught on.”

  Cass was frightened. People didn’t talk about it but she knew that homosexuality was frowned on. It could cause her a lot of trouble if they found out. She realized though that Annette had said ‘women like us,’ that meant… She looked again at Annette who nodded slightly as she took a drag on her cigarette.

  Annette shrugged and looked out over the water. “My fiancée Stanley wasn’t all I lost when the Japanese bombed Pearl. Another nurse was lost that day. Her name was Ellie. She was probably the funniest woman you would ever meet. We were very happy and Stanley understood because you see he too had something to hide. You remind me of her sometimes and yet your naiveté is so different from her. She came from New York
and had a street toughness that no one could penetrate. No one but me. We met when I went to New York to become an actress.” She laughed when she looked over at Cass and saw her surprise. “Yeah, I thought I had the chops to become one. Ellie was a dancer. We joined up together when we decided that neither of us had what it took to become ‘famous.’ We were fortunate enough to become nurses together and to be assigned here to Pearl together.” She sighed at the memories took another drag from her cigarette before dropping it and stepping on it and kicking it away. “She and I were going to change the world together,” she whispered.

  Cass was astonished at Annette’s revelations. She had known there had to be other women and men out there who were like she and Stephanie but she had never met one. Her heart went out to Annette for what she had lost. “I’m sorry for your loss,” she said formally and when Annette looked up with tears in her eyes Cass pulled her in for a hug.

  Annette hugged her a little too exuberantly but managed to pull herself together enough to pull back and pull a dainty little handkerchief out of her purse and dab at her eyes.

  “Everything okay out here?” Pamela joined them. Seeing the two of them together she wondered, seeing Annette dabbing at her eyes she asked Cass, “Did you tell her about Stanley?” and started to laugh.

  At first Cass was aghast after what Annette had shared with her but she couldn’t help but start to laugh at Pamela whose timing was terrible. Cass wouldn’t explain so Pamela did and it did bring a smile and laughter to Annette’s face. Her handkerchief got used well when she couldn’t stop laughing.

  Cass was aghast at the irreverence they were paying to someone who was dead but then thought about it again and laughed at the coincidence of the names and hoped it helped Annette go from the sad thoughts to the happier ones.

  They were driven back to the women’s barracks; Pamela had gotten a ride with her boyfriend to ‘gaze at the stars.’ Everyone understood that but Cass who they all got a laugh at over her naiveté as they explained. Annette made sure the private who drove them dropped off Cass first so that she wouldn’t be alone with him as he drove Annette and Kim back to their barracks.