by Linda Ellen
Another galling fact was that Louise’s sixteen-year-old brother was bringing home more money on his paycheck than Vic was – it felt downright unmanly! Between that and checking the mail each day waiting for the dreaded, “You are hereby ordered to report for induction into the ARMED FORCES of the UNITED STATES, and to report at Camp so-and-so” letter that so far hadn’t come, his nerves were frayed to shreds. It was only Louise’s constant love and adoration that kept him sane – and not a chain-smoking bundle of anxiety.
Not that she was an angel. No woman was. She had her moments of frustration and doubt, sadness and fear, just like anyone else. But she never went off on him, never told him he wasn’t a good provider, or that she could do just as well on her own – which is what his own brain told him, at least six times a day. No, Louise held him and kissed him, and told him that he was the love of her life and that she was so thankful to have him; that his undying love was worth more to her than a whole pot of gold. When he was with Louise, she made him believe it. She made him feel ten feet tall. She made him feel like Tarzan or Tommy’s hero, The Lone Ranger. When they made love, which was passionate, deep, fiery, and often, she made him forget every bad thing that had ever happened in his life. It was only the times, like now, alone in his car after yet another disappointment, that he doubted his own worth.
Sometimes he wondered how he had managed to catch a blessing like Louise, when everything else in his life – and most everyone else – had let him down. Shaking his head, he told himself he didn’t even want to think about what life would be like without her and little Tommy, whom he now thought of as his son.
With a sigh, he grabbed his payment book and perused the next person on the list, and then started the Buick and headed on over to the next street. This one was sure to have the money to pay – it was Mrs. Womack, the wife of John Womack, the officer who had given him the pep talk in the back of the police car the day he had been arrested. Maybe things were looking up. His lip curled in a half smile as he heard Irene’s voice in his head, “Always look for the positive in every situation, Vic. Always speak what you want to happen, and don’t borrow trouble.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he whispered to her image in his mind.
For the first time that week, Vic prayed that the people he would see the rest of the day would have the money to pay their installments, as Mrs. Womack always did.
*
Having missed the connection to catch the bus that would have taken her the last six blocks, Louise had chosen to walk home instead of wait for the next one. However, she had regretted that decision, as the August heat had about done her in, especially after working extra hard at the factory all day. Since the summer temperatures had risen along with the heat level in the factory, the smells of tobacco and other ingredients needed to make cigars had seemed additionally potent, and that day, even more so. Louise had been hard-pressed to stay at her station and finish out the day. Indeed, many of the workers had felt the same way in the non air-conditioned plant. One woman on a machine on the next row had even passed out, right there on the floor at her station.
As Louise came on into the apartment and laid her pocketbook on the table by the door, she looked over and immediately asked, “Are you okay, Mama?”
Lilly was sitting on the settee fanning herself with the edge of her apron, while Tommy was perched next to her, trying his best to help generate a little wind by flapping one of his picture books up and down near his grandmother’s red and perspiring face.
Louise’s little son looked over at her, big blue eyes wide with concern. “Gramma sick…” he explained.
Lilly looked up and managed a tired smile. “I’ll be alright. Just got a bit overheated hanging a load of clothes on the line out back.
“In the sun, and in this heat?” Louise gasped. “It’s got to be a hundred out there.” She wiped perspiration from her own forehead as she sank down in the chair adjacent to her mother. Inside the apartment was not exactly cool, but it was at least better than standing in the heat of the direct sunlight. Scrutinizing her mother’s face, she tried to determine if she should seek medical help. “You could have left the wash for me…”
Lilly mopped her face with her handkerchief and reached over to pat Louise’s hand. “Oh, honey, you know I’m not the kind that can ignore chores that need to be done. I’d go stark raving mad.”
Louise smiled at her mother; truly worried that Lilly may have really overdone it this time. Her eyes ran down Lilly’s clothing, and she shook her head. “This has been the hottest summer I can remember in years… and you’re dressed too warm for this summer heat. Mama…surely you don’t have to keep wearing black every day now…” she added softly.
As expected, Lilly shook her head as she patted Tommy’s leg in gratitude for his attempt at helping. “In my day, ladies wore black for a full year after they were widowed. Your father deserves no less than my full respect at his passing.”
“But Mama…” Louise gently replied. “It has been a year…more than a year…”
Lilly stopped fanning and slowly her eyes met her daughter’s. Then, she lowered them to stare at nothing, a sad sigh escaping through her thin lips. “So it has…I suppose…I suppose mourning has become a habit. It’s been so many years since I enjoyed life…I’ve forgotten what it’s like to feel true happiness…” she softly mused.
Louise wasn’t sure what to say, just sat gazing at her parent. It was rare that Lilly let her guard down and spoke of her feelings and emotions. But then, Lilly seemed to rally herself as she drew in a deep breath. Meeting her daughter’s gaze again, she admitted, “I never felt about either of my husbands the depth of affection you and Vic seem to enjoy. I…you’re fortunate, Louise, that you and Vic found one another. In spite of his short-comings,” she added with another sigh as she began to push herself upright.
Louise pressed her lips together and shook her head. It was just like her mother to open her heart to her and make Louise feel warm mother/daughter love, and in the next breath add something that splashed cold water on the feeling.
But that was neither here nor there.
As Lilly began to struggle to her feet, Louise rose with her, one hand on her mother’s arm to steady her.
“Well, I think you need to start concentrating on finding happiness again. Irene keeps inviting you to the women’s meetings at church. I think you should try to go again. Maybe…” she paused as the front door opened and the man of the house strolled in, grinning from ear to ear.
Both women stared at him, as he looked as if he had just taken a handful of happy pills and was about to explode with joy.
Coming on into the living room, Vic scooped Louise into his arms and twirled her around, stooped to pick up Tommy and add him to the mix as the child giggled happily, and then for good measure, paused in his exuberance and leaned to give Lilly a firm kiss on her smooth cheek.
“My goodness,” his mother-in-law exclaimed softly as one hand rose to touch the spot where his lips had been. “You look as if you just won the Irish Sweepstakes.”
Louise was giggling happily as her husband put down their little boy and then wrapped his arms fully around her again and kissed her full and hard on the lips.
“Nope,” he answered as he pulled back, his warm brown eyes glinting with happiness as they met hers. “Had a good day, though, you might say.”
Fanning herself once again, Lilly queried, “Well…go on…don’t keep us in suspense, for Heaven’s sake.”
Vic grinned, both dimples deepening in his cheeks as he turned to toss his jacket onto the chair Louise had just vacated; followed by his tie. Then as he began to loosen a few more buttons on his damp white shirt, Louise gripped his arm in excited frustration.
“Vic! Tell us! What’s happened?”
He chuckled and stood for a moment with his hands on his hips. “I had a good day. All but four people paid me…and then…” In a teasing flourish that would have made Houdini proud, he reached into his shirt po
cket and produced a small white card, handing it over to his wife.
She read it, the business card of the superintendent of Maloney-Davidson Distributors. Looking up at him, she prompted, “And…?”
“And,” he answered, “I start Monday driving a delivery truck – makin’ thirty-five a week!”
“Oh Vic!” Louise squealed, immediately launching herself back into his arms. He laughed in pure joy and swung her around again.
When he set her back on her feet, she grinned up at him, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “So tell me! How?”
He chuckled and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close against his side and addressing the two women at the same time. “Well, remember I told you one of my customers is Mrs. Womack, the wife of that officer that was in on my…arrest?” he asked, hesitating as he said the last word and flicking a glance at his mother-in-law, who merely sat still and listened. He went on, “She mentioned that her brother had been thinkin’ about takin’ out some life insurance after one of the drivers where he works was killed in a freak accident – on vacation, no less. I asked her a few questions, like what company, and she got right on her telephone and called her brother and got me an interview. I went right over,” he finished. His face displayed such a devastatingly handsome, happy grin, that Louise felt her heart do a somersault.
Vic leaned down and gave his wife a warm kiss, then gently caressed her nose with his.
“Patience won out this time, just like Doc always says. And I feel like celebratin’.” As if he had overheard Louise and Lilly’s conversation of a few minutes before, he declared magnanimously, “Lilly, how’s about puttin’ on some glad rags and steppin’ out on the town with your daughter and son-in-law tonight?”
Louise grinned at her mother. “Mrs. Austin across the hall can watch Tommy. I’ll put on that red and white polka dot sundress Fleet gave me…and you can wear one of your summer dresses…c’mon Mama…what’dya say?”
Lilly tried for a moment to keep her lips from spreading into a grin from the infectious joy of her daughter and son-in-law, but the smile won out. Thinking she truly was tired of always feeling melancholy, she nodded. “Alright, I’ll take you up on that, Mr. Matthews. On one condition…” she added, a tiny mischievous glint in her eyes. “I’d like to go out to eat…and I’d like to go to the movies – and sit in the air conditioning.”
Vic laughed and nodded, glancing down at his wife as she wrapped her arms happily around his waist. “Alright, and you can have the honors of picking what we see.”
So that’s just what they did. It was a happy, wonderful night in which the three of them enjoyed one another’s company. All three enjoyed the movie Lilly picked out, which was a story of a small town romance called Unfinished Business, starring Irene Dunne and Robert Montgomery.
Things seemed to finally be leveling out, and from that day on, Lilly put away her black clothes.
Life smoothed out for the Matthews’ family…at least, for a while.
*
“You didwhat?” Lilly exclaimed, holding her one-year-old granddaughter, Joyce Anne, on her lap as the family enjoyed a Labor Day picnic in the back yard of Sonny and Sara’s apartment building.
Sonny exchanged glances with his wife, who looked away and slipped a hand up to swipe at a sudden onset of tears. Everyone had noticed Sara had been acting more subdued than usual, and now they understood…
“I joined the Merchant Marines,” Sonny quietly repeated his announcement, glancing around self-consciously as he realized the others had stopped what they were doing to stare at him open-mouthed.
Tears gathering in her eyes, Lilly drew in a shuddering breath as she unconsciously squeezed little Joyce tighter, causing the baby to begin to fuss in protest. As a matter of habit, Lilly transferred the baby to her shoulder as she stammered, “B…but, why? You haven’t received the letter, have you?” She asked regarding, of course, the dreaded Selective Service System Order to Report for Induction letter. Feeling like she’d had the wind knocked out of her lungs, Lilly was totally unable to comprehend what reason her son could possibly have to just up and join the armed forces with no mention of his intentions to anyone.
Sonny jammed his hands into his pockets, striving for words to explain his seemingly sudden decision. “No, I haven’t gotten my draft notice. But Ma, you know as well as I do that if a guy waits ’til then, he has no say in where he goes, or what branch he joins. If you join up, you can pick…”
Louise exchanged a concerned look with her husband, and then stepped forward to lay a hand on Sonny’s arm, the worry clearly evident on her face. “But, maybe you won’t get a letter at all…” which was what she had been hoping regarding all of the men she cared about – especially, of course, Vic.
Sonny shot her a look. “That’s what every man thinks and hopes, but…” he paused, sorting out his thoughts. “Last week, one of the other guys at work got his notice, and he about went off the deep end. Said he didn’t want to go in the army, and that he’d been thinking of joining the National Guard so he could stay close to home, but now…it’s too late. That got me thinking…”
“But, I thought they weren’t calling up guys that were married and had kids…” Billy commented.
Sonny looked over at his wife, his expression showing how much it hurt him to think of leaving her and the baby. “The way I figure it…if this war keeps going the way it has been, with that devil Hitler trying to gobble up the whole world and all… sooner or later they’ll be calling up anybody they can get…” he let the thought hang in mid air as all of the adults hastily thought about the disturbing reports blasted every day on the news.
“But, what exactly is the Merchant Marines? I’ve never heard of them…” Lilly asked, clearly upset with the idea, and especially the fact that it was already too late to change her son’s mind. “Is it a branch of the Marines?” she asked, dreading the thought of her fair-haired, gentle, happy-go-lucky son in hand-to-hand combat somewhere on foreign soil…
“No, it’s the other kind of marine, like water. The officer in charge at the recruiting office explained all the branches,” Sonny answered, warming to the subject. “It’s kind of like the Coast Guard, or an auxiliary to the Navy – except that they don’t participate in combat. He said the Merchant Marines operate the fleet of ships put to sea under the Merchant Marine Act of ’36, but they’ve actually been active in all the wars since 1775. Now that America is in a state of war again, the merchant ships will be transporting military supplies and personnel in freighters, tankers, and transports. It’s an important service, because the men at the front depend on it for bombs, gasoline, shells, ammunition, food, guns, vehicles, planes, medicine, and other materials needed for warfare.”
The family remained silent for a few moments, digesting Sonny’s news. It had put a damper on the holiday that they had been determined to enjoy, in spite of the rationing for the war effort that affected nearly every aspect of life.
Finally, Vic drew near and put his arm around Louise even as he reached with the other hand to take Sonny’s in a firm shake. “Sounds like you made a good choice. Seems like you’ll be on a ship that won’t be in the thick of battle…” he offered quietly.
Billy, normally a jokester and never serious, drew near also, everyone mindful of Sara’s now quiet weeping and Lilly’s sniffling. Softly, Billy asked, “When do ya have to leave?”
Sonny met his brother’s eyes and managed a small smile, though in truth he was plenty worried, as any man is when he knows he is about to be plunged into the unknown – whether by his own choice or someone else’s. “I’m supposed to report to Port Hueneme in California in two weeks.” Then raising one hand to cup the back of Billy’s head and give it a gentle, affectionate shake, he added, “That means I’ve got two weeks more to boss you around and treat you like a kid…though I know since Dad died, you’ve really done a lot of growin’ up,” he finished softly.
Somehow, that triggered everyone to move at once, and b
efore he knew it, Sonny was surrounded by family members all pressing to embrace him as if he were leaving right then to get on the train.
It couldn’t be helped that each one was wondering if that would be the last family picnic they would ever have together.
‡
CHAPTER 23
Another Year and Lots of Changes
September 1943
“I’m helpin’ Chief with the chairs, Mama!” Four-year-old Tommy excitedly expounded as he rushed into the kitchen, only to turn on his heel and run back toward the living room the moment his announcement had been delivered.
Louise shook her head; her lips forming a loving smile as she watched him go before turning back to her task at hand.
As she stood at the small kitchen table stirring the ingredients for deviled eggs for the Labor Day picnic later on that day, her thoughts couldn’t help but reach back to the family get-together the previous year. A lot has sure happened since then…
The war in Europe raged on, and every week the losses America was suffering seemed to grow, as reported on WHAS and in the newspaper. Many young men from the cigar factory had received their induction letters and had left for basic training and parts unknown. A nice young man they had befriended down at the local market had been drafted, and now he was no longer in their daily lives. Even movie stars they all loved and admired, like Jimmy Stewart, Tyrone Power, Eddie Albert, Alan Ladd, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Henry Fonda, Glenn Ford, Clark Gable, MacDonald Carey, Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster, Ronald Reagan, and Frank Sinatra, had quit their Hollywood careers and joined in the war effort. Louisvillian Victor Mature enlisted. Sports figures like Joe DiMaggio left to serve. Bob Hope, Myrna Loy, Marlene Dietrich, Rita Hayworth and others joined the war effort by visiting hospitals and serving in the USO.
