Seasons of Her Life Read online

  Excitement rivered through Ruby when they arrived at the dance. She’d never seen so many people in one place before. There had to be at least a thousand voices contributing to the sound coursing through the huge building.

  In the lead, Nola shouldered her way through throngs of young men in military attire: sailors in immaculate white, young airmen in Santiago blue, soldiers in khaki, and marines in olive green. The young women were dressed mostly in starched crinolines, sundresses, and white gloves.

  “Which floor do we want?” Nola shouted to be heard over the blaring band on the first floor. “There’s a dance on seven, five, three, and this floor.” Ruby pointed upward.

  “We’ll work our way down,” Nola shouted a second time. “Get your money out.” Ruby did as instructed. She paid her quarter and had her hand stamped. She made up her mind not to wash her hand for at least two days. She wanted to remember every little detail of this night.

  The music thundered as the two girls fought their way through the crowds. Slightly ahead of her, Ruby saw a young Marine lieutenant crush Nola against a wall. She was about to elbow the young man in the ribs, when she saw Nola smile flirtatiously. Ruby hung back, bumping into a second young man, a marine. His eyes seemed to apologize as he shouted into her ear, “Andrew Blue. Would you like me to cut a path for you?” Ruby nodded weakly, her eyes on Nola. Panic rushed through her. They hadn’t discussed the possibility of becoming separated.

  Nola winked at Ruby as she clasped the lieutenant around the waist and followed him.

  “Good idea,” Andrew shouted. “Grab hold, Miss Rainbow, and we’ll make it to seven or die in the effort.” Without hesitation Ruby reached out.

  Her father would call this place a hotbed of sin. Ruby laughed aloud. Today she didn’t care what her father would think.

  Andrew was handsome, Ruby thought, tall and lean with sandy hair cut very short. His uniform was immaculately creased, his cap folded neatly in his belt. She’d had an impression of blue eyes full of humor and a wide grin. He jiggled his hips in a rumba motion, which caused Ruby to burst out laughing. She knew he was grinning.

  “We’re here!” Nola bellowed over her shoulder to be heard over the sounds of “Pennsylvania 6-5000.” “This is seven. Ohhh, listen to that band. Let’s meet back here. I’m Nola, this is Ruby, and this is Alex,” she said, pointing to her partner.

  “This is Andrew,” Ruby laughed excitedly.

  “Let’s dance,” Andrew said, motioning to the floor. “I love to dance, do you?”

  “Uh-huh,” Ruby muttered, trying to remember Nola’s instructions. Throw your hips out to the left, then to the right, then swing around. Let your partner do the rest.

  Andrew Blue was fun, Ruby decided two hours later as she made her way to the closest wall. She was thirsty and had to find a bathroom. Frantically, she looked around for Nola but couldn’t see her anywhere. Sensing her distress, Andrew said, “Follow me, I know where it is.”

  Somewhere between the seventh and third floors Ruby lost Andrew in a crush of sailors and giggling, laughing girls. Ohhh, she was having such a wonderful time, and the fringed skirt felt so delicious against her legs. She’d seen more than one girl look at her dress enviously. She’d returned their looks smugly, mostly because of the dress and partly because of the handsome lieutenant whirling her about.

  The ladies’ room yielded a long line that stretched into the corridor. Patiently, Ruby waited her turn. She was jiggling from one foot to the other when she looked around to meet a pair of dark, amused eyes.

  He was shorter than Andrew Blue by a good three inches with brush-cut hair which was dark as ebony. He also had large ears. Ruby wondered crazily if he could wiggle them. He wasn’t handsome, far from it, but his eyes drew Ruby, warm and brown with a slight cast. Greek? He was suntanned. Or was his skin this honey color because of his race? He must be Greek, Ruby decided, although she’d never seen a live Greek in her life.

  “If you’re going, go,” a girl in a blue dress bellowed in her ear.

  “What?”

  “Are you in this line or what?” the girl bellowed again.

  Calvin Santos laughed then, showing strong, even teeth. Ruby blushed furiously when he said, “I know where there’s another one.”

  Ruby jiggled again, allowing the girl and two of her friends to go ahead of her. She groaned and the young man smiled again.

  “Come on,” he said, reaching for her arm. Ruby followed blindly as he led her to a small corridor off the main lobby to a door marked OFFICE STAFF. “Straight through there.” He grinned. “No lines, no waiting. I’m Calvin Santos,” he said with a low, sweeping bow.

  “Ruby Connors,” Ruby said nervously.

  “I’ll wait right here, Ruby Connors.”

  She stared up into the young man’s warm, gentle eyes, and in a heartbeat, Ruby Connors fell totally and completely in love. “Wait here,” Ruby whispered. “Please wait.”

  “Forever,” he said softly.

  “What did you say?”

  “I said I’ll wait forever. But it won’t take you that long, will it?”

  “Five minutes,” Ruby said, holding up her hand. “Three if no one else is in there.”

  She was out in four, her seams straight, wearing fresh lipstick. Calvin was leaning nonchalantly against the wall. For the first time Ruby realized he was wearing an Air Force uniform.

  “You’re the prettiest girl here,” Calvin muttered. Ruby flushed. The only person who had ever said she was pretty was her grandmother. Was she supposed to say he was handsome? She had no idea about what to do. Somewhere she’d heard that a smile was universal. She smiled.

  “Would you like a soft drink?” Calvin offered.

  “I’d love one,” Ruby said breathlessly. “But could we go outside to drink it? I can’t breathe in here.”

  “Neither can I.”

  Ruby’s heart skittered in her chest as she waited for Calvin to return. While she waited she ran scenarios over and over in her mind. Walking hand in hand with Calvin along the tidal basin, picnicking in Rock Creek Park; dancing ... close, cheek to cheek. He was ... so ... so ... ordinary. Yet he wasn’t ordinary. She knew now, seeing him in a closer light, that he wasn’t American. He wasn’t Greek, either. She realized suddenly she didn’t care what he was. The thought brought her up short. Was this the way Amber felt about Nangi Duenas? Not that that mattered, either. Calvin was a person just as she was; nothing else should be allowed to matter.

  Outside in the warm air with the star-spangled night above them, the two young people walked and talked as they shared a frosty bottle of Coca-Cola. Ruby felt as though she’d known Calvin for years.

  “You went to the Citadel. You’re an officer!” Ruby said in awe. She was intimidated now, moving away from him slightly.

  Calvin frowned, closing the distance between them. “Did I say something wrong?” he asked anxiously. He seemed almost apologetic when he added, “The Citadel is a wonderful school. I graduated with top honors.”

  Ruby moved again. Top honors. She was horrified. He added to her horror when he asked what school she attended.

  “Penn State, Georgetown?” he teased.

  The hatred Ruby felt for her parents at that moment welled up in her like a choking smoke. She should have gone to college, been given the chance, but oh, no, she had to pay back $6,100, more than an education cost. What was he going to think when he found out she was a government girl? Ruby clenched her teeth and said coldly, “Some of ... of us aren’t fortunate enough to be going to college. Thanks for the Coke. I think I better find my friend. Excuse me, Calvin.” Don’t cry, Ruby, don’t even let your eyes fill up. This is going to happen again and again. Get used to it.

  Stunned, Calvin watched her weave her way through the crowd. He wished he were taller so he could see where she was going. He knew he had to follow her now or he’d never find her again. He hadn’t meant anything by his question. In Saipan all students went on to higher education. If he could have,
he would have ripped out his tongue as he dashed after her. He could have sworn that she liked him, sworn that his ancestry didn’t matter. He truly understood her sensitivity, for he, too, knew about hurts and slurs in a strange land. He had to tell her, but first he had to find her. Calvin’s heart jolted in his chest when he realized Ruby was no longer in his line of vision. He swore then, ripe American cuss words he’d learned at the Citadel. It didn’t make him feel better.

  He ran, shouldering young officers and enlisted men out of his way, apologizing to the many young girls he jostled and shoved. He had to find her.

  When he reached the fifth floor, his dark eyes scanned the whirling dancers, looking for a rainbow-colored dress. Already his crisp blue shirt was as limp as a rag, clinging to his body like a second skin. He swore again.

  “You can say that again, bub,” a sailor said out of the corner of his mouth.

  He didn’t spot her until he made his way back to the seventh floor. The band was playing “You Go to My Head.” She was dancing with a Marine second lieutenant, smiling up at him as they glided about the crowded floor. The lieutenant was saying something that made her laugh. He wanted to make her laugh. But only for him.

  He’d learned more than the English language since coming here five years before. He’d never practiced being obnoxious and usually he went out of his way to be accommodating. Tonight was different. Tonight he would damn well do what all these young men did—cut in on his girl. The huge clock on the far wall told him he had exactly five minutes before the last song.

  Calvin pushed his way across the dance floor and tapped the lieutenant on the shoulder.

  “Watch it, pal,” Andrew muttered nastily.

  “I believe this is our dance,” Calvin said in his best courtly voice.

  “I believe you’re mistaken, buddy,” Andrew snarled. “Buzz off.”

  In a wink Ruby found herself in Calvin’s arms and was whisked across the floor, Andrew Blue in hot pursuit.

  “I’ll punch his lights out if he makes trouble,” Calvin said hotly.

  Ruby panicked. Two fellas fighting over her. She looked up in time to see a burly MP in Andrew’s wake. “I’ll meet you outside. Wait for me,” Ruby yelled as she made her way back to Andrew Blue and the MP.

  Calvin watched in delight as the Marine lieutenant was marched off the floor. She’d said she would meet him outside and to wait for her. “Forever,” he muttered as he made his way to the overflowing stairwell.

  He almost missed her, and he would have if a girl in a startling lime-green dress hadn’t shouted her name. This time he didn’t care whom he shoved and poked as he made his way to her side. “Quick, where do you live?” he shouted.

  “The Y,” Ruby yelled back.

  “I’ll come by at noon. Will you go out with me?” He waited for agonizing seconds while Ruby made up her mind. He let out his breath in a loud swoosh when she nodded.

  “What was that?” Nola gurgled.

  Ruby smiled. “That is my destiny. And I think he knows it.”

  “You look like you’re in love.” Nola laughed.

  “So do you.”

  “I have a date tomorrow. Want to double?”

  “Sure.” A date. A real date. Ruby swooned.

  Two things happened that Sunday morning. Ruby actually saw Amber and Nangi together, and Andrew Blue left a message in her mailbox saying he would stop by around twelve-thirty to take her out for a bite of lunch.

  Later, Ruby swore to Nola that her heart stopped beating when she saw Amber and Nangi sitting in the lobby. Obviously, they were waiting for someone, possibly Ethel. Ruby watched and waited from the hallway, out of sight, for Calvin to appear. He would be on time. Andrew would be early, she just knew it. Her intuition proved wrong. Andrew arrived at precisely noon.

  Ruby watched in horror as Andrew walked up to her sister. Amber smiled and shook her head. What did that mean? A minute later Amber was on the elevator. Ruby backed farther into the hallway. Now what was she supposed to do? When in doubt, do nothing, an inner voice warned.

  Amber was back five minutes later, walking toward Andrew. Ruby inched closer so she could hear what was being said. “She isn’t here. She probably went to the late Mass. You can wait here or go to the Hot Shoppe for coffee.” Go, leave, don’t come back, Ruby prayed.

  Then Ethel arrived, and the three of them left. Thank God. Where was Calvin? Where were Nola and Alex?

  He was here. Today he was even more starched and pressed. Spiffy. He looked wonderful. Nola and Alex were so close behind Calvin, it appeared they arrived together. Quickly Ruby made the introductions, whisking her guests out the door so fast, they ran into one another.

  “Let’s go this way,” Ruby dithered.

  “Fine,” Nola said, falling into step behind Ruby and Calvin. “Where are we going?”

  “Why don’t we ... ah, go ... to Mount Pleasant.” She turned to Calvin. “I’m moving there to an apartment with my sister and several of her friends. I haven’t seen the place. Would you mind? Then we can go to Rock Creek Park. Is that agreeable with you guys?” she asked nervously.

  “It’s okay with us,” Alex and Nola chorused.

  When Ruby looked over her shoulder for the third time, Calvin asked what she was looking for. “Do you think someone is following us?” he asked, looking over his own shoulder.

  Truthful by nature, Ruby blurted out her concern.

  “Did you make a date with him?” Calvin asked miserably.

  “No!” Ruby exploded. “Why would I do that? I have a date with you.”

  “I just don’t want to be hurt,” he muttered. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

  “I don’t want to be hurt either,” she replied softly.

  Misty blue eyes met misty brown eyes. Calvin reached for her hand. Ruby sighed happily.

  When they reached Mount Pleasant, Ruby barely glanced at the house on Kilbourne Place, where she would live. At the end of the street was a park where they could sit on the grass and talk. Maybe they could get ice cream or nuts. Something they could share. Ruby felt as if she were racing to the moon with Vaughn Monroe. She’d never been this happy. She had someone. At last.

  “They seem to like each other,” Calvin murmured, nodding in the direction of Nola and Alex, who were laughing and giggling.

  They do seem to go together, Ruby thought, happy for her friend.

  “Nola really loves clothes. She knows all about the latest fashions. She hopes to be a famous designer someday, and when I’m rich I’m going to be her best customer. She comes from a family of nineteen kids—some of them were adopted, of course—so she’s been sewing and moving hemlines all her life. She’s a wonderful friend,” Ruby said. She felt as if she was babbling incoherently.

  Calvin sat with his arms roped around his knees, staring at Ruby inscrutably.

  “A penny for your thoughts.” Ruby smiled.

  “I was thinking about . . . actually I was wishing that I—”

  “Felt more comfortable? I’m not real good at small talk, and to tell you the truth you’re my first ... my first real date. If there are rules ... oh, heck, why don’t we just make our own. Rules, that is ... we’re just two people ... persons ... I’m me and you’re you, and you don’t have to worry about what you are with me ... by the way, what are you?”

  Calvin’s face became suddenly gloomy. “What do you think I am?” he hedged.

  “At first I thought you might be Greek. Actually, I don’t care. It’s what’s inside a person that counts. Does the question bother you?” Ruby asked quietly.

  “Sometimes,” Calvin said miserably. “I’m Filipino. I come from Saipan. I haven’t been back in over five years.” He watched Ruby carefully, as if for her reaction.

  “That’s terrible. Don’t you miss your family? Do you write? Do you get homesick?”

  Calvin laced his fingers tighter around his knees. “Yes, yes, and no,” he said and then, in a tired, defeated voice, admitted to her that he would giv
e up half his life if he could be a real, white American for just a little while. Just long enough to see what people’s reaction to him would be. He looked away, his face miserable.

  Ruby digested Calvin’s confession and without a qualm launched into her own sorry past. When she was finished she reached over for Calvin’s hand. “I guess this is what they mean when they say birds of a feather. Neither of us feels as if we quite fit in. Let’s go for a walk, my rear end is getting damp from this grass.”

  Ruby stood. “I don’t think we have to talk about this ... ever again. I don’t want to remember last month or last year. I bet if we walked around this park we’d come to a crick where we could stick our feet in and cool off.”

  “What’s a crick?” Calvin asked, puzzled.

  “City people call it a brook or stream. People in Pennsylvania call it a crick. It’s water deep enough to stick your feet in. See you guys later,” she called over her shoulder to Nola, who waved airily.

  They walked along jauntily, hands swinging, laughing at everything and nothing.

  She had someone.

  And there was going to be hell to pay, one way or the other.

  “Who gives a shit,” she muttered.

  “What did you say?”

  “I said, shhh, look at the squirrel chasing his tail.” Ruby grinned, and Calvin threw back his head and laughed.

  The afternoon rushed to its conclusion. Ruby knew she should go back to the Y Amber always checked on her at dinnertime, weekdays and weekends, but Amber had gone out with Ethel and Nangi. Calvin hadn’t said anything about extending their afternoon into the evening.

  “I have to go back now; it’s almost suppertime.”

  “Oh,” Calvin said forlornly.

  “What are you going to do this evening?” Ruby asked quietly.

  Calvin shrugged. “Read the Sunday paper, maybe go to a movie. Unless you want to go to one. Do you?” he asked hopefully.