most of those who knew him. Em had heard several of the guys talk about the statement that Corby had made on their first night in the barracks. They had once joked about Corby being able to take care of any of them, let alone himself. Now, each of them knew that he had meant every single word of it. A few of them had actually requested to be assigned in the same company. Em was excited for him but also frightened. He could picture Corby volunteering for every dangerous mission that came his way. It was not just a fear. Em knew that was who Corby was and that he would most assuredly try to out brave even the toughest infantryman. His appointment today was with Sergeant Houston. He was an aircraft mechanic and maintenance specialist. He was going to be one of several instructors in Biloxi. Corby and Larry got to meet him beforehand. He had told Em all about it when he returned this afternoon. He was so excited about working on planes that he had not even asked Em about Colonel Roth. By the time he finished ranting about the new jet engines, it was time for his chow runner duties.
After chow, they had parade practice, so he and Corby had not had a chance to talk before lights out.
“What are you doing for Colonel Roth?” he asked as soon as reveille ended. Instantly, the room became deadly silent. About a dozen sets of eyes turned and looked at Em and Jack through the dimness.
Jack did not miss a beat. He immediately started talking about the girl from the hospital. He told them all that he had flirted just a bit too much and had lured Em in with him. When Colonel Roth, the girl’s father, had found out, he wanted to see the two responsible. According to Jack’s story, the two of them would be hanging around Texas a few weeks longer than the rest of them. They were not to graduate with the rest of the flight. They were to remain behind and wait for their new assignment. Em was amazed once again with Jack’s ability to lie with such ease. By the time he finished talking about how he and Em had embarrassed the girl, everyone around them felt envy and sympathy for them.
Em and Jack did not get to discuss this before lights out. As Em lay on his bunk thinking about the eventful day he’d had, he was comforted by the fact that he now had something to tell Corby. Em had seen the look in Corby’s eyes as Jack had been telling his tale. He was not sure whether Corby believed him or not. Regardless, Em thought it best if his story mirrored Jack’s tomorrow. He wanted to tell Corby everything, but he was sure that was not a good idea. If Colonel Roth or Sergeant Cannon thought he had spoken of the details of their meeting, all the trust they had bestowed upon him would vanish. So when Corby assaulted him in the morning, he would try and retell Jack’s story. He hoped that Corby did not see right through his lies.
Just like every other night since he had arrived here, his thoughts returned to Irene in the white dress. He wanted desperately to see her. He wanted to tell her everything, but most of all, he wanted answers for himself. He didn’t know if he could keep his secret from all the people for which he cared most. The hardest part of his air corps career was sure to be ahead of him. He had never been deceitful in his entire life. Even though he was only keeping a secret, he felt as though he were involved in a gigantic lie.
When sleep finally descended upon him, he dreamed he was back home in Kentucky. Irene was at his side. They were resting on a porch of a house he did not recognize. She held his hand tight as though she could never let go.
*****
Three days later, they were given three hours of free time. Em had tried to persuade Larry and Corby to come with him and Jack. He planned on Jack showing them some of his martial arts moves. There had been minimal discussion of this since the day they had first received mail. Corby told him that Larry would never forgive Jack for the humiliation he suffered, and he would absolutely never take fighting lessons from Jackson Turner. Em tried to patch things up, to no avail. Perhaps, he thought, it was best the way things were. Larry and Corby would leave for Biloxi. He and Jack would leave for Hawaii. All would be well.
He sat inside an empty aircraft hangar on a stack of wooden pallets. He had his writing pad with him. He waited on Jack. All the sergeants seemed preoccupied with something, and several were roaming around the cavernous hangar. Em suspected something significant had taken place on the war front. The flight line was especially busy. Planes were taking off from the runway. None of them was returning, as was usual. Something big had definitely happened.
Em was writing to Irene. He was telling her about what was happening around him. He did not want her to worry needlessly, but he assumed that she could not worry more than she was already. What he wrote next was the most difficult thing he had ever tried to write her. He tried to tell her about where he would be going after basic training. The lie that Jack had come up with erupted from his pen. He wrote a page and a half and never felt so ashamed. He closed the pad and dropped his head between his knees. He contemplated tearing the sheet from the book and physically had his hand on the corner of the paper.
“Hey, Storybook.” Em looked up and saw Jack strutting his way toward where he sat. “Got your nose in that book again. You won’t have anything to say to her when you do see her.” Jack believed that Em was a little too in love. “You’re going to be gone a long time. There’s no way the two of you will make it.”
“Shows how much you know. I love her, Jack. There will never be another girl for me.” Em stared at Jack with just a hint of contempt. “Besides, I’m trying to tell her about what’s going on around here. Have you even noticed that every person who is not a recruit has been acting a little strange? There are planes leaving the base, and they are not coming back. There are women crying in every administration building, and all the sergeants have gotten a little bit nicer. Something big is happening. As usual, we are going to be the last ones to know.”
“You see, Storybook, that’s where you’re wrong. Aren’t you just a bit curious to know where I’ve been and why I am late meeting you?” Jack said this with the most know-it-all look on his face.
“What are you talking about?” Em asked him.
“Well, you are not going to believe who I ran into…”
Twenty minutes went by without Em learning anything about what was happening around them. Jack had “accidentally” run into Meredith Roth at the hospital. It seemed he had literally bumped into her as she exited the lab. She was carrying another tray of blood samples. After he helped her clean up the mess and she informed the lab that some new samples would be needed, he invited her to share a soda in the cafeteria. She had accepted and put him on cloud nine.
Em noticed that Jack was always lucky. Things just seemed to work out for him. Meredith never even questioned him about why he was outside the laboratory. She had graciously accepted his invitation and acted quite eager to talk to him. To hear Jack tell the story, Meredith never took her eyes off him. At first, all she wanted to talk about was Jack. She asked him all the usual questions: “Where are you from? Do you have any brothers or sisters? What is your job going to be? Do you have a girlfriend?”
Once again, according to Jack, this was the only question that really interested her. As he told Em about what she was wearing and how golden her hair looked, Em saw that Jack had lost all track of the focus of his story. “Jack, please tell me more about her later. I want to know what’s going on around here.”
“Em, you’re not going to believe it. We invaded France! The Allies have moved into Europe. Meredith didn’t know everything, but she heard her mom on the telephone. She said that half of the enlisted on this base would be ‘over there’ within a month. That includes most of the sergeants. All new recruits are to get accelerated weapons training and will be sent as soon as possible to support the mission. That was all she heard before her mom started to cry. Then she said she couldn’t listen to anymore.”
Em sat with his notebook in his lap. He looked down and noticed the sweat on his hands. There were drops on his notebook. The words he
