Seasons of Her Life (11 page)

 

The evening was so beautiful, star-spangled, Ruby thought as she walked from her accounting class at the Y to the trolley that would take her home to Mount Pleasant.

Autumn here in Washington seemed different somehow from autumn in Pennsylvania. Here the air was thicker, the leaves changing earlier. She was wearing a sweater, a bargain Nola had found. She didn't really need it this evening, but she liked to wear it cape-style over her shoulders. There were so many things she liked, things she would be giving up. Her fledgling independence for one thing, and the apartment, not to mention Nola and a few of her office friends. She liked Washington and wanted to be around to see the cherry blossoms in the spring. She wanted to continue her classes, too. She was doing so well, and she liked the instructor. In fact, she loved everything about her life. She adored Admiral Query and couldn't wait to go to work in the morning. But she loved Calvin more. She would do anything for Calvin.

She really did want to marry Calvin, she told herself. It was normal for her to be jittery and anxious. Nola said she had to go with her feelings. Ruby frowned as the trolley ground to a halt. She'd expected Nola to be delighted with her news, and she had been, to a point, but her eyes were clouded with worry. The worry, however, Ruby found out later wasn't for her, but for herself. Nola was pregnant and Alex, her boyfriend, had left four weeks earlier, transferred to someplace in the Midwest.

“I'm going back home, Ruby. If I'm lucky, my parents will take me in and help me. I'll find some kind of job. I'll clean houses and take in ironing if I have to.”

“What about your career?” Ruby asked, dumbfounded.

Nola snorted. “A pipe dream, Ruby. A baby is reality. I don't have any choices. Maybe someday. Oh, hey, look, here's the sketch I made of the dress for the Harvest Ball. Sorry you won't be going. If you're getting married, you might want to have a dress made some day for a special occasion. I took the liberty of signing it. Swear on ... on your grandmother that if you ever have the dress made it will be sky blue, brilliant and dazzling.”

“Do you have enough money to get home?” Ruby asked.

Nola shrugged.

“I have twenty-some dollars. Call it a loan if you're too proud to take it. Nola, what if ... what if your parents . . .”

“My parents love me. They'll be disappointed for a few months, but they love kids, and a brand-new baby ... well, my mother will just love it to death.”

“Did you tell Alex? Does he know? How could he leave like that with you ... it's his flesh and blood.”

“He shipped out before I found out for certain. Anyway, Alex is a free spirit. He doesn't want to be tied down to a wife and kid. I'm on my own, Ruby. I don't want you worrying about me, you have enough on your mind as it is. I'm leaving on Saturday. Everything is packed. Oh, Ruby, I hate going home with my tail between my legs. I made such grand promises and now I can't deliver.” Nola cried. “All my dreams down the drain.”

Ruby hugged her. “Let's spend Friday evening together, just you and me. I'll cancel my date with Calvin, but on Saturday we'll take you to the bus station. I want to see you off. I probably won't see you for a very long time.”

“We'll probably never see each other again,” Nola wailed.

“Of course we will. You're going to be rich and famous someday, so you can track me down. Just call the base locator and give Calvin's name, rank, and service number. You'll find me.”

Nola scribbled her parents' address on Ruby's notebook. “Oh, Ruby, I am going to miss you so much. Let's write, okay? And keep on writing. Friends tend to lose touch,” Nola said tearfully. “I don't want that to happen.”

“I won't let that happen, Nola,” Ruby said vehemently.

“Are you happy, Ruby?” Nola asked wistfully.

“I love Calvin.” Ruby was surprised at the stubborn tone in her own voice. “The truth is, I'm scared. Nola, I'm giving up everything. I gave my notice to Admiral Query today, and I started to cry. He gave me his handkerchief and I kept right on blubbering. I ... I told him the truth and ... and he said I was too young to get married. His wife is taking me to lunch tumor-row to try to talk me out of it. I have to be polite and go. I lied and told my boss my parents were signing the consent forms. I had this feeling ... still have it ... that he might call them and ... God, he could say anything. I think it was a mistake to tell him, but I couldn't leave him in the lurch. He's been so good to me. I just feel it in my gut, Nola, he's going to call them. He's so upright and old-fashioned.”

“Well, then tomorrow you'll have to convince Mrs. Query that isn't a good idea,” Nola said with a hint of impatience. “I'm sorry, but I'm real tired, Ruby. I've been on my feet all day, and my ankles are swollen. Let's call it a day. I'll meet you Friday after work and you can tell me what happened. Where?”

“A dive, someplace where we can both enjoy it because I have this feeling ... what I mean is ... our lives are changing and we should
really
enjoy ourselves. How about McGyver's on Sixteenth? We'll get ourselves dolled up enough to look twenty-one. Maybe we'll get served.”

 

Admiral Query poked his head out of his office. Ruby almost giggled aloud when he jerked it back immediately. Like a turtle, she thought. He could have buzzed her, called out to her, but he said he preferred personal contact.

Ruby got up and reached for her steno pad. “Do you want to dictate a letter, Admiral?”

“No, Ruby, I want to talk to you. Do you think you could imagine me as a kindly uncle for just a few minutes?”

Puzzled, Ruby nodded. “Is something wrong?”

“I don't know, Ruby. I'm concerned you might be making a serious mistake. You're so young, child, you have your whole life ahead of you. Getting married is very serious decision. Children come along and money isn't plentiful. You have to struggle and you get short-tempered. You'll be moving around a lot, unable to put down roots. Your children will be constantly leaving friends behind. Have you thought all this through, Ruby?” Query said fretfully.

“Yes, sir, I have. Are you really worried about me, Admiral Query?”

“Hell, yes, I'm worried. If I had a daughter, I'd be saying these same things to her. Besides, I don't want to lose you. You're the best secretary I ever had. Still, if this is what you really want, then I won't interfere. I know I said it might be a good idea to speak with your parents, but that was ... that was something I said in the heat of the moment. Out of concern. I want you to believe that.”

“I do, Admiral, and I'm going to miss you, too. I'll write. Will you write back?” Ruby smiled.

“If they send me someone who knows how to type, I will. Even if they don't, I'll take pen in hand myself,” he chuckled.

“I'll look forward to your letters, Admiral.”

“It will give me something to do. They're getting ready to put me out to pasture, you know. They think I'm too old. Retirement. My wife thinks I'm looking forward to it. She's dead wrong about that,” he grumbled good-naturedly.

He was such a kind, gentle man, Ruby thought. So gallant and courtly. The word
old-fashioned
sprung to mind. Mrs. Query had told her once, when she had stopped by to take the admiral to lunch, that she'd never seen him without a tie, except when he went to bed. She told her other wonderful things about her husband and the way he treated the men under him. He never asked them to do anything he wouldn't do himself, Mrs. Query said proudly. And he was a real family man with a great respect for women. He didn't believe in divorce, and nothing made him angrier than spousal abuse.

“You're wool-gathering, Ruby,” the admiral said tartly.

“I guess I was, I'm sorry. I was remembering what your wife said about you the second or third time I met her.”

“I'll bet she could find only good things to say, am I right?”

“Wonderful things, Admiral Query. And I believe that she is looking forward to your retirement, even if you're not. It will be nice for you both. You can travel together and do things as a couple. I think she's lonely, Admiral.”

“You do, do you?”

“She told me so.”

“Then why didn't she tell me?”

“I think she did, sir, but you didn't hear her.”

“It's amazing, Ruby, how you managed to turn this conversation around to me and my wife. We need to get back to the matter at hand. I want to hear from you that you love this young man heart and soul, and I won't interfere. You need to be sure, Ruby. Having a family is a sacred trust.”

Ruby smiled. “I'm sure, Admiral Query and ... my family will be sacred. I know you've been polite about not asking me about my family back home, and I appreciate it. It wasn't ... my parents don't have the same kind of marriage you and Mrs. Query have. My father ... well, my father ... is ... he isn't . . .”

Query was off the chair before Ruby could finish talking. He wrapped the young girl in his arms. “I think I understand. But the words needed to be said. If there's ever anything I or Mrs. Query can do, you have only to call on us. I want your promise that you will, Ruby.”

Ruby wiped her eyes. “I promise.”

“Now, freshen up and get ready to meet Mrs. Query for lunch. I have it on good authority she's taking you to a wonderful restaurant. I'll tell her myself we settled this little matter between us. She was worried about you being so far from home and all. Now, scat. Oh, do we have any licorice?”

“Yes, but Mrs. Query said I wasn't supposed to let you eat it,” Ruby giggled.

“We won't tell her. Fetch it, Ruby.”

“One stick or two?”

“Two, of course. And one for later.” He bowed, a courtly gesture that made Ruby giggle even more. “War is hell,” he muttered as she closed the office door behind her.

Ruby's relief was so great that she felt light-headed. Everything was going to be okay.

 

Friday night didn't prove the wonderful evening Ruby had planned. “We're like two wet blankets,” she said as she sipped her cherry phosphate.

“I'm sorry, Ruby, I get morning sickness that carries into the afternoon and evening. All damn day,” she said tiredly. “I can't eat anything. But you go ahead.”

“I'm not really hungry, either,” Ruby mumbled.

“God, Ruby, what if I get sick on the bus tomorrow,” Nola said listlessly. “Where do you throw up on a bus?”

“You open the window and stick your head out. What else can you do? Calvin's going to meet us at the bus station. Here,” she said, slipping twenty-seven dollars across the table, “I wish it were more.”

Nola's eyes filled. “Ruby, how can I take this?”

“You just take it, that's how. I want you to have it, Nola. Now c'mon, let's get out of here.”

Ruby felt magnanimous when she paid the check. Nola was going to need every cent she could get her hands on. She wished she could look into the future to see if her friend would be all right, but she canceled the wish immediately. Nola would make it. She had pluck and grit, and she was smart. She also had a wonderful, loving family. She would be just fine.

The following morning Calvin and Ruby watched as Nola boarded the bus that would take her to Michigan. Tears ran down both girls' cheeks as they hugged each other, promising to write and keep in touch.

“Be sure you let me know if it's a girl or a boy so I can send something in the right color.”

Ruby cried then as she'd never cried in her life, and the tears were still streaming down her cheeks when the bus pulled away from the underground lot out into the bright September sunshine.

“Don't cry, Ruby. You act as if she's dead,” Calvin said. “She's going away, that's all. You can write to her every day. You'll find a way to get together again someday.” His tone was almost petulant when he added, “I didn't know you felt so strongly about her.”

“She's my friend, Calvin. She helped me. Really helped me. I'm not even going to try to explain.” She whirled to face Calvin. “On the other hand,” she said, blowing her nose lustily, “maybe I should explain.”

Ruby pocketed her handkerchief. “Andrew Blue teases me about, being a hayseed, a hick from the sticks. I guess I am. I'm a small-town girl in a very big city. I came here, knowing my sister hates me, without a friend in the world. I had no job, and I looked like I just fell off the hay wagon. Nola made it possible for me to look like I knew how to dress as well as everyone else. My sister didn't help me, or even care. But if I needed a quarter and Nola didn't have it, she would borrow it from someone to give me. That's the kind of person she is. Now she's gone, and I feel bad. You have to care about people, Calvin, or you're nothing but a robot. Sometimes I'd like to see you display a little emotion without fear of ... forget it.”

Calvin stumbled over a culvert but righted himself. He looked chastised. “I can be your best friend, Ruby.”

Ruby threw her arms around him. “You are, Calvin, but you're a guy. Nola is a girl, and that's different.”

Then it occurred to her that Calvin worried that she was wrinkling his tie and shirt collar, because he nodded and patted her on the head clumsily, then he tried to inch away. Poor Calvin. But couldn't he understand? She had lost something when Nola left, something irreplaceable.

When she found herself in front of the house she lived in, she hardly noticed the girls sitting on the stone wall. She thought she mumbled something as she made her way up the concrete steps. She barely glanced into the living room, where Amber was sitting with Nangi.