Battle Cry - Leon Uris [10]
She managed to steady herself but her eyes watered as she spoke. “The usual. He called us names. He threatened me. I’m here now, everything is all right.”
Connie smashed his fist hard into an open hand. “He’s right. I’m no good. I’m no damned good or I wouldn’t have you come to a dump like this. He’s only trying to do what’s right for you. If I was any kind of a guy…”
“You don’t hear me complaining.”
“That’s the trouble, I wish you’d complain. No, I don’t—I don’t know what I mean.”
He turned and leaned against the dresser. Susan came up behind him and put her arms over his shoulders and rested a cheek on the back of his neck. “No kiss for me, Connie?”
He spun about and grasped her tightly. “I love you so much, sometimes I think I’m going to bust wide open.”
They kissed. “I love you too, Connie,” Susan said.
She walked to the bed, kicked off her shoes and sat back, resting against the headboard, and drew deeply and contentedly on her cigarette. He seated himself on the edge and took her hand and stroked it.
“I’ve got something important to tell you. Look, honey—we’ve talked a hundred times. Your old man will never leave us in peace as long as we are here. We got to get away from Philly.”
He began a catlike pace about the room, sputtering to find the right words. “He’s got no use for me, maybe he’s right. Sure, I got a record and reform school and all…but that was before I met you, honey. I’d do anything for you…you know that.”
“I know, Connie.”
“I finished high school, so what? None of the colleges give scholarships for a hundred-and-forty-pound guards. I…I just can’t get squared away here. Just can’t get a decent job—can’t save a damned dime. And your old man hounding and calling you dirty names. I can’t take that!”
“Don’t get yourself worked up, darling.”
“Sure, I’m a dumb Polack…eighteen-year-old punk. What’s he care if my old man died in a charity T.B. ward in a stinking coal town? I’ve been busted in the ass plenty.”
“I wish you wouldn’t curse, Connie.”
“I’m sorry, honey. See, you just say something and I’m sorry.” He smiled and sat beside her once more. “Susan.” He ran his hand over her cheek gently. “Susan…I’m so crazy about you, you’re just like living to me.”
She kissed his hand and smiled. “I kind of like you a little bit too, mister.”
He reached for an ashtray and lit up. “Like I said, this is important. We’ve got to end this meeting in dives and sneaking around. You’re too good for that—no, let me finish. I figured real hard how to get away from here. Susan, I joined the Marine Corps yesterday.”
“You…what?”
“Look.” He grabbed her by the shoulders. “I got it straight, they’re sending us to California to train. California, do you hear? I can get out there and save. I’ll put every nickel away and I’ll get a place for us and send for you. We can start out there, away from your old man, away from this stinking town. Just you and me, married, all the way out in California, honey.” And then he released her from his grasp slowly. “What’s the matter, Susan, you don’t look like you’re happy about it.”
“I don’t know, darling, you hit me kind of suddenly.”
“What is it, don’t you want to come to California?”
“Let me think a minute, Connie, let me think.”
Off and on the gaudy lightbulbs flicked, sending a glare, then a shadow, across the room. In the quiet, the faint smell of the mustiness set in.
“The Marine Corps,” she repeated, “the Marine Corps.”
“It’s the best way,” he pleaded. “There will be plenty of time. I’ll save hard and there’s lots of jobs out there.”
“What about your mother and Wanda?”
The words made him flinch inside. “She signed the papers to let me go. My mother is used to suffering. She wants to do what’s right by us. She knows I’ll never make it here. Wanda has only a year left of school. Uncle Ed will see they get their three squares and have a roof. Dammit! It’s us I’m thinking about. What’s the matter…what’s the matter?”
“I’m frightened, Connie.”
“There’s nothing to be scared about.”
“I can’t help it, I’m frightened. My father is afraid to lay a hand on me as long as you