Battle Cry - Leon Uris [86]
“Who is sure of anything? I’m only sure of the way I feel this moment.”
They turned left at Glen Burnie and skirted the Chesapeake Bay, soon leaving the city far behind. A blinking neon sign: AUTO COURT, Vacancy, brought them to a stop.
“Wait a minute, I’ll be back,” he said. He stepped from the car into a noisy bar and went on to the office.
The flickering light and the noise froze Kathy in her seat. In an instant she found herself bewildered. A lonely road, a noisy, full saloon…shouting…singing….
Danny returned, followed by a short, old, baldheaded man. He took her hand and they followed the man, shuffling in his bedroom slippers along the gravel driveway. He stopped midway in a row of attached rooms and placed a key in the door.
“I’m taking a chance, young fellow. The military is pretty rough about this sort of thing.”
The ugly old man made it sound so cheap, Kathy thought. Taking a chance. This sort of thing. What kind of a girl does he think I am? Clammy sweat formed on her hands. The door swung open. Danny flicked on the light and shut the door behind him.
It was cold and dank, dingy. The light from the sign sent a red glow off and on, off and on. The headlights from the speeding cars of the highway flashed against the wall as they swept past the court. A loud jukebox blasted from the bar through the paper-thin walls:
There’s a burlesque theater,
Where the gang likes to go,
To see Queenie, the cutie of the burlesque show….
The hungry months of waiting, the burst of passion on the hill, the pent-up words that had poured from her—they were gone now. She looked at the tall, tanned man in the center of the room. He stood up straight and wore a green uniform. No, it wasn’t Danny…it wasn’t he. Danny wore a silver jacket, he slouched when he walked. She tried to correct it…Danny wasn’t dark…he had fair skin.
He lit a cigarette. It wasn’t Danny, it wasn’t; Danny didn’t smoke. He was young and his eyes were full of mischief. They were not the serious, grim eyes of this man.
What have I done, what have I said? This room…this dirty room.
Take it off, take it off,
Cried the boys in the rear,
Down in front, down in front….
I want to go home. I want to go to my mother…oh Lord, he’s coming to me. She gritted her teeth. He wants to take me to bed. She became faint with fright. Run! No, it was impossible. He was near her, he was reaching for her….
“It’s all right, Kathy, I understand. Come on, I’ll take you home.”
She felt as though she were drunk. Nothing was real. A car door slammed. A motor sounded. The song and the noise faded.
Queenie, queen of them all,
Queenie, some day you’ll fall….
Again they drove the darkened road. She rolled the window down to catch some relief from the stifling heat. Slowly her senses returned. She didn’t dare look at him now. What must he think? She didn’t want to see the hurt look. What a miserable mess she had made. She tried to speak, but her words were gone now.
The road swung close to the shoreline of the bay. A shower of stars covered the quiet sky. The moon was hidden behind a row of cypress trees. Then the gentle splashing water came into view, beating against the moon-silver sand.
“Danny,” she cried softly.
He did not answer.
“I’m so ashamed, I’m so terribly ashamed.” The tears poured out. He slowed the car to a stop and sat as she wept it out.
“It wasn’t very nice, I’m sorry. We should have never…maybe it is a lot better it happened.”
“I don’t know what got into me, I don’t know.”
“You don’t have to explain.” His voice sounded sad and tired. He passed his handkerchief; she dried her eyes and blew her nose and sighed deeply in relief.
“I’m sorry.”
“Shhh.”
“You look wonderful in your uniform, I didn’t tell you.”
He didn’t want to talk any more. The sudden drop from heaven to hell left him empty. “I’m all right now,” she said.
He turned the key, then felt her hand on his. “Let’s not drive off, just yet.”
“Kathy, we’d better not start up again.”
“It was so strange,” she whispered, “as if I didn’t even know you. Funny, I never