History Can Be An Interesting Read

I know I've been awol for the past six months. All of us have. I don't really have an excuse. I also know that I owe you an ending to "Animas." It's just about done. I picked it up again last week and I just have to work out a few of the last details. As soon as it's finished, I'll post it for your reading pleasure. I need to post it just so we can all have some sort of closure for that story. 

However, I've also been working on a project for about five years. It's my grandparents history. They are some of the most interesting people I've ever met. They lived during the Great Depression and participated in World War II. Their story fascinates me. It took about three years to interview them and now I'm in the very slow process of compiling all those interviews into a readable, enjoyable history for our family to enjoy. 

I just recently wrote about the time they met each other and started dating. The voice is completely different from any other part of the story up to this point and I love it. I hope you enjoy it since it's a true story. And I promise to have the last installment of "Animas" by the end of the month. 

Now that’s a cute girl, thought Bill, looking out the listening booth window. I want to ask her out. But he didn’t. He wasn’t the kind of guy to just walk up to a strange girl and ask her out. Spigs might have the personality to do something that bold. Not Bill. His shyness sometimes bordered on paralysis. It definitely kept him from doing some of the things he wanted to, like ask that girl out. It didn’t keep him from staring though.

Oh no! he whipped his head back to face the wall. She saw me looking at her. Trying to act nonchalant, he bobbed his head to the music he could hardly hear through the blood pounding in his ears. A few seconds of that and he dared to peek through the window. She hadn’t turned away. He’d caught her looking at him. Now, he held her gaze. She smiled and dropped her eyes. Her friend nudged her and they moved on.

Those blue eyes, that smile…he had to find a way to ask her out. The music played in the background, but he wasn’t listening. He racked his brains. How was he going to get her to go on a date with him?

All attempts to focus on the music were gone. He couldn’t think of anything, but that girl so he left the store. She must be new to Helper. He’d never seen her before. There were more new faces since coming back from California. If he hadn’t gone, he might know who she was. He could already be dating her right now. He pushed those thoughts out of his mind. If he knew her name, he could find out more about her, maybe learn where to find her so he could talk to her. The idea made him cringe. If only he wasn’t so bashful. Maybe someone could introduce him. A stroke of brilliance came to him: if there’s one person who knows everyone in Helper, it’s got to be his cousin Spigs.

He went to see him right away. Forgetting about small talk, he asked him if he knew the girl that was hanging around with Darcia. He started talking about her blue eyes and her brown hair.

Spigs smiled while Bill was lost in the description of her. “Of course I know her. She’s a great girl. Her name is Jessie. She lives over in the small apartment behind the Smith's workshop. She's a secretary at Jay’s insurance company. We do business with her. I’ve gone out with her a few times, you know.”

This was the best news he’d heard all day. And he’d just found the way to ask her out. “Will you ask her out for me?”

“What? Ask her yourself.”

“Come on Spigs. You know how I am around girls. I get so shy that I sound like I’ve got a stutter. Do this for me.”

“All right Bill. Just this once.”

“Thank you!”  He started to walk away then turned back. “When? When will you ask her?”

Spigs laughed. “I told you I’d do it so I’ll do it. Be patient.”

That wasn’t the definite answer Bill wanted, but it would have to do. He thanked Spigs again and again and nearly skipped away the way he’d come. All he could do now was wait.

*****

“Look at this new one from Glenn Miller,” Darcia said next to me.

I had my finger on the latest record from Tommy Dorcia. I glanced at the album she scanned in her hands.

“It’s got ‘In the Mood’ and ‘Pennsylvania 6-5000’. Oh!” She tossed Glenn Miller aside. “Harry James. I think his music is better because he’s so good looking.” She giggled as she picked up the next album.

I cleaned up the mess she left behind. Darcia was always so energetic. Sometimes it made her careless, but it was part of her charm. She could make fun out of nothing. I liked spending time with her. The bell chime at the door drew my attention. I stifled the gasp that tried to escape. There he is! That same dark haired guy I’d seen at the La Sal a while ago. I still don’t know his name, but my goodness he’s attractive. He doesn’t see me. I watch him grabb a few albums and go into a listening booth. I try to keep my eyes from following him, but it’s useless. They go wherever he does.

“Jessie, did you hear what I said?” Darcia nudged me.

“Uh, yeah, Harry James?”

She didn’t buy my cover. She followed my gaze and saw the man in the listening booth. “He’s a looker, isn’t he?”

I was looking at him again. “Who is he?”

“Bill Marchello. He went to California after the war to work in a quarry there. Want me to introduce you two?” She raised her eyebrows at me in that silly suggestive way.

I laughed at her and looked at him again. He quickly turned away. He’d been looking at me. Maybe I should go talk to him. But I’ve never been that kind of girl. Darcia might. She’s pretty enough and audacious enough to do something like that, but I’m not.

I could hear Darcia rummaging through the artist’s albums again. My mind told me to focus on my friend, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t stop looking at that man in the booth. He turned my way and our eyes locked. Heavens! He is really cute. A stupid smile forms on my lips. Finally, some sense returns to my brain and I look down at the record I’m holding. Betty Goodman. Ugh. I don’t even like Betty Goodman.

“Are you done making eyes at that stranger that you don’t have the gumption to talk to? Because I’m done here as soon as you are.” She’s teasing me and I flush.

“Yes,” I mumble. “I’m done.”

We wander out of the store. I can feel his eyes on me as we leave. Is he ever going to come talk to me?

*****

“Jessie!” Spigs runs to catch up to me before I go back in to work.

“Hey Spigs. How are you?” He’s always been kind to me. Even though he’s shorter than me, we went out of a few times, but we’ve never had anything serious.

“I’ll be better if you’ll do me a favor.” He pauses to pull in a breath.

“What can I do for you?”

“Will you go out with my cousin so he’ll get off my back?”

I laugh. His cousin sure must be a funny guy to have Spigs ask me out for him. “Who’s your cousin?”

“Bill Marchello.”

The man from the listening booth. “Yes, I’ll go out with him.” I can hardly keep myself from shouting.

He smiles. “Great. I’ll let him know. Thanks Jessie. See you around.”

I sort of stagger back into work. The rest of the day goes by in a blur. All I can think about is Bill Marchello. He was so cool looking in the listening booth, but why wouldn’t he ask me out himself? Not that I’m upset. At least he asked me out, sort of. I just can’t help but wonder why he had Spigs ask me out for him. Did he think I would say no? It would be impossible to say no to that face. Was he shy like me? I thought I was getting over my shyness, but when I saw him in the record store, I felt that stiff sensation come over me again.

So many questions and no answers. At least until our date. Since we didn’t have a phone, he couldn’t call me. Spigs just said he would pick me up Friday at seven. It’s agony getting through the rest of the work week. The anticipation for our date made me useless at my desk. Finally, the night came. I’m ready, but fretting in my living room with Momma and Daddy. I hear a car pull up. Gravel crunches under his feet as he walks to the front door. I’m up before the first knock.

Pulling the door open, I can’t control the smile on my face when I see him. He’s wearing a camel colored suit and a dark green shirt. Wow, does this guy know how to dress or what? 

“Hi there,” I manage to get out without stuttering.

“Hi,” he says. “I’m Bill, Spig’s cousin.”

“Boy is that a relief. I didn’t want to go out with the wrong guy tonight.” Look how charming I’m being. It’s better than sounding like an idiot, which is how I feel.

He laughs a little and offers me his arm. I take it and we’re out the door before Daddy can try to intimidate this new boy. It’s not something he’s ever done before, but Daddy loves to laugh. I wouldn’t put it past him to start a prank like that.

Bill leads me to his 1938 Ford Coupe and opens the door for me. We start talking right away. He tells me where he lives and a little about his family, that he has two brothers and his mom still lives in his childhood home. By then, we’ve pulled up to one of the dance halls and parked. Inside, we find a group of people we know, but I’m not too interested in them. My attention is on Bill. He pulls me in his arms and leads me on the dance floor. And I hang on tight because he’s a wonderful dancer. He does most of the work. I probably look like a graceful swan in his arms. I’m not a swan and I’m not graceful, but considering the way he’s leading me around, I feel like one because it’s so effortless to dance with him.

The date is amazing. We dance and drink and eat pickled eggs. He’s nice to talk to. A little shy, but it doesn’t bother me at all. It actually makes him even more charming. Holding my hand, he walks me up my porch at the end of a dreamy night and kisses me. I haven’t stopped smiling since he picked me up for the date. Or maybe I haven’t stopped since Spigs asked me out for him. All I know is that I had an wonderful time and I can’t wait to see him again.

I wait one, two, three days for him to come over or call me at work or something. The only thing I hear from him is silence. I go out with a different guy or two that following weekend, but I don’t see Bill anywhere. What happened to him? Did I scare him out of town? I can’t believe he hasn’t called me yet or asked me out again. I know he had a good time. Why wouldn’t he have had as much fun as I did? I replayed the date over and over in my mind. Did I do something embarrassing? Did I have something in my teeth? Nothing that would have caused him to leave me high and dry.

Confused three or four weeks later, I went to a planning meeting at Beta Sigma Phi. The final preparations were being made for the sorority dance. I needed a date. Since I was still thinking about Bill and not content to let things lie as I left them, I called him up.

“Bill, this is Jessie, Spigs friend. We’re having a dance party at my sorority. Would you like to go with me?” At least this way I can have some closure if he really just isn’t interested in me.

“Yeah, that sounds like fun. I’d love to come.”

If I thought I was confused before, now I’m into the land of the discombobulated. I arrange everything and the night of the dance party comes. He whisks me across the floor, just like the first time we danced. Everything is perfect, just like our first date. I wonder if he would just ignore me for another month again after this. When the date is over, I decide I’m not going to let it drag out that long. I would chase this man all over Carbon County if that’s what it took to be with him.

“I had a great time tonight,” he tells me as we prepare to part ways for the night.

“I did too. Thanks for coming with me.”

“What are you doing next Saturday? There’s a really great spot I know of for a picnic. Would you come with me and a couple friends?”

I knew it. I knew he couldn’t walk away from two perfect dates with me. “Of course. That sounds really great.”