Chapter 9

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May 30, 1960 Memorial Day, Washington, D.C., Evening

“There you girls are! We’ve been looking all over,” Candy exclaimed as she approached with a young man in a Marine pfc uniform in tow. She hadn’t joined them earlier because she’d been expected at her family’s annual cookout. After she put in an appearance at home, she headed to the Mall to meet up with the others.

Betty was lying on her back with a rolled up towel over her eyes, softly snoring. Peggy and Cathy were drunkenly arguing over who was the cutest: Frankie Avalon or Tab Hunter. Marge and Alice were chatting quietly.

“Hey, what’s wrong with Betty?” Candy asked, then continued without waiting for an answer. “Hey, I want you to meet someone. C’mere Wally.” She pulled the Marine front and center by their linked arms. She rapidly assessed her friends and settled on Marge, silently mouthing ‘Please help me.’ “Marge, I bet you and Wally have a lot in common,” she said over-enthusiastically. She unceremoniously pushed Wally in Marge’s direction then captured Alice’s elbow and steered her a few yards away while chattering, “You two get to know each other while Alice and I get caught up.”

“Ah’m so pleased to meet y’all Miss Margie,” Wally said in a broad Southern drawl.

Marge looked daggers at Candy while smiling sweetly at the young Marine. Candy winced because she knew her friend hated being called ‘Margie.’ She mouthed a thank you then turned to Alice. “I’m going to owe her big for this,” she whispered. “That is the single most boring man in this city.”

“How’d you end up with him then?” Alice asked.

Candy glanced over her shoulder and smiled wistfully. “He’s just so doggone yummy! How was I to know he was duller than carpet lint?”

Alice craned her neck to see past Candy and looked at Wally. He was a damn fine figure of a man, she thought. Tall and strong looking with a gentle face and really sharp looking in his dress blues. She briefly wondered what it would feel like to snuggle in those big arms and rest her head on that broad chest. “I see your point,” she said with a grin. “But why didn’t you just ditch him when he turned into such a dud?”

“That’s the problem!” Candy’s voice rose. She quickly toned it back to a whisper. “He won’t take a hint! I’ve done everything I can think of to discourage him but he just keeps sticking to me like a pathetic little puppy dog.” She sighed and added forlornly, “He looks at me with those sad brown eyes and I just can’t break his heart.”

“Then why’d you sic Marge on him?” Alice asked, confused. “She’s the meanest of anybody when it comes to guys.”

“Well, that’s the whole idea, isn’t it? To get rid of him.” Candy said, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Besides, my first choice would’ve been Betty. She’s even better at getting rid of a man than Marge, she can run them off without letting them realize what just happened,” she added offhandedly, with a gesture at the sleeping girl. “But she doesn’t look up to it.”

Alice smiled, shaking her head in admiration. The logic was unimpeachable, she simply hadn’t yet acquired the automatic thought processes that led to the inevitable rightness of Candy’s statement. “Ahhh... I see. At least I think I do...” she muttered pensively.

“Poor Alice, you haven’t had much experience with men, have you?”

If Candy only knew! “Sure I have!” she protested. Alice saw Candy’s skeptical look and blushed deeply. “Why?” she asked defensively. “Um, I mean why do you say that?”

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s kinda obvious, sweetie,” Candy said, patting her shoulder sympathetically. “You’re always so shy whenever we talk about guys. And you’re sort of out of it when it comes to dealing with them. You get all flustered and nervous, y’know?”

Alice nodded, trying to conceal her rising panic. She thought furiously for a plausible sounding explanation then remembered her ‘history’. “I spent most of my early life in a Japanese internment camp. Standing inside the barbed wire fence I swore to myself then that I’d learn to fly someday and nobody could lock me up again. After the war I lived in a series of orphanages which was just another form of imprisonment. When I was a teenager I got permission to learn to fly if I could find a way to pay for it and it didn’t interfere with my school work. Then I was too busy working and trying to earn my pilot’s license to have any time for boys. So I never really learned how to deal with men like most girls do.”

“You poor thing,” Candy pulled Alice into a hug. “I’d heard some rumors but I never knew how terrible it actually was for you. I’m so sorry, Honey.”

Alice felt like a total fraud. She didn’t deserve Candy’s sympathy. “It wasn’t that bad actually. I didn’t know any better so it was normal for me. Now I’m beginning to realize there’s a whole different part of life that I’m learning about. I guess that’s why I’m so shy when we talk about guys.”

“Well you’ve got us now,” Candy swept her arm to take in the entire group. “We’ll help you all we can.”

Alice felt her eyes welling at Candy’s spontaneous offer to help. Her experience with men had taught her to never show vulnerability; she was still adjusting to the way women were more supportive of their friends. “Thanks Candy,” she sniffled. “But please can we not tell the others the bad parts? I don’t want everybody feeling sorry for me.”

“Sure Sweetie, it’ll be our secret.”

“Wha’ you doin’ over here all ‘lone t’gether?” Cathy asked as she stumbled up to them. She flung one arm across Alice’s shoulders and the other across Candy’s. “Les’ party girls!”

“What happened to Peggy?” Candy asked when she looked around and didn’t see her anywhere.

“She wen’ lookin’ f’r s’more ta drink.”

“Oh great,” Alice sighed. “I’ll go look for Peggy, you stay here and watch sleeping beauty and the party girl here.”

“Wai’ wai’ I wan’ go too!”

“Alice can’t wait, Hon. Why don’t we go over here and lie down with Betty and take a little nap?” Candy steered her tipsy friend over toward where Betty was sleeping on the picnic blanket.

“Why Miss Margie, I do declare y’all sho’ do know how to tease a feller!” Wally was saying with a chuckle as Alice headed off across the Mall to find Peggy.

Alice started an expanding spiral search pattern. Now where would I go if I were a sozzled Peggy needing a fresh nip, she thought. She weaved between picnicking family groups and spooning couples. The gathering dusk didn’t help any. Trying to find a lone woman in these conditions was beginning to look like locating a needle in a haystack.

After a half hour full dark had descended on the Mall relieved by the scattered pools of light cast by the park service lamp posts. The band had struck up a series of patriotic numbers. Here and there the onlookers had risen to their feet and were singing the words to the music. Alice reluctantly decided that it’d become hopelessly impossible to find Peggy in this chaos, and set off for what she’d been thinking of as the group’s base camp.

As she approached she was chagrined to see Peggy with a cup in her hand, hanging on the arm of a young Air Force lieutenant. A nearby lamppost picked out the others, even Betty, all up on their feet in a group. There were four other guys in Air Force blue milling around, all with cups in their hands.

Peggy was the first to notice Alice, standing in the shadows taking in the scene. “There she is! C’mon Alice, join the party!”

Alice had no choice but to walk into the pool of light where everyone was gathered. “I’ve been looking all over for you, Peggy. Where’d you disappear to?”

“I got los’ f’r a bit but George and his buddies foun’ me,” Peggy grinned. She looked up adoringly at the lieutenant. “Isn’ he jus’ the cutest thing?”

“Oh he’s adorable,” Alice replied, the sarcasm coming automatically. Naval aviators had a longstanding rivalry with the Air Force, who they derisively referred to as “zoomies”. She checked out the other new arrivals. They were all lieutenants, all wore pilot’s wings except for one who had a navigator's badge. Probably a bunch of nuggets just out of Randolph in Texas.

“Oh goody! Alice’s back. Look, Alice, we got guys f’r each of us,” Cathy chirped happily. She held her cup out for one of the zoomies to fill from a bottle wrapped in a paper bag. “An’ the very bestest is they brough’ refills!”

Alice was handed a cup with something alcoholic in it. Candy attempted to make introductions but Alice instantly forgot their names. Then, by some unspoken agreement which Alice had never understood even when she was LCDR Tompkins, the men each laid claim to a girl. Like predators cutting individuals out from the herd the men steered their designated girls off into cozy groups of two. Before she even realized what had happened Alice was alone with one of the zoomies.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” he said, holding out his hand to shake. “I’m Bill Anderson.”

She wished she had Marge or Betty’s skills at discouraging male interest but that was far beyond her current abilities. She took his hand briefly then released it quickly. “Alice.”

“Oh, you’re the pilot. Who’d of thunk it?” Bill whistled softly as he boldly looked her up and down. “That’s a bonus, and here I was tickled just to get a redhead.”

Alice hmmpfed and glared at him. “Well I hate to disabuse you, Lieutenant, but you didn’t get anything or anybody.”

“Easy, Red.” He grinned and winked conspiratorially. “Your friends gave you away, I’m afraid.”

“What?” her voice rose in alarm. Her face suffused with hot embarrassment. Had everyone seen through her facade?

“Sure they did,” Anderson continued smugly. “They told me you were an orphan and very shy. And new in town to boot. Believe me, I know how it is to be all alone in a strange city. But you don’t have to be lonely. I grew up in Fairfax and if you’d like I could show you the sights sometime?”

Alice sighed loudly and resumed breathing; no one knew her real secret, she was just being paranoid. This kid was just using a come-on line, and not a very good one at that. Hold on! A light bulb went off: he was using a come-on line!! Okay, don’t panic, she told herself. Well, what else should I have expected when everybody paired up? Liz prepared me for this. I just need to settle down. Breathe. She smiled sweetly and said, “That sounds nice, Bill, but I’ve been really busy since moving here.”

“Oh. Okay. Well, the offer’s open, if you find some free time,” Bill looked disappointed but undaunted. He immediately switched to a different tack, “So Red, how’d a pretty lady like you decide to become a pilot?”

Oh lord, she thought, how many times am I going to hear that old saw? What is so damn odd about a female pilot? Haven’t these people ever heard of Amelia Earhart or Jackie Cochran? Alice was growing too frustrated to continue being nice. She shrugged and replied laconically, “It’s exciting.”

“It sure is! Even in those slow old prop jobs you’re flying.” He was oblivious to her irritation and his air of superiority grew. “I expect you’d like to give a real plane a try sometime. I just graduated from my training squadron flying F-86 Sabres. You’d be amazed by what that bird can do, Red.”

Red?! Alice was seething. She drained her cup in one gulp and was feeling very reckless. This nugget thinks he can lecture me on jets? How condescending can he possibly get? “I suppose it’s sensible to trust rookies with outdated aircraft only. Anyway it’s common knowledge the Air Force isn’t as innovative as the Navy in fighter technology. Keeping the F-86 still in the inventory just proves my point. The F8U can fly circles around the Sabre. There’s even a new trainer in the pipe, the YT-38, that puts that old dog to shame.” Her tone had begun mildly enough but grew ever more scornful and she finished with a sneer, “And my name’s Alice, Lieutenant, not Red.”

“Come on Re... Alice. Let’s be friends. Call me Bill. The Air Force has the mission of protecting the entire country from communist aggression. We’re innovative, but we need to keep flying older airplanes just to deal with the sheer number of potential threats. The Navy only has a dozen or so carrier air groups with very limited missions so they have the luxury of upgrading the inventory with new technology more often. For gosh sakes, look how they rebuilt every single carrier with crooked flight decks.” He sounded like a small boy claiming my dad can beat your dad.

“Nice recitation of the recruiting brochures, Lieutenant. But for your information, the Navy’s mission is every bit as complex as the Air Force’s. We... I mean they - the Navy’s carriers, I mean - are the nation’s forward defenses as well as the first striking force to arrive at any trouble spot. The carrier fleet needed the angled flight decks and other modifications to improve operations with jets.”

“Now Alice, I said you can call me Bill,” he said genially with mock rebuke, trying to salvage any hope he might have of something more from the sexy the little redhead. “As for the relative importance of the services, we’ll just have to agree to disagree on that. Anyway I’m done flying F-86‘s, my next duty is with the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing; I’ll be flying the Thunderchief. Now that’s an aircraft. It’ll outrun a Crusader any day.”

Alice smiled indulgently, as though humoring a spoiled child. “The ‘Chief’s got legs, I’ll give you that. But Vought upgraded the Crusader. They built 5 Crusader III’s before the program was cancelled. The XF8U-3 reached mach 2.6 in testing and it wasn’t even fully wrung out. That’s faster than any F-105 could manage on its very best day.”

This was becoming irritating, the girl seemed determined to contradict his every word. “Well I won’t dispute that. But my career track is in fighters, so someday soon I’ll be posted to a Fighter-Interceptor Squadron like the 95th at Andrews. I’ve seen their jets in operation. The F-106 is the ultimate fighter in existence today.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, Lieutenant, but McDonnell’s got a new bird nearing completion that will blow the F-106 out of the sky. The XF4H -- I think they’re going to call her the Phantom II -- should deploy to the fleet this year or early next. She’s a big heavy pig but she’s nimble. She’s just as fast, has a higher ceiling, and a faster rate of climb than your zoomie 106.” Alice felt the corners of her mouth twitch in a tiny smile as she remembered streaking through desert sky in one of the first prototype Phantom II’s.

“Huh,” Anderson flushed, rocked back on his heels and looked at her through squinted eyes. He was accustomed to being upbraided by senior officers but this was a civilian - a young slip of a girl civilian! Where did this broad get her dope? She certainly was up to speed on the fighter jets operated by both the Air Force and the Navy. She also seemed to have a bias toward Navy birds, why was that? Who was this bitch anyway? Only Navy pukes referred to the Air Force as ‘zoomies’. His tone changed from flirtatious to suspicious. “You sound like a Navy carrier vet, Red. So how do you know so much about fighters, even what’s in development?”

Realization of how far she’d pushed him hit like a ton of bricks. Damn! Alice thought furiously, what the hell is wrong with me?! Why’d I let him get my goat? She didn’t have anything to prove to this zoomie. Smith would be ready to murder if she blew her cover. Maybe literally! Her eyes flew wide open. Her blood thundered in her ears. Had she just signed this kid’s death warrant by her stupid pride and carelessness?

“Er... Well so I’ve heard Bill,” she replied, with breathy emphasis on his first name. Time for damage control, she thought and mentally gritted her teeth. She channeled her inner flirt and linked her arm in his, pressing her breast against his upper arm.

“Well...” he felt a renewed surge of interest in her luscious body but wasn’t completely mollified. He continued petulantly, “You’re amazingly well informed for a civilian. And where’d you hear the term ‘zoomie’?”

Okay, she thought, he’s not going to make it easy. Well, Liz always swore that any man could be manipulated by a woman if she used sex. No matter how laughably over the top he’d eat it up. No time like the present to test that theory.

“Oh, I’ve been a fan of aviation as long as I can remember so I know a lot about the newest technology. Where I work you get used to hearing all kinds of terms. So many people pass through all the time, coming and going to DC,” she nonchalantly replied. “But let’s not talk about me, why don’t you tell me all about yourself?” In her best Liz imitation she cooed, “I do so admire you men in the Air Force. You’re all so brave. I - we all - feel so much safer knowing men like you are protecting our skies.” For good measure she squeezed his arm and pressed her breast suggestively against him.

Alice had to stifle a giggle, it was truly comical watching Anderson’s neurons stutter step through his brain.

“Oh... well, it’s nothing really. Duty, you know.” Now this was more like it. Bill felt back in familiar territory; impressing an adoring girl. “I’m on TDY to Air Force Research and Development at Andrews for a few weeks. My offer to show you the sights is still open, by the way,” he said and paused for her reaction. When she didn’t take the bait he continued, “After that it’s off to the 4th TAC Fighter Wing, as I said before. Flying’s in my blood and the hotter the bird, the better,” he paused to flash a false modest grin. “I’ve been thinking of applying to be an astronaut. I might actually get to the moon some day.”

“Oh wow!” Alice shrieked, “Hey girls, c’mere. Guess what? Bill here’s gonna be an astronaut!”

“Cool!”

“Holy Cow!”

“Wow!”

A self-satisfied smirk played across Alice’s features as all the girls converged on Anderson just as she’d expected. The men were slower to respond and their expressions much darker than the delighted women.

“Jeeze, Anderson, are you shooting off on that spaceman pipe dream again?” one of the Air Force men sneered. “Why don’t you give it up already? Not like you’ll get selected out of thousands of applicants.”

“Aw, don’t be a killjoy George,” Peggy said with a mock slap at his chest.

“Well, Ah thank it’s a bold ambition, Lieutenant, Sir,” Wally said as he executed a smart salute.

“I think so too,” Marge said. “Good luck Lieutenant.”

After a few minutes filled with more gushing from the women and grudging silence by Anderson’s friends Alice ostentatiously looked at her watch and exclaimed, “Oh gosh! Look at the time. If we’re going to catch the last street car we better hurry. Coming girls?”

Everybody looked disappointed but they all acknowledged tomorrow was a workday and reluctantly began gathering up the remains of their picnic. Once they’d stowed everything that was salvageable in the empty ice chest and disposed of the trash the guys offered to walk them to their stop.

“Oh we wouldn’t want to impose on you fine gentlemen,” Alice protested.

“Alice!” Candy cast a reproving glance her way and said sweetly, “I think these nice boys are going our way and we should enjoy their company, don’t you agree?”

“That’s right, Red,” Bill was back in full blown cock of the walk mode. “It’ll be our pleasure to escort you lovely ladies to the trolly.”

“Why thank you, Lieutenant,” Alice said with a smarmy tone of gratitude. She cut her eyes to Candy who mouthed ‘loosen up’ to which Alice responded by sticking her tongue out.

Before they reached the trolly stop Marge broke off from the group saying it’d be easier for her to catch the bus and hurried off in a different direction before anyone could respond.

“Miss Margie, wait!” Wally called, then set off at a trot to catch up with her.

“You really don’t have to walk me home, Lieutenant,” Alice said. As each of her friends reached their transfer point the group grew smaller until it was just Alice and Anderson. They’d boarded a bus once they reached Alexandria and were now at the stop closest to Liz’s house. “It’s only a block and a half and it’s a very safe neighborhood.”

“Oh but I insist, Red.”

Alice sighed in resignation. The guy was persistent if nothing else. She hurried as fast as her heels allowed and was slightly peeved by how easily her companion managed to keep up.

Not only did he keep up but darted in front of her and walked backwards occasionally, yammering the entire way about the sights he could show her in DC, the wonders of the Air Force, and asking leading questions about her. When she ignored his sallies he seemed undeterred and launched a renewed attempt at winning her favor.

Finally they reached her doorstep and Anderson whistled softly. “Pretty nice digs for an orphan, Red.”

“It’s my cousin’s, she offered to put me up when I came to town.”

“Well I really enjoyed the evening, Red,” Bill said. He was crowding in on her and Alice suddenly realized he was intent on exacting payment for all his effort.

Thanking God for her pilot’s reflexes, she planted her left hand on his chest and pushed hard, gave his right hand a quick squeeze and whirled around to dash inside before he could react. As she pushed the door closed she called sweetly, “G’night Lieutenant.”

“Hey!” He yelled at the closing door. There was a moment of silence then his amused voice came muffled through the solid oak. “Let’s do this again real soon, Red.”

Alice rested her forehead against the door and listened to his laughter fade as he sauntered back down the walk.

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To be continued...