Louise pitched, Jenna looked—it was a ball. Louise pitched again, Jenna looked—ball two.
“Come on, Louie girl, find it now,” encouraged Liddy.
Louise pitched—Jenna swung. It was a hard drive down the third base line. Liddy scooped it up and zinged it to Bet who was covering second. The runner was out. Bet turned and over-threw to Joy Lynn at first. Jenna was safe.
The next batter approached the plate. Liddy looked at Jenna on first, then she checked out second base. With a stern stare she alerted Bet and Carla—she was counting on them to cover second.
Louise pitched—the batter swung and tipped it back.
Louise pitched—the batter looked—strike one.
Louise pitched—the batter swung and hit the ball flat and long through second base and into center field. Ruby fumbled then recovered. Jenna had rounded second and was headed for third. Liddy was stretched and ready. Jenna raced to beat the throw. Ruby threw and Jenna slid.
Jenna’s foot thudded against the bag and a split second after, the ball smacked into Liddy’s glove.
“She’s out!” called Bet.
“She’s safe,” Liddy said.
“Looked out to me,” said Joy Lynn.
“I said she’s there,” Liddy snapped.
“Good call, Hall,” said Jenna.
“It’s what it was.” Liddy walked away from the base and was getting ready for the next batter when Marina came running onto the field. She rambled uncontrollably to Liddy, and the baymates gathered round, then together they ran off field.
Rena Naston was on deck swinging a warm-up, and she called out as they passed, “Too much pressure, Hall?”
“Oh go piss yourself, Naston,” yelled Joy Lynn.
The women ran across the base and swept into their room. There they found Calli gathering up all of her belongings and packing them into her suitcase. She looked up with vein-riddled eyeballs and a red, swollen nose. When she saw her friends, she collapsed onto the bed.
Through Calli’s sobs she choked, “We were only together for a week before Stephen got shipped out. I can’t believe it.” Calli heaved so hard the bed jiggled.
“One pop’s all it takes. My granny calls it ‘Bunny Bounty’. Ya’ know, rabbits.” Joy Lynn wiggled her nose. Marina pinched the back of her arm. “Ow!” Joy Lynn rubbed her skin and shrugged. “Jeez, sorry.”
“I really wanted this. I wanted to fly. I wanted to serve.” Calli sobbed.
“Can’t you start up with another class?” Bet asked.
“Yeah, I could. I was told, ‘You can return as soon as you have eliminated your condition.’ Can you believe that? The doctor actually said those words, ‘eliminate your condition’. I wanted to say, ‘I’m pregnant you big, stupid man’. He treated me like I had a disease or something. I’m not coming back. I can’t bear the thought of leaving my baby with Mrs. Wilson Mayfield-Duncan.”
“Maybe it’s a girl and she’ll like cotton candy chiffon.” Liddy tried to lighten the mood.
“And if it’s a boy child, I do have an uncle who carries off pastel puffy better than any woman in Georgia,” continued Joy Lynn.
Giggles and tears mixed back and forth.
“What about your parents?” Louise asked.
“No,” Calli said emphatically. “That would be a disaster.” Her chest collapsed with another round of tears. “When I did have a baby, I wasn’t planning on doing it alone.”
Louise sat down on the bed next to Calli and clamped an arm around her shoulders. “You’re not alone, sweetie.”
Liddy sat on the other side of the mommy-to-be and the rest of the baymates huddled on the bed behind her. Liddy doubled over Louise’s arm. “You have before you five god-mothers with wing power.”
An impromptu baby shower was thrown for Calli that night. The mess crew made a cake and sweet tea, and the hall was crowded with trainees. Everyone was sad for Calli, but they were thrilled to be at a party that wasn’t bidding farewell to a washed-out classmate. Everyone brought gifts that were presented in some unconventional ways. Scarves and old flight maps were just some of the wrappings. Presents were the highlight and infused the gathering with lots of silliness and laughter, all in an attempt to brighten Calli up. The baby was showered with hair ribbons, a little metal airplane, a hand-made Fifinella doll, but mostly lots of jewelry. That was going to be one decked-out baby. Everyone signed Calli’s flight book, and they passed the hat so she could buy a real baby gift when she got home.
By Sunday night Calli’s bed was stripped clean. Bet, Joy Lynn and Marina were asleep. Liddy tried to sleep, but she was restless. She heard Gosport mewing outside, left her bed and slowly opened the screen door to the porch, which only prolonged the screech. Louise was sitting under the yellow porch light writing a letter again. Liddy slid down one of the overhang posts, and Gosport snuggled up next to her. Both sat and watched Louise who stopped writing and looked up at them. “Yes, can I help you?”
“So who’s the beau that you’re always writing to, a soldier boy maybe?” Liddy glinted.
“No beau.”
“Then who,” Liddy pushed.
Louise bit her lip as though she wanted to keep the answer from escaping from her mouth.
“Hey, you don’t have to tell me. I’m sorry. I was being nosey.” Liddy didn’t know anything about Louise, other than that she was a good pilot and came from Colorado. But then all Louise knew about her was that she was a good pilot and came from Missouri. Only among the gals they’d been rooming with, could they have gotten away with such privacy. Their chatty baymates were all so full of their own stories that there was never any void to be filled. But, people who don’t want to talk about themselves encourage that kind of narcissism, so you could hardly blame them.
“My kids,” said Louise and then gave Liddy time to hear what she’d said. “Surprised? Think I should be home, go home like Calli?”
“No, no I don’t.”
Louise reached into the cigar box beside her, pulled out a photo and handed it to Liddy. “Bonnie’s eight and Tommy’s six.”
“They look like great kids. They’re really beautiful, Louie.”
“They are and they are,” said Louise, and then she took the photo back from Liddy and gently touched the little faces with her finger, studying them while she spoke. “My parents are taking care of them. When the WASPs are militarized, my Army career will give us security. The Navy has the WAVES, the Army has the WACs. Why wouldn’t the Army Air Force militarize the WASP who are flying for them? We’re serving aren’t we?” She rubbed her wrist against her bent knees in agitation and then looked back at the photograph and her breathing slowed, her shoulders dropped and her voice got quiet, “But sometimes…” Louise rested her head back against the wall and took a deep breath. “I just miss them so much. I don’t know if I can do this.”
Louise loved to fly as much as Liddy did, a flyer could tell. And she was good at it. Liddy didn’t want to imagine training without her.
“When they were born…” Louise shook her head and puffed air up from her bottom lip to cool her eyes and keep in the tears. “… the love I felt for those little babies, it just devoured me. I was never so happy. They’re sad with me gone. I know my mom is trying to keep it from their drawings and letters, but I can tell. I’m making my babies sad, Liddy.” She shook her head and closed her eyes to push the tears back in.
“My first thought was to get a defense job, but there’s so much talk that the women will be shut out of those, sent back to their ironing and bridge clubs when the war is over, so that seemed a temporary solution. And I want to fly. I want my babies and I want to fly. Before the WASP, I hadn’t been up in a while. I just couldn’t afford it. Getting up every day and moving a plane around the sky, it feels so extravagant, and every day I feel so selfish and question my choices.”