A ROMANTIC INTERLUDE
When I was nineteen I took a fast train from
Pittsburgh to Baltimore to visit my father. This fast train made very few stops and
included a diner car where I planned to eat lunch.
Wearing my favorite outfit,
a grey wool flannel suit, with a Chanel type jacket in gray and gold, over it I
wore a long gold corduroy rain coat with a tie belt. My high heels were gray
flannel with black leather trim. My purse matched and I wore a matching gold
cap. I was carrying my square green Samsonite cosmetic case. You know, the one
with a mirror glued on the inside of the lid.
I boarded the train and
passed through the reserved car to the second car where I would sit. On my way
through there were seated four or five Army Officers so I averted my eyes as I
passed through like a nice girl would.
I had packed a book to read,
but really wanted to see the scenery as we passed through places I had never
been and eat in the dining car like in the movies.
I had no sooner settled when
a Lieutenant came into the car and asked to sit with me. So I said OK. He
questioned me, did I have a boyfriend? Yes, I said and was probably getting
engaged at Christmas. He said he had a girlfriend in Pittsburgh, where he was
from.
He told me he was a pilot
and that I had probably noticed that he wasn’t wearing his wings. I hadn’t
noticed. He then said that he and his friends were on the train because they
were given special leave to attend the funeral of another pilot who had died in
a plane crash and he had thrown his wings into his buddy’s grave. What a sad
story.
He talked to me on and on, I
really hoped he’d go away. The train trip was to be six hours or more long. The
conductor announced the dining car was open. I said I wasn’t hungry hoping he
would leave to eat, so I could go later. He stayed.
There went my opportunity to
eat in a dining car. I didn’t get to look out the window or read my book. I
really needed to go to the bathroom but was too shy to say so, so I sat there
in misery.
He asked for my phone number,
in case his romance or mine floundered, which I gave him.
When I got off the train in
Baltimore, my Father was waiting on the platform. The officer got off to say
goodbye. I introduced him to my Father,
they shook hands, I shook his hand and said goodbye. His friends were all
watching out the window.
I told my Dad I didn’t know
what that was all about and that I really needed to go to the bathroom. My Dad
said I’ll tell you what that was about. He had made a bet with his friends that
he would get to kiss you. He lost the bet.
The next day I woke up with
a severe case of the hives. The only time I ever had them.
He also never called.
