CHAPTER SEVEN THE DATE
CHAPTER
SEVEN
The Date
Benny drove to Gloria’s house and rang the bell.
His insides churned. He liked Gloria, and after spending time with her for the past six months at Ed’s, it should have been the most natural thing in the world for him to ask her out.
He felt so comfortable with her and enjoyed her company so much that the last time he saw her, he asked her to go to the pictures with him before his brain caught up with his mouth to stop him.
Once he’d put the invitation out there, he couldn’t take it back.
‘You must be Benny,’ a nicely dressed woman said, opening the door wide for him. ‘Gloria will be down in a minute. Why don’t you come in while you wait?’
She phrased it like a question, and said it so sweetly, you could almost miss that it was a non-negotiable command.
‘So, I hear you’re Ed’s neighbor.’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ Benny said. ‘Next door.’ She sized him up from head to toe. He shuffled his feet, then stopped when he realized she’d noticed. ‘I’m the neighbor on the left. Well, facing the street, on the left, but facing the house, on the right.’ Shut up, Benny.
‘So, you fought in the war as well? I hear you’re all vets out that way.’
‘Yes, ma’am. Army.’ He slipped his hands into his pockets. ‘I enlisted right after Pearl Harbor.’ He checked behind him, hoping he’d heard Gloria coming. He hadn’t.
‘Why not navy? If it was Pearl Harbor that made you enlist.’
‘I … it’s …’ Because they wouldn’t take colored sailors, only stewards and cooks. ‘I just …’ he folded and unfolded his arms over his chest ‘… thought it might be a better fit.’
She smiled at his fluster. ‘Ed can’t swim. That’s why he joined the army instead of the navy.’
‘Neither can I,’ he said. He’d have to remember that answer for the next time.
‘There she is,’ Mrs Meyers said, looking past him over his shoulder.
He turned to find Gloria in a pale blue dress, her brown hair done up in a twist. She looked a picture. ‘Wow,’ he said, and both Gloria and her mother smiled.
‘Don’t have her home too late.’
‘No, ma’am.’ He held out his elbow for his date.
‘And take care how you drive. You’ve got precious cargo.’ She straightened Gloria’s necklace, a gold heart, to sit squarely between her collarbones.
‘Mother, stop,’ Gloria hissed.
‘I’ll take good care of her, Mrs Meyers.’
Gloria tugged at his arm, and he was more than happy to take the hint and go.
They parked around the block from the movie theater, both of them relaxing the further they got from Mrs Meyers. When they climbed out of the car and Benny took Gloria’s hand, she smiled up at him with so much trust and affection he wanted to kiss her right then and there.
He bought two tickets to a film called A Double Life with Ronald Colman and Shelley Winters. The title put him on edge, distracting him so much that when he took Gloria’s hand again, he headed for the colored section in the balcony.
‘Where are you going?’ Gloria said, as he led her toward the stairs.
Benny looked up and flushed. ‘I … don’t know,’ he stammered. His heart rate spiked. ‘I guess I’m nervous.’ He released her hand and wiped his, now flooding with sweat, on his trousers.
‘Look at you,’ she said, and he flushed harder. ‘I like that I make you nervous.’ She looped her arm in his. ‘Come on, soldier. Let’s sit up front.’
Benny nodded, lightheaded, and walked with his date to the whites-only section of the theater. He spent the first half of the film scolding himself for his stupidity. He couldn’t afford to make mistakes. In his mind, he heard Momma saying, You’re playing with fire and not even wearing gloves.
When Gloria shrieked at the murder scene and leaned into him, he put his arm around her shoulders, and she snuggled closer to him.
He could do this, he told himself. Piece of cake.
It turned out the movie had nothing to do with his kind of double life.
If anything, it confirmed how easily a person could change from one life to another.
They walked back to the car with his arm draped around Gloria’s shoulders. As they rounded the corner, she looked up at him.
‘I need a nickname.’
‘You do?’ He was getting used to not being able to keep up with the way she thought.
She nodded. ‘I think we’ve reached nickname stage.’
He laughed. ‘Okay.’ The idea pleased and terrified him. ‘Well, let’s see.’
‘Not Glory,’ she said, before he could suggest anything. ‘My family calls me that and I can’t stand it.’
‘Oh.’ He frowned. ‘Then, why do they call you that?’
‘Because they think it fits.’
He cocked his head at her. ‘But if you don’t like it …’
‘My family has a very specific image of who they think I am. To them, I’m a Glory. But not to me. You see?’
Benny got the feeling that the name he chose meant more to her than she let on. He didn’t want to get it wrong. ‘How about if you come up with something, and I’ll call you that?’
‘No chance,’ she said. ‘You’re not getting out of this. I want to see what you say.’
Benny blew out a long breath, thinking. ‘Okay, how about G?’
‘Just G?’
‘Yeah, unless … Do you have a middle name?’
‘Elizabeth.’
‘Well, that would make GE.’
‘Like the light bulb?’ She made a face.
‘It would fit, because you shine bright.’
She laughed. ‘Sweet.’
‘But I prefer just G. The way Zorro is Z. It’s mysterious but direct, like there’s always more to G but you have to bother looking.’
‘I could get a mask.’ She smirked.
‘And a cape.’
‘And a sword.’
‘Hold on,’ he said. ‘Maybe not a sword. Maybe this is a bad idea.’
‘No. I like it. G. And you have to be B.’
He chuckled. ‘I like Benny just fine.’
‘So do I.’ She bumped him with her hip. ‘But you still have to be B. We’re in this together.’
He tightened his arm around her. ‘You got it, G.’
Benny drove her home and walked her to the porch, and then stood there hesitating.
‘Better kiss me quick,’ she said. ‘My mother’s going to open this door in about ten seconds.’
He smiled and reached for her, leaning in for a kiss that was over too soon. They jumped apart when they heard the latch on the door.
‘You two have a nice time?’ Mrs Meyers asked.
‘Yes, ma’am,’ he said. ‘At least I did.’ He slid his eyes to Gloria.
‘I did too,’ Gloria said, tucking her head, suddenly shy in front of her mother.
‘Well, well,’ the woman said. ‘In that case, why don’t you come to dinner next Sunday, Benny?’
Gloria groaned. ‘Isn’t it a little soon for the Inquisition?’
Mrs Meyers waved Gloria’s words away. ‘I’m sure Mr Meyers would like to meet the man who has finally turned his daughter’s head.’
‘Mother!’ Gloria flushed red.
‘Let’s say seven sharp,’ Mrs Meyers said, as if it were up for discussion.
Gloria gave him a wide-eyed, apologetic stare.
‘It’d be my pleasure,’ Benny said, feeling the sweat return to his palms and wiping them on his thighs.
Gloria mouthed, Sorry, to him before she ducked inside.
‘Good night, G,’ he called after her.
Mrs Meyers raised her eyebrows at him, but Gloria flashed a smile so warm he felt himself melting.
‘See you soon, B.’