Page 14 of All We Thought We Knew
Camp Forrest to Hire Civilians
I stopped chewing the bite of rubbery bacon I’d just taken.
Camp Forrest, located two miles from Tullahoma, needs civilian employees to fill vacancies in the post exchanges, laundry service, maintenance, and administrative offices. Those with experience will be given first preference but all are welcome to apply.
The article gave instructions on where applicants should go and what documentation to bring when they arrived on base. It also declared the salaries being offered were higher than those found at most local businesses.
I swallowed the meat and stared at the newspaper.
Richard hadn’t wanted me to work while I waited to move to Hawaii, but I’d held all kinds of jobs since I was fourteen. The years after Mom and Dad divorced filled my memory. Dad disappeared from our lives and Mom remarried a man with three kids younger than me. When her new husband moved the family to Chicago, I begged to remain in St. Louis with her sister until I finished school. Aunt Vy wasn’t thrilled but let me stay as long asI paid my own way. I washed dishes at cafés, scrubbed toilets at hotels, and sold tools at the hardware store. As soon as I graduated high school, I moved to Nashville and found work as a secretary.
I drummed the table with my fingers, my mind alert.
Maybe I could get a job on the military base. Not only would it provide extra income we desperately needed, but it would offer an escape from Gertrude and the farm each day—something my sanity desperately needed. But did I want to work at a large military installation? Most of the soldiers I saw in town were far too rowdy and flirtatious for my liking. Would that be an everyday annoyance I’d have to deal with?
Yet the promise of a good salary chipped at the icy fear encasing my heart.
If I saved enough money, I could give my widow’s benefits to Gertrude and leave Tullahoma. I wasn’t sure where I’d go, but I knew it would be as far away from Tennessee as I could get. Richard hadn’t wanted me to slave away on this farm when he was alive. Now with him gone, there was nothing keeping me here.
I glanced at the clock on the wall. The article said they were taking applications from 9a.m. to 3p.m. today. If I hurried, I could be one of the first to—
“What’s got you worked up?”
I found Gertrude eyeing me from across the table. How would she feel about my idea? With Daniel joining the Army, the full care of the horses and farm would fall on her until we could find someone to help. Although she was still able to work around the property, the job was more than one woman her age could handle.
I decided honesty was best. “There’s an article that says Camp Forrest is hiring civilians. I’m thinking about applying for a job.”
I hadn’t known what reaction to expect, but the look of sheer panic that filled her sun-wrinkled face was not it. “You’re going to leave me here all alone?”
The frantic words shocked me. In all the months I’d spentwith her, she’d never once given the impression she needed me. Or wanted me here, for that matter. She missed her husband and her son, but she’d made it clear I was a sorry substitute. This unexpected vulnerability, however, gave me pause and made me wonder if all her bluster and bravado was a facade, hiding a woman beneath who was just as frightened of the future as I was.
Had I completely misjudged her?
“I would only be gone during the day,” I said, hoping to alleviate her worry. “I wouldn’t live on base. They’re offering good salaries, and you know we need the money.”
A moment passed before her expression returned to the scowl I was used to seeing. “An unmarried woman shouldn’t work on a military base full of men. You know Richard wouldn’t have approved, and neither do I.”
I sighed. So much for misjudging her. “Lots of women work on military bases all over the country. While I’m in town, I’ll stop at the high school and ask the principal if he can recommend a boy to take Daniel’s place.”
My firm words didn’t sit well with her. We argued for the next ten minutes, but I wouldn’t give in. I left her fuming while I changed clothes and applied a bit of makeup for the first time in months. Grabbing the keys to my old Ford sedan, I returned to the kitchen.
Gertrude glared at me from her place at the table, but her eyes were red-rimmed, as though she’d been crying. “I know what you’re up to.”
Guilt washed over me. Had she guessed my need to get away from her, even for a few hours each day? I was on the verge of making a full confession when she blurted out her accusation.
“You’re looking for a new husband, but I won’t tolerate it. Do you hear me? I won’t allow you to bring men into this house, soiling my Richard’s memory.”
I stared at her. Had she lost her mind? “How can you eventhink I’d be ready to date, let alone marry again? It’s barely been a month since he died.”
“You only knew my son a week before you tricked him into marrying you. All you’d have to do is bat those lashes at another man and—”
“Stop this.” My body trembled with anger. “Richard proposed to me, and I accepted. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, but he’s gone. We are barely making ends meet. We need more income. I’m going to apply for a job.” I leveled a look at her meant to silence any more nonsense.“A job.”
I left the house without another word.
The Ford didn’t start on the first try. Or the second. I fiddled with the gas lever and the choke, then crossed my fingers and tried it again. Thankfully the engine roared to life, and I headed into town. I stopped at the high school and spoke with the principal, who said he knew a couple of boys who didn’t live far from us who might be willing to help with farm chores. After leaving my telephone number with his secretary, I made my way to the military base outside the city limits. Even though I’d been married to a Navy man, the sight of armed guards sent a chill racing through me—a reminder that our country was indeed at war.
The young man in an Army-green uniform didn’t smile when I rolled down my window.
