Page 52 of The Women of Oak Ridge
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:MAE
THE NEWSPAPER NOTICEI’d placed in theOak Ridge Journallast week hadn’t yielded any information on Sissy’s whereabouts so far. It had, however, stirred up a hornet’s nest of gossip about my roommate, led by Prudence Thorpe. The meddlesome young woman had waylaid me in the hallway on the way to the bathroom the morning after the article appeared.
“Maebelle Willett, you told me Sissy went home.” She’d planted her fists on her hips, shrouded in a fuzzy blue bathrobe that matched her eyes. Her glare had held me hostage. “Why would you feed me a tall tale like that if you knew it wasn’t true?”
I’d groaned inwardly. In my concern to locate Sissy, I’d forgotten all about the false story I’d given Prudence.
I’d offered a helpless shrug. “I’m sorry, Prudence. I just didn’t want anyone spreading rumors about Sissy and Clive. I spoke with him, and he assures me they didn’t spend the night together. In fact, he says they broke up, and it was he who suggested she’d gone home.”
Prudence’s scowl had eased some with my explanation. “Well, I suppose that’s a possibility. But I must tell you, people are indeed talkin’ about Sissy and how she up and disappeared.” She’d glanced up and down the hallway before whispering, “One gal claims she saw Sissy with a fella at the tennis courts late that night, drinkin’ tainted moonshine. There’s no telling what could’a happened to poor Sissy if that’s true.”
It had taken every ounce of restraint I possessed to keep from grabbing Prudence and giving her a good shake. “That is exactly why I didn’t want to tell anyone about Sissy until I had more information. Whoever thinks they saw her is wrong. Besides, how could they know the moonshine was tainted?”
Prudence’s face revealed she hadn’t thought of that. “You needn’t get huffy about it, Mae. We’re all quite worried about Sissy.”
I was too, but it had nothing to do with gossip and tainted moonshine. Ever since I read Sissy’s last diary entry about Clive possibly being a spy, her words had kept me up at night.
I’m scared, Diary. So very, very frightened.
I’d gone over every line in the journal multiple times, searching for clues. She’d written about the top secret papers she’d discovered in his trailer and his anger that followed, but I already knew about that. She’d told me about the incident herself, although she hadn’t used the wordspyor expressed her suspicions about him.
Was it true?
I’d asked myself that question at least a hundred times. I’d only seen Clive once since the day he told me about his breakup with Sissy. He’d been with his superiors and barely acknowledged me as I rode past. I thought he might seek me out later, anxious to know if I had any news, but he didn’t, which seemed odd, considering he’d appeared quite concerned upon learning Sissy hadn’t returned to the dormitory. I kept my eye out for him in the days afterwards, but we hadn’t crossed paths again.
I had a hard time focusing on my job after Sissy left Oak Ridge. Even on my days off, my mind constantly worked the problem, never coming up with a credible solution as to her whereabouts or whose story to believe. It was nearly impossible to imagine dull Clive Morrison as a spy. Didn’t spies come from other countries, like Germany or maybe Japan? Clive was as American as apple pie. He was in the United States military, same as Garlyn, and claimed his people arrived on the Mayflower. The documents Sissy saw in his possession did give me concern, but without knowing exactly what they were, I couldn’t be certain how important they were. Clive’s job as a health physics officer might be such that he took paperwork home. It was more likely he was nervous after Sissy looked through them rather than being angry that she’d simply seen them in his house. Secrecy, after all, was drilled into us every single day.
But according to one of the last entries in the diary, Sissy had been shaken up by the incident. Enough so to cast a shadow on her future relationship with Clive.
Clive treats me like a child sometimes,she’d written the week before she disappeared.I may not be as smart as he is, but I’m a full-grown woman. I’m starting to learn things about him that make me unsure if I should keep seeing him or break things off.
Had Clive sensed her change of affections and called it quits first? That’s what he claimed. But if Sissy truly had second thoughts about him, wouldn’t she have been relieved when he ended their relationship? It didn’t seem likely she’d be so heartbroken that she’d leave Oak Ridge without taking her personal belongings or telling anyone goodbye. Each time I contemplated writing to her family, something held me back. What if she wasn’t in Georgia? My letter could make matters worse. Yet if she hadn’t gone home, where was she?
I groaned.
“Oh, Sissy,” I whispered, although no one in the noisy plant could hear me over the constant hum of machinery. “I wish you had confided in me right then and there instead of telling your diary. I sure as shootin’ would’ve given you a mouthful of advice.”
I continued to hope she would write to me. I checked the mail daily, looking for a letter from Georgia that assured me all was well. I’d already decided I wouldn’t scold her when I sent a reply. As long as she was with her family, where she was loved by people who would help heal the hurt Clive caused, that’s all that mattered.
But a letter from Sissy had yet to arrive.
I hopped off my bike and walked it through a doorway that led to the outdoor courtyard, the U-shaped area of K-25, where the maintenance building was located. All the while my mind played over the details of the past weeks. Maybe I should—
“Willett.”
I jumped at the sound of Mr. Colby’s voice behind me. Earlier, he’d asked me to take a thick packet of confidential documents to the incinerator. I’d had to wait for the attendant to return from his lunch break before I could complete the task, so I was delayed in my own return to the office.
“Yes, sir?”
He scrutinized me a long moment. “You haven’t been yourself lately. Anything I should know?”
My stomach flipped.
I couldn’t lose my job, no matter how worried I was about Sissy. Mama had confided in her last letter that Pa was sick again and hadn’t been able to go down into the mines. She thanked me for the money I sent, telling me she didn’t know what they’d do without it.
“No, sir. I just have some things on my mind. I’ll do better, I promise.”
His features softened. “I’m not firing you, Willett, but if there’ssomething going on that you want to talk about, I’m all ears. It’s not easy working in a place like Oak Ridge, with all the secrecy and whatnot. It can get to some people.” He paused. “You know there’s a doctor at the clinic in town, as well as dorm counselors, you can talk to about things. I’ve never met Dr. Clarke, but I’m told he’s a fine psychiatrist. Nothing but the best for Oak Ridge.”
