"Betty, come on!" I could hear Sophia shouting at the bottom of the stairs. I had been instructed to go and change into something decent other than my uniform as "it is your birthday and every guy in there needs to buy you a drink!" Standing in the full length mirror in nothing but my satin slip and stockings, I had no clue what to wear. I looked despairingly into my wardrobe. There was the skirt and blouse I would wear to attend church in, if you want people to make the connection between the pub and the church, then sure go ahead. Or there was the red dress I had shoved in the bottom of my bag, for this very reason. Pulling it out, I held it in front of me. It was modest and yet dressy for the period. It didn't show off half as much leg or chest as I was used to but then, I was in the 1940's. Slipping into it and fastening the buttons, I heard Sophia knocking at my bedroom door.
"Come in," turning to my friend, the look on her face told me that I had made the right decision.
"Oh Gawd Betty, that is the most beautiful dress I have ever seen!" Twirling round so she could see it in full, she told me to stay where I was.
"Don't you dare move Betty! I have exactly the right thing to go with that dress. Running from her room down the hallway, she skidded to a halt. In her hand was a red hair clasp. It was made of bone and had red and black crystals embedded into it.
"See, when I packed my bags before I left, I knew there was a reason I picked this up!" Curling my hair and fixing it with the clip, I turned back to the mirror.
"There done! See now if no guy in that bar buys you a drink….well hell I'm kiss Sink myself!" I burst out laughing.
"Sophia, I don't think you will need to go to that extreme, but thanks for the vote of confidence." Grabbing my bag, keys, lipstick and Bill's present, we headed out the front door. We had not seen Joe for the rest the afternoon, likewise any of the other company guys. Sophia had said that even though they all had 24 hours stand down some of them went for runs or out in the fields playing baseball.
"I saw some of Dog Company guys trying to play baseball with a cricket bat, it was hilarious to watch!" Jenny the ever quiet one of the three of us, laughed a little. She very rarely said anything. She preferred to sit and watch people than raise holy hell with the guys.
"I can't believe that you didn't say anything to us Betty! Why wouldn't you want to celebrate your birthday?" Jenny's question stunned me so much, I just stopped. Why hadn't I told them? What reason did I have for keeping today a secret?
"I don't know Jenny. I guess the fact that today is also Bill's birthday too, I just didn't want to remember it, seen how we aren't talking to each other anymore." Sophia, who had hit the roof when I had explained what had happened between us, scoffed at the mention of my oldest friend.
"That guy is an ass Betty, I'm sorry, I know you two grew up together an' all, but he hit you and well that makes any guy an ass in my book!" Sophia wasn't one for holding back her feelings for someone who had wronged her or her friends.
"Sophia, he's…" I didn't even get to finish what I was saying as Jenny cut me off.
"Sophia is right." I stared at Jenny. She normally just observed what was going on, never judged or expressed her opinion. She remained neutral. But this was a shock to the system.
"Betty, I'm real sorry for that. I do like Bill. He's a nice enough guy. He's always polite to me; never looks at me wrong an' what not. But he most definitely is not the gentleman he was before he hit you. So I'm sorry I agree with Sophia, he's an ass!" I could do nothing but stare.
"Betty, what are you staring at!" Jenny became uncomfortable, as Sophia started to laugh and I was still staring like a dumb mute.
"You…you said ass. You swore!" Sophia was now on the verge of tears of laughter and Jenny was turning a pale shade of pink.
"Well, I don't like what he did to you that's all." Fumbling with the cuffs on her jacket, I hugged her. The truth had finally hit home to me. Bill and I had grown so far apart; there was nothing to keep us connected. I had made the biggest mistake in thinking that the last two years apart had not happened and we were still the same kids that we had been back in '42. I had thought that he needed me, when really he didn't and I didn't need him. You have Joe now. Touching the star that hung underneath my dress, I walked on with my two girls.
Reaching the Blue Boar, something set off my spidey sense. Not that Spiderman had been written yet and wouldn't be for another twenty odd years. The usual crowd of lads, drinking outside were not there. It was too quiet for saying that the whole of 2nd Battalion had the day off. Reaching for Sophia's hand, I pulled her from the door.
"Sophia, I thought you said that every one was out tonight? It's dead…far too dead for three companies of men who have had the day off not to be out drinking! What is going on Sophie?" I was beginning to panic. I hadn't seen any of the guys all day, save Joe and Lewis and even then it was only briefly.
"Don't worry Betty. Everything is going to be okay." Sophia smiled at me and opened the door. Looking round, my mouth wide open in surprise, I couldn't form a single coherent word. It was strange to think that I could name every man in the room. Where he came from, what he did before he joined up and what his wife or sweetheart or both in some cases were called. I knew from looking round the faces, that there were some that weren't my biggest fans in here. Cobb looked slightly annoyed at the idea of being there and Sgt Evans was sipping a glass of orange. As a cake was placed on the table, the guys started a chorus of Happy Birthday, that I was sure could be heard in London. Once the shouting and whistles had stopped, I was then hoisted on to chair and hugged and kissed on the cheek (of course) by my closest of friends. With a glass thrust into my hand, the crowd demanded a speech. Standing up, I downed my drink, which then brought on another round of applause. Waving my arms, I called for silence. Looking round for a drink that closely resembled whiskey, I swiped Nixon's. Raising my glass, I appeased the crowd.
"I don't honestly know how you lot found out about this, however, I couldn't honestly say that I would want to be anywhere else or celebrate with anyone else. Drink, eat cake and try not to cause too much damage. Currahee!" Looking round for a stable hand to help me down, George Luz, who surprisingly wasn't attached to Sophia, and stood at eyelevel to my backside, offered me a hand.
"Getting a nice view hey George?" the poor guy looked slightly embarrassed, when the guys surrounding him noticed where he was.
"Hey Luz, you wanna keep your eyes in their sockets? I suggest you look some place else." Joe Toye, who was man handling his way through the crowd, scooped me up into the biggest hug. His aftershave went straight to my head and I could have sworn that my knees were about to buckle.
"Happy Birthday Elizabeth." Joe whispered into my ear. I almost choked on thin air as he kissed me on the cheek and handed me a glass. The next half an hour was taken up with "Happy Birthday" and hugs and kisses. It was only when I was able to sit down and have a cigarette did Bull Randleman come and find me.
"Happy Birthday Betty!" Bull was that big of a man, a one armed hug from him was sufficient. Taking a seat opposite me, he looked over my shoulder. Bull was a neutral guy, apart from his chewing from Col. Sink he was never normally in trouble.
"Betty, I don't wanna spoil the mood here. But there's someone over there that would like to say Happy Birthday and he's well…too dam chicken-shit to come and say it himself, in case you were still angry with him." I looked over my shoulder. Bill was leaning against the bar. He looked okay, tired from the week's activities but at the same time sad. Fighting with my inner self, I didn't know what to do. Okay, you have to be rational here. He's your best friend. He's been the one constant thing in your memories. Let's give him a chance to redeem himself. But wait a minute; the bloke slapped me…why on earth would I ever want to talk to him again. Besides the one constant thing I have going for me is Joe! I shook my head. Truthfully I had no idea what I wanted to do. Looking over again, Bill nodded at me and then headed for the door. Thanking Bull, I finished my drink and stood up. Realising that if I didn't sort this out, it could get worse and if anything was to happen to the pair of us, then all it would do is leave bad memories. Weaving my way through the crowd via the bar to collect his present, I headed out the front door. Unbeknownst to me, Joe had seen the exchange between Bill and I and he was furious. I found out later, that he would have been out there with me, but as he couldn't make a claim to me publically, then he had to remain inside.
Outside the air was relatively warm. The street lights were off as part of the British black out, but it made no difference. I could tell it was Bill; even by the way he smoked his cigarette and blew out the smoke. I didn't know what to say and the only reason we were outside in the first place, was because of our interfering mothers.
"My mom wants me to give you this. Happy Birthday Betty Mae." He handed me a parcel wrapped in brown paper. I had remembered to pick his up from the bar on the way out and I handed his over as well.
"Happy Birthday Bill." I didn't know what else to say. I certainly wasn't going to apologise for what had happened between us in the November. Standing not five feet from each other, neither of us could bring ourselves to say something. Bill was nervous because he was tapping his toes, as though he was tapping to the beat of the music.
"Why are you nervous Bill?" He just looked at me. He had not said a thing, but the fact that I could still read his body language said everything.
"Because I didn't think you would come out here…I just figured that…" I waved my hand. I didn't want him to start on a self pitying monologue that I knew would guilt trip me into forgiving him.
"Bill just stop! You hit me and its going to take me a long time to forgive you for that. You were the one person that I trusted, more than any other member of my family. You shattered that trust and now you have to rebuild it. I'm not just going to forgive you, as thought had busted my coffee mug." Turning on my heels I walked back inside, only to be greeted with the concerned look of my lover who had obviously been waiting for me to return. To make sure no suspicion arose, Joe asked if he could give me a birthday hug.
"Everything is okay Joe. We did as our Mom's asked, but it's not fixed." I whispered in his ear. Planting a kiss on his cheek, I walked to the bar, ordered another drink and asked for a little music. Deciding I wanted to dance, I started pushing the tables out the way. Cottoning onto what I was doing, Joe Toye took hold of my hand and twirled me round so fast I lost my footing and landed straight in his arms.
"Joe Toye, you would not be trying to flirt with me now, would you?" All he did was smile. There was really no defence against it. The dancing was infectious and it resulted in some rather funny couples taking to the dance floor. The most shocking couple would be when Bull Randleman asked a rather nervous and shy Jenny if she would like to dance. I had thought that Jenny would have politely declined, but when she took his hand all I could so was stand and stare. Us three girls, must have danced with the all the guys at some point, twirling around the floor and swapping partners every few songs. But it was only when Pvt. Lorraine, Col. Sink's driver entered the pub did the dancing stop.