Despite the fact that we were technically out of the military and that our service was done, we were still required to wear our dress uniforms on the train ride home. I probably hadn't worn this since Australia, maybe before that. But I knew that when I got off this train to see my family, it'd be the first time they had seen me since going off to boot camp. For that reason, I curled my short hair as much as I could and put on makeup for the first time since leaving home. My dress uniform failed to give me any pants, so I was stuck with the skirt. By the time I was done, I looked like a very different person .
The trains started leaving at nine o'clock the morning after we arrived in San Francisco. Here was where King Company started to get separated. Smitty, Burke, and Gavanoff left first, taking a train that would take them to their homes in the north. My train would take me all through the south, along with Sheridan from Arizona, Burgin from Texas, Snafu from Louisiana, and Sledge from Alabama.
I showed up around the same time as everyone else, and the reaction to me wearing a skirt and makeup was dramatic. "Queen, you're a whole new person now!" Smitty exclaimed.
Gavanoff grasped at the spot over his heart as if he was having a heart attack. "Warn a guy next time, Queen!"
I shook my head at both of them. "Y'all are being silly. There can't be that much of a difference."
"You're wearing heels." Burke pointed out dryly, as if that changed everything.
I said goodbye to them, knowing it was probably going to be the last time I would ever see them. I finally found my group of friends standing beside the train, all of them looking sharp in their dress uniforms. "Y'all look nice." I said the moment I was in their hearing range.
Sledge looked at me first and had the decency to turn faintly pink. "You look lovely, Nora." He said cheerfully.
Burgin let out a long whistle and made a spinning motion with his finger. I shrugged and moved in a circle on my heel and when I got back around to face them, Burgin clapped a handful of times. "Lookin' sharp, Queenie."
Snafu didn't say anything. His blue eyes had widened slightly and he just stared as Burgin and Sledge said their compliments. Sledge and Burgin started to get on the train and Snafu got right behind me and he bent down into my ear. "I could get used to seein' you like this, Nora."
"This happens once in a blue moon." I replied, getting onto the train with Snafu on my heels.
"Looks good." Snafu said matter of factly.
I shot him a look but found myself smiling. "Thank you, Snafu."
He smirked at me. "Anytime."
Sledge led the way through the train cars until he found a spot with enough room for the four of us to sit together. We sat down fast as the train car started to get full. Sheridan gave us a deep nod before continuing on to find a spot to sit. When he left the train car all together, I got the feeling that I wouldn't see Sheridan again, not for a very long time.
Burgin let out a heavy sigh. "This is it."
"Wait for it." Snafu said, holding up a finger. We stared in confusion until the train started moving. That's when he lowered his finger and nodded at Burgin. "Now. This is it."
Burgin shook his head at him. The train took us out of San Francisco and we started the long journey through the south. The train would take us down towards Los Angeles, then east towards Phoenix, Arizona. And then all the way through the south until my stop in Pensacola, where I'd have to find a cab or something that would be willing to drive me the hour and forty five towards Cottondale.
It took two days on the train to get Dallas, Texas. That was when Burgin started shaking his leg and staring out at the Texas landscape. "God, I've missed the desert." He said and, with a glance at me and Snafu. "I assume you two miss the swamps you both crawled out of?"
Snafu let out a loud laugh. "I'm gone crawl back into that bayou the second I can."
Burgin then turned to look at Sledge. "What do they even have in Mobile?"
Sledge smiled. "Woods and plantations. And beaches. The bay will be crowded with beach goers all summer."
"Tanning girls and swimsuits." Snafu said, closing his eyes for a moment before giving me a very pointed look. I rolled my eyes at him and all three men snickered.
We finally started to slow down somewhere between Dallas and Houston, and Burgin nearly smashed his face against the glass. When Sledge spotted the blue pickup truck in the distance, Burgin grinned so wide that his entire face lit up.
The train came to a stop and Burgin stood up, staring out of the window to where a blue pickup truck was sitting. A boy who looked to be maybe thirteen or fourteen years old was sitting in the bed of the truck, staring at the train with anxious eyes. An older man who looked remarkably like Burgin was standing beside the truck, looking nervous as well.
Burgin stood up, fastening the buttons of his service jacket. He put his cover on and hurried to get his bag down from the upper compartment. He almost started to walk off before remembering the three of us still sitting and watching him get ready to leave.
"Thank y'all." Burgin said. "Y'all helped me forget where I was when things got real bad. I'm gonna be thankful to y'all for the rest of my life because of that."
"Invite us to the wedding, Romus." Sledge said, shaking Burgin's hand. Snafu did the same but I stood up and hugged Burgin as tightly as I could.
"Thank you," I muttered. Burgin hugged me back, and for a moment I felt like he was actively trying to crack my ribs. When Burgin let me go, he picked up his bag and started for the train's exit, giving us one last look before turning off the corner and getting off the train.
I sat back down beside Snafu and all three of us pushed ourselves against the window. The moment Burgin got off the train, his younger brother let out a shout of glee. Burgin approached his father and they embraced. We had enough time to see Burgin reunite with his younger brother before the train started moving again. We all leaned back in our seats, Burgin fading from view.
We stopped once more on the Texas-Louisiana border. Snafu was supposed to leave at the Baton Rouge train station, so we still had maybe another few hours with him. The train stopped at the Austin station a half hour after we dropped Burgin off and we had to stay there for close to an hour. Snafu and I went through half a pack of cigarettes while Sledge chewed on his pipe, his leg bouncing. He was eager to get home; we all were.
The train took two hours to get to Houston, where we stopped for another hour. When the train started again, I reached down and squeezed Snafu's knee; Houston was the last stop before Baton Rouge.
Sledge and Snafu talked about job opportunities. They talked about music they both liked and the things they both wanted to do. As it got darker outside, Sledge eventually drifted off to sleep. At that point, Snafu wrapped his arm around my shoulder and made me lean into him. I rested my head on his shoulder and grabbed the hand that was resting on my shoulder.
"Think we got another hour 'fore my stop." Snafu muttered, taking a drag from his cigarette. He sounded tired and I looked up at him.
"Do try to stay awake, okay?" I asked. "I really want some time left with you before you go."
He smirked and kissed the top of my head. "If that's what ya want, Nora." He paused and I narrowed my eyes as I heard him take a deep whiff. "Your hair smells different than normal."
"Than normal?" I asked, exasperatedly. I let out a huff of laughter and he chuckled. "What other times have you smelled my hair?"
Snafu rolled his eyes to the roof. "We've literally slept together. And we've shared foxholes."
"Well, it that case," I said with a shrug. "It smells different because it's finally clean."
Snafu chuckled again. "Good shit." The he paused. "Wait. We're not on the frontlines anymore. I can't curse in front of you. You're a proper lady, remember?"
He was smirking, so I saw the joke right away. "Proper lady, my ass." I hissed under my breath and Snafu let out a bark of laughter. Sledge stirred in his sleep but didn't wake up. "If you stop cursing in front of me, you're going to stop being you. Merriell." I put extra emphasis on his real name.
He pinched my shoulder gently and I elbowed him in the belly. Snafu straightened and turned to face me, dislodging me from leaning against him. "Right. We gotta do this right." He stuck his hand out and I hesitantly shook it. "My name is Merriell Shelton."
I chuckled softly and cleared my throat. "My name's Eleanor Swartz."
"I'm gonna call you Nora."
"I'm going to call you Merry." I countered.
"Oh God, please don't." Snafu said with a laugh. "Merriell is fine."
"Not even Ell?" I asked through a fit of laughter. A man sitting a little farther down the train car glanced up at us over his newspaper.
"If you gotta call me that fine. Just not fucking Merry. God."
"I don't know why, but I'm gonna call you Snafu for now."
Snafu smiled toothily at me and after a moment's pause, he leaned forward and kissed me. When we separated, his thumb traced my jawline for a moment. "Can we make a deal?"
I frowned slightly at him. "That depends on entirely what kind of deal you're talking about."
"I say you come see me in Breaux Bridge for all of June." Snafu said, sounding like he had given this a lot of thought. "That way we got a whole month to get everything in order before we gotta see each other. Jobs and the like. And then we gotta another month of being home, and then I'll come to you for all of August. And we flip back and forth."
"You've given this some thought." I pointed out.
"I have." Snafu confirmed. "Been thinkin' 'bout it since China."
I nodded, thinking at the proposed plan. "I think that could work. The only thing would be getting time off from jobs." I frowned and looked at him. "You think I could get a job after this?"
"Can't imagine you not gettin' one, Nora." Snafu said with a shrug. "And we'll figure something out. You and I, we've got to stick together, Nora." He didn't give an explanation as to why we had to stick together, but I agreed with him completely. I liked who I was whenever Snafu was around. I didn't want that to change.
Next thing I knew, the train was pulling into Baton Rouge train station. I had shaken Sledge up the moment the train started to slow down, and my friend sleepily looked around, his eyes heavy with sleep. But he was awake when he said goodbye to Snafu. Before he left, Snafu shook Sledge's hand extra tightly and kissed me deeply. When he got off the train, I felt a pain in my chest as though my heart was hurting. Sledge and I got back in our seats and watched him through the window as he looked around the platform for a moment before turning back up at me and Sledge.
Snafu looked between the two of us and waved, a smirk like smile on his face. I waved back, feeling my heartbeat in my throat. Snafu glanced around at the busy platform before giving one last wave to the window and walking down the platform. I watched him got until I couldn't see him anymore.
"Thanks for wakin' me up, Nora." Sledge said quietly. He leaned back and closed his eyes again, clearly about to fall asleep again. I smiled at him and waited until he was asleep to wipe my eyes. The train started up again soon after, and we were barreling towards Mobile, Alabama where Sledge would leave next.
We arrived in Mobile early the next morning, following stops in Gulfport and Biloxi, Mississippi. The sky was a bright blue when it stopped in Mobile. Sledge hugged me hard, kissing the top of my head.
"I'll be writing you," Sledge promised. "Next stop is yours, yeah?"
"Yes." I replied. I squeezed Sledge's arms and stepped aside so that he could get off the train. "See you around, Eugene."
Sledge chuckled slightly at the sound of his real name and he left the train. I watched from the window as he was almost immediately brought into a hug by someone I vaguely recognized from Pavuvu. I smiled at the sight and soon the train was pulling out of the station. I leaned back in my seat and looked around. The train car was nearly empty. I was alone for the first time in a very long time. And I immediately started missing my friends.
