The girls stayed true to their word and when the Basterds popped into the local pub, The Red Lion, they were met by the sound of soft laughter and upbeat jazz music playing on the record player behind the bar.
"Aldo!"
Sybil shouted above the others and her voice echoed across the room, making all the regulars turn their heads to look at where such a raucous was coming from. She was leaning back in her seat in a casual yet studied poise and grinned flirtatiously at him with a cigarette in her hand. She had already stained the tip of it with her deep crimson lipstick.
The men swaggered over to the little group and Sybil immediately stood up and embraced Aldo with a hug and two kisses on the cheek. Her painted lips left two pink marks on either side of his stubbly skin. Lily's head flicked up at the sight of the soldiers at her table. She couldn't wait to talk to Wilhelm. Well, she hoped he would he would want to talk back to her anyway. She had always wanted a foreigner to come into town and tell exciting stories of their national customs and traditions.
"Guten Abend fraulein" Wilhelm greeted, trying to impress Lily and coax her into conversation later on in the evening in case she wanted to practise her German with him. Lily smiled shyly at him and let her head drop, embarrassed that he might notice her cheeks rouging. "Would you ladies like a drink?" he kindly offered the party.
"I'm alright thank you" was Lily's polite reply, indicating at her glass of sherry which had barely been touched. She wasn't much of a drinker really.
"Well, I never say no to a free drink" Sybil announced, her eyes lighting up brightly with the knowledge that she wouldn't have to spend her own money tonight, "Same again for us three. This is Jean and Evelyn by the way" she introduced. Wilhelm bowed his head in greeting to the two other ladies before disappearing over to the bar with the other men as they bought their drinks. The girls quietly chattered away until some of the men returned and joined them at their table.
But these two were quite unfamiliar to them. Both were dark haired and swarthy. One was tall and muscular, the other quite small and stout in comparison.
"Is this seat taken?" the taller of the two men asked Lily. She hesitated for a moment. She had wanted to reserve this seat for Wilhelm but she knew she couldn't be rude no matter what her preference. She wasn't like Sybil, who had cruelly told the smaller man to move over a seat so that Aldo could come and sit next to her. Lily forced a smile and patted the chair next to her as an invitation.
He accepted the invitation gratefully and plonked his glass on to the table next to her own, managing to spill a few drops in the process.
"Sorry, I didn't catch your name" she politely inquired and took in his face for the first time. And now that his face was lit up from the ethereal amber glow from the lamp that hung from the ceiling above them, she found that he was rather handsome. He had sparkling black eyes that were shaded by equally dark and rather bushy eye brows, and a quirky lopsided smile. Actually, it was less of a smile and more of a smirk. She also noted how dashing he looked in his suave leather jacket.
"Donny Donowitz. You're Lily right?" he introduced himself. He didn't need to ask after her name though, he had remembered it from before and was quite smitten by the pretty, young girl.
Lily instantly started to giggle at the mention of his name.
"What?" Donny asked with a raised eyebrow, a little bemused as to what was making her giggle.
"Donny Donowitz? Not very original is it. Kind of like being called Steve Stevenson"
"Suppose so"
Then there was a moment of silence. A rather awkward silence at that. Lily felt like an idiot for making such a lame comment about his name like she did, whilst Donny, for the first time in his life, had become tongue tied around a female. He didn't know how to talk to English girls. What kind of things did they like in comparison to American gals? Would his smooth moves and idle chit chat work on a girl like her? And with each minute growing more uncomfortable than the last, Lily decided to brave it and try to resume the conversation. She took a hearty sip of her sherry for Dutch courage.
"So what were you lot playing before anyway? When we first met you" she inquired, remembering the silhouettes of the men running about with balls and bats. She originally thought they might have been playing cricket but the bat was far too narrow to be a cricket bat. And she didn't see any stumps either. How can you play cricket without stumps?
"Baseball. You don't know what baseball is?" Donny asked a little shocked.
Lily shook her head in ignorance and Donny looked as if she'd insulted his mother. Back home he didn't know anyone who didn't even like baseball, never mind not knowing what it was. But then he remembered that the English liked cricket, rugby and soccer, or football as it was known here. They had never lived without the excitement of baseball. They had never lived!
"I'll teach you if you want, I'll make you into a right little Teddy Ballgame" he declared as he brought his glass to his lips and downed the amber liquid in one, wiping his mouth with his hand shamelessly. Lily furrowed her brow and the name simply went over her head.
"Teddy who?"
"Teddy 'Ballgame' Williams. He plays for the Red Sox. He's the best player in the world"
She was about to ask who the Red Sox were when they were interrupted by a thud on the table.
"Here are your drinks ladies" Wilhelm said bringing over three glasses to the table where he was warmly greeted and thanked. He was about to go back to the bar to claim his glass of whisky and then rejoin the merry group when he noticed that Lily already had company. It appeared that she and Donny were in deep conversation and she seemed quite taken by the young man, much to Willy's disappointment. He instead returned to the bar and decided to stay there, watching the couple from his seat and secretly hoping Donny would mess up so he could try once again to win Lily's interest.
"So why did you come over to Europe? Its not like you Yanks are really involved in this war, is it?" Jean, their voluptuous red headed friend asked Donny and Utivich, looking from one to the other until she got a response out of them.
"We've come to sort those fuckers out" Donny proudly announced, forgetting that he was in the presence of ladies and continued cursing with his foul mouth.
"The Nazis?" Jean inquired, not completely sure who they were talking about.
"Yeah the fucking Nazis! Making my people's lives a living hell. We're gonna teach them a fucking lesson!" Donny announced and he received a couple of whistles and whoops from his comrades.
"Your people?" Lily inquired, assuming he was talking about Americans. What on earth had the Nazis done to the Americans? She couldn't recall any threats or air strikes occurring in America from the newspaper. Perhaps she had missed something. Something big it appeared!
"Yeah. We're Jewish" Donny revealed.
"Oh" Lily and Evelyn chorused at the same time. But whilst Lily's exclamation was because of understanding her own stupidity, Evelyn's sounded a little shocked. Perhaps even…disgusted? Something that did not unnoticed by Donny.
"You got a problem with Jews?" he accused, glaring at her suspiciously. He was used to anti Semitism. He had a lifetime of experience of it back in America and he knew how to deal with ignorant fuckers like this. There was an awkward tension at the table now as a deathly silence fell over them all. Evie felt all of the eyes staring at her and started to fidget uncomfortably in her seat. She stuttered for a moment trying to think her way out of this awkward situation and after a bit of stammering she finally came out with,
"No its...it's just that...that there's.. not many Jewish girls around here" she finished rather lamely.
"And?" Utivich asked, thinking that was a pretty poor excuse.
"Well I thought you lot like to stick with your own" was her reply, her voice little better than a whisper now. She was beginning to wish she never brought the subject up now.
"What the fuck has that got to do with..." but before Donny could challenge this statement there was a unison of gasps at the bar and they all turned their heads towards where the commotion was coming from.
Apparently it was all kicking off!
Evelyn thanked God for the distraction. And from that moment on she vowed to herself that if her friends insisted on keeping company with these men for the rest of the night she was going to keep her mouth firmly shut. She didn't want to end up in another sticky situation like that again.
"I'm not serving no Kraut!" the barman shouted in his thick Lancashire accent.
Lily, seeing that trouble was brewing, decided to get up from her seat and do her best she could to cool the situation down. She thought she might be able to use the fact that she was friendly with the landlord's son in her favour. Aldo followed after her, knocking back the rest of his whisky in one smooth motion.
"George, what's going on?" Lily inquired in her sweetest, most polite manner. But before George could get a civil word out of his mouth, Aldo marched up to the bar and slammed his fist on to the counter.
"We got a problem here?" he demanded as though he were the publican and not the balding little man standing before him.
"They won't serve Hugo" Omar stated.
"His sort aren't welcome here" was the barman's fervour reply.
"You served Willy" Aldo observed, pointing at the Austrian who was resting his chin on his hand leaning against the bar top in a rather nonchalant manner.
"No, I bought them all together, Hugo went back for another" Hirschberg revealed.
"Come on George, don't be like that. He's on our side. Just think of the profits that can be made if you..." Lily tried steadfast to diffuse the increasingly tense situation with gentle persuasion and a sweet smile. But then Aldo butted in and cut her off mid sentence.
"Well listen here, this here is a good Kraut. He's fighting for our side. So I suggests that you serve him before you make us all REAL mad" Aldo said in his most polite but also most intimidating voice. He pointed his finger dangerously at the barman, who did not like this one bit.
"Get lost Yank!"
All hell broke loose.
The barman, not taking kindly to being pointed at so rudely, pushed the offending finger out of his way. Before he had time to react, there was a full on bar brawl in his pub.
The Yanks and Krauts were smashing glasses, jumping over tables and destroying furniture, just waiting for someone to get in their way so they could pick a fight with them. Lily dived back to the safety of her friends, who had ducked beneath the table amidst the flying objects being hurled about. Most of the customers followed suit but a brave few, the barman included, decided to take them on. There were black eyes, split lips and bruises before a shout of…
"Out! OUT! Not having any more of them God damn Yanks in here anymore! Bloody Krauts! You girls can go and all, I'll be having a word with your mothers" he ranted, sounded as though he were on the verge of a nervous breakdown. A vein began to visibly throb in his bald head and looked in danger of exploding.
"We haven't done anything" Lily protested as Donny, who had been pushed out of the door once already, had come back in ready for another fight. As soon as Aldo and Wilhelm saw that the girls had left their table looking rather disgruntled, they decided it would be best to follow them out and dragged Donny along with them.
"Save it for them Nazis, Donny" Aldo told his friend, patting him encouragingly on the back as he stirred him away from the pub by his shoulders.
The Basterds and the girls walked half way down the lane when they lost what little light there was that had previously lit up the street. The blackout was in full swing and the only light allowed out on the street were taped over torches. Every now and then there would be a window which wasn't taped up properly and let out little stream of light.
"Sorry we got you kicked out" Utivich apologised to the girls as sincerely as he could.
"Never mind, he's a miserable old sod anyway. Can't wait til his son takes over, now he knows how to have a laugh" Sybil complained. She couldn't stand the old folk around here. All nosey, miserable busy bodies. She never imagined that they could have been young once too. In fact she was sure they had been born grumpy old gits.
"Is there anywhere else we can go?" Donny inquired, not wanting the night to be over with so soon. He had barely gotten to know Lily at all. The gang were currently walking on the village green and Lily almost stumbled.
"Ow Lily, you just stood on my foot" Jean shrieked as she felt Lily's heel almost crush her little toe.
"Sorry I can't see where I'm going. Bloody blackout!"
"You can take my arm if you want" Donny offered.
"Thanks, just watch out for that..." but a deafening thud silenced her, "Signpost. Oh, you alright?" Lily cringed when she heard Donny walk straight into the wooden post, probably face first. She wasn't sure if she imagined the sound of a breaking nose or not. She linked her arm around his and thought it would be best if she guided him rather the other way around.
"I'm fine" he weakly replied and Lily couldn't help but give a little chuckle.
"We can go to the dance hall" Jean announced. It wasn't that far away and there would still be a good hour and a half left of it. But before anyone could respond they were all dazzled by an unmasked torch that was being held by a young lad who seemed to be lurking in the shadows.
"Got any gum, chum?" the boy asked the men, fully aware that they were American and probably had candy and gum. The few American soldiers that had come over to help out in the war were famous for their generosity of giving sweets and cigarettes to the locals and the young lad thought he'd try his luck. He was met with incredible hostility however, for the girls already knew him as Lily's little brother.
"Bugger off, Jack" Sybil shouted when the boy shone the torch in her eyes and blinded her with the light. "You're meant to have that covered as well. If the warden sees you he'll give you a right earful"
"Wasn't talking to you" Jack snapped and then looked rather innocently at the men with his big, blue eyes and he gave a hopeful smile. The Basterds were having none of it.
"You heard her, bugger off" Aldo repeated and made a gesture which told him exactly where to go. Jack muttered something under his breath and was about to run off when he suddenly remembered he had to pass on a message to his sister.
"Oi Lily, Mam wants to know what time you're coming back" he relayed.
"I don't know. Just tell her to leave the key out" she replied rather unsure as the rest of the group began walking on down the lane and dragging her along with them, "But you can go straight home, Jack. You hear?" she warned her little brother who merely imitated what she had told him like a parrot. Little git, she thought.
It was well past midnight by the time Lily arrived home, groping around the front door and checking under all the flower pots before her eye caught sight of the glistening silver key.
"Got you, you little bugger!" she mumbled in triumph as she slotted it into the lock. She opened it as quietly as she could, aware that the door had a tendency to squeak when she wanted to avoid detection. Well, she was in now, that was all that mattered, and she shut the door behind her as softly as she could.
All she had to do now was get up the stairs and she could deny she ever came back late. She knew that her mother would go off the wall if she ever knew what time she came back in. Especially if she knew where she had been, and more importantly who she had been with. But she was almost there now. She had removed her shoes and was tiptoeing up the stairs as quietly as a church mouse. She could see her bedroom door...
"Where the bloody hell have you been?" a voice shouted from the foot of the stairs.
She had failed miserably.
She turned back around to see her mother standing on the threshold of the living room, rollers in hair and dressed in a rather frumpy fuchsia nightgown. She did well not to laugh at what she saw. This was definitely a good way of keeping burglars out of the house. Not that they had much to steal in the first place.
"Dance hall" she innocently slurred. As the night had continued, the basterds kept plying the girls with plenty of drinks and Lily was worst for wear. She wasn't used to drinking such copious amounts. She barely drank in the first place.
"Til this time? And whats this I hear about you getting kicked out of the pub" she demanded, having received a rather angry visit from the landlord of the Red Lion.
"I got kicked out of the pub" she boldly smirked.
"Don't get cheeky with me madam, I'm not gonna put up with it. You're drunk aren't you? Well you can stay away from them Americans from now on" her mother warned, but Lily decided to carry on with her smart mouthed ways, caring little for the consequences.
"Fine, I'll stay with the Germans instead. Hugo and Willi are much more fun anyway" she grinned once again, happy at having gotten one over her mother so easily. She tried to run up the stairs before her mother could say another word but she heard her mouth open once again and rolled her eyes in despair.
"Oi, don't you..." she was about to chastise again.
"Oh shut up, Mam. I'm going to bed" Lily shouted, then ran into her room slamming the door shut behind her. She knew she would get a rollicking in the morning but she would deal with that then. All she wanted to do now was sleep and dream about dancing all night with Donny Donowitz.