Chapter Three

Equal Rights

Alice finally found her new colleagues smoking in the inner yard near the lavatories. They didn't notice her getting closer or else the group would have changed the topic of their conversation for the reason by courtesy alone.

Actually, it was not quite a group, just three men were present. Danny and Rafe were nowhere to be seen, they probably were still busy with their personal hygiene. Most certainly, Rafe had to shave his awful quickly growing beard, she thought mockingly and had to smile involuntarily. He had been so proud when he finally also grew visible beard stubbles, the other boys in his grade had to shave regularly by then already. But they both had inherited their mother's blonde hair and his beard had been very light, nearly invisible, when he was a teenage boy.

But here in the yard were the voices of Billy, Anthony and Red, easily to be recognized because of his occasional stuttering, obviously audible.

The main topic was – to her surprise – Allie herself. Now she was cautious not to be detected and slowly got closer to understand their conversation better.

"… I mean, this girl just shows up and wham-bam, she's a pilot. I have nothing against women, actually I really like women, but if that had been a guy, this wouldn't be of the table this quickly."

Billy cut in on his fervid reasoning to take a puff of his cigarette.

"And if you think about it, in the future, she won't be treated the same way as we are, Doolittle sure will give her a break, 'cause she's basically still a child, I don't think she's 21 yet…"

"But a real hottie!", Anthony added, who seemed merely amused by Billy's concern.

"I wanted to get to that too. She's not a bad catch, but none of us will ever be able to make a play for her. The nerve of it, to have such a chick plonked in front of us, and her big brother is always around… But what bothers me the most, this cheeky little Miss just shows up and everything is made so easy for her."

Cheeky little Miss, everything made easy for her. As if! She had been fighting, real hard. And she'd tell this arrogant prick, she already had a plan. Way less elaborate than her plan to borrow a plane without asking, but somehow it would sort itself out.

She no longer tried to hide and maundered unhasting closer.

"Hey ashtray kisser", she greeted Billy with a cynical grin and slapped him on the back 'amicably', when he ground his cigarette butt under his heel. "It has been brought to my attention that you don't like me."

Red turned ashen-pale, he apparently could read the expression in her eyes and got very nervous, stuttering his protestations of innocence. Anthony seemingly didn't have this insight into human nature.

"Pumpkin, don't be like that. He didn't mean it like that" he said with a smirk and reached out for her.

"Touch me and I'll break your hand." She was bristling with rage and her voice was not more than a low hissing. That was clear enough for Anthony to understand and he took a few involuntary steps back.

She turned back to Billy, who was suspiciously quiet now.

"So, you're worried, I'll be treated more gently than you? Cause I'm a woman? Nothing has been easy for me, ever. You have no idea how often I tried to enlist the normal, legal way. 'Sorry, Ma'am, that's not possible for women, but you can enlist as nurse or for administration.' I don't want to be a nurse; I want to fly. Fly and fight!"

He didn't seem to believe her, with her last words he drew up the corner of his mouth impalpable, but it didn't slip her attention.

"You don't believe me?! You wanna know, how many boys I've bandied blows with where I come from? The school nurse saw me nearly more often than her own children! But nobody ever forgot my left hook!" She had been talking louder and louder and nearly screamed now.

Billy looked at her with arched eyebrows, but his derision couldn't hide the respect for her, how she stood there.

"Don't be like that, moppet, nobody wants you any harm."

Without a warning she struck a blow, aimed and with brunt she hit the pit of his stomach. The man slumped down, but only for a moment. She had struck hard, but not with all her strength.

A little dazed, he pulled himself together, disbelieve and anger on his face. "You'll regret that" he grumbled and threw himself at the young woman to fight his heart out.

This was the point of no return, now she had to give proof of what she'd been claiming minutes ago.

Billy had dragged her to the grown and had put her in a headlock. But this was not her first rodeo and she rammed her elbow with force into his side and bit his wrist below her chin.

The man cried out and let go of her, but immediately grabbed her braid and pulled her hard back down. Now she had to cry out. Driven by her rage and pain she bobbed up and blindly swung at him. Again, he pulled her hair and she fell again, this time on her back.

He was above her immediately and pressed her down to the floor with his knee on her chest. She drew up her knees and kicked his shoulder and neck. Dizzy, he stumbled back and finally let go of her hair.

Both visibly stricken pulled themselves together again, this time Alice got up quicker and jumped at her opponent with an angry screech. Out of her mind, she slogged the man, who had no other option than to cover his face.

Just as she was about to throw her devasting left hook, somebody grabbed her from behind and dragged her away. Taken by surprise the surprise attacker was able to defeat her and she found herself on the loose gravel again. Before she had the chance to protest, this somebody had twisted her arms behind her back and detained her with an ironlike grasp.

"What the hell are you doing?!" the man yelled behind her back and she recognized her brother. Of course, who else. She never could escape his grasp, regardless how often she tried. But Rafe had never gotten into a fight with his sister, he was above such things. Other than Danny, who had to take a beating a few times, but she also lost these fights as often as him.

Bit by bit her anger subsided and her body lost the tension. Rafe noticed that and loosened his grip, helped her back up.

Now she could see that Danny had apparently wrestled down Billy and snapped at the remaining two men for not intervening.

"It happened so quickly, suddenly they were fighting" Anthony tried to explain. "And I've never seen a girl fighting a guy, how do you intervene that?"

Billy had also gotten up on his feet and Allie could eye up what she'd done to him. That would make a nice shiner, she noted pleased with herself. He saw the smug look on her face and spat blood red at her feet.

That was enough for anger to surge up within her again. "You want more?!" she screamed and was poised to jump at him again. Rafe had let go of her but kept his eyes glued to her. Immediately he pulled her back and this time Red and Anthony acted and retained Billy from reacting to this provocation. Danny had put himself between the rivals.

"Allie, get your shit together, or do you want to be kicked out immediately?" he adjured her quietly. Even though Rafe was his best friend, he knew his younger sister just as well and she'd always been like an open book to him. At least she always had made clear, where you stood with her. Other girls were way more complicated.

And this time he also could tell what he had to say to make her listen. That wasn't always easy with Rafe and her, but he was able to retain the siblings from getting into trouble one or two times. But this time, it had not been as easy as back in the days. Was it because he hadn't seen her for a while? Or had she changed more than first presumed?

"You're bleeding" he realized with surprise when he looked at her now completely. Blood trickled from her right eyebrow.

Carefully she felt her face hand had to learn he was right. In the literal heat of the moment, she hadn't noticed that and one by one other parts of her body also declared they were on the receiving end of the blows. That would make some ugly bruises on her hip and back and she didn't want to get started on her rips. That actually might be a contusion.

But Billy didn't seem to be better off. He glanced over with clenched teeth.

"What was this about?" Rafe tried to learn the reason for the fight and looked incisively at both, his sister and Billy. But none of them made a move to answer him.

"Well, Billy talked about your sister not very nicely and she s-s-somehow must have heard that" Red tried to explain, but Rafe stopped him with the wave of his hand. He didn't need to hear more. Allie had always been overzealous when it came to make her way, in whatever situation and in the face of whoever.

How often his father had chided him for his sister getting into trouble though he, her older brother, had been in charge to keep an eye on her. But George McCawley also knew what a tomboy his daughter was and that it was nearly impossible for his son to look after her. Still, he wanted to leave nothing undone.

"She fought for her equal rights, if I got it right" Danny gave Rafe a more accurate explanation when they were waiting for Allie to be patched up. He had talked to the younger McCawley for some time afterwards and had managed to get more details out of her.

"Billy must have spoken really lightly of her, I bet you'd beaten him for that too." Rafe just shrug his shoulders testily. He didn't care why Alice had gotten into that fight, it only mattered that she did, and plenty of it.

The nurse in charge was stitching up the cut on Allies eyebrow, when a soldier entered and told Billy, who also got patched up, and her to show up at Doolittle's office immediately after this.

Even though she didn't want to admit, now she was sorry for getting Billy into the mess he and her were in now. He surely has had good prospects and a big career as pilot, and she could have spoiled it for him with this matter. Her own career was basically inexistent and therefore indestructible. She still could start over new, maybe as nurse after all? She had some experience at hand, at least as patient.

She glanced over to the man and their eyes met. Allie couldn't see any signs of hate or anger in his expression. That she had expected, but not the sorrow.

Shortly after that they both stood bandaged and patched with band-aid in front of the door to the Major's office.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that about you, I don't even know you" Billy began to speak. Allie just nodded before she regained control over her voice.

"No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have thrown the first punch" she apologized too.

"I promise, I'll never again speak lightly of women in the military. Peace?" He offered his hand. Without hesitation she took his hand and they shook hands on that.

"And I promise to never again hit your ass up without warning" she added. They grinned at each other broadly.

Just then the door flew open and the Major himself stood in the doorframe. He seemed to be extremely unhappy and waved them nearer. As soon as the door was closed he began to give them a well-deserved but loud lecture.

"What on earth has gotten into you? Not a whole day here and you're causing trouble. Don't try to exculpate yourself, Private Second Class McCawley. And I also don't care about your version of the story, Lieutenant Thompson. I never ever again want to her a word about my protégés attacking each other!"

The culprits both nodded in silence and kept their eyes persistently to the floor. The Major continued to scold them, how this behavior was not respectable for the US Air Force and what punishments he thought were appropriate.

"But if you both promise you'll never again get into a fight on my base, then a rebuke will do this time." Both of them nodded again, eagerly. "So, feel rebuked and now you better scram."

"Yes, Sir", Billy saluted, before he took to his heels and Allie, too, expressed her consent by "Yes, Sir" while she bobbed a curtsy again and really scrammed. It was possible, that she erred, but she thought to hear Doolittle laughing.

"Wait, who did win?" Billy asked, when they had reached the pilots dorm room, Allies room was right next to it. They even shared the laundry room.

"I'd say, I won, but I bet you think, you've won so… draw?" she suggested.

He smiled broadly. "I think you're really OK, Allie McCawley."