At last, Dart has something to be happy about! In fact, he has two things: there’s no school tomorrow and Dot called him tonight. I suspect she got a little concerned when her mailbox started filling up with despair and worry.
His letter tonight reveals that she was worried when she called and discovered he wasn’t home. I think there was a long delay between her call and the time he called her back. He explains why.
There had been a big bull session after class tonight. Most of the males in Miss Talmage’s class (Note correct spelling of her name) and one female stood around complaining about the “old-maid” perspective of the readings the professor presented in class. Eventually the group migrated up Euclid Ave. all the while discussing their war experiences, where they were on V-E and V-J days, and what war stories they could use as writing projects. When everyone else decided to stop by a bar for beer, Dart hopped a trolley and came home to discover Dot had called.
I think she must have confessed that she’d been concerned over his moods in those letters. “Yes, Dot, I was disgruntled about the way things turned out. I guess I was counting too much on my dreams. That doesn’t work in a world that walks and talks and requires payment for everything.”
Tonight with the gang from class, they got to talking about super-natural things and everyone thought Dart was crazy when he said he was beginning to believe in such things. He told them of her reaction in Connecticut when his ship was hit on the other side of the world. Then he related the story of her calling him in her dream and him waking up when her heard her calling him in his. He was tickled to think about how the group would react if he told them that at the very time they were discussing such things, she was trying to call him!
It seems as though his joy and awe about the phone call underscores what a rare and wonderful occasion a long-distance call was in 1946. You must agree, they have shown amazing restraint in not calling each other very often.
“I wish you were here to take an after-class walk with me and to leave the bunch with me when they go to a bar. Most of the people in the class seem nice, even if they do tipple.” (Dart sounds a teensy bit “old-maidish” himself when he uses words like “tipple.”
He seems to like this class and the lively discussions it fosters. He thinks the women are mostly in their late twenties, except of three who are “quite old – more than 50!” Every one of the men in his class are veterans. So far, he’s getting straight Bs on his assignments.
The weather lately has been exceptionally clear and balmy, with jackets required in the mornings, but become burdensome in the afternoon. The city’s youth have been enjoying it as they parade through neighborhoods on the nights of their football games. Tonight, though, turned cold and rainy, spoiling their Halloween fun. Still, he saw kids putting dummies in the street as it grew dart, and he witnessed a group yanking a trolley off the wire.
Recently, Dart helped a streetcar motorman adjust the mirrors on his streetcar. For his help, Dart got a lesson in how to operate the car. While he didn’t actually drive it, he learned a lot about all the workings of this magnificent new machine. He reports that the motormen love driving these smooth, quiet cars as much as the passengers like riding in them. Everyone is eager for the cars to replace the old clunkers that still rattle around on all the other lines in the city.
His next paragraph captured a scene from the days of an old industrial town. He describes how the block of dark brick building across the street from his apartment had just been cleaned. He was shocked to learn that the bricks were a light buff color! I think we’ve mostly forgotten how grim and grimy a city could get before clean energy and air quality controls!
Next time his hair gets long, he’d like to borrow one of Dot’s skirts, shave his legs, and apply for a job with the telephone company. He’s very impressed by her recent pay check of $36 for the week.
He’s in complete empathy with her teary reaction to beautiful music, because he’s often moved in the same way. “Oh Dottie, I’m so glad we like the same things that way. They can make or break tender moments, and I think they’ll tend to make ours. A lot of the emotion I feel when I hear good music is sheer ecstasy inspired by the music but some particularly lovely passages are you and I’m deeply moved by them.”
Writing the word “ecstasy” brought to Dart’s mind images of two moments he and Dot have shared. “One was the walk we took to the Burkes and back, through the dark streets. “That was one of the most thrilling nights I’ve ever had, and I love you so much for it. I’m glad for the things we did that night. It has been the most perfect way for us to express our love and trust for each other ; and the next time we feel that way, I hope and pray that we won’t have to stop.”
“The other moment of ecstasy was another of our walks – this one through the park. There couldn’t have been two happier people than we, as we walked that night. Remember in the golden light of the evening how we walked with our arms locked around each other, and we were so happy that all we could do was kiss, and walk, and say how happy we were?”
“Good night, my Darling. Thank you for being so sweet, and for calling me when you got my letter, and for worrying about me when I wasn’t home. Thank you for all the things you are to me, Dot.”
# # #
Dot does not share Dart’s upbeat mood tonight, She has a confession to make to her fiance and she seems uncomfortable about it. She says she’s writing it to make him feel better, not worse, so she asks that he read it if he chooses, and then forget it.
She skipped shorthand tonight because she has a cold and wanted to get to bed early. While she was walking home from work she ran into Sonny Martin, a boy from her old group of pals who called themselves the Alley Cats, way back in junior high or early high school. He said he felt like talking about old times and asked if he could come and sit on the Chamberlain porch for a while. Her mother joined them on the porch and they all chatted for a short time and her mother left. Dot wishes she hadn’t.
The conversation turned to all the kids they had once known who had married very young. As they talked, Sonny took her hand. At that point, she said, “Yes, and I’m going to join their ranks soon.” As she drew her hand away, Sonny asked who “he” was. She began to tell him about Dart. Then Sonny said, “Aw, it doesn’t hurt to cheat a little, Wait ’til you’re married before you settle down. He’s probably cheating on you anyway.”
She told him he’s not the first person to have told her that, but she’s not buying it. She told him that she knew Dart wasn’t cheating, but if he were, that would be his own business, but it wouldn’t make her want to do it.
Sonny wouldn’t take no for an answer and began to unbutton Dot’s coat. She pushed him away and stood up from the swing. “Apparently, you’re like so many boys. Why can’t we just sit here and talk as friends?” He muttered something about all boys liking to neck, and girls do too. Dot said there are lots of people with different tastes and her tastes didn’t run to necking with just anyone. She declared that she loved Dart, she didn’t like cheaters, and she had no intention of becoming one. She said she was sorry if he didn’t like that, but she’d never been all that popular with boys, so she really didn’t care what he thought.
As he got up to leave, she said she’d be happy to get him a sandwich and some milk if he’d like to visit a little longer. She wasn’t condemning him for behaving like so many folks their age, but she wasn’t going to change her mind.
“He didn’t accept the sandwich, but as he left, he said “You’re alright, Chamberlain. I hope whoever he is appreciates you. Cleveland’s a long way off to trust someone.”
Then she writes to Dart, “I’m sorry it happened, Darling, but it makes me appreciate you even more. I’m beginning to think that after they made you, they not only broke the pattern, but that all who were born before you and had your fine qualities must have all died off. Thanks again and forever for being all that you are. Need I remind you that I love you very much?”
She certainly hopes they can pal around with some of the couples he used to know. What few of his friends she’s met, she’s liked very much. “Won’t it be fun to go on dates once we’re ‘going steady’ forever? I love you Dart, and would marry you in 6 days, 6 months or 6 years. I surely hope the latter won’t be necessary.”