Radar Girls by Sara Ackerman

Author:Sara Ackerman [Sara Ackerman]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MIRA Books
Published: 2021-05-20T17:42:17+00:00

16

THE GUESTS

Peg came to work the following day looking as though someone had taken an oiled horse brush to her hair—flat and greasy, no curls. Clearly something was up. Daisy broke into a sweat. She was dying to ask after Walker, but knew it would be pointless. A part of her wished she could go back to life before Walker Montgomery. The other wanted to walk out the door and hitch a ride to Mokul¯e‘ia. Or the barracks at the navy yard. Wherever he was. Tomorrow she could find him.

The four of them had planned on driving out to the country and staying the two nights off at Daisy’s beach house, but plans changed.

Fluff had said, “I ought to stay with Betty. I hate to leave her alone, but you and Lei go.”

“Maybe we should all stay together,” Daisy said.

“No, you go on home, see if you can talk to Walker. We’ll be fine.”

Daisy was thankful that Fluff understood. Early the next morning, Lei showed up with a bagful of bananas, freshly baked bread with guava butter and a neatly packed lunch basket. Daisy envied Lei’s lifestyle, with Asuka providing all those wonderful treats. Food in the mess hall was hit or miss, but at least it was free.

They passed Pearl Harbor and the minute they started winding down Kaukonahua Road, with a deep ravine on one side and sugarcane fields on the other, Daisy picked up the scent of salt in the air. Regardless of whether she saw Walker or not, it would be nice to be home. If only for a night.

“It sure is lovely. I wish I could stay and enjoy it,” Lei said.

“What do you mean?”

A heaviness came over her. “Some things happened this week that I have to deal with at home.”

“What kind of things?” Daisy asked.

Lei had seemed out of sorts for the past couple of weeks now, so Daisy wasn’t entirely surprised. She wanted to help if she could. But Lei was the type who was always concerned about others and never about herself. Daisy was coming to see that everyone wore their problems differently. Fluff laid everything out on the table. No guessing needed. Betty suffered in silence most of the time, while a good portion of her hair went down the drain. Lucky thing she was blessed with such an abundance.

“You really want to know?” Lei asked, keeping her eyes on the road ahead.

“I do.”

“My dear husband has a gambling problem. Over the past few years, he’s gone up and down. Losing money, then winning it back. Card games, horse races, even cockfights. The other day, I opened a letter by mistake and it looks like he took a loan out on our house and now is late on payments and the bank is threatening to foreclose. He never said a word. Can you believe that?” Lei said, with a shake of her head.

Married people kept secrets from each other. Daisy did know that.

“People lie.”

“I feel so stupid. Here I was, going about my life with absolutely no idea of any of this.

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