The Sweetness by Sande Boritz Berger

Author:Sande Boritz Berger
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: She Writes Press
Published: 2014-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

This was the coldest December Mira could remember, and the mood in the house had remained somber and bleak since JJ’s recent breakdown. But now, since the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, more and more neighborhood boys were converted from their warm woolen overcoats to the earthen colors of the United States Army. The country was at war.

Women stood huddled in grocery stores and fish markets consoling one another about their young sons either being drafted or joining up against family wishes. Mira felt sorry for the very pregnant women who looked visibly shocked, sending their husbands off to war, not knowing when or if they might ever return home. The thought sent chills up her spine. Then, a few days before Christmas, Nathan showed up at Avenue T wearing a double-breasted deep blue wool jacket, topped with a crisp white sailor hat. Earlier that morning he had joined the U.S. Navy. Mira burst into tears. But through her tears, she realized she had never seen him looking so handsome, so determined and proud. He wore a perpetual smirk that made it hard for her not to smile when she looked at him. Nathan said he chose the Navy because ever since he was a small boy, he’d dreamed of being on a big ship somewhere in the middle of the sea. For the time being that sea would have to be the Atlantic Ocean, as his orders were for the east coast of Florida. But first he was to be sent up to Elmira, in upstate New York, for six weeks of boot training. He looked forward to thawing out in sunny southern Florida. He’d be leaving in only two weeks.

On Christmas Eve they told their families they were attending a big office party at Nathan’s boss’s home in Ramsey, New Jersey. Mira packed a small overnight bag with a satin nightgown, several pairs of panties, her toothbrush, and makeup bag. Her hands were shaking as she tucked the bag under her flared wool coat and walked downstairs to meet Nathan who chatted with Roy in the foyer. Roy had received his draft notice that same morning, which sent Ina straight to bed with a splitting headache. Mira offered to stay home, but her mother urged her to go be with Nathan, especially in their last days together.

Roy nervously stuttered on about some plan he had to get out of the draft. Although they were around the same age, Nathan seemed so much more mature than her brother. “So where the hell are you lovebirds off to now?” Roy probed, curiously looking at the bulge under Mira’s coat. Mira became edgy and tried switching the subject.

“Just a party and why are you home this evening brother dear?”

“I didn’t want to leave Momma, not until Pop gets back from the factory. He’s closing down for two weeks, until after New Year’s. That’s a first in the history of Kane Knitting,” Roy said.

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean he won’t go down to the office.

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