Take by Jennifer Bradbury

Author:Jennifer Bradbury
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books
Published: 2023-06-06T00:00:00+00:00

December 15, 1941

We got married today.

Married. Geez. That feels real odd to write.

Ru heard about a justice of the peace out in Bow who’d marry us on the spot. She knew two girls from school who’d eloped with their fellas before they’d shipped out.

I hitched a ride to town in a new shirt and pants that weren’t patched or too short that I’d found in the pile of stuff some of the guys left behind when they cleared out. Ru met me near the high school and drove us out to the place in Bow. She wore the green dress and her hair was done up and she was as pretty as I’d ever seen her.

Sneaking off to get married sounded kind of exciting when we first talked about it, sounded like it would fix things, or at least give us a way to fix things. Only now it felt wrong. Necessary, too, but maybe necessary was just another way to describe the wrongness of it.

We went through with it, though. We stood in the kitchen of the JP, who nipped hooch while we filled out the license. His wife stopped stirring a pot of chowder long enough to wipe her hands and sign as witness.

And then we were married.

Carmine gave me his Brownie camera as a goodbye present when he and Harry and Gus all left for Fort Lewis a few days ago. He’d bought another one with what he won that day when I climbed the bridge, and I think he felt bad leaving me behind. Anyway, I had the camera so I gave it to the judge and he stood us on the back porch and took a snap of us right after it was done. And then we got back in the car, the smell of fish and potatoes clinging to us.

We didn’t have time to go have supper or get a room someplace. She had to get back and change out of her nice dress before her father saw her and asked what she was all dolled up for on a regular Tuesday afternoon, and I had to be at camp by curfew. So we parked on an old logging road. And for a few minutes, none of the rest of it—my lie, us sneaking around, the world falling to pieces—none of it mattered. I gave her Gran’s address just in case and held her hand the whole ride back and promised I’d write as soon as I got settled.

I’m heading south to start at a factory on Monday. This guy Roland—he was stuck at camp with me helping shut it all down too on account he can’t enlist because he’s got flat feet—lined up a job on the night shift at Boeing. He wrote to his cousin who got him the job and found out I can get hired on there too, so now I’ll have money to send Ru to help out. I feel bad lying, but in a few months I’ll be old enough to enlist anyway.

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