Dan's Story Pt. 02 - Dan Jr.

Sam: "Nope. Haven't seen hide nor hair of them for quite a bit, now. How have you been? Heard you had a run in with Theresa's aunt. Rumor has it she likes to give head. How about it?"

Dan: (furious) "That stupid bitch! Can't keep her mouth shut! I'll break every bone in her body!" Sparks seem to shoot from his eyes.

Sam: "Simmer down, old buddy. I was only asking your opinion of a rumor I heard going around amongst the pilots. But, come to think of it, you just answered my question. So something did happen out on that island, eh?"

Dan: "Swear to me that you will never tell anyone. God, if rumors like that started circulating and Marie got wind of it, it would shake her faith in me to the bone. I never will hurt her, I've sworn. Please promise me it goes no farther. Clay doesn't even know, although I think he suspects."

Sam: "My lips are sealed. I swear it will never be told by me. How was she?"

Dan: "Sam! I don't want to talk about it! Go find out for yourself."

Sam: "Hmmm ...I just might."

They go on to talk about other trade business.

Four pilots come in with a flight engineer and get coffee. One of them asks if they are the fellows going to Greenwood. Dan says he's one and there's a Corporal out by the tower going as well.

The flight gets away on schedule. Dan and Jack find comfortable seats in crew areas. The pilots are all crowded around the cockpit door and take turns in and out of the co-pilot seat. The Neptune rapidly makes the flight and in an hour they're on the ground in Nova Scotia. At Ops they are directed to the transient barracks and once there, they are issued with separate rooms. Bedding has been drawn for them and is piled on the bed with paperwork outlining the week's activities. Dan joins Jack in the hall and they go for lunch.

In the afternoon he meets the other students on the course. There are three airmen from CFB Comox in British Columbia and the two of them from CFB Summerside. They are to be joined on Monday by four others from CFB Greenwood.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7: 1045

The nine students are in a study period, drawing schematic diagrams and studying from textbooks, when the Instructor comes back into the classroom and singles out Dan with a nod. Dan approaches him and he says, "Report over to the comm. center (Communications) at lunch. They called that you have a telegram. In fact, you can go now. It may be important." Dan takes off for the comm. center and gets the telegram. It's from Marie. It says, "CAN'T MAKE IT THIS FRIDAY STOP CALL ME TONIGHT STOP ALL MY LOVE STOP MARIE"

It's so cold and impersonal that it takes a moment for Dan to realize what she's saying. He wants to reach out and touch her, speak with her, know she's safe. How can he wait till tonight? He checks his change and goes to a payphone. He rings her parents' number but the phone just rings. No one is home! Now he is worried! Her Dad will be working and her mother doesn't drive. Where could they be? He'll have to wait till tonight.

He goes for lunch early and is edgy all afternoon in class. After supper he paces the barrack room until he can stand it no longer. Down the hall is a payphone and he makes his call. On the first ring Marie answers.

Dan: "Honey, are you all right? I've been worried all day since I got your telegram. What's going on? ...You are! We're going to have a baby! How did you find out? ...He ran a blood test, eh? ...He thinks you got pregnant on the honeymoon? Must have been at that motel near Hamilton on the way to Niagara Falls. ... You are nearly three months gone then, no wonder you forgot the diaphragm. We won't need it now for a while, eh? ...Well, your mother would think it's too soon! Don't bother with the car then, just fly home on Saturday and I'll meet... They're what! ...I heard you. Your Dad is taking holidays to drive you home with the car. I suppose your mother is... Sorry, Dear, I'm sorry. Of course, she's welcome... Dear, I didn't mean to say...Marie, I did not say she was not welcome. Of course, she's welcome. I love you. I miss you so much. ...You'll be leaving Saturday morning. Please call me before you leave. I'll be up waiting for your call... Look after our wee one and I will see you on the weekend. You'll probably be in late Sunday night... Take good care of yourself, Hon, and hurry home... Bye for now.

Dan spends the evening trying to study but he's not happy. He wants to be at home with Marie. He wants to be with her alone. He's looking forward to seeing her Dad. He's a real nice guy, interesting and will love looking over the old car with him. But her mother! He has nothing in common with her except her daughter and often feels she resents that. He's of the opinion that her father is hen pecked. Her father never argues with her mother, but Dan has difficulty understanding them at the best of times. They were in their thirties when Marie was born so they are old people to Dan.

He tries to study for a while but gives up and goes over to the wet canteen.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9: 2100

The week has flown by and Dan managed to get the best marks possible in the course, one hundred percent. The next highest was an airman from Comox who made ninety six percent. No one flunked the course but the rest fell into the seventy five percent range. Dan is justifiably proud of his results and is a bit resentful that he can't share his achievement with Marie tonight, as they had planned earlier. But he's also filled with excitement over the news of her pregnancy. He's not thrilled with the idea of spending a week or so with her mother, but will be glad to see her father. His emotions are in turmoil.

The flight back to CFB Summerside is on an Expediter, a small two engine plane that seats about a dozen passengers. The nighttime flight is uneventful but a bit rough. When he gets in near midnight, Dan catches the last bus to town. He uses his spare key to let himself into the apartment. It feels empty, cold without Marie. He soon goes to bed. He tosses and turns but finally gets to sleep.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10: 0430

Dan is up with a hot cup of coffee and is waiting for the phone to ring. It's already five thirty where Marie is and if they get an early start, they should be leaving soon.

He brings some of the course materials out to the kitchen table and goes over them again for about an hour. Then he starts pacing and decides to unpack his flight bag.

After it's all straightened away, he looks at his watch. It's nearly nine-o-clock. He shakes his head and gets out a sci-fi novel to read on the couch by the phone.

At 1000 hours he tosses the novel on the floor and picks up the phone, dialing Marie's folks' number. It rings about three times and he's thinking of hanging up when Marie's mother answers. "Hello."

Dan: "Hi there, I thought you folks would have left by now... It's Dan! ...O.K., I'll hold on ... Marie? I thought you would have left by now? ...there's been some changes? ...Wednesday! How come? ...He has two weeks off, eh? O.K. ...I got about $80.00 left from on course. No where to spend much there. I can send that ...I'll see if they'll take a cheque here at the telegraph office. If they will I'll send $100.00. Will that be enough? ...All right, Hon, it's going to be a long week without you. ...I miss you like crazy ...Me, too ...I love you. See you Thursday night, then."

Dan gets dressed in civvies and goes down to the CP Express and Telegraph Office. They accept his cheque and he sends Marie $100.00. Then he goes over to the Midtown for a bite of lunch. Early lunch trade is brisk and before he can order, Mary slides into the seat across from him. Her eyes are sparkling and she is very happy over something. Dan is pleased to see her. She's such a cute little girl that he thinks of her like a kid sister. She says "Hi!"

Dan: "Well, hi yourself. How have you guys been? I haven't seen you in a while."

Mary: "I know. I'm O.K. and Emory's the same. He's got a studio! He wants you to see it. He needs more money. He earned some money as well. He painted a sign on some trucks. He has lots of paintings. He's coming to meet me here. Are you here for lunch?" She runs out of breath.

Dan: (staring at her and grinning) "Slow down, gal. I'm just going to have a bite of lunch so Emory can join us when he gets here. Do you want anything?"

Mary: "Maybe a grilled cheese?" She says hesitantly.

The waitress has arrived to take their orders. "How about a glass of milk... or pop?" Dan says to Mary. She lights up with a bright smile and says, "Milk, please." Dan nods at the waitress and she marks it down on her pad. Dan completes their order and the waitress leaves.

Dan: "So, Emory has invested the twenty dollars wisely, eh?

Mary looks down at the table and whispers, "He blew it all on drink. I tried to stop him but he tricked me. He said it was for rent on a building but he bought booze with it instead." She's almost crying.

Dan: "I was afraid of that. It's not your fault, Mary, but I thought you said he's found a place?"

Mary: (brightening a bit again) "He has. I gave him so much trouble over spending your money that he went out and got a job. He painted signs on four or five gravel trucks for a contractor and got a hundred dollars. He made me take twenty to hold for you and twenty to hold for him. He found an old garage out near the base that has a good roof. He thinks it will work real good and has taken his paintings out there. But it cost him ten dollars a month and a forty-dollar damage deposit. He'll tell you. Here he comes."

Emory joins them but will only have a glass of water. Dan notices that he looks hungrily at her grilled cheese but he won't have anything when Dan asks. Dan agrees to go with them out to the garage, so he finishes his lunch and they set out. As the bus to the base comes along, Dan waves him down.

Emory: "That's the military bus. We can't go on that."

Dan: "Sure. You're with me. Come on!"

They ride out to the crossroads and get off there. The old boarded up garage is a pitiful sight but Dan sees potential in it. They go over and enter a side door.

Dan: "Are you sure the roof doesn't leak?"

Emory: "It's O.K. I slept out here one night when it was raining. There were no leaks."

Mary: "But it was awfully dark. There weren't any lights then." Emory gives her a warning look but it's too late.

Dan: (to Mary) "You stayed out here with him. Didn't your mother give you heck the next day?"

Mary: "I told her I was staying at a girlfriends. That's what we always do, eh Em?"

Emory: "That's enough, Mary. Dan isn't interested in what we do. Come on Dan, I'll show you around." He turns on some lights and they can see the bare rafters and walls of an old garage.

Dan: "What are you going to do about the pit?"

Emory: "I thought we could put a fence around it and call it the Wishing Hole, where people could throw coins and make a wish."

Dan: "Hmmm, I don't know whether that would work or not, but it shows you're thinking! I like the idea." They both laugh quietly.

Emory brings him to the far side of the building and shows him a stack of canvases. Against the wall are leaning a number of wood panels. He starts turning them over and Dan is stunned. In its many moods, Emory has captured the Atlantic Ocean. Birds and boats and fishermen working on nets: rocks and surf and crashing waves in sun, tempest and even in moonlight. He goes around turning up new marvels with every canvas. Dan can't believe his eyes.

Dan: "Has any of the people you tried to get sell these ever seen them?"

Emory: "Naw, they never would look at em. I think they're all right cause I like em. What you think?"

Dan: "I don't know art, but in my opinion they are perfect. I dabble in oils sometimes myself, but I could never do anything like this! Where'd you learn?"

Emory: "I go out in the fishin boats sometimes and I watch the sea."

Dan: "No, I mean who taught you to paint?"

Emory: "My da, but all he wants to paint are houses."

Dan: "You've never had any lessons in painting art?"

Emory: "Naw, I only went to Grade eight. I didn't know they could teach you to put a picture on canvas. A sailor once told me to paint on canvas. I used to paint only on wood paneling."

They spend hours going through the paintings and making plans. They decide to call it "Emory's Place" and he has already talked to some students about advertising. Dan matches the money he has put up and adds fifty for future plans. They are fifty fifty partners but Dan is to remain a silent partner, by his own request. Mary is to hold and control all funds. They lock up and Dan is worried about leaving all those paintings, but the place looks deserted so he guesses they'll be all right. He catches them a ride on the bus and they go back to town.

Dan goes home and prepares a cold supper: luncheon meat sandwiches and salad with cold beer. He sits around after supper in the living room and listens to the radio. He gets another beer. He decides to sleep on the couch tonight. It's too lonely in the big bed. The couch folds down into a three quarters bed but he just leaves it the way it is and wraps up in a blanket.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14: 0530

Dan wakes suddenly with a ringing in his head. He is mildly hung over from too many beers last night. It's the phone that has awakened him. He grabs for it and it crashes to the floor. He grabs it up and says, "Hello ...Honey, is that you ...I'm still half asleep. I knocked it off the table. ...No, that's O.K. I've been longing to hear your voice for so long, I wouldn't mind if you called me at three in the morning. ...Me too, it has been so long ...I'm saving it all up for you. Just wait until you get here! ...You're leaving now? Wow! I'll see you tomorrow night! That's terrific! ...I'll be waiting. They have changed my shift. I'm working in the shops since I got back from course...I didn't tell you? I got one hundred percent; the only one to ever do so, according to the instructor. ...Till tomorrow, Honey. I love you."

He hangs up the phone and goes to make some coffee. Over a hot cup he mulls over this week. Sunday he had went out to the base and met with Sam, who had told him he was rescheduled to the shops as of Monday morning. He had spent most of the day with Sam and Clay had joined them late in the day. They hit the wet canteen and got a bit loaded.

Dan: "Show Clay, why aren't you wish Tracy...er, Theresa?"

Clay: "She had to go to Halifax this weekend with her aunt. Said Ginger's sister had a misscarriage and they were going to help her around home. Most likely won't be back till Wednesss ...Wedenley ...Wednesday!"

Dan says "Oh!" as he sees Sam shake his head in the background.

He had come home and had trouble getting up for work Monday, but made it. Monday night he went home but went back out to the wets around eight. Last night had been the same.

Dan has some cereal and catches the bus for work.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15: 1800

Dan has been cleaning house since he got home an hour ago. It's raining outside and has been all day. He opens a can of spaghetti for supper and has it with toast and a cold beer. Anxiously awaiting their arrival, he scrubs up a half a weeks dishes and takes out the garbage.

He hears a car door slam and sees them though the window coming towards the door. He opens it for them as they come near and the outside bulb blows out. They enter the dark entry way under the porch, feet covered in mud, and crowd in the door. Dan clasps Marie to him and she whispers, "Not now. Get a bulb." Dan gets a bulb out of a cupboard in the bathroom and installs it outside the door. He runs back in to shake her father's hand and comment on the weather. How was their trip, etc.? He hears Marie and her mother in the living room and her mother is saying something about she was right, he does have you living in a dark damp basement. Dan sees red for a moment then notices the older man giving him a cautionary nod. They grin at each other and shake their heads.

Dan and his father-in-law unload the car and track in a lot of red mud, but Marie rushes around behind them with a mop and soon has the place cleaned up again. Marie suggests they go to the Midtown for supper, not knowing Dan has eaten, so he says nothing. After supper, Dan tries to get the bill, or at least his and Marie's share of it, but her father catches it and even leaves the tip. Dan is put out about this. It makes him feel cheap, but he figures the opportunity to repay them will come up.

When they return to the apartment, sleeping arrangements are worked out. Her folks will take their bed, while Marie and Dan will share the couch. Of course the older couple don't think its right, but Dan insists, as does Marie.

They settle down for the night and Marie has to show Dan her expanding waistline. He pokes her belly button and says he doesn't see any difference. They try to be quiet as they excitedly tell each other all that has happened since last they were together. Then they are in each other's arms and the pent up emotions boil over. She's wet and ready and he's been ready for days.

As they move together the old couch starts to squeak. They giggle but cannot stop so the couch goes squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak in the night. All too soon they are finished and fall asleep without pulling apart.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16: 0530

Dan reaches up and shuts off the clock radio. It has only played music softly for a moment and the house is quiet. Marie stirs against him and smiles. Hardly awake she leans forward and kisses him. "Mmmm, I slept so good. It is so nice to be in bed with you again." she murmurs. They hold each other and soon the couch is making a slow squeaking sound. They don't even notice, but continue slow easy lovemaking. After quite a while the pace picks up. "Squeak, squeak,squeak, squeak,squeak, squeak,squeak. Then it stops and they sneak off to shower together.

They romp in the shower and when Dan starts to shave, Marie goes to put him on some breakfast. He hears her talking and thinks she's speaking to him, so half lathered and with razor in hand he steps to the bathroom door and hears: "...its not decent for a man and a woman to be in the bathroom together, let alone the shower! I didn't raise you like that, young lady! You know better!"

Dan finishes shaving and Marie hands him coffee when he comes out. Dan sits at the table, Marie stands by his side, and they watch her mother starting breakfast. He takes a slurp of coffee and as her mother looks away, he grins at Marie. Marie grabs his coffee and takes a drink. "Marie! That's Dan's cup. He's already had it to his mouth. Now if you want a cup, I've made lots!" Marie shrugs and says, "Hey, I've got his germs anyway. I kiss him." She leans down and gives him a peck.

Marie's Mother: "You don't have to act like a child. Good manners aside, there is a time and a place for everything." Marie defiantly picks up Dan's coffee and has a big gulp. Her mother goes into the living room looking hurt and as if she might cry. Marie follows her apologizing. Dan has a donut and goes to get dressed in his study. He runs to catch the 0700 bus for work.

After work Dan comes in the house to find Marie's mother cooking supper. Dan wishes her a pleasant evening and asks about her day. She ignores him so he goes into the living room and greets Marie with a kiss. She's on the couch trying her hand at knitting. Her father is sitting beside her reading the paper. Dan goes into the bedroom and shuts the door to change. When he comes out Marie is at the kitchen table and her mother is showing her how to do something with the knitting. Dan goes over to the couch. Mr. Elmsdale offers him a section of the paper. "No, thanks, I read it at work. Care to see my fancy jalopy I'm working on." It has quit raining so he says he would like to see it.