“It’s still better than what happens at home. My father didn’t want me to enlist because the army is notorious for how segregated it is. And there’s not a single Black nurse in the navy. So whatever happens here is an improvement. I’m glad they let me enlist in the air evac training, and I was the only woman of color in it. I don’t think they accept many.”
“You’re probably a damn good nurse, and they knew it,” Pru said fairly, and the others nodded. Louise was smart and dedicated. She had been a wonderful addition to their group, but they were well aware that in certain parts of the United States she would have been in an all-Black unit, and wouldn’t have been allowed to treat white patients. She was better off in England, from what Pru was saying. She hadn’t met any odd stares since they’d landed. And she could tell from the way men on the base had looked at her that they didn’t have the same taboos and prejudices here. They looked at her as they would have any other woman, not as an object of hatred, unbridled lust, or disdain. She felt like an ordinary person here, she could already tell. Although POW duty didn’t sound enticing, particularly caring for their enemies, and it wasn’t why she had come to England. She had come to fly on the air evacuation teams, but it sounded like she would get there eventually. She just had to go through some extra steps, which was still a better deal than she would have gotten in the States, where she would have been treated like a second-class citizen, or even subhuman, by some ignorant whites.
“Okay, so let’s get down to the important stuff,” Pru said after they ordered their second round of wine and ale. “Who has a boyfriend and who doesn’t?” They all laughed at the question.
“We’re a sorry lot,” Alex answered for them. “I don’t. I enlisted in order to avoid being married off to any dreary banker my parents considered socially desirable in New York. I bolted and went to nursing school, enlisted in the army after Pearl Harbor, and haven’t had a date since, or not one I cared about. My mother assures me that men hate women in ugly uniforms or with jobs. She says khaki’s not my color, and I look like hell in pants.” Pru and Emma laughed heartily at her blunt honesty, which was Alex’s usual style.
Audrey went next. “No boyfriend for me either. My father died when I was fifteen, nine years ago, and my mother got seriously ill after that. I went to nursing school so I could take better care of her. She passed away a few months ago, and I had been taking care of her until then. I enlisted when she died, this is my first assignment. I was always afraid to leave her at night, and taking care of her, I never had a chance to meet any boys. I’ve never had a real date or fallen in love. Maybe it will happen here.” She blushed as she said it. It wasn’t her primary goal, but a possibility for all of them.
“I certainly hope so,” Pru said.
Lizzie went next and kept it brief. “I was in love with Audrey’s brother for two years before he noticed me. Audrey and I went to nursing school together,” she explained. “He was in the navy, stationed in Honolulu, and we went to visit him as a graduation present from Audrey’s mom. He finally noticed me. We fell in love.” Her eyes filled with tears then. “He was the greatest guy I’ll ever know. Three weeks later, they bombed Pearl Harbor, and he was killed. That was a little more than two years ago. I haven’t had a date since and don’t care. I came here to work, that’s all I want.” She smiled and brushed the tears off her cheeks, and Emma patted her hand.
“Me too. I had a great boyfriend at the beginning of the war. A gunner in the RAF, of course. He was a terrific bloke. He got shot down and killed over Germany three years ago, so that was it for me. No dates since, no interest. I’m a nurse, that’s all I want. Besides, the posh ones don’t want me with my East End London accent, and I don’t want them.” She smiled at her new American friends then. “Those are the worst slums in England, by the way, my home turf. The dumb ones are too much trouble and they bore me. And the guys where I grew up work on the docks or drive lorries, drink too much, and beat their wives. I’m just fine on my own,” she said, and sat up a little straighter. Their answers to Pru’s question were very telling about each of them, where they came from and who they were.
“You’ve all had more interesting lives than I have,” Pru told them. “I grew up in Yorkshire, in the country, riding horses and climbing trees with my brothers. I’ve known all the men in my area since I was born, and they’re not very interesting. I suppose I’m expected to marry one of them one day. I went to nursing school and joined the RAF. My brothers are in the RAF too. I’ve had some dates, no one I cared about, and this seems like such an unsettled time. I don’t want to fall in love and then lose the guy, so I’m just trotting on. For now, my work is enough, and my friends.” She smiled at them.