our newest roommate at our rooming house in New York:
Hiya, Rosie (and Jayne).
The place has been quiet as kittens since you two left. Belle rented out your room to a magicianâs assistant who weâre pretty certain is making our valuables disappear. Rubyâs up for a lead (of course) and seems to be quite taken with that feline you left her in charge of. Iâm killing time doing an American Theatre Wing tour of the local schools, showing all the boys and girls out there what they can do to help out the red, white, and blue. The stuffâs pure schlock, but the kids seem to like it, probably because they get to miss class to be with yours truly. Tell Jayne that Tony finally stopped calling. Belle let it slip that you two were West Coastâbound and I think he finally caught the hint that that meant Jayne wouldnât be calling him back any time soon.
Drop me a line and let me know how tricks are.
Zelda
âI got a letter from Zelda,â I told Jayne. She hummed a response that I took to mean Please go on . âBelle rented our room.â
âThat was fast.â
âAnd Zelda says Tony stopped calling.â
She waved one of her letters at me. âThatâs âcause he started writing.â
âHowâd he get the address?â
She shrugged. âHow does he get anything?â Jayneâs ex-boyfriend, Tony B., was a well-connected mobster. When sheâd given Tony his walking papers, heâd had a hard time taking no for an answer. I was thrilled the two were finally kaput. Right before we left New York Iâd heard from a reliable source that Tony wasnât just a criminalâhe was a murderer.
Jayne sifted through her other pieces of mail. They all looked as if they were written in the same hand. If Tony had any positive qualities, he was persistent. And had excellent penmanship.
âAre you all right?â I asked.
âI thought I wouldâve heard from Billy by now. Itâs been almost a month.â Billy DeMille was a sailor Jayne had met at the Stage Door Canteen and developed quite a correspondence with. After all of the drama between her and Tony, Iâd been thrilled to see her focusing on a man whose only record involved 78 revolutions per minute. Jayne didnât talk much about him, other than to report when he wrote and when she replied, but it was obvious the two were becoming more than mere pen pals. She was sweet on the guy, and it was impossible to believe that he wasnât feeling the same for her.
âDid you tell him we were leaving?â I asked.
âOf course.â
âMaybe he forgot and wrote to the Shaw House. Iâm sure his letters will show up soon.â
âYouâre probably right,â she said, though I knew she didnât really believe that. If a man in the military stopped writing you, it was usually because he no longer could.
Â
Kay and Violet returned, their faces much paler than when they departed.
âHow was the latrine?â I asked.
Violet fanned herself as though she needed to push away the scented memory that orbited her. âItâs basically a glorified outhouse. Only a paper-thin shower curtain separates you from the rest of the camp.â
Knowing Violetâs propensity for drama, I turned to Kay to verify that it was as bad as she claimed. âItâs fine,â she said. âIâve dealt with worse.â
Her face didnât look right. I may have known Kay only a week, but it was clear that she wore her emotions like a stripper wore her brassiereâoutside where everyone could see it. âWhy the glum puss?â I asked.
âThe bathroom isnât ours alone. We have to share it,â said Violet. âApparently, thereâs a large contingency of G.I. Janes that just moved in over the hill.â
âWacs? Thatâs cozy,â I said.
âTurns out Kay knows some of them. Donât you, Kay?â said Violet.
Kay
Elizabeth Adler
Karen Schwabach
T Patrick Phelps
Shannon Wendtland
Anna Gavalda
Sarah Waters
Brandi Johnson
Ken Fite
Roy Johansen
Drew Sinclair