Chapter 4: Memphis Belle
by Adia
~o0o~
Over the Thanksgiving weekend August had shared dinner with his grandfather and the two conversed openly. He placed a blanket over his grandfather’s lap to keep his legs warm and posed the question as they sat by the fireplace, “What if what we want, what will make us happiest, is wrong and you know it?” August knew that seeing Grace now wouldn’t be wrong in the sense that he was no longer her teacher and she was now a legal adult, still he worried most that he would be disturbing Grace’s new life if he were to ever meet with her again. Inside he worried that maybe she was better without him.
“Who determines what is right and what is wrong?” Daniel let the words hang in the air for a moment, “If you love one another, August, it isn’t wrong. Nothing else matters.”
After a silence Daniel asked, “Does she love you August?” He looked into his grandson’s eyes searching to see the truth.
August’s eyes had not betrayed him as he answered, “Yes. She had loved me at one point.”
“But does she love you now?”
“Possibly.” August nodded.
Daniel took his grandson’s hand, “Then that is it. She should be yours and nothing should stop the two of you from being happy, together.”
“It isn’t that easy,” August shook his head in sad frustration, “I can’t just... it’s more complicated than it was what you met grandmother.”
Daniel tilted his head to the side and looked August straight in the eyes, “You think it was easier then?”
August’s eyes dropped to the floor and his shoulders fell as he quietly sighed, “Yes.”
Shaking his head, Daniel began, “It wasn’t. It wasn’t easy at all. It was one of the biggest challenges of our lives.” his voice trailed off as he looked out the window and his voice whispered, “but I loved your grandmother. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I couldn’t live without her.”
August admired the way that his grandfather regarded his wife of more than sixty years. Daniel’s eyes were always glassed when he thought of her and his lips turned up in a smile at the edges. August could tell that behind those blue eyes were thousands of photographic memories of his grandmother. He could tell how badly his grandfather had missed her over the years since she had passed away.
Daniel closed his eyes but not before telling August, “Following our hearts was hard for your grandmother and I,” he smiled, “but it was all worth it, August.” His voice paused as he spoke, “She was worth it.”
Daniel had closed his eyes and within a few moments August pulled the blanket up over his grandfather as he slept by the fireplace. Daniel had drifted off to sleep while August went through pictures stored in old albums. The pages were black and the photo edges were curled and yellowed but each spoke to him. His grandfather had fought in World War II in the Air Force. It was hard for him to picture his grandfather in a war when the only thing he had ever wanted to shoot, was a camera.
August had known the story of how his grandparents had met and married. But maybe he hadn’t known the full truth. He looked over at his grandfather sleeping by the fire and wondered what he must have been dreaming about. He closed his eyes and could feel the heat of the fire dance over him as he thought of the possibility of seeing Grace again after all this time. A smile spread across his face that he couldn’t help forming. He turned the page and stared at the photo of his grandfather and grandmother holding hands in front of a small dance hall in Boston where they had met. He remembered his grandfather telling him that story from the time he was only up to Daniel’s knee.
It was the winter of 1945 and Daniel had come home from the war to a job at the Boston Tribune that had been waiting for him since he had graduated at the top of his class at the University. He was a starting news reporter and was having a hard time reporting on a war he had just come home from. It was no secret that he had been a tad anxious about leaving the Air Force after his last run in the Memphis Belle, which story he almost did not live to tell. The toll of what he had seen in the war was starting to show on him and he was losing faith in the goodness of the world.
He had been raised in a very Irish family who were just as patriotic to the United States as they were Irish. That sense of pride in country had been passed along so strongly that Danny had felt the need to volunteer the day after he graduated. What part of the military to join had never been a question. As far back into his teens as he could remember he had been taking photos of planes and wanting to be around them. He had never had the drive to want to fly them he was simply pleased to be near them. He loved the sensation of flying above the clouds, gliding along in the air, up above it all and almost away from the world in a sense. Out of the world and looking down upon it was pure poetry to Daniel. The escape, the beauty, it all lent itself to an overwhelming feeling of freedom. And it appealed to Danny as much as photography and the written word had. It was as much a part of him as breathing.
Danny had grown quite close to some of the men he served with and often wondered what their lives were like now. He had photos of them that he kept to remind himself of those years. His brothers. Being the youngest of five with all sisters had left him with a need for brotherhood and he kept the ties to those he had served with. He had kept frequent contact with Clay and Virg and Rascal though he was afraid he would never be able to see any of his crewmates ever again. Clay was in the process of signing a record contract while Virg was putting his dreams of a chain of hamburger joints underway and Rascal was skirt-chasing as usual.
They had gone out to watch Clay perform at a small dance hall one night when their schedules had allowed them to reunite in Boston. Rascal couldn’t have been happier. Clay would be performing with another band entertaining a hall full of college students. College girls was all Rascal had heard before he tore off into the crowd.
Virg grabbed the hand of a young woman and they danced while Danny watched the crowd enjoying Clay’s music. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a fair haired women go out the back door alone. As Clay finished up his set he grinned at Danny and Virg, “Have you two met my baby yet?”