Blue Smoke (21 page)

If you fancied somewhere a little ‘racier’ and less public, there was always the El Ray out in Hillsborough for T-bone steaks, illegal liquor and a great band that played swing tunes and Glenn Miller covers. For somewhere really sophisticated you could go to the Wintergarden Cabaret beneath the Civic Theatre to dance to an orchestra that played on a golden barge, or watch the amazing Wurlitzer organ that rose up through the floor, or ogle (or avert your eyes from, depending on your sense of modesty) the Lucky Lovelies chorus line which performed the cancan, and Freda Stark who appeared on stage naked and covered in gold paint. For posh dining there was the silver service restaurant at Milne and Choyce, or you could go to Burlington’s, or Forsyth’s in Queen Street which had a very ‘American style’ menu, but if you were desperate and it was late there was always the nearest pie cart.

To date, and despite having been to almost every venue in town at least once, there had been no one special for the twins — in fact they prided themselves on the fact that they went out with as many different Americans as they could manage while still keeping their reputations intact — but all that had changed one night early in March.

They were off to a dance at the Peter Pan in Queen Street, and despite having to hitch a lift into town in the back of an air force truck, they wore their party dresses and best shoes and were made up for a big night out, much to the disapproval of BJ when she had spotted them heading over to the transport depot.

Bonnie’s emerald green frock was sophisticated and figure-enhancing with a square, low neck and a fitting waist; Leila’s was similar in style but in mauve. Peggy looked exquisite as usual in
pale lemon and pearls, and Sheila and Eileen both wore dresses with short puffed sleeves, sweetheart necklines and wide satin sashes.

They coerced the driver into letting them out at the top of Queen Street, then walked the short distance to the cabaret. Inside it was already crowded — girls in bright dresses and men in uniform as far as the eye could see — and the noise was considerable. There was an enormous American flag on the wall at the back of the stage and the band seemed to be in the throes of warming up.

‘Don’t they look handsome!’ Leila exclaimed to Bonnie for at least the hundredth time, speaking loudly to be heard over the din.

‘Divine! Look at that one over there, he looks
exactly
like Tyrone Power!’

‘I would have said Ronald Colman, myself. Come on, let’s go and get a drink. I’m parched already.’

They headed to the bar, ordered an orange juice each, then went out through the foyer to the ladies’ and waited for the others. When Peggy, Sheila and Elaine arrived, each clutching their own drinks, Bonnie hoisted her skirt and retrieved a hip flask tucked snugly into her suspender belt. They all took deep sips of their orange juice to make room, then Bonnie splashed a liberal measure of gin into each glass. They toasted each other and drank thirstily.

‘God, that’s good,’ Peggy sighed. ‘I’ve been waiting all day for that.’

‘I’ll say,’ Sheila agreed. ‘Certainly hits the spot.’

‘Have you got the back-ups?’ Leila asked.

Peggy and Elaine nodded. Everyone knew that although the men were often searched at the door for alcohol, women never were, beyond a cursory glance. Now that they were inside, Bonnie slipped the illicit flask into her evening bag.

They trooped out, and found themselves an unoccupied table to one side of the dance floor while the band, having warmed up sufficiently, launched into a very lively rendition of ‘In the Mood’. Almost immediately, a tide of soldiers descended on the unescorted women, the Whenuapai girls included.

‘Excuse me, ma’am, can I please have this dance?’ drawled a Marine in Leila’s ear.

She looked him up and down, liked very much what she saw, and smiled warmly.

‘Why, thank you, honey,’ she drawled back, making the other girls giggle madly.

The Marine smiled too, the grin lighting up his handsome face, and he extended his hand, palm up. Leila rose to her feet, and they stepped out onto the dance floor, disappearing quickly into the crowd.

‘That was quick,’ Peggy said admiringly.

Soon they were all up, spinning and twirling and completely ignoring the large sign on the wall declaring ‘No full skirts when jitterbugging’.

Leila stayed on the floor for the next five dances, and when Bonnie whirled past she winked at her broadly. She really rather liked her Marine. He was well built and towered over her by at least a foot even though she was in heels, and was dark-haired and very good-looking in a slightly dangerous sort of way. He hadn’t said much to her so far, but then you couldn’t really carry on any decent sort of a conversation when you were hopping and bopping and being flung about.

As the band changed tempo and slid into the slightly more gentle ‘You Are My Sunshine’, he asked, ‘Would you care for a drink?’

Leila nodded and led the way back to the girls’ Table; the Marine pulled her chair out for her and she sat down.

Still standing, he asked, ‘Would you like a juice, ma’am?’

Leila glanced at her almost empty orange and gin, and nodded. He was back within minutes, having elbowed his way through the crowd to the bar, and carefully set two drinks on the table.

Leila looked casually to left and right, then bent over and reached into her bag. The Marine looked on in amusement, his dark eyebrows only slightly raised, as she discreetly withdrew her flask and poured gin into both their drinks. He laughed out loud in obviously genuine delight, and Leila’s stomach did a slow, sensuous flip.

Then he said, ‘You sure look just like Lana Turner,’ with such feeling that she had to laugh too.

‘I bet you say that to all the girls.’

‘Only the ones who look like Lana Turner. Can I ask what they call you?’

His accent was gorgeous, and it sent shivers up and down Leila’s spine.

‘Leila Morgan.’

‘Leila? That is
such
a pretty name!’

‘Thank you. And yours is …?’

‘Jake Kelly, ma’am.’

‘Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Jake. Where are you from?’

‘Harper County, Oklahoma, and it’s great to meet you too.’

They gazed at each other for a long moment, and Leila thought she’d never seen such beautiful dark eyes and long lashes on a man in her life.

‘I see you’re a Marine,’ she said eventually.

‘Yes, ma’am, with the Nine/Three.’

‘Sorry?’

‘The Ninth Regiment, Third Marine Division, US Marine Corps.’

‘Oh, yes, you lot have just arrived, haven’t you?’

He nodded. ‘A couple of weeks ago. We’re camped at Waikaraka Park,’ he said, thoroughly mangling the Maori word.

‘It’s Wai-
kara
-ka,’ she enunciated carefully.

‘That’s right. You sure have some funny place names here.’

‘Oh, sorry. Shall we have them changed for you?’

Jake looked at her sharply. ‘Pardon me?’

‘It’s a joke. You’re right, some of our Maori words are very hard to pronounce.’

‘Oh. Yeah.’ He lit a Chesterfield and squinted at her through the smoke. ‘You’re not like the New Zealand girls I’ve met so far.’

He pronounced New Zealand as ‘Noo Zeellind’.

Leila said, ‘Really? That looks nice.’

When Jake realised what she was referring to he flipped his packet open and offered it to her, then he leaned forward and lit her cigarette.

‘Thank you. What exactly do you mean, I’m not like the girls you’ve met so far?’

‘Please don’t be offended, but put it like this — most of the New Zealand girls I’ve met wouldn’t say boo to a goose. I think you would.’

Leila, who was beginning to feel the effects of the gin, said, ‘Boo.’

He frowned again. This girl was gorgeous but cheeky with it. He thought he liked it.

Leila laughed. ‘Don’t worry, I’m only poking the borax.’

‘Pardon me?’

‘I’m having you on. It was another joke.’

She could see he was dying to get out his
Pocket Guide to New Zealand 1943
and see what it said under ‘New Zealanders, sense of humour’.

She wondered if she might have gone too far, and changed the subject. ‘Do you know how long you’ll be here, in New Zealand?’

Jake looked relieved to be on safer conversational ground. ‘Hard to say. We’re training for an assault on …’

Leila reached out and pressed her fingers to his lips.

‘Shush. Loose lips sink ships.’

Her fingers tasted of orange juice. Through them he mumbled, ‘Well, yes, ma’am, but how many Japanese do you know?’

Leila took her hand back. ‘Sorry. None, actually. I’m a WAAF, and it’s second nature. And please don’t call me ma’am. It’s lovely to talk to a man with such beautiful manners, but “ma’am” makes me feel like I’m somebody’s grandmother.’

He nodded in acquiescence, then said questioningly, ‘A waf?’

‘Women’s Auxiliary Air Force. I’m stationed at Whenuapai Air Base and so is my sister Bonnie.’

Jake exclaimed, ‘Ah, the redhead who looks like Rita Hayworth? I thought you might be sisters. I said to my pal Danny, those two have to be sisters. You look very similar, except for the hair colour. Danny likes a redhead.’

‘We’re twins, actually.’

‘I knew it! Me, I like a blonde. So you’re both in the services? You must be on a liberty, dressed like that.’

‘Sorry?’

‘A liberty. I think you call it leave.’

‘Oh, yes, just an evening pass, though. There’s a truck picking us up at midnight. We have to be back at the base at quarter to one.’

Just then the band struck up the opening bars to ‘Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy’, and Jake jumped to his feet.

He towed Leila back out onto the floor and they hurled themselves into a jive, belting out the song at the tops of their voices. He was an excellent dancer, throwing her out in a spin then reeling her back in, lifting and turning her effortlessly, his feet never missing a beat and his hips snaking from side to side. He was sweating now and small damp patches were appearing
under his arms, but Leila for some reason found this sexy rather than off-putting. Then the song changed to ‘Blueberry Hill’, and he pulled her close. She could smell him now, a delicious, musky and very masculine scent.

They danced until Leila thought her feet might drop off and she had to plead thirst as a reason to sit down.

Bonnie was already at their table with another Marine who had a pleasant, open face with regular features, light brown hair cropped in the traditional short military style and a very sweet smile. He stood up as Leila approached.

Bonnie said, ‘Leila, this is Danny Hartman. Danny, my twin sister Leila.’

They shook hands as Bonnie added, ‘Danny and Jake are best pals. Isn’t that a coincidence?’

‘Absolutely,’ replied Leila as she sat down. ‘Did you realise that you and I are on a liberty?’

‘A liberty?’

‘It’s what these boys call leave.’

Jake said, ‘You can have a forty-eight, or a seventy-two, or even longer if you’re lucky.’

Bonnie shook her head. ‘Some of the terms you use are very strange.’

‘Oh, not really,’ Danny replied with a glint in his eye. ‘It starts as soon as you’re a ductee in boot camp, see. Mind you, half of it’s horse shit on a platter, if you’ll pardon the expression, a real snow job. Some of those mustangs sure think the sun shines out of their arse, not to mention the skipper. I don’t know if it’s the same for the doggies, but it is in the corps.’

Bonnie and Leila glanced at each other in incomprehension.

Then Leila sat back and said, ‘Still, the Kiwi lingo must be pretty hard yakka for yous blokes, not to mention your day’s graft. Getting up at sparrow’s fart out in the wops at that Waikaraka
possie, traipsing to the dunny before yous even get the chance to sling the billy for a cuppa, then slogging your guts out ’til smoko. Strewth, you’d have to be hard as nails, wouldn’t ya? It’s enough to make you crook. Pardon my expressions,’ she added, ‘but I am the daughter of a cocky.’

‘Bloody oath,’ Bonnie said, and giggled until her eyes watered.

It was Jake and Danny’s turn to exchange bemused looks.

‘Excuse me?’ Danny said.

‘Isn’t it strange?’ Bonnie observed. ‘We all speak English, but we don’t understand each other very well at all.’

‘But does that matter?’ Danny asked. ‘We seem to get our messages across, eventually. And isn’t that what being in a foreign country is supposed to be about? Learning about how other people live? I love it here; it’s a great place. If we weren’t in the middle of a war, this would be the most fun I’ve ever had.’

He sounded wistful, and the girls wondered where these boys were heading after New Zealand.

‘I’m thirsty. Do we still have any …?’ Bonnie raised her eyebrows.

‘Only just,’ Leila said. ‘We’ve nearly finished it.’

‘What about Peggy and Eileen?’

Leila shrugged. ‘Probably not, knowing Peggy.’

‘Are you girls looking for a drink?’ Jake interrupted. ‘There’s a great little bar down the street where a nice girl can feel safe. Isn’t that right, Danny?’

‘It is,’ Danny agreed. ‘The New Criterion. We had a drink there earlier.’

‘Or how about the El Ray?’ Jake suggested hopefully.

Bonnie looked at her watch. ‘Sadly, it’s too far out of town. We’d miss our ride.’

‘The New Criterion it is then.’ Jake stood and offered Leila his elbow. ‘Shall we go?’

Outside it was still warm, but the slight breeze was welcome after the heat inside the Peter Pan. Leila and Jake walked arm in arm down Queen Street, Jake with his uniform jacket slung casually over his shoulder, while Bonnie and Danny walked some way behind them. The footpath was crowded with couples and servicemen — mostly American — out for a good time, swaggering or staggering according to the extent of their inebriation, and they had to step out onto the road several times to avoid being actually pushed there.

‘That’s the Auckland Town Hall on our left,’ Leila pointed out, ‘and further down is the Civic Theatre. It’s really spectacular inside, really grand. And after that there’s Smith and Caugheys, that’s an enormous department store. Right down the bottom of Queen Street are the wharves, but you would have seen them when you arrived. And all of these tracks and wires across the road are for the trams.’