China Dolls (38 page)

Somewhere in the Pacific
July 13, 1944

Grace, baby
,

I only have a few minutes. I had a wild day! Shot down two Zeroes! Lots of great pilots out here. I need to measure up. I miss you like mad. Why didn’t I have you meet me in Winnetka when I visited my folks? We could have borrowed my dad’s car and gone to Niagara Falls. You never know what can happen in this world. I miss you, baby
.

I love you, love you, love you, Joe

Train to Cedar Rapids
July 23, 1944

Dearest Joe
,

The words you wrote make my heart soar. Maybe that sounds corny, but that’s how love is supposed to sound. I love you too. I’ve loved you from the moment we first met. Then we went through all that rigmarole— So much wasted time— But now I’m yours and you’re mine— Niagara Falls! Oh, Joe! I’m so happy!

I just finished a gig in Omaha with Dorothy Toy—the first, and still the truest, Chinese Ginger Rogers. Did I ever tell you she’s my idol? I used to watch her in the movie theater back in Plain City. Her partner—Paul Wing—was called up four months ago and is in a tank in Europe, so Dorothy and her sister came out on the Chop-Suey Circuit to kill time—just like me. I told her, Even though we never met, we lived in the same apartment building in San Francisco. I should have said something about what an inspiration she’s been all these years. She’s the nicest gal. Dorothy has encouraged me to broaden my act to incorporate some patter and a couple of songs. I now start with “I came from a town so small it didn’t even have a Chinese restaurant.” That always gets a chuckle
.

I’m blabbing on like a fool when all I want to do is kiss you and tell you how much I love you. I LOVE YOU! I think of you every minute of every day
.

Love, Grace

Train to Cedar Rapids
July 23, 1944

Dear Helen
,

Joe loves me and I love him, but I’m not being totally honest with him. He can’t understand what it’s like for me out here. I’m alone most of the time—traveling from club to club, city to city, sometimes playing shows near military bases. I’ve come across a lot of Victory Girls, who’ll sleep with any man in uniform. I’m not one of them, but I worry that Joe might start to take what I’m doing the wrong way—

I don’t have much in the way of companionship, so I have loads of time to read magazines and go to movies. I see a lot of ads begging women to work for the war effort while remaining
feminine
for when our men come home. Don’t those magazine people know we’re changing? I’ve watched movies that praise brave widows. If, God forbid, something happens to Eddie, I know you’ll be brave, but what will happen to your heart after all you’ve already been through? Those movie people don’t think about
that
. Then there’s the
battle
against Victory Girls. It’s led by another bunch of men—this time in Washington—and it’s downright sneaky. Women—like us—who work in clubs and bars that cater to our boys, are being accused of being patriotic amateurs. They accuse us of staging
orgies
in the barracks. That’s ridiculous, and a long way from being labeled a Khaki-wackie! And it makes me sick. Rumors have been circulating that some Victory Girls average fifty or more encounters a night. (Come on!) And did you see that
Life
article? The reporter wrote that a diseased Victory Girl can do far more damage than a 500-pound bomb dropped right in the middle of an Army camp. It’s not fair, and it makes me fighting sore every time I think about it, because aren’t our boys making love too? They’re the instigators for heaven’s sake! You think they get in trouble or in
trouble?
No! They’re told they
need
sex to be good soldiers! But if a girl is rounded up and found to have a venereal disease, she can be held for the duration. Exactly how long might
that
be? Months? Years?

So that’s one thing. The other is that I kind of lied when I wrote to Joe about Dorothy Toy. (Yes! I finally met her!) I left out that the Chinese Ginger Rogers isn’t Chinese. She’s Japanese. She and Paul were doing a show in New York when Ed Sullivan, a gossip columnist at the New York
Daily News
, broke the news— You know, ratted her out— She’s hightailed it to the Chop-Suey Circuit, playing towns and cities where, she says, they haven’t met many Chinese or Japanese. She’s just
Oriental
. I never could have written that to Joe, but I never want him to consider me a liar like Ruby either
.

Max called to say that he’s having a hard time getting me good bookings. (Cedar Rapids and Des Moines are up next. I ask you!) After I pestered him about why, he finally spilled the beans. Turns out George Louie’s bad-mouthing about me has moved from our dressing rooms to the front office. Club owners have enough to worry about without entertainers fighting backstage. I said I didn’t do anything. Max said,
Yeah, yeah, yeah
, and then he hung up on me! If I can’t work in San Francisco and he can’t get me bookings, what am I going to do?

I keep writing to you, but you never respond. What have you heard from Eddie? And Monroe? He also promised to write, but I haven’t heard from him either
.

Sorry to make this so darned long, but I sure could use your advice
.

Your gal pal, Grace

Topaz War Relocation Center
July 30, 1944

Helen!

You wrote to me not that long ago that a tree may prefer calm, but the wind will not stop. Things will take their own course regardless of what I want. The thermometer hit
120 degrees
yesterday! I spent the afternoon lying on the cement floor in the latrine. It’s the coolest place in the camp— The little girls like to hang out there too— They got me to play jacks with them, if you can believe it. (Believe it!) When you want to do your business, it’s a good idea to kick the toilet first. Scorpions! I’ve tried every mess hall, looking for something decent to eat— No luck— We’re served things that make no sense— Spaghetti and rice at the same meal. People around here are gaining weight, but not me. I can’t eat that stuff
.

Sometimes I go to the fence and stare at the desert. There’s nowhere to hide out there, no place to go, and no way to survive, even if I got out. I ask myself, why do they hate us so much? What did I do that was so dreadful or unforgivable that they need to lock me up in a place like this? There is no lower helplessness than realizing you’ve lost control over every aspect of your life— And you want to hear something? When I walk by the schools in the morning, I hear the kids saying the Pledge of Allegiance and singing “God Bless America.” But if we ask the authorities how long we’ll be in here, the answer is NO ANSWER! (Go ahead, Mr. Censor, black
that
out!)

Yours till the toilet bowls, Ruby

P.S. Thanks for the Pond’s cold cream, Camay soap, and petroleum jelly! They’re going to do a lot for my beauty regimen. You’re a pip
.

San Francisco
August 4, 1944

Dear Grace
,

I’m sorry to be the one to inform you, but I’ve got bad news about Monroe. He caught lobar pneumonia—the worst you can get. He’s dying, bed-slow, at Walter Reed Hospital. The Army doctors are experimenting with him—giving him something called penicillin. They’ve written to Mama and Baba that there’s little to no hope. And it could take months for him to die, even with that new drug. All we can do is pray—

The mood in the compound is very sad. We are a large family, but the idea that Monroe won’t be coming home— I— We— Baba stays at his office. Mama is out all the time. Since there’s nothing she can do for Monroe when he’s so far away, she’s taken my place as a Gray Lady. Caring for other mothers’ sons gives her faith that there’s a mother out there taking care of Monroe
.

Best, Helen

Topaz War Relocation Center
August 6, 1944

Helen!

GREAT NEWS!!! I finally got my release from camp after seventeen months in this pit hole! Lee Mortimer has sent money for my train ticket, and he’s lined up an agent for me in New York. Everyone here is full of advice and warnings. Don’t speak Japanese when I leave the camp. Not a problem! Don’t gather in groups of two or more Japanese. Really not a problem! Don’t call attention to myself and ruin it for others. Well, they got me there. I plan on calling plenty of attention to myself, but I hope I don’t ruin it for others. Want to know what I’m thinking about? New clothes! Making real money again! I’m getting out of here!