"Meantime"

Annie did not rise gracefully for church the next morning. She felt she had no excuse for feeling as upset as she had last night, and felt weak for cowering in fear to someone she trusted with everything in her. She just had to keep telling herself that it was no one's fault. With a few pins in her hair and a touch of makeup under her eyes and on her lips, she called it good enough. She went downstairs to greet her parents, who had just come home early for breakfast, the only noises coming from the sound of the Sunday paper rustling and coffee brewing in the kitchen.

"Annie?"

"Hi, Momma, Hi, Dad." Annie straightened up and took her place at the table as her mother brought breakfast in for the three of them. "How was y'all's weekend?"

"It was nice and quiet for us, thank you for asking. And you?" Her mother answered politely and sat down opposite Annie.

"Eugene came home on Friday." Annie smiled for show, adjusting herself awkwardly. "And we went to dinner yesterday."

"How is Eugene doing?" Her father asked.

"Eugene is okay. He's just trying to adjust back to being home again."

"Understandably."

The three of them took each other's hands and blessed the food before eating their breakfast in silence. It was more common than not for this to happen, for the news was duller, and any squabble about the well-being of any one would result in the fight turning personal and downright insulting. No one needed it, so no one started it. It made finishing breakfast getting ready for church much quicker. They could all brush their teeth and be on their way without delay.

That part of the day was gruesome until they arrived at church, where Annie could just forget everything for a little while. Church was the number one place where she learned how to be her best self when everyone else was telling her to follow standards set by the world. There was nothing two faced about how she presented herself to God. Just Annie and Annie  alone.

—

Annie was in more of a rush to see Mary that evening. Now that she comfortably had her few friends home in one piece, she didn't feel the need to sit and wait for anything to happen. It was time for a night in with her.

"Hey lady." Mary opened the door so Annie could enter her house. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I figured I always look that way." Annie chided back with a smile.

"Oh hush. Come on, I already made tea. You want some?"

Annie gratefully accepted the offer and allowed Mary to lead her in and take the drinks to her bedroom, where the girls situated to talk and read, an evening activity they often participated in since their youth. The downtime before the Monday work week was a relaxing one that was spent on someone's bed for no more than a couple hours.

"Now tell me why you told Sidney to screw himself the other night. He still won't say."

"We were supposed to be making plans for your birthday of Friday but he said he was fixin' to head to the train station. Gene showed up at my place that night." Annie smiled to herself at the fleeting thought of the reunion they had, a softer thought that overshadowed the ones of his unsteadiness.

"Sid picked him up." Mary raised an eyebrow and sat back, looking back at Annie fondly.

Annie shook her head. "Of course he did."

Mary cocked her head and studied Annie's features. With a sigh, she nudged her with her foot. "Hey. Sid wasn't okay at all when he came home. He has nightmares at least a few times a week now."

Annie nodded solemnly. "He seemed distant the night I saw him after he came home. I saw the same look in Eugene's eyes."

The girls sat in silence once more. Annie sat back alongside Mary and they leaned against each other. Their presences were calming to each other as well as cathartic.

"It baffles me to no end that the both of them were as eager as they were. I remember Pearl Harbor like it was yesterday." Mary mumbled aloud.

"None of us will ever be as angry and upset as we all were those two days." Annie added. "I'll never forget my mother's scream the day we saw the newspapers."

—

Another 84 years later, we have another!