The Soldier And The Cabbie

My Girl's Comin'

August 29, 1943 ~

Finally, the first few days of training were finished, but Steve hardly noticed. The next day, Elaine's group was supposed to arrive at the camp, and he couldn't care less about how sore the ridiculous exercises made him.

"Hey, Rogers!" One of the other boys called from another bunk. Brooks, he thought his name was.

"Yeah?" Brooks laughed, nudging one of the guys next to him.

"Want any help picking up a dame tomorrow? Them gals can be pretty intimidatin' when they wanna be." Steve chuckled softly, a smile appearing on his face, shocking the other boys as he shook his head. The kid didn't smile, at least not from what they'd seen. What he said surprised them even further.

"I'm good, thanks. My girl's comin' tomorrow, so all I'll have to do is figure out where she's at." The other boys egging him on, Brooks spoke again, though his voice was definitely more sincerely curious.

"You got a picture of your gal with ya? Or are we gonna have to wait and see?" Steve's grin widened, and he pulled out a photo, handing it to the other boy. The others crowded around, and saw a girl they didn't really expect. She was definitely pretty, no denying that, but you sure didn't see many interracial couples, even if one of the pair wasn't black. Brooks handed the picture back, but stayed while the other boys waved it off as a joke and readied for bed. He knew the look on Steve's face, and it wasn't something he'd ever seen anyone fake convincingly.

"How'd ya meet her?" Steve's face lit up at the memory as he began to recount the event, and he knew this was no joke or lie. When Steve finally fell asleep, as Brooks was getting ready to do the same, the larger boy noticed a ring on the other's left hand. He grinned. Whoever was in that picture, she had to be one hell of a girl to pick this kid, who was basically a rain cloud personified. The kind of girl he looked forward to meeting.