Free Last Night at the Blue Angel by Rebecca Rotert Page A

glasses behind the counter and she said, We do spend an occasional excruciating evening together , it’s true .
    Have you kissed him?
    Don’t you think I would have told you that?
    I don’t know . Do you want to?
    Laura looked at me, vexed. No. I don’t . I wish I did , she said to herself.
    I’d been doing that a lot. Upsetting her like that. I kept trying to stop.
    We were talking about getting you a job , she said.
    I looked at my dress. I wouldn’t have anything to wear .
    Pfft , I have all kinds of old dresses you can have. Besides, with your shape , you could wear a flour sack and still look like Deborah Kerr . She put one palm against my waist and the other against the small of my back. I glanced around the soda shop. There was a feeling like a house of cards falling in my stomach.
    That’s settled. I’ll talk to Dad tonight , she said.
    Afterward we walked together to the edge of town. Fireworks popped randomly. Look at it this way , said Laura, if you get a job at the bank , at least we’ll be together . She squeezed my shoulder and ran up the road to their big yellow house. Two dogs raced each other to reach her first, their tails whipping with happiness.
    I took the long way home, past the schoolhouse. The sky was inflamed. Sister Idalia was playing Ella Sings Gershwin . I could hear it all the way from the road. She was lucky nobody lived nearby. Ella was singing, “Gibraltar may tumble . . . but our love is here to stay.”
    I found Sister sitting on an overturned pail outside her door, looking at the sky.
    Hi , peanut , she said. I sat down in the grass next to her. Don’t be discouraged about today , she said, smiling. God’s ways are mysterious. Where’d you disappear to?
    To meet Laura .
    She looked at me a long time.
    She’s going to talk to her dad about getting me a job at the bank , I said.
    Well, at least you’d be together , said Sister.
    That’s what Laura said .
    Good , work is good . She looked at the sky. You could save for college , she said to herself.
    We listened to Ella. Killdeer circled above a field in the distance. Their song frantic. Kill-DEER. Kill-DEER .
    Don’t you get lonely out here? I asked her.
    Hmm , she said. Yes. But loneliness is good. Loneliness usually means longing and longing’s not so bad. Listen . And Ella sang: “They’re writing songs of love , but not for me. A lucky star’s above , but not for me.”
    See? Sister said, like that explained everything.
    L aura showed up at the farm the next morning before we’d even finished breakfast. Mama was still in her sleeping gown and embarrassed to be seen by her.
    Don’t worry , Miss Hutnik , it’s just me! Laura said, but Mama was always embarrassed by her presence in our ramshackle house, we all were.
    Laura swiped up a heel of bread left on the table and took a bite. You make the best bread , Miss Hutnik , you do . But I’m here on business. I need to steal Naomi. My dad’s agreed to give her an interview for Miss Catherine’s old post at the bank and I’ve got to bring her up to speed. Do you mind? she said to Mama, hooking her arm through mine.
    Of course not , Mama said, her back to us.
    Laura waited for something more and then said, Well, all right, then. See you all later .
    We ran out of the house before Mama could change her mind.
    I believe I just rescued you from a day of grim chores , said Laura. So thanks are in order?
    I don’t like you seeing how we live .
    You’ve always been poor. The first time I saw you you were wearing shoes with buttons! Buttons! She tried to get me to laugh at this.
    I think one day you’re going to realize how different we are .
    She took me by the shoulders. We’re alike in every way that matters. You hear me? Then she kissed me hard and fast on the lips and we were off down the road, she talking about how her brother David was back from Kansas City,