The Soldier And The Cabbie

Dreamboat

April 27, 1941 ~   

         Two boys walked down the Brooklyn sidewalk, laughing and shoving each other as they went, though less energetically than a few hours ago. The pair had been trudging down the same street for about two hours now, due largely to the slower pace of the smaller of the two, though he did his best to keep up. The larger brunette turned to his small blonde friend, laughing again as a taxi cab passed by on the street.

     "C'mon, Rogers! Don't be slouching on me now." Steve Rogers rolled his eyes at his best friend.

    "Maybe I wouldn't be if you hadn't blown two bucks on trying to impress Ivy Henrickson, and we'd had enough to get a cab home you jerk." Bucky laughed again, knowing the other wasn't really all that annoyed.

   "Yeah, whatever punk. At least I didn't accidentally hit the vendor this time."  The two continued down the road for a time, joking and teasing, ignoring the occasional cab that passed on the side, as they couldn't pay any for a ride. Soon enough, the storm clouds that had hung threateningly over the sky all day broke open, and the water that started as a light drizzle turned more serious as they went, though thankfully not yet at a downpour. About half an hour later, the rain had gotten worse, and it was beginning to cloud everything that wasn't less than ten feet away. A pair of lights came up from behind them, and the two boys ignored them, assuming it was another taxi looking for a fare. To their surprise and confusion, the lights slowed, and a yellow cab pulled up alongside them. Understanding what the driver wanted them to do, and being surrounded by plenty of houses full of people listening to the late-night radio show, the pair approached the cab as the window was rolled down. A woman stuck her head out, grinning at them.

     "You boys want a ride?" Bucky spoke up, keeping Steve behind him a slight way, just in case.

    "Sorry ma'am, but we ain't got any money for ya." The woman rolled her dark eyes, the light of the passing automobiles highlighting her angled features.

    "Well, I figured, ya goose. Unless you like freezing your behind off in the rain, in which case I would strongly recommend getting help for that." The brunette blinked, surprised by her blunt manner, and Steve spoke up.

    "Don't you have to get someone who can pay? Not that we're not grateful or anything, but we can't have you be gettin' in trouble for giving us a ride." She smiled again, and he felt something familiar about her.

   "Nope, just clocked out, but I appreciate the concern. Why don't you two dreamboats get in, and I'll get ya home out of the rain." Steve moved towards the car, pulling Bucky with him, and the girl sped off as soon as the door closed behind them. Now that he could see her better in the mirror, he knew exactly who she was. Elaine Bauer, the girl he had never had the courage to talk to when they were kids in school. Looking over to his left, the blond saw his pal still processing what had just happened, so he spoke up.

    "Thank you, ma'am. This is my friend James Barnes, and I'm Steve." She grinned.

    "No problem. It's Rogers, isn't it?" He nodded, shocked that she knew his name, let alone remembered it after so long. "Do you remember me? Elaine Bauer? We had Mrs. Worth for English in third grade." It was his turn to blink in surprise, while Bucky grinned at the look on his face. He definitely remembered hearing about Elaine Bauer, she was the topic of most of their conversations in grade school.

    "Y-yeah. Of course, I mean, how could I forget someone like you?" He blushed a bright red as soon as the words left his mouth, and she laughed.

    "Not easily, I should think. I've seen you two on this same road about four times now, and I figured you might have gotten sick of walking down the same boring way for three hours. Which reminds me, if you want to get to the right place, I'm gonna need an address." Bucky laughed, over his shock and quite enjoying her refreshing attitude.

    "What, you remember our names but not where we live?" She laughed as well, the sound raucous and contagious as Steve listened.

    "I have a good memory for faces, James. I ain't no stalker." He gave her the addresses, and she began turning down the proper streets, the three of them chatting like the best of friends until they reached the Barnes residence. Bucky, having insisted she call him that, waved at the two before heading inside, and Steve scooted up to the front as they took off again. The two kept talking about the random subjects that came to mind until they reached the Rogers house, and Steve learned plenty about her that he had never been able to in grade school.

   "Well, my dad always wanted two sons. One to run his machine shop, and one to be a real good jazz singer. But, he got me and my sister instead. So, I'm learning with him to run the shop, and driving a cab for extra."

   "And your sister?"

  "She was the greatest." Elaine smiled wistfully. "Best jazz singer this side of the water. Had her traveling all over the place. Well, until her plane went down anyway." Steve frowned.

   "I'm sorry to hear that." Elaine shrugged.

  "Don't be. It wasn't your fault, and there's nothing I can do about it now anyway. Sure I miss the gal, but I'd much rather remember her all happy and singin' than anything else." Steve nodded, waiting a moment before asking a question that had bothered him since she'd picked them up.

     "How come you remember me?" She frowned.

    "How'd ya mean?"

   "I mean why remember me? Most people I see again after grade school don't remember me until a few good hints later, and plenty I see every week don't remember the next time I go in somewhere. So why do you remember?" Elaine smiled slightly.

   "Well, you're a lot more interesting than most folks I meet, always were. I remember seeing you across the schoolyard lookin' at me like you wanted to come over, but you never did. So, I started payin' attention. You're a proper gentleman, Steve Rogers. There aren't many of those left, and it's a damn shame people can't recognize one when they see 'em. Figured you deserved better than that if I ever properly met ya, so I remembered. Why did you remember me? I was just another face in the crowd of girls at our school." Steve had to gather himself before speaking. Her reason for remembering him was something no one had ever said to him before, and he was sure it would stick in his head for years to come.

   "Well, I'm not sure." He started, but the reason came right to his brain, and he brought up the nerve to speak properly, even though he figured he would probably end up embarrassing himself completely. "You were always real sweet to everyone, and I thought you were real pretty. Plus, you weren't scared to tell anyone to back off if you didn't like what they were doin'. I guess you were more interesting than a lot of folks I met too." He turned a bright red once he had finished speaking, but it lessened a bit when he saw the smile on her face.

   "That's one of the most sincere things anyone has ever said to me, Steve. I think I really needed to hear that." She stopped the car as they pulled up to Steve's house, and he got out, looking back as she rolled the window down again. "I'll be seeing you, Steve Rogers. Anytime you want, come on by the shop on the corner of Franklin and Ninth, I'll probably be there." Steve grinned back at her.

   "I'll do that. There's a diner about a block from there, Buck and I are gonna be down that way later this week. We can stop by to get ya if you wanna come." She smiled.

   "I'll be there, but you better get in before this storm gets worse. G'night, Steve."

   "Night, Elaine." The blond boy ran up the steps, and the raven-haired girl drove off down the lane, but the smiles on their faces didn't fade until their heads hit their pillows, and the thoughts of each other certainly weren't going away anytime soon.