In Times of War

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

   “Mia and Tony sittin’ in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in a baby carriage! That’s not all, that’s not al-“ I throw a pillow at Alice’s face to get her to be quiet. I’d just told her that David and I were dating. After her cries that she had know the whole time that we’d been dating, she had started singing. Her singing had led to Nancy twirling around her and Alice’s room, singing the same song.

“Are Tony and Mia gonna get married?” Nancy asks innocently.

“Yes!” Alice shouts immediately and I pale.

“No, not yet at least, that’s for sure.” I explain to Nancy. Alice shoots daggers at me for ruining her pairing and humiliation of me.

“But Allie said you were gonna get married.” Nancy seems confused.

   “She was just kidding with you, Monkey.” Nancy nods and skips out of the room to find her mother. Alice continues helping me get ready for my first date with Tony. He was taking me to the cinema in town and then we were going to go for a walk in the park. Alice didn’t bother doing anything with my hair; she just helped me with make-up and helped me pick out a dress.

“Now, you’re as beautiful as all get out. Mama, come look at Mia.” Alice calls down to her mother. Aunt Tess comes up to look at me.

“Oh, Mia.” She sighs and I blush, “You look beautiful. Mary, come and look at your daughter.”

“Maria, what’re you all dressed up for?” My mother asks. The Howells sense an argument coming up and excuse themselves.

“Tony’s taking me on a date.”

“Oh no he’s not. You’re not goin’ anywhere with that boy.” She snaps.

“Yes, I am.”

“No, you’re not. I forbid it. I’m not gonna have another one of my babies leave me.”

“Mama, I’m not leaving you. I’m just going on a date with my boyfriend.”

“No, I know his type. He’s nothing but trouble. He’s just gonna break your heart and leave you high and dry.”

“No, he’s not gonna do that, Mama. He’s too sweet and caring to do that.” I defend David, but my mother shakes her head sadly.

“That’s what they all think, but he’s gonna hurt you just like his father hurt yours.”

   “Don’t you dare bring him into this.” I say, my voice low and dangerous. I hated it when anyone brought my father into anything, especially when my mother brought him up. She always brought him up to make me feel bad. But now she was saying that David’s father was the man who killed my father, which was absolutely ridiculous.

“You know it’s true.”

“No, it’s not. Tony’s father is not the man that murdered my father. I saw it, remember, I was there. I would recognize the resemblance between the two.”

“Mia, he’s here!” Alex calls from downstairs.

   “Goodbye, Mother.” I stomp past her and to the front door. I plaster on a fake smile as I walk outside to David. He waves back to the Howells in the doorway and so do I. We walk, hand in hand, down the street towards the movie theater. The theater was showing my favorite movie, The Wizard of Oz, tonight only and David was going to take me to see it. We buy popcorn and take a seat in the middle of the theater. Short films about the war come on and I almost think I see Jimmy in a couple of them, but I know that’s ridiculous.

   The movie starts and I mouth the lyrics to the songs. Apparently, I’m also singing softly, because David nudges my arm. I’m glad that it was dark enough that he couldn’t see the blush that was all over my cheeks. After the movie ends, David and I walk through the park in silence.

“So, you gonna tell me why you were so angry when I picked you up?”

“Oh, you noticed that, did you?” I rub the back of my neck, embarrassed.

“I’ve been told I’m very observant. Plus, you’re face was about as red as your hair and in the ‘I’m gonna kill somebody’ kind of way.”

“Oh, um, yeah, I just had a little argument with my mom. It’s nothing.” I assure him.

“You want to talk about it? You can trust me.” He coaxes me.

“She just brought up my dad, it’s nothing.”

“It’s not just nothing if you were that upset. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“No, no, I’ll tell you.” We sit down on a bench that faces the water, even though we can’t see the water clearly because of the trees, we can hear the soft lap of the water.

   “She said that your dad killed my dad. She was just trying to convince me not to go on a date with you. I know that can’t be right, though. You’re dad was a good guy, right?” David turns white as a sheet and I suddenly remember what we’d been talking about before I hit my head. I remembered everything that happened that night: the kiss, the man, the conversations, all of it. “No, no, he wasn’t. I remember now, he was horrible to you and your mom. You told me we didn’t talk about anything important. Never mind, he wasn’t that bad was he? He didn’t kill people did he?”

“I don’t know, Firecracker. I don’t think so, but he was a drunk desperate for money. I don’t know what he was capable of.”

“Wait, wait… David, who do you look like? You mama, or you dad?” I ask, squeezing my eyes shut, trying to remember my father’s killer in detail.

“I look just like my father, why?” I put my hands on my temples and rub my head, trying to stimulate the memory. When I do remember, I sit back in horror.

“What year did Zacharias cut your dad off?”

“1930, a year before he died. Firecracker, what’s wrong?”

“What month did he die in?” I ask, desperately trying to find a loophole to the horrifying scenario I’d concocted in my head.

“August. Maria, what is this about?” He asks, worriedly.

“My father was killed in a mugging on August Nineteenth, 1931 by a man who looked a lot like you. I saw the whole thing when I was ten.”