Balloons Land
By Shotzette

"Balloons Land"

By Shotzette
shotzette@yahoo.com

Souvenir-verse
PG
Shirley's new life in England is interrupted...

This is only a work of fanfiction and is not intended to infringe upon anyone's copyrights or intellectual property. Really.

LDF/LK, SFM/WM, SF/AS implied




Shirley Meaney tried to will the nervous tremor out of her smile as she shook the hand of the withered crone in front of her.

"...and this is my wife, Shirley, General and Mrs. Radcliffe," said Walter, as his Kentucky twang echoed through the chilly entry hall.

"My dear," the older woman intoned, "thank you so much for offering to host Dr. Wendell's reception. You really came to our rescue when the Officer's Club became overbooked."

"I was delighted to help out. Dr. Wendell is a delightful man, and he's been such a mentor to Walter," Shirley said sweetly, though her teeth ached from the strain. Mentor my foot, she thought to herself. Of course he's helped Walter all these years, Walter is the poor slob who cleans up that worthless drunk's mess. If he didn't manage to have Walter transfered with him, he'd be court martialed for incompetence.

Shirley felt Mrs Radcliff's eye rake over her appraisingly, and linger on the Magic Marker touch up she had administered to her scuffed black pump. She forced yet another phony smile, and guided the woman out of the drafty entry hall of the Visiting Officer's Quarters and into the equally drafty living area.

"Mrs. Meaney, you've done wonders with this place. Your husband's predecessor's wife wasn't much of a housekeeper. Or a hostess," she sniffed, as if the woman's shortcomings were a personal affront to her.

Shirley smiled again, pleased that her all night session of frantic cleaning and silver polishing had paid off. She repressed a wince as the fantasies of the elegant parties she planned to throw as a doctor's wife danced in her head. There hadn't been as much thankless grunt work and a chronically colicky baby in her daydreams.

Shirley glanced over the General's wife's shoulder in time to see Walter give her a not-so-subtle thumbs up. Even though her lips smiled back at him, Shirley could see that he picked up on her glare as his hand dropped immediately to his side.

Shirley suppressed a sigh. It wasn't going to be easy, but she'd be damned if she had gone to all of this work to get Walter in front of people who would be an asset to them during his remaining years in the army, only to have them discover that they were associating with a former bottle capper and the son of a coal miner.

The Army was just a stepping stone for both of them, she reminded herself, even if Walter didn't seem to realize it most days. After his discharge seven years down the road, after he paid off his remaining student loans and scholarship advances, after she threw her hundredth wretched gathering like this for the wives of the other doctors; her ability to cultivate the right sort of people would pay off. Once they got back to the States, set Walter up in a private practice--nowhere near Milwaukee or Berea-- they'd purchase their elegant, colonial in the suburbs, their baby blue station wagon, and--"

"Excuse me, Mrs. Meaney?" The young corporal broke into her reverie with an apologetic smile.

Shirley gave the young man her best Princess Grace smile before replying, "Yes?" Corporal Darby wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, but it was nice having someone around to help her move the boxes of souveniers she and Walter had collected in their seven moves while the latter was working back to back shifts in the base clinic. Walter would probably curl up and die if he knew that she had cajoled the young man into changing Davey's diaper on more than one occassion.

"There's a call for you in Captain Meaney's study. It's from the States, and the gentleman seems to be very upset. I really can't understand what he's saying. Something about a 'Laverne'..."

Shirley paled and shoved past the astonished corporal as she briskly walked into the spare bedroom that Walter had claimed as his study. "Mr. DeFazio?" she gasped into the receiver.

"Shirley," he cried out, in a voice more distraught that she'd ever heard, "it's about Laverne..."

"What about Laverne? Is she all right? Has there been some sort of accident?

"Worse!" was his gruff reply, abbreviated by a blast of TransAtlantic static, "She's gone! She ran off with that bum!"

"Which bum?" Shirley asked before catching herself.

"Lenny, that sonovabitch!" When I get my hands on him, I'm gonna--"

"Laverne ran off with Lenny? That's it?" The wave of relief that coursed through Shirley's body was quickly replaced by irritation and impatience.

"Isn't that enough? He's got my little girl, my Muffin. God only nows what he's doing to her..."

"Mr. DeFazio, I'm sure Laverne is fine. She's more than capable of taking care of herself," Shirley replied in a voice of ice and gravel. Damnit, she did not need this right now! She glanced out of the partly opened study door, as she heard footsteps approaching. "Mr. DeFazio, if you don't mind, I really have to get back to my guests. The head of Walter's division is here, along with most of his staff."

"Shirley, I just need to know one thing... That night. That awful night at the Royal Cactus... What happened? Was everything you said Lenny and Squiggy tried to do to you girls... Was it the truth?

Shirley sucked in her breath, as memories repressed for so many years danced before her eyes. The tequila, the hotel room, spin the bottle, twirling drunkenly between the two beds, asking Squiggy if he liked women in boots..."

"Shirley?"

She whirled around and gasped as she saw Walter standing behind her, curiosity alight on his face. Mrs. Radcliffe stood behind him.

"Mrs. Radcliffe wanted to see how you've decorated Davey's room. She wanted some ideas to pass along to her daughter in law," Walter said.

Shirley's bright smile automatically snapped back into place, as she quickly hung up the receiver. "It was Laverne's father--Laverne was my former roommate," she added for Mrs. Radcliffe's benefit, " He was just calling to say hello..."

Walter face broke into a wide grin. "That was nice of him, honey. I don't think I've seen any of your old friends since our wedding..."

"Mrs. Radcliffe, Davey's room is down the hallway," Shirley said, intentionally cutting Walter off before he shared the odder moments of their unorthox wedding ceremony. "If your daughter in law likes the cowboy bed sheets, let me know and I'll order her a set."

"That is so thoughtful of you, dear. And please, call me Berneice."

"Right this way, Berneice..."

FIN


To "Blues Along The Way"
To "Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans?"










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