The Case Against Owen Williams Read Free Page A

into the army?” she asked.
    â€œI had a job with a lumber company,” he said.
    â€œYou mean sawin’ up logs?”
    â€œNo. I worked in the office. I did accounts and stuff like that.”
    â€œYou been through high school?”
    â€œYes. In Fredericton.”
    She looked at him.
    â€œI never got through grade eight,” she said. “My father said no one needed no more school than that, not a girl anyways. Not boys neither unless they were gonna work in town jobs. So I had to quit and go to work. I work at the dairy now.”
    â€œWhat do you do?”
    â€œI wash milk cans mostly. There’s a big machine. But I’m gonna git a job on the ice cream counter maybe the end of the summer.”
    They danced in silence while she thought about all that. She hadn’t known that he had been through high school. Not many people who came to The Silver Dollar had been through high school. Mostly they worked on farms or in garages or drove trucks. And mostly they lived in places like her place.
    â€œWhat does your father do?” she asked.
    â€œHe’s dead. He had a farm. My mother went on running it, but she died a couple of years ago too.”
    â€œSo you ain’t got nobody?”
    â€œUncles and aunts. Cousins. Things like that.”
    â€œNo steady girl back in Fredericton?” she asked teasingly.
    â€œNo,” he said.
    The dance ended, and they stood together, awkwardly, in the middle of the floor.
    â€œIt’s gittin’ awful hot in here,” Sarah told him. “Why don’t we go outside and git some fresh air?”
    â€œSure,” he answered with a touch of…what? she wondered. Surprise? Shyness?
    â€œI’d like some ginger ale to take out,” she said. “Would you git me some? I’ll give you the money. I ain’t tryin’ to make you treat me or nothin’. It’s just hard for a girl by herself up there.”
    â€œI’ll treat you,” he said. “We just got paid.”
    She went with him to the canteen and stuck close to him, so that Huddy or somebody like that wouldn’t think she was free and try to pick her up.
    When he had got the ginger ale, they went out. All the light had gone from the sky now, and it was filled with stars. Sarah took Williams’s arm. They picked their way along the darkness by the side of the hall and found themselves a spot at the back a few yards away from another couple, who were standing close together talking in low voices. Williams also had a small bottle of rye, and they spiked the ginger ale.
    They drank, awkwardly, without speaking, and when they had finished and thrown the cups away, she lifted her face towards him, and he kissed her briefly, his lips closed, his body tense.
    She put her arms around his neck, so that her breasts pressed against him. When they had started to grow towards their present heaviness, they had embarrassed her, but she understood their power now and would not for anything have traded them for Vinny’s little-girl figure.
    She could feel Williams’s heart pounding heavily even through his thick tunic.
    â€œDo you like me?” she whispered.
    â€œYes,” he said.
    â€œI like you too,” she continued to whisper.
    He kissed her again, this time putting his arms around her, and she saw his eyes close. Then suddenly he stiffened and drew away from her. Three figures had crept around the corner of the hall and were watching them.
    â€œHoop and drive her there, soldier,” one of them shouted.
    â€œDon’t pay no attention to them,” Sarah told him, low so they couldn’t hear. She was afraid that Williams might get lured into a fight.
    Inside, the music started. The peeping Toms waited for some response from Williams, then drifted away into the darkness.
    â€œDon’t git yourself smothered in them big tits,” one of them shouted back.
    â€œLet’s go back and dance,” Sarah said.