Page 54 of The Girls of Pearl Harbor
‘Are you thinking about him?’ April whispered as they followed a few steps behind Grace.
She nodded. ‘Yeah. I just keep wondering about those final moments, if he knew what was about to happen.’
April gave her a small smile. ‘I think about Poppy a lot too. It’s almost impossible to block it out sometimes, especially at night.’
‘Well, would you look at that,’ Grace said, laughing as she nudged them.
Eva smiled as she watched two very young boys walking nearby, wearing only T-shirt-type tops with no underpants on. They stopped to relieve themselves, peeing on the grass in full view.
‘I don’t think modesty is a concern here,’ April said with a giggle. ‘I only hope we don’t encounter any full-grown men with the same attire!’
They all three linked arms and kept walking, and Eva agreed.
‘For sure!’ Grace said. ‘I wouldn’t know where to look!’
‘At their eyes, Grace,’ April teased. ‘You’d be like a man not being able to take his eyes off a woman’s chest.’
‘Like you wouldn’t look!’ Grace laughed.
Eva giggled then, too, and the laughter was contagious. When Eva finally straightened and they started to walk again, she felt lighter somehow. It felt good to let it all out, and suddenly the sun was warmer on her shoulders, the air easier to breathe.
‘Come on—I want to see what Casbah is all about,’ Grace said.
They wandered until they finally reached their destination, finding narrow streets that were so different from where they were based. Lining up single file, they followed Grace, with Eva at the rear, walking down the overcrowded street that seemed to be teeming with people. Sweat clung to the stale air between the buildings, and Eva found herself scanning the dark faces they passed, amazed at how different the people looked, dressed, and even smelled.
‘Up there,’ Grace called out, looking back over her shoulder as she spoke. ‘That’s the palace I want to visit!’
Eva was happy to follow along and take in the sights, so if Grace was so determined to visit the palace, then she wasn’t going to complain. She wanted to keep busy instead of living in her own thoughts.
She noticed armed guards were posted outside most of the larger buildings, and she wondered who they were protecting or what they were stationed there for.
‘Are we supposed to be this far away from our camp?’ Eva asked April, shuffling closer to her.
‘We weren’t told about anywhere being off limits, were we?’ April asked.
‘No, but I just ...’ She sighed. Maybe she was being overcautious. ‘I just wondered about those armed guards, if we’re actually safe here or not.’
April’s brows pulled close together, and she nodded. ‘Hmm, maybe you’re right. Grace,’ she called.
Grace spun around, wide eyed with excitement. ‘It’s here. Come on—there aren’t even guards. Quickly!’
Eva hesitated, but Grace skipped straight up the steps to the palace, and the last thing she wanted was to be left behind, alone, on the streets. Her red hair and her friends’ blonde locks made them stand out among the sea of women in head scarves, and there were far more men than women filling the town.
‘Are you certain we can just walk in?’ she asked.
‘Well, if we couldn’t, wouldn’t there be guards stopping us?’ Grace asked. ‘Come on—I don’t want to miss out. I heard some of the soldiers talking about this place and how amazing it is. This is where the bey lives—he’s like the mayor of Casbah—and I heard that the bathroom faucets are made of gold.’
‘Sounds extravagant.’
Parts of where they were seemed so poor, the homes so basic and the people dressed as if they had no possessions to their names, but this palace was pure opulence. They walked quietly, jaws dropping at the sights: the stuffed animals that looked so real they might spring into life and pounce at any moment, the unusual lights and furniture so unlike anything she’d seen before. Upstairs they silently pushed open the door to the bathroom, and they all stood, stunned.
‘This is insane!’ Grace whispered.
‘Is thatfuron the toilet seat?’ April asked.
Eva stepped past them, laughing to herself as she confirmed that it most definitelywasfur lined. ‘It must be awfully unhygienic,’ she whispered. ‘And look.’
The bathtub was lined with fur too. It was the oddest bathroom she’d ever seen in her life.
