Dishonoring Jack

Chapter Five

 Jack leaned beneath the hand hewn kitchen table in the middle of her old farmhouse to fetch a wicker basket. Though wearied from another long day of work at the factory, Jack had promised Corrie and the rest of her friends that she would join them for dinner and bring goods from her victory garden to share with the injured men in the hospital.

She whistled as she left her ramshackle wooden farmhouse, the roof sagging from years of disrepair, and made her way to the gargantuan garden she tended behind the house. The tomatoes were red and plump, hanging so heavily off of the vine that the tomato plants bowed under their weight. Ripe squash and zucchini curled in the rich russet dirt and the sprouts of carrots crested in a neat row. A handful of peach, pear, and apple trees formed a small grove at the far end of Jack's victory garden, and Jack resisted the urge to pluck a ripe pear and bite into it.

Setting her basket to the side, Jack hiked her dress to her knees and fetched her shovel, the blade rent in two by too many unfortunate collisions with rocks beneath the surface. Though Jack would much prefer picking her vegetables and creating a delicious stew, she knew this produce could be put to much better use at Dr. Benjamin's medical practice for the many hungry soldiers.

Julius Booker had one asked Jack why she was so dedicated to serving a country that continually despised and looked down upon women, and Jack had no ready answer. It was true that though women were the very core and foundation of the United States they were still denied many rights taken for granted by the male population. Women still were not allowed to vote in the elections, but Jack had to believe that if any country were to grant equality to women and minorities, it would be the United States. Julius, perhaps more acquainted with prejudice than herself, had scoffed and called her idealistic, but Jack could not help but believe that her country had hope and this war was justified. She would continue to support it and hope that someday she would be rewarded for her patriotism.

"Enough of that nonsense," Jack chided herself aloud, taking the shovel and planting her booted foot on the shoulder and shoving it into the dirt. "Potatoes, that's what I need right now."

Jack sunk the shovel into the dirt and dug until she found a hill of Yukon gold potatoes. She fell to her knees and sifted through the dirt to pick up the potatoes and slip them into her wicker basket. Then she picked a handful of carrots and ten zucchinis. Jack contented herself with knowing that this would be enough to provide a vegetable stew for at least a few of the soldiers.

Standing up, Jack dusted off the knees of her dress, now stained by mud, and frowned--she only owned a few dresses, and now this one would need to be washed before she wore it into town. For the sake of her niece's reputation, she would have to change. Jack fetched her jacket and made her way back to the house as a rooster crowed, sorely confused on the time. Jack glanced at the small henhouse that stood between her home and that of her neighbors, the Bookers, and decided she would pick eggs for the hospital later this week. It would give her an excuse to visit her friends again.

As she glanced at the eggs, she caught a glint of the sun against metal near the Bookers' home. To her dismay, she saw a shiny black Model T Ford parked next to their house. One hand on her hip and the other wrapped through the rung of her basket, Jack studied the car. Could it be the same one that had nearly run her over the day before? Though automobiles were growing in popularity, few members of Irvington had Model Ts as shiny and new as this one. Jack's curiosity about the Bookers' mysterious guest grew, but she forced herself to ignore the enigma for the moment as she was already late for dinner.

Back inside the house, Jack chose to simply throw an apron over the dirtied dress, hoping no one would notice the stains just beneath the hem of the apron. Even if they did notice, Jack reasoned, they would hardly be surprised. Corrie often assured her that Jack's antics only endeared her to her friends and family.