Mrs. Lieutenant: A Sharon Gold Novel Read Online Free Page A

green lawns, trees shading
the buildings. The overall effect reminds Wendy of her college
campus, and she resists the impulse to twist her head around,
searching for the campanile at the center of the college
quadrangle.
    They follow the signs to the post housing
office, where Nelson introduces himself to the clerk: "I'm
Lieutenant Johnson. I understand you have a list of available
units."
    The clerk hands Nelson a manila envelope.
"The list is inside. The ones with vacancies as of yesterday
afternoon are marked," she says. "The one over in Muldraugh north
of the post – Hansen's Apartments – is a good one. You should try
there first."
    Back in the car, they study the list and the
accompanying map. Then they drive to Muldraugh and pull into
Hansen's – a paved central parking lot surrounded on three sides by
two-storey motel-like units. Sprinkled across the lot are a handful
of cars, but no people.
    The sun has already begun to fry the air, the
moisture oozing onto their skin. Overgrown wild grass, edging the
buildings, stands motionless. Food odors transmit signals from the
closest units.
    A hand-lettered OFFICE sign points to their
right. Wendy fans herself with the housing list as they enter the
office, where a man in a dirty t-shirt sits at a desk holding a
bottle of beer.
    "Hello," Nelson says, not offering his hand.
"I'm Lieutenant Johnson. This is my wife. We've come about the unit
to rent."
    The man doesn't stand. He just stares at
them, then grins. Watching him, Wendy's neck hairs itch.
    "Sorry to say, that's been rented. I was just
about to call the housing office and tell 'em."
    Nelson says nothing. Wendy says "Thank you"
as she follows Nelson out of the office.
    "Damn!" Nelson says as they drive out of the
parking lot.
    "What's the matter?"
    "I'm sure that unit's not rented yet; he just
wouldn't rent to us."
    "Why not? He knows you're an officer."
    Nelson turns his eyes on her, then swings his
eyes back to the road. "An officer yes, but still a black man," he
says. "Hell, I don't know if it's going to be any different here
than elsewhere. We're still going to be treated like shit."
    Wendy stares out her side window while she
wipes away the tears trapped in her eyes. "Can we go back to the
housing office and complain?" she asks. "Maybe they can convince
that man to let us rent from him."
    "I don’t think so. We should just try the
trailer park on the list and not waste our time with the
others."
    Wendy gasps. "Live in a trailer?" White trash
does that back home. She isn't going to live like they do.
    And how can she tell her mama what kind of
place she and Nelson rented? If her mama finds out, she and her
papa might arrive on the trailer's doorstep and demand Wendy pack
up and return home with them.
    "It's our best bet. People will be more
willing to rent to us if we're not living right next to some white
folk, sharing a common wall and everything. I'm not up to taking a
lot of this shit. It's only for a few weeks."
    A few weeks! A few weeks of living in a tiny,
dirty trailer with a little patch of gravel in front of a rickety
metal doorstep? A few weeks of being totally isolated there, all
alone, except when her husband comes home in the evenings! How will
she ever survive?
    As Wendy tries to decide what to say to
Nelson, that little familiar flutter ripples through her. It's been
there since the first time she laid eyes on Nelson.
    She smiles to herself. She'll put up with
whatever it takes to stay with her husband – she isn't going
home.
    “Where’s the trailer park?” she asks.

SHARON – II – May
5
Anti-war leaders call for national university
strike to protest the war ... May 4, 1970
    “ ... be proud of the fact that you are making an
effort to contribute to the esprit de corps that is developed when
we serve with the United States Army as part of a happy, congenial
and proud family.” Mrs. Lieutenant booklet
    Sharon and Robert leave her grandparents'
apartment and take the road south of