All Sexual Activity In This Story Is Between Characters Who Are 18+ Years Old
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September 20, 1940
"F & C... Farragut Flyer for... SAINT LOO-is... and Chi-CAHHgo... now boarding on Track TWOOO... Last CALLLLL!"
When Arlene Hart heard the Mopac Station loudspeaker announce her train's re-boarding she quickly ended her phone call to Mary Trotter. "Hey! Got to get aboard... We have an hour in St. Louis... I'll call you again, after five... THANKS, Mary!" She slammed the pay phone receiver onto its hook and whirled from the booth. Running was not necessary, but she was far too excited to walk.
Boarding the club car, third in the consist, after the locomotive, and the private coach which Mary was so generously underwriting, Arlene nearly bowled over the steward. The tall thin older Negro reflexively extended his arms, steadying himself, and her, at the top of the steps. His long fingers naturally flexed into her back beneath her armpits and the heels of his hands, inadvertently, but significantly, crushed the outsides of her braless breasts. Not even the thickness of her felted wool fall coat blocked the information from their respective nerves.
The steward immediately withdrew his hands and apologized for his rudeness without acknowledging it. "Ah'm sorry, ma'am," he drawled. "Ah was lookin' left an' walkin' right... di'n't SEE yo'. SO sorry... is yo' awright?"
Arlene blushed at the pleasure she had felt from the black man's accidental intimate contact. Flustered, she replied, "Y-yes, quite alright. Thank you, Dexter." Recovered, she smiled and added graciously, "You saved me from stumbling. It was ME who was in the HURRY. I'm sorry I bumped into you!"
The black man, with thirty years on the F & C line, was still unaccustomed to any rare deference shown by passengers. This thirty-seven-year-old white woman's sincere statement made him blink. Though he truly regretted inappropriately touching her, he could not deny how her soft roundness made him feel. Sighing, he thought about his wife, waiting for him in their Fuller Park bungalow. "Jes' twelve hours, Maizy, an' Ah will FUCK yo' like they's no tomorrow!" Aloud, he apologized again, "No, ma'am... was ME who was clumsy... an' Ah'm sorry."
Arlene dropped the argument and changed topics. "Dexter," she said. "The Halsteads will be in the varnish for the rest of the trip. Please have their personal effects brought up from whatever compartment they were in." As she opened the interior door to the club car, she paused and added, "And please bring another ice bucket, with a bottle of Veuve Clicquot, and a dinner menu. I'll order a supper to be served an hour outside of St. Louis."
Glad to be in a comfortable role once again, Dexter maintained an impassive face and answered, neutrally, "Yes, ma'am. Right away." Then he and Arlene turned, in opposite directions, and continued on their way.
Entering Eli Farragut's custom-built eighty-two-foot Milwaukee Road rail car, Arlene heard the Steinway Model S baby grand piano. Nineteen-year-old Tom Halstead, Jr. was banging the ivories while his father, accompanying him on a harmonica, kept the beat with a tapping foot. The Australians were teaching her daughter their unofficial national song.
When Arlene passed through the lounge area, into the main salon proper, she saw her nineteen-year-old daughter, Cynthia, crowding behind Jr., and swaying in her slip, as the young man sang, loudly, if not on key:
"Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled:
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."
Side-stepping the long rosewood dining set and moving between the pumpkin-and-silver paisley damask ensemble of overstuffed armchairs and the gold silk brocade settee arrangement where they all had played strip-Two Up, Arlene weaved her way to the trio. She slipped up behind Tom Sr. and hugged him from behind. He promptly threw his Hohner on a chair, spun in her embrace and kissed her, hard. Letting her up for air, the elder Halstead winked, grinned and complimented, "THERE'S the sweetest mouth organ I'LL every play!"
Arlene's face colored as she protested, "Are you SURE you're Australian? That sounds like a lot of Irish blarney, to me." She laughed and added, "But you can play it anytime, Holly." Then, proving her statement's truth, she fixed her lips to his and dangled her raised right foot as she leaned into his chest, balancing herself on her left leg.
Young Tom quit playing, pivoted on the piano bench and plopped Cynthia onto his lap. He swiftly slid his right palm along her bare ribs and cupped her breast, while he wedged his left fingers high between her thighs and teased her unprotected twat's tangled brunette thicket. Improvising on his father's impromptu musical quip, Tom said, huskily, "And YOU'RE the favorite instrument for MY top hand and bottom hand to run along."
While Cynthia curled into her new fiancΓ©'s chest, nuzzling his neck as he fiddled and tweaked, Arlene broke her kiss and updated the group. "Before we get TOO rambunctious, let me TELL you... I've arranged for us to keep the car all the way to Chicago." Looking meaningfully from one Tom to the other, she went on, "AND porters are going to be here shortly with your things from your old compartment. Also, I've ordered another bottle of champagne and a dinner menu."