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The bus ride to their away game was high-spirited and jaunty. The Rockford Peaches had won the last six of their seven games, and the excitement at potentially winning a seventh was palpable. The Peaches had started to click - both on the field and off - and it showed. The women were excited, whispering and sharing gossip; they even broke into a song or two. Everyone was looking forward to a night out on the town and their game the following morning.
Jess McCready's eyes narrowed as the bus slowed to a stop. There wasn't a hotel in the area, or even a motel - just a big church, some shops, and what looked like a few office buildings. She grabbed her things and exited the bus with the rest of the team.
Sarge gathered everyone together, then led them toward the church, shouting something about adventure. Jess's brow furrowed even further. A nun, dressed in all white, approached from the front of the church.
"Welcome," she said as the group got closer.
"Hello, Sister," replied Sarge.
"While you are here at our Blessed Sacrament, you must be silent, except for words of prayer or service." What. The fuck.
"Follow me," the nun continued.
Jess's frown turned into an outright scowl.
The team followed the nun around the corner to the front entrance of the convent. "Guys guys guys," Jo interrupted after Sarge and the sister went inside, her grin showing widely across her face. "Bless me father for I have sinned, but please let me kick ass tomorrow!" It brought a laugh to the team, and even Jess had to crack a grin. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad here after all.
"Hey, how did you get those?" Jo asked.
Sleeping arrangements had been switched up last-minute, so Jess was rooming with Jo now. She was getting changed out of the dress she'd worn on the bus, and Jo was gesturing to the shorts she was wearing.
"I said they were for my brother," Jess grinned.
"Oh yeah? How many brothers you got?" Jo inquired, handing Jess a flask.
"A lot," Jess replied, taking the flask. Whiskey. Good whiskey.
"Hey, would you be up for going out on the town tonight?" she asked. It was dark out now, but the night was still young.
Jo took the flask back. "Maybe? Where were you thinking of going?"
"I heard about a place, it should be good. Word-of-mouth only." Jess was pulling on pants and fishing a shirt out of the pile of clothes at the foot of her bed.
"Ok, yeah, I'll go. Sounds like it'll be a good time."
"Don't you have to check with Greta?" Jess asked.
"Greta? No, I mean, normally I would, but I think she's going to be... preoccupied tonight, if you know what I mean."
Jess snorted. "Yeah, sure. I'm going to go see if Lupe wants to come."
"Lupe?" Jo asked, raising an eyebrow. "She one of us?"
"Have you seen that woman? You bet she's one of us."
"Psst."
Lupe was laying in bed, lights still on, staring at the ceiling. At the sound, she looked over to Esti, who just shrugged.
A soft knock at the door. "Psst. Hey." It was coming from the other side.
Lupe groaned and rolled out of bed and headed towards the door. Another soft knock. "I'm coming!" she whispered loudly. She threw open the door to see Jess in the hallway. She'd already changed out of her dress and into pants. It wasn't really a surprise - Jess hated dresses. "What?!" Lupe exclaimed as quietly as she could.
"Hey," Jess said, giving her a quick nod of greeting. "Me and Jo are going to sneak out to a bar. Want to come?"
A bar? "Dude, we're supposed to be on lockdown, and we're not supposed to be talking." Lupe hissed the last part as quietly as she could, sneaking a glance down the hallway.
"Yeah? You afraid of getting caught or something?" Something about the swagger in Jess's voice got her a little excited.
"No, ‘course not." Lupe scoffed. "What bar?"
"It's called the Clifton Tap, a friend of mine told me about it."
"A gay bar?"
"Yes, a gay bar, you think I'd be caught dead in a straight bar?" Jess gave her a mock disapproving glare.
"¿Que está pasando?" Esti asked from her bed. What's going on?
"Nada. Vamos a un bar," Lupe replied. Nothing, we're going to a bar.
"¿Puedo venir contigo?" Esti asked. Can I come with you?
Lupe rolled her eyes. "¿Y cuántos años tienes?", she asked. How old are you, again?
Esti huffed and rolled over in bed.
"Not coming?" Jess asked.
Lupe shook her head. "Who's this friend?"
"Name's Vi, from back in Rockford."
"How do you know you can trust them?"
"She's a friend of Dorothy, if you know what I mean."
"No I don't know what you mean," Lupe said, slightly exasperated.
"Look, I'll introduce you when we get back. You coming or not?"
"Guy's been so depressed," Clance complained. "Ever since I gave him the draft orders, he doesn't even want to get out of bed. I don't know how to cheer him up." Clance and Max were on a stroll through town. It was mid-morning - Clance had errands to run, and with Guy still in bed, she had dragged Max along to help.
"That sucks," Max said glumly, her hands in her pockets.
"We're going to drive over to Milwaukee later today, Guy's got family there. Everyone wants to see him before he gets shipped off to the war."
"That'll be nice?" Max ventured.
"Nooo, it's going to suuuuuck," Clance exclaimed. "I don't want to go - everyone's going to be sad and crying and it'll be like going to his funeral before he's even dead!"
"No, it won't be like that! Everyone's going to be happy they get to see him. It'll be fun."
"You've obviously never met Guy's family," Clance accused softly.
Max shrugged. They stopped at an intersection and waited for the walk signal.
"Besides," Clance continued, "Guy's going out with some friends tonight, and I don't wanna step on his toes, you know, it being him and some old school friends. So I'm going to stay at home with the rest of his family and tell everyone how sad I'm going to be that he's gone and blaaaaaaaaah I don't wanna do it, Max!"
"Hey, hey! It's going to be OK, you're going to get through this," Max reassured her. After a moment, she continued, "Well if they're going to have a guys night out, what about we have a girl's night out?"
The walk signal lit up, and Clance gave her heavy side-eye as they started crossing the street. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I mean, I'll come too!"
"You'll come too?" Clance said with as much incredulousness as she could muster.
"Yeah! I'll come along, we do all the family things, Guy and his friends go out and do whatever, and then we'll go and do our own thing?
"...our own thing?" Clance asked. She thought about it for a moment. "Actually I kinda like the sound of that."
"Yeah! We could go see Lake Michigan, or go hang out at a bar, or, you know, see what else is happening on a Friday night."
"Two women going to a bar? When both of us is taken? We'll be breaking hearts all night long and girl I do not know if I have the energy for that."
"I'll ask around at the factory," Max said quickly, "see if any of the women know of a bar where the men will leave you alone. There's got to be some place, right?"
"If it exists, honey I will be there ALL night," Clance said.
After a few moments, Clance added, "Aren't the Peaches playing in Kenosha this weekend?"
"Whaaaaat, really? I had no idea!" Max said, flustered, trying to act innocent. "Pffffffff."
Clance gave her a knowing look. "Riiiiight."
Max and Clance stood on the street outside what looked like a dilapidated building. It was night, and it had rained recently, so the pavement was still wet. The windows were boarded up or covered in black fabric and no light was escaping them. The sound of music was very faint - far quieter than what either of them had been expecting out of a bar. Only the small white lettering reading "Clifton Tap" on the door in front of them suggested the building was not actually abandoned.
"You sure this is the place?" Clance asked hesitantly.
"Yeah, it's supposed to be like this. It's what the women at the factory said," Max explained, trying to feel confident. "It used to be a speakeasy during prohibition, and the new owners kinda liked the mystery, so they didn't try too hard to make it look pretty."
"The real mystery is who is going to murder us and find our bodies," chimed Clance, who was clearly not excited about being on a quiet, dark street in a strange city. "You sure they'll let colored folk in?"
"Gracie and Kendall swore up and down it was a mix-race bar. Said one of the owners was Black."
"Yeah, sure, whatever you say. But if we get murdered tonight I am going to haunt your ass until the end of time."
"We're only going to get murdered if we stay out here. Come on, let's go inside." Max grabbed Clance's arm and pulled her through the door.
A short hallway lay on the other side. There were a number of doors leading to who knows where, but a solid-looking man in a tight t-shirt with large arms stood in front of another door that read "Clifton Tap". He had a no-nonsense buzz cut and looked like he could bench-press Clance and Max at the same time. Clance squeaked a little, but Max was grateful that he was Black, too.
The man looked them over critically, then after a moment said, "Evening, ladies," and made way for them to pass.
Max whispered a quiet "thank you" before she slipped past him.
The bar on the other side was long and narrow and populated with a variety of colorful people. Two bartenders worked behind the bar, a Black woman and an White man, both middle-aged. Bottles of liquor lined the walls behind them, and a large mirror reflected the bar's patrons back to them. There were small booths on the wall opposite the bar, and only enough space between the booths and the bar stools for a person to squeeze past. The bar was crowded, but not full, and the music was much quieter than Max was used to. She could actually hear herself think.
"Oh, I think we under-dressed..." Clance said next to her. Max followed her gaze to a trio of finely-dressed people at the far side of the bar. The man wore a sharp black tuxedo with a bow tie and the two women next to him were dressed in long, sparkling gowns - one dark green and one deep purple - wearing what looked like long velvet gloves. They were laughing and touching each other in a sign of familiarity.
"Uhhh, no, see, look over there," Max said, gesturing at some women sitting in the middle of the bar. "See? If anything, we're over-dressed." The three women were dressed much more plainly - simple white blouses, a simple black skirt. Wait, were those slacks? Realization crept over Max's face, and she suddenly got nervous - more so than she already was. Those were Peaches! Right here, in the bar! With her!
"Uhhhh," she stammered, then grabbed Clance's arm and dragged her into a nearby booth.
"Hey!" Clance protested, but she allowed herself to be pulled along.
"Shirley?" Lupe asked.
"Are you serious?" Jo asked in mock indignation. "That woman would light me on fire if she thought I were gay."
Jess cackled. "Yeah she would - she acts all innocent, but those are the ones you've got to watch out for."
"OK, then, what about Maybelle?" Lupe asked.
"Ha! I wish!" cackled Jess again. "You're terrible at this!"
"Shut up!" Lupe retorted, punching her in the arm. She looked towards Jo. "Ok, you?"
Jo nodded.
"And Greta?"
"Yup, that's my girl!" Jo declared, raising her glass and taking a drink of her beer.
"So, you two are a couple?"
"Me and Greta? Ha, no. We're partners in crime, is what we are. I've got her back, and she's got mine."
"So you're not dating?" Lupe pressed.
"Nope," Jo replied. "She's my best friend."
"Ok, ok," Lupe said, scratching her head. "Carson?"
"That one's married," Jess responded.
"That doesn't mean anything," Jo muttered under her breath as she took another drink, but it looked like the other two women didn't hear her.
"What about that Blue Jays girl - the pretty one? Emma?"
Jess whistled. "Lord, if she were gay, I would die happy."
Lupe grinned, starting to feel a little more relaxed. She'd never been out with her teammates like this before, and it was only just now starting to feel like she was passing the test. "So, like, how do you know? How do you tell who's gay and who's not?"
Jess leaned back onto the bar and gave Lupe an appraising look. "You want me to show you how to find out if a girl's gay?" The smugness in her tone practically dripped off of her words.
Jo broke out into a wide grin.
Lupe felt a little nervous. "Uh, yes?"
Jess leaned in. Close. Lupe suddenly felt herself go hot. Jess's face was inches from hers, and her teammate was staring directly into her eyes. Only her family invaded her personal space like this, and Lupe had been living among the Peaches long enough that it felt like an intrusion. She was suddenly uncertain.
"Hey," Jess said softly, staring intently at her. "You remind me of my friend Dorothy, do you know her?"
"Who.. is Dorothy?" Lupe stammered.
"I could... introduce you to her," Jess offered, leaning in another half-inch.
Lupe's heart was racing. It had been a long time since another woman had been this close to her, in this context. Jess was so close Lupe could smell the men's aftershave she was wearing. Lupe's breathing was suddenly quick, too. Did she want to be with Jess? Or did she want to be Jess?
A moment passed, and Jess leaned back onto the bar. "Let me know," she said, giving Lupe space again, and gave her a quick head nod and half-wink before grabbing her beer.
"Woo!" Jo finally let out a breath and fanned herself a little.
"OK, look, if we're going to a bar we have to order drinks," Clance said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Uh huh," Max agreed.
"That means going to the bar and asking the bartender for drinks," Clance prompted.
"Uh huh," Max agreed.
"Max! What is wrong with you! There ain't no reason to be scared in this place! Everyone here looks so nice."
Max shook herself, then leaned in over the table. Clance leaned in to match. "There are Peaches! At this bar!" Max whispered loudly.
"So?" Clance asked, clearly expecting more.
It took a moment before it dawned on her. "Ohhh, you're star struck!" Clance realized. "Hey, want me to introduce you?" She looked over to the bar, trying to see where the baseball players were.
"NO!" Max shouted, a little too loudly, and grabbed Clance as she started scooching towards the edge of the seat. "No, I do not want you to introduce me to the Peaches," Max said quickly, in a quieter tone.
"Why not? What are you so scared of? Which ones were they again?" Clance said, straining her neck to look at the crowd.
"I-don't-want-to-meet-the-Peaches!" Max said in a hurried and stern voice, giving Clance a serious look.
"Okay, okay, fine, you little scaredy cat. But give me your purse - you're buying the first round."
Clance made her way over to a clear spot at the bar. The establishment was not very crowded, but it was also not very large. She squeezed past two women in factory clothing, who smiled and made room for her to pass. "Hey there," one of them said in a friendly tone.
"Hi!" Clance said, smiling back. What a nice, friendly group of people, she thought.
She made it to the bar and flagged down the bartender, who nodded to indicate she had seen her. Clance used the spare moment to look around the bar. She saw a dollar taped to the mirror, with a note that said "first dollar earned!" There were some photographs of buildings and people from the surrounding area, and a view of Lake Michigan that must have been taken from an airplane. Two street signs hung in the corner - 4th and Juneau.
A woman next to Clance turned to face her and said, "Hey."
Clance looked at her - she was a scrawny Mexican woman, dressed in a suit coat and some nice pants. She wondered if these were the Peaches Max was hiding from. "Hi," she replied, in a friendly tone.
"So, uh, you come here often?"
"Me? Oh, no, this is my first time here! I'm not from around here."
"Oh! This is my first time too. So, uh, are you a friend of Dorothy?"
"Who?" Clance asked, confused. She heard giggling from behind the woman she was talking to.
The bartender showed up at that moment to take Clance's order. She asked for two beers, and paid using Max's money from the factory.
"Why didn't that work?" Lupe asked.
Jess laughed. "Because she's not like us," she explained.
"How could you tell?"
"You just can," Jess said. "You can tell by the way she was looking - she was looking at the place, at the things, at the decorations. She wasn't looking at the people - like Jo here is."
"What? Did you say my name?" Jo asked, distracted, her gaze on someone at the far side of the bar.
Jess leaned in close to Lupe, whose skin got hot again. Why was this so confusing?
"Now her friend - look at her friend," Jess said. "See how she's scared out of her mind? She's one of us."
"What, are all scared people gay?"
"No, dipshit!" Jess said, punching her in the arm.
"Hey!" Lupe protested. "Careful! Pitcher's arm!"
"Sorry, sorry," Jess said. She looked at Lupe for a moment. "Pitcher's arm, huh? You must be pretty strong?"
Lupe rolled her arm a few times. ‘Yeah, I'm pretty strong."
"You any good at arm wrestling?" Jess asked, a twinkle in her eye.
"I dunno. Yeah?"
"I bet you next beer I can beat you."
Lupe laughed. "You? Skinny arms? No way you can beat me."
"Hey! These arms aren't much skinnier than yours!"
"I'll, uhh, I'll catch up with you two later," Jo said, not looking at them, before getting off her stool and disappearing behind some people.
"Someone's smitten," Jess said, smirking. "Anyway, you wanna bet?"
"Hell yeah I do."
"You know, this place isn't so bad," commented Max, having relaxed after getting a beer in her.
"I know! Everyone's so friendly!" Clance exclaimed. "I wish there were more bars like this - I'd never go home!"
"Yeah! The women at the factory gave me a good tip," Max agreed, nodding her head. "Hey, you any good at darts?"
Clance snorted. "Ha! Me? Good at darts? Girl you know my aim is for shit."
Max laughed. "That's why it's so fun to play against you. Come play darts with me!"
"Fine," Clance agreed, "but if you win, you're buying."
"What? That don't make no kind of sense."
"Sure it does! You want to play, so you buy. And if I win, I'll be so damn happy I'll buy the whole damn bar a drink."
"Okay!" Max agreed, bouncing in her seat a little.
The two scooted out of their seats and headed over to the corner of the bar where a dart board had been set up. Two gentlemen had been standing near the dart board, having a quiet discussion, but excused themselves and left when Max and Clance walked up. "See!" Clance said in hushed tones, as if speaking too loudly would break the spell. "Everyone here is so nice!"
"Fuck!" grunted Lupe, rubbing her arm, having lost 3 times in a row. She wasn't used to losing and she didn't like it.
Jess cackled, and leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Lupe's face flushed. Jess had mentioned gay bars before, but Lupe had never been to one, and she was feeling really out of her element. Yeah, it was because she was definitely out of her element, and not because she was confused about Jess.
"OK, last round. If you win... I give you your coat back, and I buy beers for the rest of the night. I win... and you go talk to your friend's friend, the scaredy cat, the gay one. She don't look too scared anymore," Jess said with a grin.
Lupe knew it was a terrible deal, given her 3 game losing streak... but she was enjoying the competition with Jess, and the excuse to talk to a pretty girl was a pretty good one.
"Evening," Jo said as she walked up to a tall woman sitting alone at the end of the bar. The woman was wearing a long silver dress with a low-cut neck and had been absent-mindedly twirling a drink. She looked up when Jo approached, and her sad expression didn't change.
"You look like you've got a lot on your mind. Anything you'd like to talk over with a stranger over... another of what you're having?"
A tiny smile appeared on the woman's face. She made a small gesture at the seat next to her. "The name's Julia," she said
Jo grinned and took the seat. "It's nice to meet you, Julia, I'm Jo. What's on your mind?"
"Oh, um, it's kind of embarrassing." Julia looked around the bar for a moment. "I was supposed to meet someone here, but I'm beginning to think I've been stood up."
"Only a fool would miss a date with you." Jo took Julia's hand and kissed it softly. Julia's cheeks blushed a bright red.
"You're pretty good at darts," Lupe said, walking up to Max and Clance.
"Uggggggh she's too damn good at it, if you ask me," Clance said, exasperated, throwing up her hands.
"Uh, yeah, I've got a pretty good aim," Max said sheepishly. She recognized the Peaches' pitcher, but having gone through a few rounds of darts and beers, she wasn't feeling like jumping under a table like she had when she'd first arrived.
"You care for a game?" Lupe asked cautiously.
"Um," Max hesitated.
"Yes, she does," Clance answered loudly. "I'm sick and tired of losing to her. Maybe you can teach her a thing or two about darts." Clance grabbed Max's purse. "You're getting this round. AGAIN."
Max couldn't help but laugh. She and Lupe started collecting darts.
"So, you two together?" Lupe asked.
"Yup," Max answered, obviously misunderstanding the question. "Yeah, she's my best friend. She's got this thing going on with her husband and I'm helping her out with it."
"Thing?" Lupe asked.
"Yeah, he got drafted, so things are, uh, not great right now."
"Oh, that's rough," Lupe answered, unsure of what to say. A bullseye from Max. "Damn, girl! That's a good throw!"
"Hell yeah it was," Max said, the confidence coming back to her. "So you're the Pitcher for the Peaches, right?" It was probably too forward but Max wasn't too concerned about her inhibitions at the moment.
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
"You're on a winning streak," Max replied, shrugging. "You're kinda famous." A good toss from Lupe this time. Max whistled, "And you got good aim, is all I'm saying."
Lupe laughed. Was this flirting? She couldn't tell.
"So, uh, you like baseball?" Lupe ventured.
Max paused a few moments before answering. Lupe didn't remember her from tryouts, and she didn't quite feel like getting into it right now. Tonight was going to be a fun night - she could be mad about baseball later. "I've seen a game or two," she said coyly.
"You should come watch our game tomorrow. We're playing the Kenosha Comets."
"Oh, sorry, I don't go to baseball games to watch strangers play baseball." Max smiled a "sorry-not-sorry" smile. It was her turn, and she threw another dart.
"Well, then, let's not be strangers," Lupe said. She was trying to flirt back, but didn't know if she was doing it right.
Another night, Max might have been offended by the forwardness, but she was enjoying the attention. "Alright then," Max said. She turned towards Lupe and offered a hand. "I'm Maxine, but everyone calls me Max."
Lupe took her hand. "Hi Max, I'm Lupe."
"Nice to meet you, Lupe."
Lupe held that hand for an extra moment. What was she supposed to do? Do what guys do, and try to kiss her hand? Smile? Be suave? She'd been holding Max's hand long enough that it was starting to feel weird, but Max was smiling, and hadn't taken her hand back. Was this a sign? Should Lupe be more forward, make a move?
"Who's winning?" Clance interrupted, and Lupe jumped and let go of Max.
"I am," Max said confidently, grinning at a flustered Lupe who was trying to figure out what to do with her hands.
"Uggggh," Clance groaned.
"Last call!" shouted the male bartender, and the chatter in the bar intensified for a few minutes.
"Holy shit, last call!" Clance exclaimed. "Ohhh, if we stayed out later than Guy, he is going to be SO MAD!"
"Forget Guy, we were having a good time! And I beat you at darts like five times!" Max said.
"Yeah and I didn't pay for drinks all night!" Clance said smugly.
Lupe enjoyed watching the two friends banter. She realized that the night was ending, though, and they were going to go their separate ways. "So, uh, if you're ever in Rockford, you should look me up," Lupe said hesitantly.
"Oh, Max and I li-ahhh!" Max stepped on Clances foot before she could finish.
"I would like that," Max said, moving between Clance and Lupe. She smiled, brushing her hair behind her ear.
That was a good sign! Lupe told herself. Feeling a bit bolder, she looked around and grabbed a scorecard and a pen, then wrote the phone number for the Peaches's house on it. "Here," she said simply, offering it to Max.
Max took it, but her goodbye was interrupted by Clance grabbing her arm and pulling her out of the bar. "We gotta go!"
Lupe elbowed Jess, who had been chatting with a small woman in a lilac dress. "Hey, you ready to go?"
Jess looked to her, then looked back to the woman, and held her gaze for a few moments. Jess raised the woman's hand and kissed the back of it, which elicited a few shy giggles. "It was lovely meeting you Bev, maybe we'll meet up next time I'm in Kenosha."
The woman giggled. "I hope so," she said softly.
Jess disengaged, then grabbed Lupe by the shoulders. "Let's go find Jo," she said, still grinning.
"Not going home with Bev?" Lupe asked.
"Hell no, not unless I want to go straight from her place to the game!"
"Oh shit, you're right, we've got a game tomorrow!"
"No scaredy cat?" Jess asked, looking around.
"No," Lupe responded. "Gave her my number though."
"Way to go, tiger!" Jess slugged her in the shoulder.
Lupe grinned, feeling proud of herself. "Yeah, it wasn't so bad."
"We're baseball players, chicks dig us!" Jess said matter-of-factly.
The duo found Jo at the end of the bar, sitting next to a woman in a silver dress, holding her hand, laughing at some story she was telling. Jess grinned as they approached. "Hey, Jo," she called from a short distance. "You ready to head back?"
Jo looked at Jess, a smile on her face, then looked back at the woman she was with. After a few long moments and an exchanged look or two, Jo replied without breaking her gaze, "You two go on without me."
The woman across from her grinned.
The convent was dark, and Lupe and Jess snuck in through the back door they had left unlocked. They crept down the hallway to their rooms, careful not to make any noise.
They got to Lupe's room first. Lupe reached for the door, but Jess grabbed her by the arm and turned her around. Jess stepped forward, pushing her body into Lupe's, pressing the woman into the doorframe. Jess grinned as she watched Lupe's brain short-circuit, trying to form words. She leaned in close, and whispered into Lupe's ear. "Let me know when I can introduce you to Dorothy, okay?"
Lupe's mouth moved but no words came out. Jess suppressed a cackle, loving the power she had to make Lupe speechless. "Another night, then," she whispered. She lingered a moment longer, then turned and left, leaving her teammate breathing heavy in the hallway.