CATHERINE
Washington: 1940
5
Washington, D.C., was the most exciting city that Catherine Alexander had ever seen. She
had always thought of Chicago as the heartland, but Washington was a revelation. Here
was the real core of America, the pulsating center of power. At first, Catherine had been
bewildered by the variety of uniforms that filled the streets: Army, Navy Air Corps,
Marines. For the first time Catherine began to feel the grim possibility of war as
something real.
In Washington the physical presence of war was everywhere. This was the city where
war, if it came, would begin. Here it would be declared and mobilized and masterminded.
This was the city that held in its hand the fate of the world. And she, Catherine Alexander,
was going to be a part of it.
She had moved in with Susie Roberts, who was living in a bright and cheery fourth
floor walk-up apartment with a fair-sized living room, two small adjoining bedrooms, a
tiny bathroom and a kitchenette built for a midget. Susie had seemed glad to see her. Her
first words were:
“Hurry and unpack and get your best dress steamed out. You have a dinner date
tonight.”
Catherine blinked. “What took you so long?”
“Cathy, in Washington, it’s the girls who have the little black books. This town is so
full of lonely men, it’s pitiful.”
They had dinner that first evening at the Willard Hotel. Susie’s date was a
congressman from Indiana and Catherine’s date was a lobbyist from Oregon, and both
men were in town without their wives. After dinner they went dancing at the Washington
Country Club. Catherine had hoped that the lobbyist might be able to give her a job.
Instead she got the offer of a car and her own apartment, which she declined with thanks.
Susie brought the congressman back to the apartment, and Catherine went to bed. A
short time later she heard them go into Susie’s bedroom, and the bedsprings began to
creak. Catherine pulled a pillow over her head to drown out the sound, but it was
impossible. She visualized Susie in bed with her date making wild, passionate love. In the
morning when Catherine got up for breakfast, Susie was already up, looking bright and
cheerful, ready to go to work. Catherine searched for telltale wrinkles and other signs of
dissipation on Susie, but there were none. On the contrary she looked radiant, her skin
absolutely flawless. My God, Catherine thought, she’s a female Dorian Gray. One day