Chapter 1

I guess I should introduce myself and tell you about me and my family. My name is Sue Donaldson. I am the youngest of 5 kids, three girls and two boys. At the time this story starts I am 16 years old and a senior in high school. I am the youngest senior, due to my birthday and my brains. I go to a public school in Helena, Ark. The schools were desegregated a couple of years ago and all the white kids from better families go to a private “Christian” school. My family can’t afford the tuition.

Now a little about my family.

I was raised in a three bedroom trailer. My parents slept in one room, my brothers in another, me and my two sisters in the other. Crowded was the word for it. But now I have a bedroom all to myself.

My oldest sister, Bev, got married a couple of years ago and lives with her husband up near Memphis. He is some type of engineer at a plant and they have a nice house. She is 4 months pregnant at this time. She is my role model. I want to be just like her and have a life like hers.

My two brothers got caught growing marijuana and are serving time in a federal prison. The sister closest to my age ran off with a Mexican. They live up in Kansas and work at a slaughter house. She has told us that he slaps her around sometimes, but only when she deserves it or when he is drunk. Definitely not my future if I can help it. Do you get the picture of my family? Let’s just say that if you looked up the definition of poor white trash in the dictionary you would find our family photo.

Today I am on a field trip to the Baptist School of Nursing in Memphis. Not that I have any dreams of being a nurse. No, that is not in my future either. When I graduate I’ll get a job. Nobody in my family ever went to college.

After our group, there were 5 of us all girls, watched an ambulance pull up to the emergency room entrance and some guy rolled in squirting blood all over everybody, we were back in the lobby and being lectured on how nurses save lives. I had lost any interest in being there and was hoping Bev would show up and save me the trip to the other wards. You see I was going to spend the weekend at her house. Everything was arranged.

That was when he walked in. He was dressed in his military uniform and had a paper in his hand. He walked to the front desk and was directed to a bulletin board. He walked over and pinned the paper he was carrying to the board, turned and left.

Oh My God! That was the most handsome man I had ever seen in my life! He was tall maybe 6’2” or 3”. He weighed probably 210 lbs. at most. He looked like he was in really good shape. His hair was cut very short but it was black and his eyes were blue! I am in love!

I just have to see what he pinned to that bulletin board so I walk over after he left and read it. He wants a date to The Marine Corps Ball! I do not know what a “Ball” is but I suspect it is a big party and I want to go. Let me explain.

Last year we had our junior- senior prom. There was not one boy in either the junior or senior class that I wanted to go with. My school was full of kids that either had dreams of being professional athletes or of becoming drug dealers. No way was I going to be led into that kind of life so I passed on the two that had asked me out. I ended up sitting home the night of the prom. This year I expected the same. So maybe, just maybe, this Ball could be my prom. Okay, I know what you are thinking, I am 16 and this guy looks about 25. But I am tall 5’ 10” and I am pretty well developed. Know what I mean? 34-C, now you get it.

I take the paper off the wall and put it in my coat pocket. Nobody else is going to get a chance at him. I’ll call him later. The field trip could not end soon enough.

Bev picked me up at 2 pm and wanted to know what I thought about nursing. She would help me get into school if that is what I wanted.

“Never going to happen so forget about that. We have something much more interesting and important to plan.” I took the paper out of my pocket and showed it to her.

“This ball is going to be my senior prom. But I need your help, please?”

“Do you think you can pull off posing as a 19 year old nursing student?”

“I am going to give it my best shot.”

When we got to her house in Germantown I called the number on the paper.

“Marine Recruiting Station, Corporal Cooper speaking, how may I help you?”

“I am calling for Captain Wade.”

“Just a minute, ma-am.”

He called me Ma-am! This corporal is older than me but he thinks I am a “Ma-am” this is going to work!