The Shelter

Frank, sitting at his desk and flipping the pages of a comic book, glanced up at the slightly ajar door. On it was a full-length poster of the actress Daisy Fleur. “Honey,” he said, “if they pick me today, I might get to see one of your shows. And trust me, I’ll make sure to get backstage so we can meet. And when that happens, it’s you and me forever.”
The door got pushed, opening all the way, and turned the poster toward the wall. In walked Frank’s two closest friends.
“New Batman?” Charlie asked, as he set himself on Frank’s bed, placing the pillow between his back and the headboard.
“Yeah. The Joker’s back.”
“Lend me it when you finish,” said Teddy, as he followed in and shut the door. He stepped around Frank’s chair and sat on the floor, leaning against the side of the bed and facing Frank.
“I’m done with it.” Getting up, he dropped it onto Teddy’s lap. “I’ll be right back.” He left the room and returned with a bag of potato chips, paper plates, and open bottles of beer. He passed them out.
Charlie raised his Budweiser. “Such a good host.”
“It’s almost time," Frank said. The three reached across and clinked their bottles.
“Yeah,” Teddy replied. “Let’s get this baby done with. I couldn't sleep last night.”
“Relax,” Frank advised. “Keep calm.”
For the boys, in a 1920’s apartment building in Queens, Frank’s bedroom had been the default hangout for most of their high school years. At Teddy and Charlie’s homes, their parents tended to walk in unannounced, but when Frank's door was closed, his mom or dad always knocked.
If nothing else, it gave them a moment to shove the Playboy magazines under the bed. The room, a tight rectangle, fitted a dresser and mirror on one side and the dark walnut desk with a bookshelf on the other. Between them, his twin size bed split the room and faced a single window frame that looked onto the back of another apartment house.
Charlie reached into the bag of chips.
“Come on,” Frank ordered. “You’ve been here a million times. Take your shoes off and use the dish. I don’t want street dirt or crumbs on my bed. This building has bugs in it and I don't need them finding me courtesy of you.”
“You’re starting to sound like my mother.” Charlie untied his sneakers and tossed them, almost hitting the door.
“I’ll kill you if you hit Daisy,” Frank growled.
“It’s a freaking picture," laughed Charlie. “She’s not real.”
“Oh, the stench!” Teddy grabbed his neck to simulate choking. “The foul odor of Charlie’s unwashed socks!” His head was under where Charlie’s feet were. Teddy stuck his nose into his bottle and inhaled. Pulling back, he sighed, “Ah! The sweet fragrance of barley and hops have saved me. I live another day.”
Charlie swung his right foot over and bumped his head.
“Frank, tell him to stop. The older he gets, the younger he acts.”
Frank switched on the radio on the bookshelf. “Okay little men, enough fun and games. It starts any minute.”
A voice, sounding detached, as if it had no interest in what it was about to say, spoke: “This is how we proceed; the drum with the capsules has rotated for the past hour mixing all the dates up. When we retract the first one, we’ll open it and withdraw the slip of paper with a birthdate. That first selection is matched to the number one, the second birth date picked goes to number two, and so on. For example, if your birthday is July 15th and is picked 40th, that date is number 40 in the lottery. We continue until all 366 dates are chosen.”
“I thought there’s only 365 days in a year.” Charlie passed the chips to Teddy.
“They include February 29th,” Frank answered.
“No one gets off,” Teddy commented, turning the pages of the comic.
Frank raised the volume. “Here goes nothing.”
As the birthdays were called out, Charlie glanced at the poster and sighed. “Most of all, I would miss the girls. Especially my Lilly.”
“Cheer up,” Frank offered. “If they send you, it won't be girls you’ll be dealing with. It'll be—” he pointed up— “women! And if I go, I plan to meet Daisy at one of the USO shows she tours in.”
“Breaking into her mansion has to be an easier way to meet her than going to war,” Charlie countered. “Even if it gets you arrested.”
“Then you’ll be in jail and they won’t draft you,” added Teddy.
“When she gets to know me, she’ll drop the charges. She’ll have me move in with her.”
“You’re in a fantasy world,” Teddy said. “Me, I’m just trying to get Iris on my street to like me. I need to figure out how to make an impression.”
“Try Frank's method,” Charlie quipped. “Break into her house. That would make an impression, especially if you go to jail.”
“You guys are of no help.”
“I bet,” said Frank, studying his beer bottle, “women overseas are very exotic.”
“Not if you wind up in one of those places where sex is illegal,” Charlie responded.
The other two looked at Charlie.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Teddy asked. “Where is sex illegal? Where the hell did you hear such a horrifying concept?”
“I kinda remember something about a group that requires lifelong abstinence. Had to be on the other side of the world. Maybe Siam? Unsurprisingly, they’ve had a problem getting new members.”
“You idiot.” Teddy waved the comic book. “That’s the Shakers. They’re Americans and live in the New England states.”
“Listen—” Frank crossed his fingers—“they've passed 150, and we haven’t been called.
So far so good.”
Moments later, the voice stated, “Number 155, June 9th.”
“Not so good!” blurted Teddy. “Damn it, Frank, they got me. You’re a jinx.”
“You don’t know that they got you. Stay cool.” Frank rose. “I’ll get you more beer. What about you, Charlie?”
“Yeah, I’ll have another. We’re going to need it.” Charlie reached over and squeezed Teddy’s shoulder. “Hang in there, bud.”
Frank came back as Charlie said, “They say the women in other countries are looser than the ones in the US.”
“Who’s ‘they?’” Teddy asked. “Are you just trying to make me feel better?”
Frank handed out the bottles and returned to his chair. “Yeah, Charlie, I like what you’re saying, but who’s ‘they?’”
“It’s stuff I’ve heard. Wild stories of wild women who can’t resist American men.”
“Come on,” Teddy turned to Charlie. “You already mistook New England for Siam. And Siam is now Thailand. Is it your usual source of information, strange people you meet in bars? As number 155, I’m probably going to war. Get trained to hunt and kill. Me of all people. Me, the guy who always ran from street fights.”
Charlie chuckled. “Despite your cowardice, we still accept you.”
“Enough,” Frank counseled, raising his voice. "Those things don’t matter any more.”
“Number 188,” droned the voice. “May 30th.”
“Shit!” Charlie slammed his bottle onto the nightstand and glared at the window. “188? Wait. I think that puts me on the fence. Maybe yes, maybe no.”
“Charlie,” said Teddy, staring at the floor. “You and I were born two days apart but right now two days could be the difference between life and death.”
“Both of you, take a breather. Don’t be so dramatic. It doesn’t automatically mean you’re going to be drafted and sent to Vietnam. It could be West Germany or South Korea. Hell, they might keep you stateside.”
Frank’s birthday, number 196, was called. “Oh,” he whispered. “Looks like we’re both on the fence.”
Charlie made a fist and shook it, knocking the chips to the floor.
“What’s got into you? Now I’ll have to vacuum or there'll be a bug invasion by tomorrow.”
“I’m frustrated.” Charlie got off the bed and proceeded to pick up the spilled chips. “I’m gonna marry Lilly and now it’s up in the air.”
“Wow, that’s news,” Frank said. “I didn’t see that coming.”
Teddy raised his bottle. “Congratulations.”
Charlie shrugged his shoulders. “Actually, I haven’t asked her.”
As the three sat mum listening to additional numbers being announced, Frank studied his friend as he finished cleaning up. “Charlie, did you just decide you want to get married? Would you not ask her if your number guaranteed you wouldn’t be drafted?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t want to lose her to somebody else.”
Teddy threw the comic book at Charlie. “Oh great. Charlie can’t figure out if he wants to marry Lilly or not, and Frank’s in love with a poster. Me, I’ll go to war and Iris won’t even know I existed.” He gazed at the furnishings around him and started to cry. “All the years we’ve hung out in this room, I always felt safe. Now, I feel like that voice on the radio is breaking in and plucking us out.”
“Come on, Ted,” Frank offered his hand. “Get up. Who knows, the war may end before we have to report.”
“Don’t bullshit us, Frank,” Charlie said, tossing the comic on the bed. “The war’s been going on for over five years now and there’s no end in sight.”
The two reached down and helped Teddy stand.
“Look,” Frank said. “We can’t do anything about this now. Let’s go to the bar. It’s ‘Girls drink for a buck’ tonight. Let’s meet some and tell them our situation. Maybe they’ll feel sorry for us.”
“Maybe—” Teddy paused— “maybe they can save us.”
Frank placed his arm around Teddy. “Sure, that’s the spirit. Of the three of us, we'll make sure they focus on you first. Right, Charlie?”
“Yeah, you’ll be number one.”
The three clinked their bottles and headed out of the bedroom. Frank, being last, looked at the poster and whispered, “Daisy, maybe I’ll meet you or maybe I won’t. Either way, I will always love you.”