Machine Dreams

Jonas let Reb do as he pleased and no one supervised Marthella. She didn’t really even have many friends; she was a strange girl. Reb was truant a lot and barely graduated in May; word was he and Marthella had been to Pittsburgh to the Carlyle Hotel and to the ocean, the beach down at Newport News.
    It wasn’t till July that everything blew up. Dot and I pulled into the parking lot out in front of the dance hall. The Pierce was already there, Reb and Marthella sitting in the front seat arguing. Dot and I went in. After a few minutes I went out to have a cigarette and they were still there. Reb was yelling at her and rammed the Pierce into reverse, like to back out of the lot. Then he stopped the car, leaned across, and opened her door, told her to get out. She pulled her door shut; he revved the car and drove fast into the street, going out toward the river. Something was going to happen. I left Dot and drove out the river road after them. I drove way out past the shanty houses, where nobody much lived and the river was deepest, but there was no sign of the Pierce. On the way back to town I saw a glimmer through the trees on the river side, and the rutted soft grass where Reb had pulled off and driven toward the water.
    I parked and walked a short distance through the trees. The Pierce was there, lights on and motor running, maybe a hundred feet back from the drop-off.
    I yelled at Reb, and damned if he didn’t put the car in gear. I thought he was going to back up, but he floored the gas. The Pierce lunged up, tires spraying dirt, then rolled fast over the harder sand. I saw Marthella twisted round, looking at me as the Pierce rolled forward, but she made no move to stop Reb or get out of the car. It was like something in a dream. The Pierce was shining in the moonlight and they hit the drop-off and sailed out. Seemed like they stayed in the air a long time, but I remember too well how it looked. There was still light in the sky and the car’s headlights looked like candle glow playing across the river. Thenthey hit, as water came up all around. The car sat a second and went under.
I didn’t know I wanted to hurt her. How bad did I want to hurt her? If I had wanted to, I would have had the windows rolled up, wouldn’t I?
I couldn’t move, it happened so fast. But I jumped in after them pretty quick—the water was still moving on top and I came back up and swam toward the ripples.
    Don’t know what the hell I thought I was going to do. I couldn’t have gotten them out. The water was deep. I dove down and saw the Pierce, big and black, still sinking way below me. It looked huge in the water, a big block, and the headlights were still on. Then I saw Reb swimming up like in slow motion, drifting up through the water, and he had Marthella by the arm. She looked like a rag doll in the gray water, not moving or helping him. I thought she was dead. I swam toward them and surfaced right after. They were gasping and coughing water. I held them both up and then we swam back, Reb and me holding Marthella. We got to the rocks—that rock ledge under the drop-off.
Mitch, get her out of here for me. Take her to my father.
We were all shivering and spitting water. I took her, pulled her up over the rocks, and Reb lay down where he was, didn’t move, didn’t watch us go.
    I took her to Doc Jonas. He and Caroline were standing at the back door, looking at us through the screen. Doc was behind Caroline and he had his hands on her shoulders. Caroline came forward and let us in. All three of them went up the stairs.
    I went to Reb’s room and put on some of his clothes and went home; I didn’t see Marthella after that. She was gone in about two weeks, to a beautician school that boarded girls. Maybe it didn’t turn out so badly for her—she probably ended up better than she would have otherwise. I did see her a few times years later, after the war. She was dressed too stylish for around here and had her hair cut short, managed a milliner’s shop in Toledo. She liked Ohio and she liked the work. She only came back to visit her mother and didn’t ask about Reb, though I guess she knew he was a doctor long since, living in the old Jonas house with his own family. Old Doc had retired and gone to Florida soon after Reb’s mother passed away.
I couldn’t marry her and I couldn’t let my father touch her. She’d gone to his office and told him that afternoonin front of Caroline; it was all arranged, Marthella said. I