Heartwood by Belva Plain Read Free Book Online

things like that. She was proud of Steve’s courage, but she knew what her brother was doing was illegal and dangerous, and although he had never hurt anyone, members of his movement had, and that was as wrong as the war itself. And Steve had caused such pain and suffering at home. No, she didn’t want Robby to follow in Steve’s footsteps.
    But she knew that Robby and his friends never would. The smart boys who gathered in Robby’s dorm room were opposedto the war but they weren’t fighters like her brother. They just wanted to get on with the future, which had once seemed so bright for them, and they were furious because they couldn’t. Furious and scared out of their minds. That was the worst part: underneath all the shouting and self-pity—fueled by what seemed like endless amounts of alcohol and other substances—was a horrible truth. These boys were right to be terrified, because thousands just like them had already died.
    –—
    But then there was the night when the group had assembled in Robby’s room and the usual ranting and raving was well under way, and all of a sudden everyone was silent. Laura’s attention had been wandering but she looked up to see that a guy named George who lived at the other end of the hall had just rushed in. All eyes were on him.
    “Well?” One of Robby’s friends demanded as the others sat forward eagerly. “Is it true?”
    George laughed. “Oh yeah! Larry got himself his little deferment. He and Nancy are off getting married right now, then they’re going to drive up north to tell her folks. They’ll probably be mad because their little girl is knocked up, but Larry’s going to be sitting out LBJ’s war.”
    There was an explosion of hooting and cheering from the boys and someone raised a bottle of beer in a bleary toast. “Let’s hear it for Nancy!” he shouted.
    “Let’s hear it for the Daddy Deferment,” someone else added. “And for Larry, the lucky S.O.B.!”
    That was when Laura remembered that Larry Whatever-His-Last-Name-Was, had talked about having a baby as the onefoolproof way to get out of the draft. “I call it getting a Daddy Deferment,” he’d said. “Not only do you skip jail and hang on to your citizenship, you can have a good time while you’re working on it.”
    Everyone had laughed except Laura. She couldn’t imagine having a baby unless she knew she and Robby were ready to love, support, and care for it—draft or no draft. Anything else was unthinkable, even as a joke.
    But now, as the boys continued to cheer for the father-to-be, she heard Robby’s voice at her side. “I never thought Larry would actually go through with it,” he said softly.
    She glanced up and saw that he was staring at her. He turned away quickly; the look only lasted for a second. She told herself it didn’t mean anything.
    But after everyone had finally straggled off to their own rooms, and she and Robby were alone, he didn’t take her in his arms and begin the long, slow process of kissing and undressing each other, which had always been their prelude to a night of lovemaking. Nor did he yawn and flop down on his bed the way he did when he was tired and wanted her to know that there wouldn’t be any sex that night. Instead, he avoided looking at her, and began cleaning up the debris from the evening. Laura watched as he lined up empty beer bottles neatly in a corner of the room, and folded the pizza boxes so they’d fit in the incinerator at the end of the hall. Normally Robby was a slob—his clothes stayed on the floor where he’d dropped them, and it could take him days to clean up after an all-nighter. Usually it was Laura who got rid of the garbage and washed his dirty laundry. But now he was cleaning up. And not looking at her. He was building up to say something. Suddenly she knew she didn’t want to hear it.
    “I think I should go to my dorm tonight,” she said. “I have that test in Poli Sci on Wednesday, and I need to hit the