Title: The Last Stop USA
Author: Johnny Miles
Cover Artist: Deana C. Jamroz
Publisher: MLR Books
Amazon:
Genre: Historical, interracial
Length: Short story/26 PDF pages/6K words
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
Review Summary: I enjoyed this short story because of the characters and the historical perspective. However because this was wartime the ending was hopeful rather than a HEA.
THE BLURB
It’s a week after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and there’s more than fear in the air. An uncertainty about the future lingers. Still, life must go on and so does the music. Kevin Hardy plays his first gig at a USO dance where he meets white, redheaded sailor Peyton Fitzgerald. The black saxophonist takes an instant liking to him but does the seaman feel the same? Once Peyton admits it’s his last night in the U.S., Kevin dares to dream, takes a gamble, and invites Peyton over for a few hours of passion before shipping off to Europe.
THE REVIEW
It was 1941, a week after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Everyone was at war with the United States, starting with Japan.
Kevin knew nothing about Pearl Harbor or the Japanese. His world only expanded as far as blacks and whites. The two races mostly got along provided blacks knew their place, didn’t get any silly ideas about being equal and remained subservient and segregated. Being patriotic he had tried to enlist but the military didn’t want him because of his colour. Instead of letting anger take over his life he went to New York City. That night was his first gig after six months in NY. Playing his saxophone was magical as the music was connected to his soul; it made him feel that everything would be okay someday. Getting paid was even better as he was hungry and really needed the money.
Peyton was from a rich family and his father was furious that he was going to fight in the war, mainly because he had enlisted in the Navy as a seaman. He didn’t care, he just wanted to get away. He was in the USO dance hall trying to take the edge off his nerves about shipping out the next morning. Peyton could smell the other sailors’ fear. No one had any idea in what part of the world they would end up, or whether they would even return from the war.
During his break Kevin barely made it to the restroom “reserved” for blacks after he was refused entry into the “whites only” bathroom which was closer. To his surprise a white seaman showed up for the same reason he was there. He seemed friendly, said hello to the surprised Peyton who looked over his shoulder in case it was a trap, but the sailor seemed genuine enough. At the end of the night when Kevin finished the gig he saw Peyton waiting outside the dance hall, but was he going to attack him or strike up another conversation? Then he smiled and everything was right in Kevin’s world, at least for one night.
The best thing about The Last Stop: USA was the writing. I could feel Peyton’s quiet desperation as he tried to make sense of his world and the likelihood that this might be the last time he ever saw the USA. He wanted to make a connection with someone, anyone, before he shipped out the next morning into the unknown, even if it was only to share a cup of coffee. As it turned out, they shared a lot more than coffee in Kevin’s small room, and some of it was pretty raunchy, however at least there was a story behind all the sex. 🙂
If you enjoy reading stories about the war where the worldbuilding is vivid and the characters are well drawn, The Last Stop: USA might be of interest. There is no HEA but I thought that the ending was appropriate for the time and even hopeful. The only reason I didn’t rate this story higher was I felt it was much too short to do justice to the plot and, in addition, when the guys kissed on the street where anyone could have seen them that seemed uncharacteristic as well as dangerous, given the times. I wish that some of the word count had been used to get to know the MCs better, especially Peyton, as this was possibly his last stand and it would have been a great opportunity to learn what drove him other than being gay and wanting to escape.
