Flirting of One Sort or Another
Barberton Army Camp had a reputation for fun: partying, sport, theatricals and visits to the local attractions.
The managers of the small historical gold mines that were still operating, never seemed to tire of entertaining all ranks at their homes and taking soldiers down the mine shafts. Morris Hirsch visited the Havelock Asbestos Mine over the border in Swaziland and enjoyed the scenic sights as far as Komatipoort on the border with Portuguese East Africa.
He fell in with a motley set. Alcohol flowed freely. Steve, an artillery officer, a young Adonis, was courting a blonde, petite debutante, happily unpretentious. He often invited Morris to come along when taking Nellie out. When Steve left, temporarily, to attend a course at Pretoria headquarters, he asked Morris to take care of his girl and hold off the Army.
Morris was not surprised, because he had been in this sort of position before. He saw a lot of Nellie. They were happy in each other's company and he did not not get libidinous ideas.
However, when it dawned on him that Nellie's interest was going beyond the platonic he was incredulous. He was hardly a match for handsome Steve. His over-riding loyalty to Joan in Johannesburg and to Steve's trust quashed temptation without hesitation. Either constraint would have been enough.
With a short tinge of regret, this prospect with Nellie fell away without her being offended. When Steve returned, the three of them took up as before. Nellie, he felt, had a even more tender regard and respect for him.
Trixie, on the other hand, was wild. There was no disputing her charms and vivacity. At a boisterous house celebration he found himself enticed to a bed with Trixie, semi-disrobed. He had been warned to avoid falling into her clutches. Some rated her the town whore. That was unkind. Morris was sure no money changed hands.
She brooked no refusal. When he resisted, she taunted him. He felt his refusal was a rare experience, if not a first, for her. To capitulate would have been a heinous betrayal of Joan. To his surprise, Trixie stayed affable and, he thought, respected him.
Twice, during this sojourn, he arranged long week-end leave to visit Joan in Johannesburg. His driving arrogance and haste made the journeys hair-raising. Time together, being so precious and short, meant returning was left to the last possible moment. So the drive back was equally hazardous, snaking through the last mountains with the dawn, the sun flashing its blinding rays each time he steered into the east. Dazed with exhaustion, he thanked the angel on his shoulder for keeping him on the road while he flirted with sleep at the wheel.
John Hoffmann his OC sent him to bed to sleep the clock round.
The historical novel Whitewashed Jacarandas and its sequel Full of Possibilities are both available on Amazon as paperbacks and eBooks.
These books are inspired by Diana's family's experiences in small town Southern Rhodesia after WWII.
Dr. Sunny Rubenstein and his Gentile wife, Mavourneen, along with various town characters lay bare the racial arrogance of the times, paternalistic idealism, Zionist fervor and anti-Semitism, the proper place of a wife, modernization versus hard-won ways of doing things, and treatment of endemic disease versus investment in public health. It's a roller coaster read.
References:
Excerpt from Dr. Morris Isaac Hirsch's Unpublished Memoirs. Hirsch Archives
Photo: Hirsch Archives