After all, girls were only interested in men who wore army uniforms. Ever since he’d started working at the mill, Coot had noticed he’d gotten even uglier than before. His ears seemed to get bigger every time he looked at them. And his pants were falling off him from all the hard work and small suppers. He’d become a telephone pole with floppy ears and donkey teeth.

And tonight he looked even worse than usual. Tonight Coot wore an uncomfortable necktie he’d bought in town. He’d chosen green because he once heard Judy say that green was her favorite color. What a waste of money, Coot thought to himself. She doesn’t even know I’m alive. She’ll never even notice this stupid green tie.

Judy spun past Coot. She flashed a smile when she saw him staring. “Why, Coot,” she said in passing. “I ain’t never seen you in a necktie before.”

Coot kicked himself for not buying seventeen hundred green neckties.

Baby Joe stuck his tongue out at Coot. The other men who stood nearby were all dressed in green uniforms and side caps. They laughed at Coot.

“With friends like Joe, who needs enemies?” said Aaron.

“Joe’s a cocky little twerp,” said Billy. “The Germans will cut him down to size, just wait.”

“Twerp?” said Aaron. “Why, he’s taller than you are.”

“No he ain’t,” said Billy. “We’re practically the same height. Ain’t we the same height, Coot?”

But Coot could not be jolted out of his own thoughts. He was already plotting his trip into town the next day to spend every dime he had at a men’s clothing store, where he would make the biggest necktie purchase ever recorded in county history.

“Coot,” said Billy again. “Am I as tall as Baby Joe?”

“Close,” Coot said.

Coot himself was one of the tallest workers at the Oswalt Mill. In the group photograph taken that year, the photographer put him in the back row. The only man taller than Coot was Dieter Schlaff, the German man who could hardly speak English without spitting on himself.

But even though Coot was tall and broad, he would never wear a uniform. The doctor at the military office had heard something irregular when he’d listened to Coot’s heartbeat. Coot would never forget the way the man frowned and said, “Afraid to tell you this, son, but you’re 4-F.” Ineligible for service all because of a strange sound within his heart.

When the music ended, everyone clapped. The dancers on the floor dispersed. The music became fast and lively. A few couples took the floor and started stomping their feet, kicking, and making hollering noises. Buck dancing was something the country people did, and it was almost humorous to see.