Page 97 of Without Bound
My nose stings and I clench my jaw to stop from crying. I’ve done more than enough of it over the past few days to last me a couple of years.
“The majority of them told us they were on our side, but it never really felt like it. I get that we were keeping a pretty big secret from the one person who deserved to know most of all, but no one offered to be there for us to come clean to him. Everyone knows how Uncle Nix’s temper can be, but not one of them said they would stand with us. All we got were ultimatums to tell him or they were going to do it. They know exactly how he would react to having news like that thrown in his face. Why didn’t one, justone,say hey, let us go with you to tell Phoenix? Give us some extra strength in numbers that we’d need to face him. But they all turned their backs, feeding us bullshit and topping it off with ‘you do it or we will’threats. Pardon my language.”
I stop my rant and run the back of my hand over my soggy eyes.
“You really love that boy, don’t you?” Darius asks with a smile only a father could have for their child.
“Very much. It’s quick and silly and maybe even a little naive, but it’s real and that’s all that matters.”
“Doll,” Francine says, placing her folded hands on the table. “Let me tell you a little story about a boy and a girl who had that same kind of fast and consuming love. I was twenty, just about to enter my junior year of college, when I began seeing this boy.”
“A child is more like it,” Darius throws in.
Francine shakes her head and continues. “We had been dating for about three months and I foolishly thought it was love. One day, a friend from back home in Houston came to pay him a visit. My boyfriend thought it would be great to introduce me to his childhood best friend. We met this friend for dinner and low and behold, who walks in?”
“Me.”
“Darius.” The two say in unison.
“It was like an electric shock to my system the minute she touched my hand. All of a sudden I hated my friend for taking a woman that was meant to be mine.” Tears build in my eyes once again when I hear Darius talk about his first meeting with his wife.
“I had a similar feeling, but didn’t know what to do about it. How was I supposed to tell my then boyfriend that I felt a connection with his friend? Needless to say, the breakup wasn’t a good one. A friendship was lost and a lot of tears were shed. Some of my friends abandoned me, and the place I once loved was now somewhere I couldn't stomach being.
“Darius and I began dating just six weeks after our first meeting. We talked in secret and wrote letters to one another. And when the semester ended, I made the decision to leave Ohio and transfer to Houston. By January, Darius and I were engaged and by the start of our senior year, we were living as husband and wife.”
“Boy, our families were shocked,” Darius adds with a whistle. “But when they saw how serious we were, they knew it was either get on-board or stand back because we were moving fast and nothing was stopping us.”
“Our Bishop came four years later, and thirty-five years later we still mostly like each other.” Francine laughs.
“So you see, Ana, we understand what it feels like more than most. I won’t deny that you’re young –younger than most people deem appropriate– but when you find the one, you shouldn’t letanything or anyoneget in your way.”
I breathe deep as I try to calm my racing heart and look between the two of them. Why couldn’t everyone else understand this? I’m not after Bishop’s money, I’m not using him to help me advance in school, and he isn’t some fling that I need to work out of my system, and then brag that I was with an older man.
All I want is to love him and build a life together, one day. Why is that so hard to accept?
“What did you two say to make her cry?” Bishop’s voice is strained and I look up to see him struggling down the stairs.
“Bishop,” I exclaim, and fly out of my chair and up to the step he has stopped at to help me. “Why didn’t you call for me? I would’ve gone up to help you.”
“I wasn’t about to scream your name like you’re my beck and call nurse.” He grips the railing a little tighter and I come up beside him, dipping under his arm and wrapping my arms around him. “Hi baby girl.”
“Hey big guy.” I look up at him, my eyes aglow, and he releases the railing for just a moment to touch my face. “Are you hungry?”
“Starving,” he growls, and I enlarge my eyes to let him know to cool it in front of his parents.
“Baby, come sit down and eat. I’ll fix you a plate.” Francine is already buzzing around, filling his plate and getting him a glass of water.
We walk carefully down the stairs and Darius meets us to help assist him to the table. We all sit down, and Francine begins sawing at the ham, cutting it into smaller bites.
“For the love of God, Fran. You gonna spoon feed him, too?” Darius watches as she does everything but feed him.
I laugh and look over at Bishop who is already staring at me, a cracked smile on his face and I just know…I know it’ll all work out. With or without our friends behind us. And it won’t matter because we’ll have each other and that’s the only thing we need.
32
Bishop
“Anais, Go! To. Class. My mom is here and I’ll be just fine. You don’t need to miss any more days or assignments.” Anais begrudgingly brushes her teeth after eating a wonderful breakfast my mother prepared for us.
