chapter SIX
FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 1963
From the moment I opened my eyes this morning, I knew today was going to be different.’ Not necessarily in a good way, either. It was just an eerie feeling I had.
I was right.
Daddy went over to talk to Curtis today. I don’t know what they talked about because I haven’t seen Curtis yet. I’m not sure I’ll ever be allowed to see him again. Daddy said I couldn’t, but he won’t tell me why.
I don’t understand why he can’t see that Curtis and I love each other. We haven’t done anything wrong, so Daddy’s out-of-the-blue anger scares me. I want to ask Momma why he’s doing this, but I know she won’t tell me. She always does what Daddy says, and she doesn’t argue with him.
I didn’t know it was possible for my heart to hurt this much.
Curtis was out in the barn tending to the horses when he heard the sound of tires on gravel. He peeked out to see a familiar old Ford pulling up to the house. Grabbing his hat, he placed it on top of his head and then went to greet the visitor. His mother was passed out somewhere in the house, and Carol had taken Daphne, Frank Jr., Lisa, and Maryanne over to the park. He had no idea where David or Joseph were, but he figured David was probably planted in front of the television and Joseph was over at Helen Jenkins’s house now that he was chasing after her instead of Lorrie.
Just like when he’d asked Joseph how Lorrie got to school, his brother hadn’t been happy when Curtis had finally told him that Lorrie was officially his girl. There had been a moment when he’d thought they might throw down in the yard, which would’ve been a way to settle things for good, but it’d never come to that. Still, Curtis knew Joseph wasn’t happy with the decision, but Curtis couldn’t change the outcome. He didn’t want to.
“Mr. Jameson,” Curtis greeted Lorrie’s father hesitantly as he approached the porch. “Can I help you, sir?”
Philip Jameson was an average-looking man whose time out in the brutal Texas heat showed on his weathered face. His usually light brown hair was gold from the sun and currently peeking out from under the straw hat he wore. Curtis didn’t know how old Mr. Jameson was, but he couldn’t have been but a few years younger than Curtis’s old man before he’d died. If he had to guess, he’d say somewhere around thirty-seven, give or take a year. Still, he looked significantly older than that.
“I need to have a word with you, boy,” Mr. Jameson growled.
Curtis frowned, moving closer. He’d been taught to respect his elders, and that was the only reason he didn’t get defensive. Yet. “Yes, sir?”
He found it odd that, for the past year, Curtis had been seeing Lorrie nearly every single day, and never once had Mr. Jameson felt the need to have a talk. Not until Curtis had taken Lorrie to the drive-in movie back in February had he shown any interest at all. But even when Curtis had attempted to ask Mr. Jameson’s permission to take her out that night, the man hadn’t cared to talk to him, telling him to do what he needed to do. Whatever that meant.
And since then, they had probably said all of ten words to one another.
Curtis was definitely confused when it came to Mr. Jameson. The irritable old man acted as though he didn’t like him, but he seemed adamant that Lorrie date him. Curtis figured there had to be a reason, but he didn’t care enough to ask.
Not even now, when Mr. Jameson was standing less than two feet away, looking fired up.
Lorrie’s father glanced around, then his hard gaze narrowed on Curtis once more. “I know you and Lorrie have been seein’ each other for a while now.”
“Yes, sir.” Everyone knew that.
Mr. Jameson looked a little hesitant as he once again studied their surroundings before looking up at Curtis again.
“What are your intentions with my daughter?”
“Sir?” Curtis suddenly wondered if Lorrie was okay. He hadn’t talked to her yet today, but he had intended to go to her house after he finished his chores. It would’ve been a hell of a lot easier to talk to her if she had a phone, but her father was apparently too cheap for that, so Curtis had to go see her anytime he wanted to talk.
“I don’t want rumors to start about you and my daughter. I know you’ve been seein’ her for almost a year, but I’m unclear as to what your intentions are.”
Funny how Mr. Jameson hadn’t thought to come to Curtis about that before now. However, it wouldn’t have mattered, because Curtis didn’t know what he was supposed to say. At the moment, his intention was to see her again. That was about as far as it went. “I’m not sure I understand, sir.”
Mr. Jameson thrust his hands into the pockets of his overalls, cocked his head to the side, and frowned. “Let me put it this way. If you don’t have any intention of marryin’ my daughter…”
The brief pause, not to mention the reference to marriage, made Curtis uneasy, but he managed to keep his mouth shut.
“Then I don’t want you seein’ her no more.”
Curtis managed to tamp down the rage that started a slow boil in his veins. He opted to keep his cool and to keep Mr. Jameson talking. “Marry her, sir? But she’s only fifteen.” In fact, she’d just celebrated her birthday a couple of weeks ago.
“I don’t need you tellin’ me how old she is.”
Curtis shifted, unable to keep the defensiveness from his tone when he said, “Have I disrespected her in some way?”
Mr. Jameson didn’t answer his question. “I know what your intentions are.”
Well, that was strange since he’d just asked Curtis what they were. Since Curtis hadn’t answered, he wasn’t sure how Mr. Jameson knew. But Curtis wasn’t an idiot. Mr. Jameson was talking out of both sides of his mouth. This didn’t have a damn thing to do with Curtis’s intentions; it had to do with what Mr. Jameson wanted.
“Do you plan on marryin’ my daughter?”
Yep. And there it was. The second reference to marriage.
Before he could answer, Mr. Jameson continued, “Because if you don’t, then you need to consider yesterday as the last time you see her.”
That rage in his veins started bubbling faster, hotter.
Curtis hadn’t mapped out his future, didn’t quite know what he planned to do after high school other than to run his family’s ranch. And okay, maybe he’d thought about marrying Lorrie, but it had only been a brief fantasy. She was too young to get married. She was too young to even understand what these feelings were that she was having. Last night, in his truck, when he’d taken her down to the lake, he’d heard the way she was breathing, known he’d excited her with barely a touch, but as soon as he’d tried to take things a little further, she had panicked. The same way she had panicked the first time at the drive-in movie and every time since. Months had passed, and yet she still wasn’t ready for all the things Curtis had in mind for her, all the things a husband would want from a wife.
He wasn’t in a big rush. He had every intention of making Lorrie his forever, and he didn’t feel the need to push her. Sex wasn’t the most important thing, but it was the defining line between married and not—in his mind, anyway.
So why Mr. Jameson was standing in his front yard giving him an ultimatum, he didn’t really know.
The only thing he did know was that no man—didn’t matter who they were—was going to keep him away from the girl he loved.
Not now.
Not ever.
“Do you love my daughter?”
“Yes, sir.” He felt no need to hide his feelings for her.
“Do you plan on marryin’ my girl?”
“Sir, I’m not sure that’s a topic we should be discussin’ right now.”
“Why the hell not?” Mr. Jameson scowled. “You don’t think you gotta ask my permission, boy? I’m her goddamn father.”
Of course he had to ask the man’s permission. That was how things were done where he was from. He just wasn’t sure now was the time for him and Lorrie to get married. He was a senior in high school, for chrissakes. They had all the time in the world.
“You’ve got till the end of the day to figure it out, boy. If you ain’t gonna ask my daughter to marry you, I expect you’ll abide by my wishes and stay away from her.”
Curtis wanted to tell the old bastard just what he thought of him, but he kept his mouth shut, fearful that he’d say the wrong thing and only make this situation worse. If that were possible.
Not that it mattered. No one would keep him from Lorrie.
Not Mr. Jameson, not the sheriff. Not even his own mother.
No one.
And he’d like to see them try.
“Where’d Daddy go?” Lorrie tried to sound aloof as she stepped into the kitchen, where her brother and sister were. Mitch and Kathy stopped talking, then turned to look at her.
She had overheard Momma and Daddy arguing a little while ago, and she’d been sure she had heard them mention Curtis’s name, which was truly the only reason she was asking now. She didn’t know why they would be talking about him. Rather than butt in where she didn’t belong and risk getting a spanking for it, she had gone back to her bedroom and pretended to write in her diary, but her curiosity had gotten the best of her.
“Don’t know,” Mitch answered, his head lifting when they heard the baby crying.
“I heard him say he was goin’ to talk to the Walkers.”
“The Walkers?” she asked, hoping she sounded surprised. “You mean Curtis? What for?”
“Ain’t none of my business,” Mitch offered unhelpfully.
“Probably to find out when he’s gonna marry you,” Kathy teased.
“Marry me?” Lorrie was horrified by the idea. “Why would he wanna marry me?”
“’Cause he’s seein’ you all the time,” Kathy answered. “That’s what boys’re supposed to do when they love a girl.”
“But Mitch sees Janice all the time. And he loves her. That don’t mean he’s gonna marry her.”
“Oh, I’m gonna marry her, all right.” Mitch sounded sure of himself. “Just not till she’s outta school.”
Lorrie wouldn’t be out of school for a couple more years, and Curtis wouldn’t graduate until the end of this school year. There was no way he could marry her.
Before she could say as much, the front door slammed, and she heard her father’s booming voice calling for her.
With trepidation curling in her belly, she went to meet him in the living room. “Yes, sir?”
“You ain’t never allowed to see that boy again,” he announced, his voice as hard as she’d ever heard it.
“What boy?” she asked, knowing exactly who he was talking about, but wanting an explanation.
“That Walker boy. He’s good for nothin’, and he ain’t gonna ever make an honest woman outta you. So from now on, you ain’t allowed to see him.”
An honest woman out of her? No one said that anymore. “But, Daddy! That’s not fair!”
“Life ain’t fair. Get over it.”
Lorrie couldn’t help it, she burst into tears, her heart ripping in half right in her chest. The thought of never being able to see Curtis again was more than she could bear. Without waiting for him to dismiss her, Lorrie ran to her room and slammed the door, momentarily scared that he would come in with his belt and punish her for being disrespectful.
She didn’t relish the idea of a spanking, but she would’ve endured a million of them if it meant she could still see Curtis.
Sobbing uncontrollably, Lorrie flopped onto her bed and pulled her pillow to her chest, trying to keep the cracked and brittle pieces of her heart from escaping. It felt as though someone had filled her chest with broken glass, the pain suffocating her. Sobs tore through her, making her hiccup as she gasped for air.
Daddy couldn’t do this. He couldn’t keep her away from Curtis.
What had he said to Curtis? Had he insisted that Curtis marry her? Was that what this was about? And why would he? Why would her daddy want her to get married when she was still a kid? It didn’t make any sense.
Closing her eyes, Lorrie gave in to exhaustion, tears streaming down her face.
It was dark when Lorrie opened her eyes. She wasn’t sure what woke her, but she didn’t move from where she was. Wasn’t even sure she could. Her whole body hurt from crying most of the day.
Then she heard it. Something tapped against her window.
Scrambling out of bed, she tiptoed across the room, pulled back the curtain, and peered out into the night. Since they didn’t have an air conditioner, Momma always left the windows open, which allowed Lorrie to stick her head out.
“Psst.”
Lorrie searched for the sound and looked down at the hedges that lined the edge of the house to see Curtis hunched beneath the window behind them.
“I need to talk to you,” he said in a rough whisper.
Lorrie turned and glanced back in the room. She had no idea what time it was, but it must’ve been really late. It was just as dark inside, but she could make out Kathy’s and Celeste’s forms in their beds asleep.
Peering down at herself, she realized she was still wearing her clothes from that morning. She looked out the window again, then back into the room. She knew her sisters wouldn’t tell on her if they woke up to find her gone, so she was safe there. The only thing she could hope was that Momma didn’t come in to check on her. Not that she ever had before, but Lorrie had evidently missed dinner, so she might.
Without contemplating what might happen if she got caught, Lorrie slipped one foot outside and eased over the windowsill. Curtis wrapped his arms around her waist and helped her to the ground, then took her hand, and they ran from the house, heading toward the tree line that separated her parents’ yard from the neighbors’.
Once they were far enough away that no one could hear them, Curtis stopped. Lorrie was out of breath, but apparently she didn’t need to talk, because Curtis had pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly against his body.
She allowed the warmth of him to infuse her for a few minutes while she caught her breath and her heart started beating normally. When she tried to pull back, Curtis wouldn’t release her, his lips brushing over her cheek.
“I love you, Lorrie. With my whole heart.”
She wasn’t sure why he was professing his love for her. She already knew how he felt. He’d told her a million times, the same as she’d told him.
“I can’t stay away from you,” he said softly.
Lorrie managed to put a little space between them and stared up into his handsome face. “I don’t want you to stay away.”
She honestly couldn’t think of a worse hell than living without Curtis.
Curtis cupped her head, his gaze locked on her face. She could see his eyes thanks to the bright white glow from the moon, and what she saw in them scared her. There was a sadness that she could feel piercing her heart.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, not really sure she wanted an answer.
“Do you love me, Lorrie?”
The pain in his voice mirrored the pain she could see in his eyes. “Yes,” she said hurriedly. “More than anything.”
“Enough to marry me?”
Lorrie took a step back, breaking his hold on her. “Did my daddy come see you today?”
Curtis nodded, but he didn’t move.
“What did he say?”
Curtis didn’t answer.
“Did he tell you to marry me?”
His terse nod broke her heart.
“Or what?”
“Or we can’t see each other,” he said on a rough exhale.
Lorrie’s heart broke all over again. Her father really was trying to force Curtis to marry her.
How could he do that?
Why?
Why would he do that?