These Setting Suns
Page 4
Although it was freezing outside, he made me feel warm and cozy, but most of all special. And since he was so caring of me, he made sure that we were bundled in the blanket. Afterwards, we cuddled with each other and I was very much in love. I couldn’t stop staring at him and he couldn’t look away. That lasted for a while until I found my eyes closing into sleepiness.
I didn’t realize how late we stayed out until I woke up to the sun in my face. I reached out of the blanket and hoped to find Ryan next to me, but he wasn’t. I sat up immediately and looked around to find him, but I couldn’t see him anywhere. I started to panic, thinking that he left me in the middle of the night, but then I saw him walking up to me from the river. I exhaled my anxiety and smiled. I stretched my arms, put on my boots, and stood up to meet Ryan. He walked over to me and I tip toed to give him a kiss. He kissed me back and then he put his arms around me. I put my head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat. It was faster than normal and it made me smile to myself.
“Morning sleepy head,” he said before he kissed the top of my head.
“Good morning. I didn’t notice that you were up so early.”
“Yeah I know, but I didn’t want to wake you up. I just needed to walk and think about some stuff. I would have been back sooner if I knew that you were gonna wake up now. Since you’re up, maybe I should take you home. Your parents must be worried sick.”
“And yours.” I looked up at his face and he smiled at me. I couldn’t help but smile back. His beautiful smiles were just too contagious.
“And mine, so come on.” He let go off his hug and held my hand. He bundled the picnic blanket under his arm and wrapped the other one around our shoulders. We walked to the forest in each other’s arms.
We walked in silence for a while, and all I could think about was the magic that happened the night before. It was the perfect ending to a great day and just thinking about it made me blush crimson. It was comforting to be in his arms. We walked all through the forest and then ended up on the road that led to my house. From there it wasn’t a far walk, but I hated the idea that I wouldn’t be alone with Ryan for a while, so I stopped myself from continuing on and Ryan stopped too.
He looked at me a little puzzled. I let out a heavy sigh, and then his face grew more understanding. It seemed that he didn’t want me to go either, but he was just doing the responsible thing by taking me home, especially since I ditched my own family. I was shocked that daddy didn’t send out the dogs. But I still didn’t want to go, so I found a huge rock that was on the grass by the road and I sat on it. It was cold and hard, but I’d rather that than going home. Ryan joined me.
I leaned back to rest on him. I closed my eyes and couldn’t help but remember our first time. I was enjoying myself until Ryan spoke to me. “We should head home.” I opened my eyes to his words and stared at the direction to my house. I just sat there and stared, then Ryan rubbed his hand down my cheek. “Marie, did you hear me?” he whispered in my ear and then looked at my face and saw what I was staring at. He exhaled and got off the rock. He held his hand out for me to grab and then said, “Come on, I know that you don’t want to go, but your parents should know that you’re okay.”
“It’s not that I do not want to go home, but I’m scared.” I didn’t even know I was tearing until Ryan wiped my cheek and then leaned in to affectionately rub my tears away with kisses.
He held my face in his hands. “What exactly would you be afraid of, Marie?” he asked me.
“I don’t know,” I said, moving my face from his hands. “What if my parents find out what we did last night? What if they get so mad and they never want me to see you again? I mean you’re my best friend… no you’re more than my best friend and I wouldn’t know what to do if that happens and I could never see you again.” The tears just kept rolling.
“No one will know unless we tell them, Marie, and besides, your parents love me and they will never do that to us.” Ryan tried to wipe the tears from my eyes, but I pushed his hand away. I was serious and I felt that he wasn’t being as serious and it annoyed me.
“Ryan, be serious. Could you live without me in your life? Or what if my parents throw me out? What if it comes to that, what would you do?” I found myself raising my voice, but I was truly afraid of losing the person that I loved.
“I don’t know what I’d do, but it’s going to be okay, Marie.” He held my hands and looked me in the eyes. I could tell that he was being serious now. “You’re sixteen, which means that you’re old enough to make your own decisions and I’m almost eighteen so I can make my own decisions too. But no matter what happens, I’m here for you and I love you. I always will, and if your parents kick you out or something like that, then I’m willing to support you for the rest of your life.” He looked into my eyes for a minute and then he kissed me on the forehead and pulled my hands to urge me off the rock. I got off, but didn’t move any further. He looked at me and I looked at him.
“Do you really mean that, Ryan?”
“Of course I do. I’ll never leave your side. You’re the love of my life, Marie.”
“I love you too,” I told him and then he kissed me. I broke our kiss and started walking with him right beside me. We walked hand in hand until we got to my doorstep. He held the door open for me and I walked inside.
My family was waiting for me in the living. They were so happy to see that I was okay. My mom was the first person to hug me and tell me how worried sick she was, and then my daddy hugged me. My sisters and brothers gave me a group hug and then we sat down in our longest couch.
“You know you had us worried sick, Ann Marie,” my father told me.
“I’m sorry daddy. I just needed to get away from the noise and the people.”
“Where the hell did you go? You had to get that far away from your own party that bad?” he asked.
“I just wanted to breath in the air.”
“All night young lady? You know better than to be out so late in the night all by yourself, Ann Marie”
“You had us worried to death, Marie,” momma said. She looked as if she was up all night worrying over me. It made me feel horrible for putting my family through that, while I was having the time of my life.
“I know momma, but I wasn’t alone. I was with Ryan.” When I mentioned his name, my family looked up at him. My dad didn’t seem so pleased that I was with a boy, but he wasn’t angry considering that Ryan was my best friend after all. My mom was just happy that I was all right and no one suspected much.
For the next few months, Ryan and I had our secret love affair and it was the happiest times of my life, until my dad went back to the Marines and my family and I had to move in with my Aunt Louise in Danville, Virginia. Ryan promised me that he would try to make enough money at the factory that he worked, so he would move down there with me.
April 6, 1917 passed and America declared war on Germany. My mom got a job working in a factory that made clothing for the men that were in the military. My Aunt Louise worked also and I took care of the children. I also helped other women in our neighborhood by watching their children while they went off to work too. They paid me well and I tried to save everything I had to help bring Ryan down to Danville, but it didn’t help. By the time of my seventeenth birthday, I got a mail from Ryan’s dad explaining to me that Ryan was drafted into the army and immediately shipped over to France, where my father was. It was the worst birthday ever and I couldn’t stop crying for months at the thought that the love of my life could get killed, and I would never see him again. I told my mother about the letter and she felt sorry for me. By then, my family knew about me and Ryan’s love and they took it hard when they found out that he was drafted into war. I took it the hardest, but I had to deal with it and be strong, not only for Ryan, but for my father too.
On March 12, 1918, I started to work at a cotton manufacturing plant where I made cloths. The hours were long and the pay was enough. My Aunt Louise got into an accident at her job a couple mon
ths back, and she lost her left hand. She stayed home and watched the children while my mother and I worked. It was hard and difficult, but the worst was yet to come.
September 29, 1918- Danville, Virginia
It was a warm Sunday morning and we all got back from church. The kids went outside to play with the other children of the neighborhood and momma went into the kitchen to prepare dinner. Aunt Louise and I sat in the living room and relaxed for a while. It felt really good to be off of my feet and to just sit and do nothing. My aunt turned to me to say something, but my brother, Albert Jr., burst threw the door and ran straight into the kitchen. “Momma, momma!” he screamed.
“What’s the matter with you? You know that there is no running in this house,” my mother responded to him.
“But, momma, there’s a man walking down our driveway. He’s dressed in a Marine suit just like daddy.” When my brother said that, my mother’s eyes grew big, and so did mine.
I stood up from my chair and joined my mother in the kitchen. She looked at me with a blank face and I knew why. There can only be two reasons why a man dressed in a Marine suit would be coming down our driveway. The first reason would be that he had some news from my father that he wanted to deliver personally, and also that he wanted to tell