House Divided

by Peel, Jennifer

  I thought he would be upset that I didn’t say it back, but instead he just smiled that sweet country boy smile as he ran his fingers through my long, brown, curled hair. “Don’t worry Ellie, you don’t have to say it back, I love us enough for the both of us.”

  We spent the summer before our junior year the same way we had the previous summer, the only exception was that my fondness for Brady grew into love, but I didn’t tell him. I felt like holding that back was sparing me some of the ever-present guilt I felt for lying constantly to my Aunt Lu, my Aunt Lu that had just bought me a silver Mercedes Convertible for my sixteenth birthday (she would not be outdone by the Jacksons), and the same Aunt Lu that told me every day that she loved me more than air and that I was more than a beautiful face.

  Our junior year began, and Brady was getting lots of attention on the field; he was the most talented wide receiver our school had ever had, and recruiters from all across SEC land were frequenting our games. It was a waste, though, because his name had been down at the University of Alabama since before he was born. His blood ran crimson.

  At least I could go to the games and cheer for him. There was one exception to the rules, and of course, it involved sports. It didn’t matter what side you were on, Eaton’s or Jackson’s, you could play together on your school’s team, and everyone was expected to cheer the teams on to victory. Of course, I tried not to be over-exuberant in my cheering for Brady, but in my heart, I was cheering the loudest every time he caught the ball or made a touchdown. I also worried the most (ok, maybe not more than his momma) when he got tackled and didn’t get up right away.

  By homecoming of that year, Brady had finally had enough of the sneaking around. I’ll never forget standing at the refreshment table in my pale pink chiffon dress—Brady marched himself right up to me, in his black suit with a pale pink tie, and grabbed my hand and led me right out to the middle of the dance floor. I was so stunned I didn’t have time to object, I just followed his lead. He held me close. “I’m sorry, Ellie, but I’m tired of pretending I don’t love you,” he whispered in my ear.

  How could a girl say no to that? I couldn’t, because I loved him too.

  The dance became instantly silent, except for the music, as people realized what had just happened. It was like the world was coming to an end and everyone was standing around watching it. Brady didn’t care, he just pulled me tighter and smiled that country boy smile of his. I responded by resting my head against his chest and closing my eyes. I needed his comfort and protection at that moment. I knew we were in for a whole lot of trouble.

  When the song ended, Brady left no doubt in anyone’s mind that this wasn’t just a one-time thing. He leaned down and took my face in his hands and softly kissed me. “I love us enough for the both us,” he said.

  I think one of our chaperones may have fainted.

  Well that did it. His parents and my aunt were called, and we were hauled out of the dance and straight to the church to meet with Pastor Norton, like we had been fornicating or something. You would have thought the apocalypse had begun by everyone’s reaction. His momma was crying, and his daddy’s head looked like it would explode as he used every explicative he could think of. I didn’t care about their reactions; I was only concerned about my Aunt Lu. Her reaction was unsettling; she was calm and didn’t say a word, but I could see in her eyes that I had hurt her, and that killed me.

  I felt sorry for Pastor Norton. It looked like he had already been in bed fast asleep, with his bed head and pajamas on, when he got the “emergency” call. When we entered his office, Brady tried to sit by me, but his daddy yanked him right out of the chair and placed him by his momma. It was like it had always been in this stupid town, Eatons on the right and Jacksons on the left.

  Pastor Norton began by spouting off about how it was wrong to lie, that it was a commandment from God to honor our parents and we had done a poor job of that, and he was disappointed in us. He looked sternly between Brady and me. “I want you to promise me and your parents that you’ll not see each other again.”

  I started to cry, because I couldn’t imagine not ever seeing Brady again. I loved him.

  Brady jumped up. “I will not, I love her.”

  His momma went into hysterics. His daddy let off another string of explicatives and yelled at Brady, “Look what you’ve done to your momma, and over an Eaton girl of all things! An Eaton girl with a daddy that died a drunk and a momma that didn’t even want her. How could you, Brady?”

  Those words cut. I knew everyone in town knew about my parents, but no polite people ever spoke about it.

  And that’s what set my Aunt Lu off; no matter what I had done, she would not let my name be tarnished. She stood up with her beauty queen poise and confidence and stared directly at Mr. Jackson. “Yes, well, maybe you would like to tell Brady about your shotgun wedding and how premature babies weigh nine pounds.”

  I thought Mrs. Jackson was going to lose consciousness. Mr. Jackson stood, but his face went pale. I didn’t know what he was going to say or do as he stared back at my aunt.

  Pastor Norton cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Please everyone, take a seat.”

  Brady and I just kept looking at each other.

  “I’m sorry,” he mouthed.

  “Me too,” I mouthed back.

  Pastor Norton looked at me. “You have been quiet during all of this, what do you have to say for yourself, young lady?” Like it was my entire fault, like I had lured Brady into some web of mine. I had always had a feeling Pastor Norton leaned to the left side of his congregation. Looks like my suspicions were right.

  That lit a fire in me. I sat up straight and wiped my tears away. “I’m sorry for lying to my aunt.” I looked over at her. “I love you Aunt Lu.”

  She gave me a half smile.

  I looked over to Brady. “But I love Brady too, and we’ve done nothing to be ashamed of.” The adults all made to say something, but I didn’t give them a chance as Brady beamed at me. “We’ve been taught in church our whole lives that we’re to love everyone and to forgive and to do unto others as we’d have them do to us. Why does being an Eaton or a Jackson change that?”

  Brady and I both looked at Pastor Norton.

  He rubbed his reddened face. “It doesn’t.”

  Well that was that. The Pastor had nothing else to say and we all went our separate ways that night. Oh, don’t get me wrong, we were both in loads of trouble. We were each grounded for a month, but at least now we could sit together during lunch at school and hold hands in the halls, but we each had new rules now. Neither of us were ever allowed in each other’s homes, and there were strict curfews in place. That was ok with me. I was just so happy I didn’t have to lie to my aunt, or my friends anymore, for that matter; and I was happy that everyone knew I was Brady Jackson’s girl.

  The town was in a tailspin. No one quite knew how to react. Eatons and Jacksons hadn’t mixed in over thirty years, and it was quite disconcerting to some, but mostly to our parents. Aunt Lu wasn’t angry, but I could tell she worried an awful lot. I was warned daily about the ways of Jackson men. I tried to tell her that Brady was different, but she always replied, “Apples don’t fall far from the tree, Ella Lu.” Brady’s parents were a real treat—they called in the cavalry, including all of his brothers and their beauty queen wives, and when that didn’t work, they started bringing girls to town. Several years earlier, his momma had been a consultant to several pageants around the state and even around the country. She decided it was time to start grooming the next generation of beauty queens. Imagine that.

  I wasn’t too worried because Brady was as attentive and loving as ever. I don’t know if a girl ever had a more loving boyfriend than I did. We sailed through the rest of junior year and even got to go to prom together. We had both been nominated for the junior court, but I was never allowed to have a crown, so I had to politely rescind my nomination just like I had the year before for the sophomore court. It was the least I could do
for my Aunt Lu. I was still planning on keeping rules one and two, even though that meant not attending college with Brady, but we knew our relationship could survive it. Brady would always say, “It’s ok, Ellie, we’ll just be a house divided.” We would day dream about the day we would be married and have those cheesy license plate covers that said, “House Divided” with the Auburn and Alabama mascots on them. Brady withdrew his nomination too; to say his parents were livid about that was an understatement. They thought I was ruining his life. I told him not to, but he wouldn’t hear of it. If I couldn’t be his princess, no one would be.

  But summer came and the tide began to change. Have you ever met someone and just knew in your belly that they would change your life, and not for the good? The first time I saw Amber Capshaw, I got an uneasy feeling. Her family moved to Kaysville for the sole purpose of having Brady’s momma mold her into a future Miss Alabama and Miss America. She had already won the Junior Miss title in Alabama and a slew of other smaller pageants, but her parents just knew she had what it took to go all the way. I had to give her this, she was beautiful. She was tall and slender, with long raven hair, violet eyes, flawless skin, and she just had this air about her that screamed, “Someone please put a sash on me!” She even walked like she was holding a crown steady on her head.

  She spent lots of time at the Jackson mansion, and more and more, Brady’s parents insisted on him staying home. I tried not to be jealous. Brady constantly told me not to worry and that she couldn’t hold a candle to me and that he was just as unhappy about it as I was, but I knew in my heart she had her sights set on Brady, and his parents were more than happy to aid and abet her.

  Our senior year started and Amber seemed to be everywhere we were. Brady made a point of being as affectionate with me as he could in school, but that didn’t deter her. Maybe it wouldn’t have been so bad, but she had this squeaky voice and the IQ of a rock. I thought, no wonder Brady’s momma needed to coach her, I could only imagine the answers she would give to the judges. One of my aunt’s favorite sayings was, “You can fix ugly and you can fix dumb, but you can’t fix stupid.” The quote seemed to fit her.

  Brady had a stellar football season, and there was no doubt that on signing day, he would be choosing his beloved team. Alabama was salivating for him. I was still on track to be the valedictorian. For just a moment, life seemed perfect; then December came and the unthinkable happened, at least in my mind. First Brady’s daddy was diagnosed with lung cancer, which wasn’t a huge surprise; the guy smoked like a pack a day from what Brady said. Of course Brady was upset, and I was upset for him. Sure, I didn’t like the guy and he didn’t like me, but I would never wish that on him. I still remember when Brady told me. He drove me out to old Tate Farm, and we parked in the middle of the empty cornfield. He had brought blankets and hot chocolate, and we wrapped up and sat in the back of his truck. He began to cry, which was unsettling; I had never seen Brady cry before.

  I just held onto him. “I love you. I promise it will be ok.”

  He held me tighter. “I love you, Ellie.”

  Under the circumstances, I wanted to get Brady something for Christmas that said I love you and I’ll always be there for you. I wanted to ask my aunt for her opinion because she was an amazing gift giver, but that would be like pouring alcohol in an open wound. Eventually I felt like I came up with something that conveyed what I felt. I couldn’t wait to give it to him. We had planned on meeting at the old tire swing late Christmas night after we spent the day with our families, but I had a surprise Christmas evening when our doorbell rang and it was Brady. He had never been to our home. He knew the rules, but maybe because it was Christmas, or maybe because his daddy was sick, or maybe because she knew what was coming, my Aunt Lu let him stay, because she thought it would be better for me to be at home when it happened.

  I was so thrilled that Brady was in my home that I didn’t notice he wasn’t acting like himself. I pulled him into our drawing room where the fireplace was lit and the twelve-foot high Christmas tree sparkled in the dimly illuminated room. Under the tree sat my wrapped present for Brady. I retrieved the present and sat in front of the fireplace on the floor. Brady sat next to me, and before I could say a word, he pulled me to him and kissed me like he never had before. It was like a man kissing a woman, not a boy kissing a girl. I could barely breathe when he was done. His breathing was ragged too.

  “Well, Merry Christmas,” I said. That was present enough for me.

  He smiled that country boy smile I loved so much, but it was then I noticed it didn’t touch his eyes like his smile always had.

  “What’s wrong, Brady?”

  He pulled on my hair, like he always had. “Ellie …”

  “Brady?”

  He took a deep breath and looked at me with his baby blues. “We can’t be together anymore,” he quickly blurted out.

  I just shook my head. Surely I had heard him wrong, but I knew I hadn’t.

  I backed up, and he scooted closer. The tears welled up in my eyes and in his. “Please, Ellie, just listen to me.”

  “My name is Ella,” I replied bitingly.

  “Ok … Ella. I’m so sorry, but being with you is tearing my family apart, and with my daddy so sick … I … I have to … I have to do this for my family. Can you please understand that?”

  I was speechless. I loved him. I had broken my aunt’s rules and heart for him. And he, he was the one who pursued me and who had to shout it to the world that we were together. How could he just end it like that? I didn’t understand. The tears began to flow. He tried to wipe them away, but I wouldn’t let him. I didn’t want him to touch me.

  He stood up, but before he left, he looked down at me. “I love you, Miss Ellie.”

  How could he? I just stared up at him blankly.

  “Don’t worry, Ellie, you don’t have to say it back. I love us enough for the both of us.”

  In anger, I threw his stupid gift at him, and he caught with his wide receiver hands. He turned silently, but before he left, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a tiny wrapped box and placed it on the sofa table before he walked out of my life forever.

  As soon as he walked out the door, I fell apart. My aunt wasted no time in coming to me. She sat on the floor and held me and stroked my hair. I kept waiting for her to say I told you so, but she never did.

  “I’m so sorry, Aunt Lu,” I repeated over and over.

  “Shhh, sweet girl,” she said as she held me tighter.

  Until that night, I had never understood how my aunt could hate the Jacksons so much. She hated them so much because she had loved Isaac, and her friend Elizabeth. That night, I understood her perfectly.

  Chapter One

  10 Years Later

  I looked at my bedside clock; it read 3:36 a.m. Who in the world would be calling me at this unseemly hour?

  “Hello,” I managed to say scratchily. It was the best I could do this early.

  “Oh, Miss Ella, thank goodness you’re up.”

  I was up now, especially since I recognized the voice. No one called me Miss Ella anymore. Panic quickly set in. “Doris, what’s wrong?”

  I could hear the tears in her voice. “Miss Ella, it’s your aunt. We think she had a heart attack.”

  Please, God, please don’t let her be dead.

  “She’s at St. Vincent’s in Birmingham, she’s asking for you.”

  Thank you, God.

  “Tell her I’m on my way.”

  I quickly dressed and threw together a suitcase, just in case. Atlanta was only three hours from Birmingham, but I didn’t know what waited for me on the other end. I knew if she was in Birmingham, it was serious; if not, she would’ve been at Kaysville General.

  As I opened the door to my garage, a blast of cold air hit me. Though it was December, it was unusually cold for Georgia. I thought maybe I should run back in and get my long wool coat, but I rationalized that I would either be in my car or in the hospital, and I just wanted to get to my
aunt. I threw my suitcase in the back and jumped in my newly-purchased BMW. It was a gift to myself for my latest book, Aunt Calliope and Jane in London, reaching number one on the New York Times best seller list for Children’s Picture Books. The thought made me tear up. My books were based on my adventures with my Aunt Lu as a girl, and now she was lying in a hospital bed. I didn’t know what I would do if I lost her. She was the only person who ever really loved me.

  I hit I-75 and tested the limits of what my new car could do. The salesman at the car dealership was right, she was fast and smooth. I hit the Alabama border before I knew it. I hated being back in Alabama, I usually avoided it at all costs. I felt like everywhere I turned in that state, there were reminders of things I didn’t want to remember. Of course I still saw Aunt Lu all the time, but it was usually in Atlanta or in some tropical location on vacation. I hadn’t been to my childhood home since I graduated from high school. Aunt Lu agreed I should leave and never come back. She said Kaysville had a way of sucking the life out of people and she didn’t want that for me. I’d asked her several times to move in with me, but her excuse for never accepting was that she was old and set in her ways, but I think she wouldn’t because it would be like saying the Jacksons had won, and she wouldn’t ever let that happen.

  Oh the Jacksons, that’s one name I wished I could forget. Everything about Alabama reminded me of them, especially a particular Jackson. If only I would have followed the rules. Even though I moved away, I’d never been able to forget. I wanted to move further than Atlanta, but my agent and my publisher were both there and the thought of being too far away from Aunt Lu didn’t sit well with me. At least Atlanta was better than Auburn.