“I love you so much, Stiles.”
“I love you too.” He kissed her forehead then his lips traveled ever so slowly toward hers. Caressing her shoulders with his hands, his kiss became more passionate. The intensity built up inside of Stiles was ready to explode. His breathing became heavy and he pulled Rena so close against his body that it was hard to tell that they were indeed two.
Rena felt the pounding of his heart as it beat against her bosom. Welcoming his kisses, she returned his passion with her own heightened desire for him. Suddenly, thoughts of Frankie penetrated the moment and she pulled back from Stiles.
“What is it?” he asked her.
“Nothing really. It’s just that we don’t need things to get out of control.”
What is Frankie going to say when she finds out me and Stiles are going to get married?
“Rena, Rena.” Stiles called her name.
“Yes.”
“I said, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come off so strong. I respect the fact that you want to wait until our wedding night.”
“That’s right. I know that you aren’t a virgin, but I am. And I plan to remain one until my wedding day,” Rena trembled from the coldness that invaded the car.
“Come on, let’s get out of here.” Stiles cranked the car and turned up the heat. “You’re shivering.”
Stiles couldn’t help but honor Rena’s wishes. She was definitely right about his past. In high school, girls swarmed him like bees on honey. He kept them at arms’ bay, but when he went off to college, well, that was an entirely different story. The life of freedom, great parties and girls from every where, was more than he could stand. It was much easier to allow his sexual desires to overrule his moral teachings. No restrictions, except those he put on himself.
Being a pastor’s son, and majoring in Religion, didn’t deter him from leading a wild lifestyle. If he had his way, he probably wouldn’t have gone to college in the first place, and he certainly wouldn’t have majored in religion.
At the end of his sophomore year, Stiles realized he wasn’t living the kind of life he’d been taught to live. Partying wasn’t so much fun anymore. He became more focused and started attending a small church off campus, and replaced partying for studying. His grades improved and his ‘different chick every night routine’ ceased. The more he returned to following what his parents taught him, the stronger he became in his walk of faith. By the time he entered his senior year of college, Stiles accepted his call to the ministry and made plans to continue his education at Duke Divinity School.
On the drive home, Stiles and Rena discussed their impending marriage. Stiles wanted to get married right away, but Rena wanted a big wedding. They agreed on an August wedding.
When he dropped her off, Rena immediately rushed to the phone to call her parents with the exciting news. She was even more amazed when her mother told her that Stiles had flown to Andover to ask her father for her hand in marriage. Rena couldn’t believe it. The man who captured her heart was a gem. After talking to her parents for a while, Rena hung the phone up and ran a hot bath. The ringing phone startled her just as she was about to step in the hot bubble bath.
The familiar sound of the operator on the other end sent a cold chill through her body as she accepted the call.
“Where have you been?”
“I… I went out to dinner. How are you? Is everything all right?”
Ignoring Rena’s questions, Frankie continued with her probe. “You were with Stiles, weren’t you? And don’t even think about lying.”
Sighing heavily, Rena wished she hadn’t bothered to pick up the phone. But it was too late for that. Should I tell her about Stiles’s proposal? I don’t know what to do.
“I know you hear me talkin’ to you,” Frankie yelled into the phone. “I said, you were with Stiles tonight, weren’t you?”
“Okay, I was with Stiles! Is that what you wanted to hear?” Rena screamed back as her nostrils flared with fury. She couldn’t and wouldn’t take it anymore. Enough was enough. She was sick and tired of Frankie’s temper.
“I shudda known you couldn’t be trusted. You’re nothing but a good for nothing, two bit slut. Who do you think you’re fooling, Rena? How long do you think it’ll be before every one knows about you and me? Huh!” Frankie threatened as curses fell from her mouth.
“I’m sick of this, Frankie. I can’t take your accusations and threats anymore. Do whatever you wish,” Rena bluffed. “I want to be happy for once in my life. I have an open relationship, one that every one can know about. One that I don’t have to be ashamed of. Can’t you understand that? All of these years we’ve been living the unthinkable. Well, I can’t do it anymore. I won’t do it anymore.”
“What?” Frankie’s voice rose in fury. “You think all of a sudden you’re above me or something, just because my brother comes along and feeds you a bunch of bull? Well, think again, ‘cause the only thing about you is that you try to hide your sins. You pretend like you’re so perfect.” Frankie was breathless with rage. “You’re one of those folks that sit up in church on Sunday, but outside of the church, you’re doing nothing but living a lie.”
Rena’s tears flowed. Listening to Frankie, she became so furious she could hardly speak, but Frankie was right. Who was she fooling? Certainly not God.
“I don’t think I’m better than you. I just know that I don’t want this anymore. I never meant for that day ten years ago to turn out to be like this. It was only meant to be an experiment, not some sick, unnatural relationship.
“Is that what you think of us - sick?” Frankie’s voice softened. Hurt replaced anger as she listened to Rena.
“Look, I don’t want to hurt you, Frankie. I would never intentionally do such a thing. But I can’t keep this up.” Without thinking about her next sentence, Rena blurted out. “Stiles asked me to marry him. And I said, yes. I love him, and he loves me. I have the engagement ring to prove it. We’re getting married in August.” Rena swallowed hard. “I’m sorry.”
Frankie held the phone to her ear. Numbness rushed over her body. The operator’s timing was perfect. “You have exactly two minutes before this call will end.”
“Frankie, are you there?” Rena asked after not getting a response from her.
Frozen, Frankie hung up the phone. All of these years, it had been her and Rena. Now their relationship had been severed by her own brother. Another piece of her heart had been ripped apart.
Rena held the phone to her ear as the dial tone buzzed. Relief mixed with sadness swooped through her. Looking down at her finger, she gazed at the huge diamond Stiles had placed on her finger. She smiled.
18
Love is like war: easy to begin but hard to end. –Unknown
Audrey, Rena and Rena’s mother, Meryl, via phone and email began making plans for the wedding. The three women were in a constant state of euphoria.
Rena hadn’t heard from Frankie since the night she told her about Stiles’s proposal. She had tried to visit her but Frankie removed her name from the visitor’s list. Planning a wedding, however, quickly alleviated any sad thoughts about Frankie.
Audrey was having the time of her life. Helping out with the wedding made her feel that much closer to her future daughter-in-law. Something told her that she would never have such an opportunity like this with her own daughter. A twinge of disappointment ripped through her.
Almost every weekend, and sometimes during the week, Audrey and Rena were running around gathering information about the wedding. Meryl made plans to fly down a couple of weekends leading up to the wedding to help Rena with her dress and cake.
The days turned into months. Rena could hardly believe that it was already June and in ten short days Frankie was getting out of jail. Frankie had been locked up almost nine months.
There were times she wanted to confess to Stiles about her and Frankie, but she could never bring herself to do it. Now she could only hope and pray that Frankie would not expose her. Their fri
endship over the years must count for something; at least Rena sure hoped it did.
Audrey was totally against going to the jail to pick up her daughter. Pastor convinced her that it was the least she could do since she hadn’t seen her in close to nine months. But Audrey didn’t see things through rose-colored glasses. Suppose someone recognized her, which was more than likely to happen. Pastor told her to not allow other people to make her feel inferior, but Audrey couldn’t seem to do that.
She rushed inside the jail, her printed scarf draped over the lower portion of her face. The pomegranate a-line jersey dress pounced in the wind with her every hurried step. Once inside, Audrey waited almost an hour before she saw Frankie being led out by a guard.
“Audrey, hello,” Frankie said dryly. “How did Daddy talk you into coming?”
“Francesca, please. Don’t start. Come on, let’s get out of this filthy place,” Audrey commanded and swiftly turned on her heels and headed toward the exit. Stepping outside, Audrey inhaled the fresh air like she had been the one who’d been behind bars for almost a year.
Frankie followed her mother to the car and barely got her leg in before Audrey gunned the accelerator, burning rubber and leaving a trail of dust so thick she couldn’t see the inmates standing outside in the Recreation area. As they approached the security gate, it seemed that Audrey was headed straight for the guard. He must have thought so too. He screamed in Spanish and jumped on top of the security car and held on for his life.
Frankie glared at her mother. You’re going to kill somebody.
“Shut up!” Audrey glared back at her rebellious daughter. “I hope you never put me and Pastor through this again. It’s embarrassing to have the Pastor’s daughter locked up like a common criminal.”
“Mother, when are you going to realize that I am a common criminal? Oh, and in case you haven’t noticed, I’m also a lesbian.” Frankie said with a smirk on her face, clearly taunting her mother.
Audrey almost lost control of the car. Glaring at Frankie, Audrey said, “How dare you make light of such a despicable thing!” she scolded her. “When are you going to grow up? You are not a lesbian, and you are not a criminal. You’re doing this to hurt me and Pastor for some reason. I don’t know why, but I tell you that you’d better stop it, Francesca. Stop it right now.”
Frankie flippantly threw up her hand. “Whatever, Mother. Just drop me off at my apartment.”
The remainder of the twenty-five minute trip was driven with the radio blaring gospel tunes. That way, Frankie guessed, her mother wouldn’t have to think of anything else to say to her. It was fine by Frankie because there was little she had to say to her mother anyway.
When Audrey pulled up in front of the apartment, she didn’t bother turning off the engine. “Frankie, your brother and Rena are getting married. The wedding is the first of August. Being that you and Rena are best friends, she expects you to be her maid of honor.”
Frankie swished her head around like a fierce windstorm. “Oh, no. I’m not going to do any such thing.”
“Francesca Graham, you are not going to disappoint Rena. She’s stuck by you all of these years. You will not hurt her. I won’t have it. You hear me. And you will not humiliate your brother, or any of us, anymore with your selfishness and stupidity,” Audrey retorted, pointing a freshly polished finger at her.
Frankie opened the door, stepped out of the car and slammed the door behind her. Rushing upstairs, she stood in front of her apartment, furious at what her mother just told her. I can’t believe Rena expects me to be her maid of honor. The nerve of that… Frankie dug deep down inside her jean pocket for her key. It was one of the few things she’d had on her when she went to jail. Turning the key and stepping inside, she couldn’t believe the scene before her. Her apartment was totally transformed. She agreed with Rena’s decision to let Stiles live there while she was locked up, but she didn’t expect him to change everything. Resentment formed in the base of her chest. The voice behind her startled her.
“Welcome home, sis,” Stiles said from behind, grabbing Frankie around the waist and lifting her off the ground.
Frankie turned around in a tail spin. “What is all of this?” she asked, using her hands to point at the scene before her.
“You like it?” he asked cheerily.
“No, I don’t like it,” Frankie answered roughly. “I told you that you could stay here while I was locked up. That didn’t include throwing my stuff out and replacing it with all of this, this fancy get up,” she gestured in a sweeping motion with one arm. “Then you got the nerve to put Bibles and stuff all over my place?” Frankie stated harshly, as she zeroed in on a Bible laying on the sofa and another one on the counter connecting the kitchen to the living room.”
“You need some Jesus in your life,” Stiles teased, ignoring his sister’s obvious discontent with the changes he made. “Anyway, I put your stuff in storage. I was going to get it out before you got out of jail, but I wanted you to see how I fixed up the place. I thought you might want to keep it like this.”
“I don’t. I want my stuff.”
“Why are you so uptight? You just got out of the slammer. I would think you would be on cloud nine, you know.” Stiles paused and gazed at her speculatively. “Say, me and Rena want to take you to dinner. We have something to tell you.”
“I heard already. You’re getting married.” Rena didn’t tell you that she already let the cat out of the bag?” She tilted her head her head and eyed him with cold triumph.
“Uh, no, she didn’t.”
“Figures,” Frankie mumbled. “Look, I can’t go to dinner. I got other plans. You two lovebirds go on without me.”
“Come on now, sis. Rena’s going to be disappointed. She’s looking forward to seeing you.”
“I bet she is. Where is she anyway?” Frankie scanned the room.
“Work.”
“Umph. Anyway, like I said, I got plans. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to be left alone.”
“Sure.” He shrugged dismissively. “I understand. If it’s no trouble, I want to leave my belongings here another day or two. That’ll give me time to get your things back to you. You think you can manage to do that for your big brother?” Stiles asked and stepped forward to hug Frankie.
Moving quickly out of his reach, Frankie told him, “Yea, but it better not be more than two days or I’m selling this junk and keeping the cheddar.”
Stiles frowned in exasperation. “I guess I’ll be leaving. Call me on my cell phone if you need me.”
As soon as Stiles left, Frankie kicked off her shoes and dived for the couch. “Might as well take advantage of it while I got it.” She twisted and turned until she found a comfortable position. “Dang, there’s no place like home,” she said, just before her eyes refused to stay open any longer.
“Why do you think she didn’t want to go to dinner with us?” asked Rena, fully aware of the reason why.
“She said she already had plans. Look,” His eyes furrowed in a frown. “We can’t worry about Frankie. If she gets a kick out of being mad at God knows who or what, so be it. God has to work on her.”
“I didn’t mean to get you upset,” Rena said softly, her eyes narrowing.
“I can’t be bothered with her mess any longer, Rena.” Stiles let out a loud, audible breath. “I love my sister, and I care about what happens to her. But I have to give her over to God. I pray for her deliverance every day. And I also pray that God continues to keep her safe wherever her feet trod. But I won’t take on her burdens and allow myself to become stagnated by worry. And neither should you.” Stiles reached across the table and took hold of Rena’s hand. “You’ve been at Francesca’s beck and call every since I can remember. Now I want you at my beck and call,” he smiled tenderly.
Rena moved from the kitchen table. She grabbled hold of Stiles’s hand as he stood, then kissed him.
He returned her kiss with one of his own. “It’s getting harder and harder for me to be a good b
oy,” Stiles said hoarsely as he looked into her eyes.
“I’m not going to let you slip up. Don’t worry,” she reassured him. “We only have a couple of months. Until then, take plenty of cold showers,” she laughed.
“Come on, then. Let’s get out of here and go get something to eat. We might as well take in a movie too since my sister doesn’t want to join us. How about it?”
The couple left Rena’s apartment and drove to downtown Memphis. They walked along Beale Street. Pigeons pecked at specks of food on the ground and horses pulled white carriages at full trots. The night was still young. The diverse crowd of people moved in circles down the street enjoying the night. They decided to eat at the Hard Rock Café. Afterwards, they walked to Muvico and enjoyed a comedy that was playing. By the time the movie ended, it was past midnight.
“I wish I could say that we could go to my place, but as you know, I no longer have a place,” Stiles said jokingly.
“Don’t worry. It won’t be long before we’re married and have our own place. I need to get home anyway; I have a busy day tomorrow.” Rena clasped her arm inside the curve of his as they walked out of Peabody Place Mall into the parking garage. On the way home, Rena laid her head on Stiles’s shoulder and drifted off into a light sleep. It wasn’t until he pulled up to her apartment that she opened her eyes.
“You’re home, sleepy head,” he whispered and kissed her hair.
“Already?” She sat up, yawned and rubbed her eyes. She shook her head to knock the sleep away.”
He walked her to the door and waited patiently while she scrambled through her purse in search of her keys. “Would you like me to come inside?” He grinned mischievously when she unlocked the door.
“You and I both know that wouldn’t be such a good idea. You’d better go. Emerald Estates is calling you. Be safe, sweetheart,” Rena leaned over and kissed his warm lips before fully opening the door to go inside.
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