Under the Oak Tree

Chapter One: I’ve Got My Eyes On You

Forest, Mississippi is the warmest during the summer. The trees are full of life, the air is clean and crisp and, it doesn’t even get that hot. Even though we are down South, the heat is tolerable.

I’ve picked out my favorite brown and blue dress, loafers and, plenty of money for the market. I make my way down the steps, fixing my hair as I go because my Mama says it’s not proper to go out with ya hair not done.

“Y’all sure y’all don’t need anythang else from the market, I’m only going once today,” I holler to the rest of the family, stopping in front of the hall mirror to look at my hair.

“That there list should be all you need darlin’, hurry along, I’m hankering for some pork chops.” My Pa, Franklin, yells to me from his spot by the window in the corner of the living room behind the wall.

I peek around the corner and see him blowing smoke out the open window, fanning in front of his face so it doesn’t come into the house.

“Don’t let Ma catch ya in here with that tobacco, she ‘bout tore a hole in ya last time daddy,” I warn my Pa, shaking my head.

He snickers and puts his cigarette out.

“Don’t bring me none back, I’m tryna quit, ya hear me?” Pa says to me, taking another inhale. I can hear my mama’s footsteps down the hall.

“Franklin! Now Franklin, I just know ya ain’t in here smokin’, I just know ya ain’t!” Mama yells as she comes around the corner.

“No Bella I ain’t. Mae here is going to the sto’, I made her a list, you need ta add anythang?” He yells back, tossing the cigarette out the window and shutting it quickly.

“I added some thangs this morning, she knows what I need. Hurry back child, I want to start dinner soon here, ‘for it gets dark.” Mama says, poking her head into the living room. Pa smiles at her innocently as she looks him up and down. I look between them, hiding my face behind my hand.

“Yes ma’am.”

I leave the house, and get to walkin’ the 2 miles it takes to get to the market.

The sun is beaming on my skin, so maybe I was wrong, it’s hot out here. Still, it doesn’t bother me much.

I love the outdoors, the air, the sunshine, the flowers, my favorites are the lilies.

I pass by a small field of them, picking one and putting it in my freshly dropped curls.

Allow me to introduce myself; my name is MaeBelle Willis, named after my mama. I’m the youngest girl but the second youngest of 5. I have two older brothers, an older sister and a younger brother. I ain’t nothin’ but 17 years old. I finished school a little early and now help my Mama and Pa around the house.

I love my family dearly, especially my oldest brother Johnny. He’s the only person who didn’t make me feel like an outsider.

I’ve always known I was different. Johnny always said I was a bit more advanced and liked different things than the girls my age.

I also happen to like the girls that are my age versus the boys I’m supposed to like.

In fact, I’ve never liked boys at all.

They’d try. They come to my house and ask my parents if they take me out for ice cream or to the movies but when I go out with them, it feels strange, like something I’m not supposed to be doing.

When I sit in the movies with my friends and the male characters come on the screen, all my friends would squeal and blush, squeezing my hand and screeching about how ‘dreamy’ and ‘yummy’ they were but I’ve always felt that way about the women.

I only buy magazines with only women, and listen to music by women because I prefer it.

My first crush was on Agnus Taylor. She sat next to me in my junior-year math class. She had soulful eyes and a sweet voice. Her hands were soft whenever I held them as we walked to class. I admired her clothes and loved to help her with her hair.

When she moved away, I was heartbroken in a way I almost felt I’d never recover from. Jonathan held me as I cried and admitted that I liked her in a different way, a romantic way. He kissed my head and told me to keep that between us.

Since then, I’ve been living with my secret, resigned to a life of living with my Mama or living with Johnny, if and when he decided to move out and take me with him.

As I’m walking the path, I see the market dead ahead.

It’s quite busy for the middle of the day on a Wednesday but I love being surrounded by people. I smile and acknowledge the few people I recognize from seeing them every week.

I go straight to the vegetables and start picking the ripest and reddest tomatoes and the freshest-looking heads of lettuce for my mama. I’ll save the meat for last.

As I’m shopping, I’m observing all the people. Some were there with their husbands, with their children who were running around terrorizing the market dog, some were alone like me.

That was the first time I ever saw her.

I stop right in the middle of the market as I stare. She is beautiful.

Scratch that. She’s gorgeous. Her tanned skin was kissed by the sun, her smile big and fruitful as she threw her head back in laughter at someone’s joke. Curly hair cascaded around her pretty face, highlighting her bright hazel eyes.

I was mesmerized, captured by the woman’s essence and the air around her. Time seems to stop as I watch her catch her breath, her head coming back down, eyes landing on me. Her smile widens a bit, and she winks.

I turn my head so quickly, it almost flies off my shoulder.

Back to the tomatoes.

I focus on why I am here.

“One of your tomatoes in your basket is brown.” A sweet voice says behind me.

Startled, I turned around and knocked over an entire pineapple stand, falling down with it.

“Oh Goodness!” I yell.

I hear the woman laugh as she sticks out her hands to help me off the floor. I touch her and it feels like I got burned. It’s a wonderful feeling. We busy ourselves helping pick up the fallen fruit. Once everything I cleaned up, I turned back to find her smiling with kind eyes and dimpled cheeks.

I can feel my heart beating in my ears.

There was something in her eyes that made my entire life flash before them, a life that I had never dreamed of picturing before.

The woman is taller than me, by a few inches. So much so that I have to crane my neck to look up at her. I smile back, hoping I don’t look too foolish while I try and find some words. She seems to notice this, sticking out her hand for me to shake.

“My name’s Janie. Janie Walker.” She says, her voice light, face still grinning.

I shake the hand, reveling in how soft her skin is.

“MaeBelle Willis, a pleasure to meet you.” I finally manage.

“Well, that’s an awfully pretty name.” Janie compliments, our hands still intertwined.

I can’t help the way my smile grows.

“Where do you live, Miss MaeBelle?” Janie asks, leaning forward over the stand and picking out a ripe tomato on her first try, dropping it into my basket.

“Two miles up the dirt road, in a big green house that sits on its own land. Lived there all my life. And you?” I tell her as we continue shopping.

“I live about a half mile from the old Oak Tree if you know where that is,” Janie tells her, reaching over to pick up some carrots and squash.

My smile somehow gets even wider. “That’s one of my favorite spots in all of Forest. I spent a lot of time there during the summers when I was in school. My brother says it’s a good hiding spot.”

Janie chuckles at my comment.

“I love that spot too. It brings me comfort after long days.” She says. We both stop in front of the meats, silently picking out our choices, and exchanging small glances at each other.

There’s a second where we’re just looking at each other and for the first time in my life, I want to know what someone else is thinking.

“So what’re cooking?” She asks.

“Well, my Pa wants chops and my Mama makes a mean tomato salad.”

“My Pa wants a rabbit but for the life of me, I don’t know anything about rabbits. Do you think you could help me? You seem like you might know a thang or two bout rabbits.” She asks me, her eyes tracing my face.

“You’re in luck,” I tell her, taking her wrist and guiding her to the other animals.

We spend the next few minutes talking, picking out meats, paying, and walking down the dirt roads toward our houses.

When we get to the path that separates us, I look up at her.

“Well, it was sure nice meetin’ you Janie. I best be getting home before the sun goes down.” I turn slowly in the direction of my house, hoping she doesn’t just let me walk away.

I feel a hand on my arm and immediately freeze.

“I don’t have many friends in this town, maybe we could meet again. I can make a mean chicken soup.” Janie says, her eyes glimmering with hope.

I shiver under her soft touch, looking down at her hand and then back into her eyes. As if I could say no.

“I’d like that. What about tomorrow? Under the oak tree that we’re so fond of?” I ask, pleading her eyes for a yes.

“Sounds good to me. Get home safely now.” She tells me, her thumb rubbing over my skin before she lets me go.

I walk off towards my house, unaware that she is watching me until I disappear.

Chapter Two: You Go To My Head

I barely slept. I was up most of the night tossing and turning to thoughts of her face. Replaying her features in my head from her hairline to her chin. Her hair was a cinnamon brown, long curly hair that stretched almost down her back. Her eyes were the kind of brown that probably hadn’t been invented yet by the color wheel. The one-of-a-kind type of color.

And her smile.

Just the thought of her smile makes me get up and prepare for my day.

The sun was shining bright as I hastily helped my mother in the garden and fed the horses before washing and skipping merrily to the big Oak tree.

As I approached, I saw her.

She’s faced the other way but she’s still beautiful nonetheless.

I fixed my already perfect outfit and walked up behind her quietly. She turns around to meet my gaze, smiling and holding out a white lily.

My heart begins to beat so fast, I feel it might fall out of my chest.

“Good afternoon, this is for you.” She tells me, smiling down at me, and handing me a flower.

“Well, thank ya, I just love lilies, my mama can’t keep em in the garden without me picking at em to put in my room. I’ve never gotten flowers before either so I gues- let me take my foot out my mouth and give you a chance to speak.”

I get so nervous sometimes, I get to rambling.

Janie chuckles and loops her arm through mine.

“Put your foot back in there and tell me more.” She insists and who am I to oblige?

Janie’s house sits in the middle of a large piece of land, big, white, and three stories high.

My eyes widened at the sight of it.

The front porch wraps around it completely, there are two sets of baby blue rocking chairs with soft-looking cushions, a big double door with a knob and silver door handles.

Janie opens the door with a small key, letting me walk past her as she turns to lock it. The foyer is just as beautiful with its handwoven wool rugs and classic wood-paneled walls, pictures of the family graced the hall as they walked, my smile fades slightly when I realized Janie had only been in one of them.

When we reach the kitchen, I’m stunned by how large and shiny everything looked. With the marble countertops and checked flooring, it looked similar to a fancy restaurant rather than a home kitchen.

Janie winced as she looks at me.

“I know what you’re thinking. It’s a lot.” Janie bit her lip, looking a bit embarrassed.

I smile because she’s adorable. “It’s very large and different and so beautiful,” I tell her, taking a step into her space.

“I have quite a few siblings. I’m the second of eight.” Janie tells me, turning and opening the fridge to get out her ingredients.

I move one of the chairs from the bar to sit by the sink while Janie washes the veggies.

Janie tells me the story of her siblings and her life. The first five of them grew up in a much smaller house that was just a few short miles from here but their mama always dreamed of bigger things. When Janie’s father passed, a few short weeks later, they were moving in with the businessman with the big white house.

Janie likes to paint as I like to write, hiding most of her work from her nosy siblings who were always touching her things and painting by the moonlight that seeped into her room at night. She was the only sibling that had her own room but when I asked why, she changed the subject.

“What do you want for a job?” I ask her as she dices the carrots.

“What I want is to be a painter, have a small gallery of some kind but I figure I’d just be a bank teller or something small. My Pa left me some money for schooling so maybe I do that too,” Janie gives me a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes, gesturing for my answer.

“Well, I’d like to be a teacher, it seems easy enough and I love children. Mama says I should be a gardener but I don’t want to be just like her. She thinks we are so alike but we couldn’t be more different,” I admit more to myself than anything.

“She says I gotta get married before I go to school but I think it’s the other way around. She was married when she was 17 and couldn’t have the job she wanted because she had a baby a couple months later. I don’t see why I have to do that.” I say as she dumps the carrots in the soup.

“My mama tells me the same thing. A woman takes care of the kids but the man works. Why can’t I work and he takes care of the kids? I’m not sure I even want children to begin with,” Janie swallows, turning to dump the celery in the pot of boiling water.

“There were so many of us growing up, too many mouths to feed, not enough money to go around. I want different, ya know?” Janie says.

As the soup boils, we continue talking while cleaning the kitchen.

I feel her heart beat a little faster every time Janie looks in my direction with a warm smile on her face.

Janie sips a spoon in the soup to taste it, licking her lips and groaning at the taste.

“MaeBelle, you’ve got to try this.” Janie turns, holding the spoon up to my lips, and looking me in the eyes.

I slurp from the spoon, holding eye contact with Janie.

“It’s delicious,” I mutter, my eyes darting to Janie’s lips for half a second before looking back at her.

Janie backs up, turning back to the pot to stir the food.

“My apologies, was that too forward?” She asks, trying her hardest to avoid looking at me.

“N-no, not at all. It’s very good, is it ready?”

“Just about.” She continues to stir. The silence lingers between us for the first time since we met.

Janie put the spoon down, puts the top back on the pot, and turned to look at me, her breath hitching to find me still looking at her.

“Can I ask you something?” Janie asks, her voice small.

I take a step closer to her, nodding my head.

“Do you have a boyfriend, MaeBelle?” Janie’s fingers flex by her side, lip tucked between her teeth as she holds her breath for the answer.

“No,” I answer after a beat. “I–no. I don’t.”

Janie nods her head and goes to turn back to the pot. I touch her arm gently, turning her back to face me.

“What is it? I know you want to ask me something else.”

Janie shakes her head.

I would consider myself to be quite smart. I can read body language quite well and I’ve been observing the way Janie is around me. I can feel there is more to her question, I just can’t quite place it.

“You can ask me anything,” I assure her, squeezing where she’s still holding her arm.

Janie takes a breath.

“Every Wednesday and Saturday, you visit the market. I see you there every week. You always have on blue nothing too dark, blue like the sky or like the lake down by the oak tree but always a different colored scarf,”

I swallow.

“You go from the veggies to the fruits, to the meats, then talk to the man at the register before leaving,” She takes my hand that’s on her arm and squeezes it.

“I’ve been…watching you for what feels like forever, gathering the courage to just say hello to you but I’ve always been too lost for words, there’s just something about you,”

I feel a wave of relief flow through me. I’m a little taken aback at the confession, never really thinking I was somebody to notice. To be noticed by someone so kind and so beautiful, I feel a newfound courage floating inside of me.

“Janie…I’ve never had a boyfriend because I don’t like boys.”

Something relaxes on Janie’s face, then it turns into something hopeful.

“The only person who knows this is kin to me,” I confess, referring to Johnny.

“You’re–,” Janie swallows.

“What my brother calls a ‘homosexual’,”

Janie smiles, drawing closer to me. “I knew it. From the moment I looked into your eyes,”

Janie gets bowls from the cabinets, portions them each some soup, and walks into the living room, I follow. They sit on the floor in front of the window overlooking the garden.

“Tell me about your brother.” Janie urges, puckering her lips to blow on her soup, I can’t look.

“Johnny. He’s the only person who knows. I cried to him about it, thinking I was the ‘devils’ child. He’s always been very protective over me because he knew I was different. He wasn’t upset and has always said he’d never tell if I didn’t.”

“Wish I’d be so lucky.”

We eat in comfortable silence, exchanging heated glances back and forth at each other. I notice how Janie’s eyes grow lighter when the sun hits them. The crinkle by her eyelids, when she laughs, has become my new favorite focal point and the pitch of her laughter will haunt my dreams in the evening, I’m sure of it.

I don’t even notice I’m staring until I hear the clink of Janie’s bowl next to mine and watch as she scoots closer to me.

Our knees touching, faces inches apart. I look down at her lips, trying to be as subtle as possible.

“Why do you look at me like that?” Janie asks, her voice low, sending chills down my spine.

I swallow heavily, clearing my throat and tearing my eyes away from Janie’s pretty mouth.

“I–like what?” I ask her, the room suddenly feeling too hot, the sun too bright.

Janie chuckles, bringing her hand up to my face and caressing my cheek.

“You don’t have to be nervous around me MaeBelle,” Janie assures me and I’m not even sure why I’m so nervous. I’ve known Janie less than a day.

Janie sits up on her knees, her other hand caressing the other side of my face as she stares down at me.

I barely has time to blink before Janie’s lips are covering mine. Their soft as fresh flower petals, fitting perfectly against my own and I’ve never felt anything like this.

I’ve never even been kissed. I lean up and into it, holding onto Janie’s arms to steady myself.

Our lips move together in harmony, exploring the feeling and the meaning behind this safely and comfortably in Janie’s home.

When Janie pulls back, I chase her lips, my eyes fluttering open to stare into dark brown pools of utter wonder.

Then a key turns in the door and we’re ripping away from each other far too soon for either of our liking.

Janie gathers the bowls and darts to the kitchen while I get up, smoothing down my dress.

“Hey Mama, how was shopping?” Janie asks as she greets the three women coming into the house.

The woman smiles. “Just fine, honey, I picked you up something cute and I put in a good word for you with that nice boy that works security for the building and–oh my, I didn’t realize there was company,”

I go to stand next to Janie, a shy smile on my face as I stick out my hand.

“Mama, this is MaeBelle, I met her at the market. She lives a couple miles away.”

Janie’s mama pinches my cheek. “Well, aren’t you just adorable? I’m Lucille, Janie’s mama and the two hens that just flew down the hall are her sisters. I’m so glad Janie is making friends for a change, she’s always somewhere by herself with those sketchbooks or playing around in my kitchen, this should do her some good.” Lucille claims, handing Janie her bags.

“Thank you Mrs. Walker.” I say, eyeing Janie as she takes the bags to a room and comes back.

“I’m going to walk MaeBelle home and I’ll be back to help with dinner,” Janie promises her mother.

Lucille nods, waving her away. “Be careful.”

Janie and I exit the house quickly, running down the pavement until we can’t be seen anymore. Janie takes my hand and spins me into her arms, making me smile and laugh loudly.

“Well, aren’t you smooth?” I say, leaning up to kiss her cheek.

We walk the two miles to my house, hand in hand, and replay the last few minutes before they were interrupted.

“I have never been kissed before,” I admit. Janie raises her eyebrows.

“I’m sorry-”

I shush her immediately. “Please, I really enjoyed it, I never thought I’d be able to kiss someone as beautiful as you Janie, my head is still spinning a little,”

Janie stops them, pulling me behind a tree, her hand caressing the nape of my neck.

“Why is that?”

“Johnny always said it might be few and far between that I find someone like me. Someone who likes me that is.”

Janie’s smile only grows. “I’ve know you all of one day and I like you. I really like you MaeBelle, I wanna spend more time with you if that’s alright–”

“Yes.” I say, wrapping my arms around Janie’s neck and kissing her again.

Fireworks.

There’s nothing like it.

We detach, giggling and continuing to walk until they are in view of my house. Far too soon if you ask me.

Janie kisses me again, dipping me behind a tree before letting me go, watching as I go inside.

I lean up against the door after it closes, breathing deeply and squealing to myself.

The crunching of an apple takes me out of my post-kiss trans and I look up to see my brother, Johnny standing in the kitchen doorway.

“Only reason a person has that look on their face is after they’ve just had a life-changing kiss. I would know, girls give me that look plenty of times.” Johnny tells me, smacking on his snack.

I roll her eyes. “How ‘bout you mind ya business?” I tell him, darting up the stairs and into my room.

As I’m putting her flower in a vase by the window, Johnny appears in my doorway, a knowing smirk on his face.

“I’m curious,” He states, narrowing his eyes.

“Curiosity killed the cat, Johnny!” I slam the door in his face and sit by my window. Opening my journal, I begin to write about my first kiss.

I end the entry by detailing how I want to feel this way forever, no matter what gets in my way.

Chapter Three: As Time Goes By

2 months later: September 1946

Janie and I have spent almost every day together since that fateful day we met at the market. It had been almost two months since we met, and I liked her more and more

Every day after I finished my chores, I’d put on a simple outfit, fix my hair, pack my journal, and walk the mile to get to the old Oak Tree to meet Janie. Janie is usually always already there, a blanket spread out under a shady spot, her sketchbook in front of her as she worked on her drawing of the lake in front of us.

Today, we’re having a picnic by a small pond a few miles from our houses.

I made us sandwiches and cut some fruit and Janie brought homemade potato salad and fresh lemonade.

Janie looked at me as I stuffed melon in my mouth and talked to her about what we were planning for my younger brother’s birthday.

“Mama wants me to make the cake but the last time I made the cake, it wasn’t big enough and my older brother, Roger, ate it all the night before his party so I don’t want to do it.”

She just stares at me with those big brown eyes and smiles.

“Am I talking too much? Sometimes I do that and I don’t mean to.”

“You are adorable,” Janie mutters to me.

“I was tryna be serious.” I rolled my eyes at her.

“It didn’t work at all.” She smirks at me.

“Do you want to come to my brother’s birthday party? It’ll be nothing but a bunch of stupid-looking boys there making a mess. My sister is of course going to be with her man and I’m going to need some company. Plus I want you to meet my mama.”

“You want me to meet your mama? Is this the next step before you propose?” Janie jokes, leaning over to kiss my cheek.

I chuckle and push her away from my face.

“If I could- anyway, what do you say?” I ask, whispering the first part so she wouldn’t hear.

“I’d love to.” Janie told me, kissing me again.

The next day, I got up early, put on the nicest purple dress I can find, do my hair real nice and waited for Janie to arrive, even though the birthday boy isn’t even awake.

As I help my mama set up the house, people start arriving so my mama goes and wakes up Christoper, my youngest brother who is turning 14 today.

Each time I open the door and it isn’t Janie, I roll my eyes, even when I see my own father.

“Now why you rolling those big bubbly eyes at me girl? I pissed in yo oatmeal?” My pa teases.

I laughed dryly to humor him. “No Pa, I’m waiting on my friend and I thought you were her.”

“You waiting on a boy? Since when you seeing somebody?” My mama says to me as she drags Chris from his room to the bathroom.

“No mama, it’s not a boy. My friend I met at the market, I told you ‘bout her.” I remind her, opening the door again to another unwanted party guest.

“Oh, well I got somebody I want you to meet later.” Mama whispers to me as she passes me.

I frown because I don’t know what she’s talking about and frankly, I don’t care because I see Janie walking up the pathway to the house from my spot in the kitchen. I jump up immediately to greet her.

I fling the door open and she’s standing there in a beige, knee length party dress with a little bag in her hand.

I smile so widely at her, I can feel my face stretching to my ears. She grins just as widely.

A moment passes before I realize we are just standing and staring as there are other people trying to come in.

“You look beautiful, come in,” I whisper to her, opening the door fully.

As I give her a hug, I try not to hold too tightly like I usually do and let her go quickly.

“Ma!”

My mama comes back into the room and smiles.

“Well, aren’t you pretty and tall, I’m Bella, Mae’s mama.”

“Lovely to meet you Mrs. Willis, I’m Janie. I brought you this, my mama says never come anywhere empty handed,”

It’s a set of matches and some candles.

“How wonderful, we’ll use yours instead of these ugly one’s my husband got.” Mama turns around to go back to the kitchen.

“Let’s go to my room and I’ll show you what I’m knitting. Call me if you need me, Mama!” I say, grabbing Janie’s hand and dragging her all the way upstairs to my room and slamming the door.

“The good thing about this is that I can close my door without someone suspecting anythang.” I say to her, laughing.

Janie is looking around my room, her eyebrows knitted together. The bed is right next to the open window and has a view of the lake from here. The dresser held an embroidered mirror and scattered hair clips, makeup and several journals. There were half knitted scarves and hats all over the rocking chair in the far corner and a small bookshelf with records and more books in there.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, standing back up from my bed and grabbing her hand.

“I’m nervous. I’m in your room.” Janie tells me as she stands awkwardly by my bed.

I motion for her to sit next to me. She does after a minute, sitting back and getting comfortable on one of my pillows. I smile and take a picture of this image to store for later.

“I have something for you. I made them.” She tells me, pulling an item from under her dress.

She pulls out a small box and hands it to me.

I open it quickly and it’s a blue satin hair tie.

“In the past two months, I’ve never seen you wear this color hair band and it’s one of my favorite colors so I thought I’d sew it for you. It took me a while because it was my first time but…” Janie trails off, opening the small pouch and pulling out a sky blue headband.

“Well, I thought it might look pretty.” She finally finishes.

I smile and sit up to wrap my arms around her neck, kissing her sweetly.

I slide off my purple headband and replace it with the blue one. I have to fix my hair in the mirror before turning back to Janie, leaning into her space and wrapping my arms around her neck.

“Well, does it look pretty?” MaeBelle whispers, brushing her nose against Janie’s.

Janie admires her, tucking a curl behind the headband and nodding.

“It sure does.” Just as their lips grazed each other, there’s a knock on the door.

“MaeBelle, you in there? Come downstairs, there’s someone I want you to meet.” Mama says from the other side of the door.

I rolls her eyes. “Alright Mama.”

We untangle and leave the room. The party has started without us. Pa is playing music, my brothers are wrestling the living room, people are standing around eating and talking.

Mama takes my hand and guides me to a taller man in a orange button up, some cargo pants and a hat.

I hate the color orange.

That’s when I noticed Janie had stopped following us and her smile had faded.

The strange man smiled at me and I only half smiled back.

“MaeBelle, this is Charlie.” Mama says to me, referring to the stranger.

He sticks his hand out and when I shook it, he leans down to kiss my hand.

I didn’t know how to react. I snatch my hand away and smile awkwardly at him.

“Charlie Moon. Your mama sure didn’t do you justice, you are much more beautiful than she described,” His voice is deep with a long drawl.

He’s darker skinned, white teeth, neat hair and brown eyes. But I mean, he’s not a girl.

He begins talking to me and my mama walks back over to Janie.

“You any good in the kitchen? I could surely use some help frosting this cake fo’ we cut it.” Mama says to Janie.

Janie stops staring at me and nods to my mama, following her to the kitchen.

“Why don’t we step outside where it’s less crowded?” Charlie says to me.

I turn back to him, hands itching by my sides.

“Sure,” I mutter once I can’t see where Janie went.

I should have known this was going to happen. Mama did it to Marcy and now she’s trying to do it to me.

We step outside and under the tree swing my pa set up for me when I was younger.

“So your mama tells me you’ve had schoolin’, any interest in college?” He asks, sipping his drink and smiling at me.

“I might want to go to school for teaching but not till I turn 18, I’m not due for that until April.” I tell him, trying to see Janie from the window in the house without him noticing.

“Teaching? That’s ambitious. You like children?” He asks.

“Yes, you?”

“I love em, I’ve got ten siblings. I’m right in the middle.”

“I’m the second youngest. Chris is the only one younger than me. Do you know him? Is that why you came?”

There are too many people blocking my view of Janie as I peek inside the kitchen window.

“No actually I met your mama when she was shopping a couple days ago, I work security there and she just came right up to me, telling me how handsome I was and that I needed to meet you. I’m glad she did, you are beautiful.”

My face is probably giving away how uncomfortable I am, I can feel my nose turn up with every compliment he gives me. Charlie falls silent and I realize he’s waiting on a response.

“Well, thank ya.”

As Charlie is about to speak again, another strange man approaches and taps Charlie on the shoulder. His skin is much lighter than Charlie’s, almost like a white man.

“What’re you doing man? Tryna set yourself up?” Charlie smiles widely at the man and they shake hands.

I have lost track of what is happening.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Ben, this is MaeBelle, the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen in Forest, Mississippi. MaeBelle, this is my best buddy, Benjamin.”

Benjamin sticks his hand out and shakes mine.

“Lovely to meet you Miss Mae and sorry to burst your bubble Charlie, but I just saw the prettiest girl in all of Forest, no offense to you Miss Mae but the woman in the kitchen with the long hair down her back, man oh man, if you could introduce me to her.”

I whip my head around to see Janie in the window, her hair around her slender shoulders as she focuses on something on the counter.

Something in my stomach feels hot and I just wanna kick him in the knee.

Before I could stop myself, “That’s Janie, she’s my best friend, I’ll introduce you!” I jump and run inside.

Janie must be able to sense me, she looks up just as I enter the kitchen. She abandons her task to come to me.

“Are you alright?” She asks, scanning my body for injuries.

“Barely, this is very strange. However, there a man outside that wants to meet you and I came in here to get you.” I say it loud enough so no one pays attention to what I’m going to say next.

“He’s friends with the man my mama brought, come keep me company please.” I beg of her.

She chuckles and takes off the apron my mama gave her.

As I bring her outside, holding her hand, the boys get quiet.

“Uh, Benjamin, Charlie, this is my best friend Janie. Janie, this is Benjamin.”

Benjamin gets on his knee, takes off his hat and kisses her hand sweetly. She pulls her hand out of his grasp, wiping it on her dress.

The look on her face has me struggling to conceal my laugh.

“This is the best day of my life. Charlie, I’ve found my wife. Alert the town. Nice to meet you, Miss Janie,”

“Excuse my brother, he is always looking to put on a show.” Charlie says to Janie.

She just chuckles awkwardly.

We all spend the next few minutes talking, me and Janie occasionally stealing glances at one another.

“What’ll you girls say to a double date this Friday in town? I know this great eating spot that we love and I know you will too.” Charlie suggests.

“Is that where you take all your “wives”?” Janie mocks.

“No ma’am, but us guys and a couple of our friends always go. It’ll be real nice.” Benjamin says, defending his earlier statement.

I look at Janie and she nods to me with solemn eyes.

“Sure.” We both say.

Later on that night, Janie and I are laying under the oak tree, holding hands, my head in her lap as we look at the stars.

“Do you think this will be hard? Us dating men but keeping with each other?” I ask her as we talk about the date.

She runs a soft hand through my hair and I almost forgot what I asked.

“Very. It was hard enough watching you even introduce yourself to him but I know who you are. I know you very well.” Janie tells me, leaning down to kiss my nose.

I giggle.

“I wish we could run away. Somewhere far away and live in a shack on an island where no one could find us and we could live happily ever after eating coconuts and drinkin’ sea water.” I dream. It’s a dream I’ve had almost every night since we met.

She laughs deeply, her hand leaving my hair to caress my cheek, her touch making me shiver.

“That sounds almost too perfect,” Janie says.

“Charlie likes you though, he wouldn’t stop staring at you the entire time we was outside, then after we cut the cake and some more while Chris opened his presents. He couldn’t get enough of ya, can’t say I blame him.” Janie continued, looking at me.

“I noticed, it’s creepy. I’m not too excited for this date, just to have him staring the whole entire night is creeping me out already.” I told her.

“It’s okay, you get uncomfortable and you can just hold my hand under the table.” She tells me. She shifts, moving my head to the picnic blanket she has rolled up and rolluiing over on top of me.

She runs her hand through my hair and just smiles down at me.

“What?” I mumble, placing my hand around the nape of her neck to bring her closer.

“You know my favorite part of you is your eyes. Especially when you look at me like this,” She whispers to me.

“Like what?”

“Like you really like me,”

I sit up on my elbows, Janie still hovering close to me.

“I really really like you, you know? I’ve never felt this way before. This feels like the best thing ever, like every love story my mama’s ever told me. I don’t know how I got so lucky.”

Janie smiles so widely, the light from the moon bounced off her teeth.

She pulled me in tightly for a hug, making us fall over with her on top of me.

“I really like you too MaeBelle. You are so special and mean so much to me. I’m so glad I met you.” She whispers in my ear.

I feel it every time she says it. She likes me. I might have screamed with excitement.

It was getting so late so we decided to go home and see each other the next morning before the date.

The last kiss she gave me before letting me go in the house, was the most passionate one yet. She held me so tightly and just let our lips dance with each other for what felt like hours.

I watched her from my porch skip down the road until I couldn’t see her anymore and ran into my room to scream again.

“So that’s her?” I hear Johnny say from my doorway.

“Jonathan Willis! Don’t you sneak up on me, little boy.”

“Oh please, you’re not taller than a flower in a pot. But is that her? The girl that’s got ya smiling all hard, screaming in ya pillow and making this house so quiet during the day.” He sits on the edge of my bed.

“I don’t know what you’re talkin ‘bout.” I say, crossing my arms and sitting next to him.

“You can’t play dumb with me, MaeBelle. I could tell from the moment she walked in the door and you flung her upstairs like some hidden goodies. Y’all was up here sinning. I know it.”

“You don’t know a single thang, that is my friend.” Lying this bad was draining life from me but I stood tall at my big brother.

“Yeah girl-friend. What about that man mama made you meet? You like him any?” His arms remained crossed, his face turning from stern to concerned.

“Jonathan, will you lower your damn voice.” If mama heard, today would be my last day.

He shuts my door and sits closer to me on the bed. My head falls to his shoulder and I finally let my guard down.

“He’s nice but he’s not Janie.” I whisper.

“Janie…. Pretty name. She’s a pretty girl, you should see how she looks at you when you’re not looking. Like she’s never seen something so beautiful in her life.” Johnny tells me.

I look at him closely, to see if he’s lying.

“You lying.” I mumble even though I know he probably isn’t.

“Honest to God little sister, that right there is a keeper.”

Johnny isn’t one to lie a lot, ‘specially not to me so I believe him.

“It’s overwhelming sometimes you know? Tryna keep all my feelings for her inside and pretend to like this man mama done brought over. It’s hard.”

“I know but one thing at a time. Go on the date, see if he’s decent and just make sure you keep up appearances. But when you’re with her, pretend he doesn’t exist and just be with her. And just do what makes you happy but also do what makes sense. Don’t get caught. Ain’t nothing good gonna come from anybody finding out about y’all.” Johnny preaches to me.

My eyes flood with tears as I hug my big brother. He really is my best friend.

“I love you, Johnny.”

He chuckles. “I love you too little sister.” He kisses my forehead before getting up and going back to his room.