An Untitled Love Read online

Friday night she had given Orlando a start because of things he didn’t know. All of the years that he came to visit, or weekend trips they had taken, she always had a separate room. He never knew about the night terrors because she never told him, or anyone the details of what was done to her body by those men. She had never spoken of it and saw no reason why she ever should. The night terrors were a part of her life and waking up during the night had become a norm.

  Saturday night she had not awoken once. She slept all night cradled against his chest. Warm, safe, and secure in his arms. It felt damned good. If for no other reason, that one was enough of an excuse to marry the man, so she could sleep with him. She would deal with the sex part later. Right now, her mind was focused on some deep REM sleeping.

  They had never made it to her storage unit because she didn’t want him to know she had a storage unit with enough furniture to fill their home. There were vintage pieces from her grandmother’s mother, collectible pieces from her father’s mother, as well as three sets of china, crystal from Italy, LLadro’s, Hummel’s and baby furniture. It was the baby furniture she didn’t want him to see until it was unloaded.

  Her mother had saved it for her. One of the empty bedrooms in the house would be set up as a nursery. That part made her feel like a weirdo. She only prayed that he wouldn’t want to try to rush and fill the room with an occupant.

  The week normally slumped itself through the days getting to Friday at a snail’s pace, but by Thursday evening she was ready. The truck was loaded with everything from the storage unit and her apartment. She rented it ahead of time and hired a few men to load it up in the same order she had loaded it in her storage unit. The truck would be unloaded by room and the boxes were labeled. The rear of the truck held the baby furniture which would come off first. The other items going from the back of the house to the front with the living room items being the last thing off the truck.

  Every piece of linen would need to be washed, scrubbed and possibly hung out to freshen. “I should have asked if he has a clothes line. I will definitely need one of those,” she said to herself. Other items would need to be dusted and aired out. The items had been in storage from well over two years. Her life has been boxed up, labeled, and sealed off in that storage unit as well.

  Tonight she sat alone in an empty apartment on an air mattress, waiting again for her hero to come rescue her from a less than desirable life. She pulled the blanket up around her neck as she curled into a ball on the mattress. I have so many beautiful antique quilts and bedding. She also had thick hand-dyed Persian rugs, Italian vases and French stemware.

  Finally a home of my own to put them in.

  She drifted off into a light sleep, happy that tomorrow she would become his wife. All of the gifts that had been given to her for a life with one man were now going to finally be put to use in a life with another. Life was funny. She was going to move into a house he had purchased to start a life with one woman that was going to be furnished and lived in by another.

  Tonight she took a pill so she could rest all evening. She left out a simple white dress to wear to the courthouse in the morning. “I guess I am ready as I will ever be,” she spoke softly.

  “Tomorrow I will be Jacquetta Flynn.”

  ORLANDO ARRIVED AT 9:30 am in slacks, a tie and a bouquet of fresh flowers. “Good morning ‘Quetta,” he said with a big grin as he stepped through the door to an empty apartment.

  His eyes were wide as he asked her, “What in the world?”

  “I am already loaded and we are ready to roll once we hit the courthouse and make it official. I have the results of our blood tests here,” she told him as she took the paper from her purse.

  “We need to rent the truck...” he said as he looked at the small overnight bag she had and the air mattress container.

  “I rented the moving van and the tow dolly for your truck,” she said. “Everything is loaded and ready,” she told him again.

  “I guess there is nothing left but to hit the courthouse and make us man and wife,” he said gazing deeply into her eyes. The butterflies were back in her stomach. He is looking at me differently. She found herself smiling at her fiancé. My fiancé.

  She followed him out the front door as she locked the apartment and slipped the keys in the super’s box on the first floor. Nothing was said as she allowed her GPS on her phone to guide him to the courthouse. I am about to be Orlando’s wife.

  In front of the Honorable George T. Peebles, she promised to forsake all others and keep only unto him, and he promised to love her in sickness and in health until death parted them. A nervous kiss was shared between the newly wed couple as he added a gold band to her engagement ring and she added a gold band with a diamond to his.

  “You remembered my ring size?” he asked her.

  She looked at his right hand. He still wore the ring she’d had custom made for him for a birthday present when she was stationed in Naples. His wedding band she purchased at a local jewelers. “I remembered the size,” she told him as she slipped her hand into his. Papers signed, together they left the courthouse as newlyweds.

  Twenty minutes later with his pickup hitched to the back of the rental truck, he climbed behind the wheel as she rode shotgun. “Let’s head home Mrs. Flynn,” he said as he gave the horn two toots to Ms. Bonner who had kept watch over the truck while they were gone.

  Jacquetta had given the old lady a nice comforter set for the winter as well as her kitchen table. She waved at her surrogate guardian angel as they rolled past the high rise window. “I’m ready Mr. Flynn. Ready to head to Venture to begin a new venture,” she told him.

  Orlando beamed as he entered I-75 headed south. “I am almost afraid to ask what is in the back of this big ass truck.” He handled the big truck as if he were driving his own pickup.

  “It’s our new life,” she said as she stared out the front window. “I sure hope we don’t get divorced any time soon because I sure would hate to have to repack all that stuff.”

  “No, you won’t get rid of me so easy. You know what...I am excited to see how you are going to transform that house into our home,” he said with a huge grin.

  “I’m excited too,” she smiled back at him. In truth she truly was ready for a new voyage. The one she had been on was wrought full of disappointments. She deserved some happiness and she was going to get it. Even if that meant starting over in a town that registered as a black dot on a map.

  Venture, Georgia was going to be her new home.

  Chapter 8- The Un-Named Wife

  THE NEWLY MARRIED FLYNN’S arrived in Venture a little after four o’clock. Several times during the ride, she looked down at her hand and eyed her ring finger. Yep. A little gold band to go with the diamond ring. I am married now. I am married to Orlando Flynn and moving to a small college town where people will probably call me a Negro or a colored gal.

  Orlando looked over at her and smiled, “No turning back now Mrs. Flynn; we are home.” As much as Orlando loved the small college town, it was in every sense of the word, a small town. Word spread through the municipality like fire on dry brush. For that reason alone, instead of coming in on the primary road, he drove the back route to his house. The moment anyone saw the moving truck coming into town, the nosey townsfolk would follow it to see who was moving in and where. He wanted to keep his surprise quiet until the cookout next weekend.

  Orlando turned down Butcher Street, made a right on Baker, then another left on Candlestick. He pointed to an old music hall. “That is the Roxy. It is a book slash comic book store. My friend Ethan and his wife, Janie, own it. They are good people. I think you will like her a lot. Maybe once we get everything settled, we can have them over for dinner.”

  Jacquetta couldn’t remember the last time she had people over for anything, let alone a sit down dinner. The closest she had gotten to having guests was Ms. Bonner coming over to watch Scandal, eating popcorn and swigging the cheap beer she brought with her.

  “That sounds g
reat,” she told him.

  “The hardware store is on Main Street which runs through the center of town. There is a Walmart but no Target and if you want the mall, you will have to drive to Valdosta,” he told her. “I called ahead to let my family know we were close. My brothers and cousins are going to help us unload the truck. More than likely, my Dad is going to supervise, which is his way of doing nothing but getting in the way.”

  The truck made a right onto Elm Street to rows of craftsman homes in varying shades of greens and blues. The whole street was monotone with the exception of vibrant plants and foliage which added pops of color to the perfectly manicured lawns. It was an idyllic scene. She could almost feel her paintbrush recapturing what she was seeing.

  It was also easy to know which house was Orlando’s because the front porch was loaded with people looking down the street for the truck. He pulled up in front of the house to several pairs of staring eyes which were all zooming in on her. Just based on his descriptions of his family over the years, she already knew who was who.

  “I am going to unhitch my pick-up and the tow, then back the truck in so we can get it unloaded. Excuse my family if they ask you weird questions, or just be nosey,” he told her.

  The front porch was fantastic. It began with only four steps that went to the hardwood porch which was stained a deep redwood tone. I can put colorful flowers in these planters on those end caps. The rocking chairs are going to look great on this front porch.

  First, I have to deal with the people standing on the porch.

  Jacquetta inhaled slowly, and exhaled her doubts as she opened the door and slid down from the seat. The expressions on his family’s faces confirmed her fear that he didn’t tell them she was black.

  You can handle this.

  You got this.

  She slung her overnight bag that held a change of clothing over her shoulder and walked up to the porch and addressed his father first, “Good afternoon, I am Jacquetta. I assume by the looks on your faces, Orlando didn’t tell you I had long hair.”

  Harlan Flynn was many things, but tactful wasn’t in his list of virtues. “Long hair? Hell he didn’t tell us you were a Negro!” He said this with his finger pointing at her. Mrs. Flynn’s cheeks pinked up, but Jacquetta stayed cool.

  She reached out and grabbed his finger, shaking it like it was his hand. “I hope Orlando also told you that possibly next year we are going to give you some Negro grandbabies as well.”

  This made his mouth drop open even further as the two brothers snickered. She spoke to her mother-in-law with a warmness that she genuinely felt for the woman, based solely on the stories that Orlando had shared about his mother, she knew the woman was a great mom. “Mrs. Flynn, I look forward to trying that famous peach pie of yours,” she told her as she shook her hand.

  She moved down the row of family members, starting with the brothers. “Hello Woodson, it is nice to meet you. And I know you are Christopher,” she said as she shook each of their hands. She moved to the cousins, “I know each of you based on his descriptions,” she said.

  She spotted the scar on the head on Beau. “That is the scar you earned swinging from the rope down at the pond and nearly bursting your head wide open, which makes you Beau,” she said. The scrawny one, who Orlando said looked like a crackhead fresh out of rehab, was June Bug. The last one, Jimmy Ray, was married to a controlling woman who kept him on a strict schedule.

  He promptly spoke up, “How long do you think this is gonna take? It’s taco night. Dinner is promptly at six o’clock.”

  Jacquetta grinned at him. “I will have you home before then Jimmy Ray.” To Orlando’s family, she began to explain how the unloading could proceed so that everyone could get home and back to their families. “I really appreciate everyone being here to lend us a hand. The truck is loaded by rooms. The back rooms are first, moving to the dining room and living room. If we are not done by 5:30, I won’t be offended if you want to get home to your Emma, Jimmy Ray.”

  They were all staring at her gape-jawed. Woodson couldn’t contain himself any longer. “You aren’t a weirdo are you?”

  “I’m sorry...?” she said, blinking her eyes.

  Beau spoke up, “He is asking if you like to walk around the house naked as a jaybird like your weirdo husband?”

  She started to laugh. “Well no. I don’t.” She continued to laugh as her new husband walked up on the porch to stand next to her.

  She turned her head to look at him and said, “Honey, it seems as if you forgot to tell your folks an important detail about me having long hair.”

  Orlando’s eyes were wide as he exclaimed, “Long hair? Hell, I thought they were going to flip out over you being black!”

  She smiled at his father. “There is nothing I can do about my skin color.” In her head she ran an inner dialogue of what she wanted to say to him starting with “...we’s married now, and I’s gonna move into the big house and give you some pretty little mulatto babies!”

  “What?” Orlando said, looking confused. “No one wants you to change the color of your skin! Least of all me!”

  “Never mind. Can we order some pizzas and wings for dinner so we can feed all these wonderful people for coming over to help us?” she asked him.

  “Sure,” he told her.

  “But first, can I take a walk through the house so I can visualize where everything goes to help get this done quickly?” she asked her husband.

  He surprised her by sweeping her off her feet into his arms as Christopher opened the front door so he could carry his new bride over the threshold. Jacquetta giggled like a school girl as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

  “Welcome home Mrs. Flynn,” he told her as he gave her a quick kiss on the lips then lowered her feet to the beautiful hardwood floors.

  “This is beautiful,” she told him as she pulled away and went to the kitchen first. The kitchen was amazing with an island stove and bar stool seating facing a great room with a fire place. A large window was over the kitchen sink which looked into the back yard. The window allowed in lots of natural light.

  The formal dining room was the perfect size. It could easily hold the dining room table, the buffet and the china cabinet without crowding the room. She peered into a large living room and guest bed room that would be perfect for a home office for Orlando. She wandered down the hall to find two full bathrooms and a water closet near the front bedroom.

  The master bedroom was in the back of the house along with two other bedrooms. Jacquetta absolutely loved the recess ceiling but everything was painted beige. Even the master bathroom which had an odd smell but the garden Jacuzzi tub caught her eye along with the really large walk-in closet.

  She was humming as she went into the closet with her bag and changed her clothing into jeans, a tee and pair of sneakers. When she came out, she found Orlando too had changed clothes.

  “Let’s do this!” she told him as they headed to the front room to meet his family.

  The front door was propped open as she stepped onto the porch, her hair in a ponytail, and her sleeves mentally rolled up. She announced to his family, “The truck is loaded from the rear to the front of the house. The boxes are labeled as to what goes in what room. It should not take us long to get everything off and in the house, by then the pizza should be here and we can eat some supper. Are we ready?’

  They were all still staring at her with their mouths open. Jacquetta was in a great mood. She loved the house, “I will take that as a yes. Baby, will you order the pizza? I have some cash in my pocket to pay for it?”

  Orlando got really close to her, one hand on her butt cheek while the other dug around in her pockets, making a show of holding her butt longer than he needed as he pulled out the cash. She gave him a look of ‘really?' as he chuckled, patted her on the ass and headed to the kitchen. He dialed the pizza shop as she made her way to the back of the truck, freeing the padlock and climbing up to open the door. Woodson, finally able to move from the sp
ot where he was rooted, helped with the ramps but froze again when he saw the crib and bassinet. He stared at her stomach, then looked at his brother, then back at her stomach.

  “No, not yet Woodson. A lot of these pieces I inherited, so I am going to set up the nursery,” she told him.

  It took less than two hours to get everything off the truck and into designated rooms. Thick Persian rugs she had purchased in Iraq were rolled out on to floors. Her favorite rug sat under the dining room table, a handmade wood table her grandfather had carved out of the tree in her Grandma’s back yard. The matching china cabinet looked regal in the room along with the buffet. I will keep fresh flowers on the table. The boxes of crystal that she had purchased in Switzerland were placed beside the cabinet alongside the silver her mother had given her.

  Boxes of dishes and appliances, gadgets, goblets, cups, saucers and kitchenware were unloaded by cartons into the kitchen. The beautiful cherry desk that her Grandmother prized was in the home office along with the huge chair her grandfather hand tufted with matching fabric buttons. In the den, she rolled out a beautiful rug which matched the furniture Orlando already had in the room.

  The last items on the truck were two rocking chairs for the front porch and her art supplies. “Orlando, where should I put my art supplies?”

  He grabbed a box and said, “Follow me.” With her easels in hand, she trailed him around to the back of the house. It didn’t take her long to spot the shed. He had even planted Impatiens and Morning Glories in the flower boxes under the windows.

  Jacquetta was rooted to the spot where she stood on a garden stone which read, “Jacquetta & Orlando, June 26, 2015.” He opened the door of the studio and she lost it. Tears overcame her as her body racked from the force of her joy.

  “This has got to be the most wonderful thing I have ever received in my life,” she told him.

  He sat down the box of paints and brushes and pulled her into his arms. “Now you know how I felt when you said yes to marrying me.”