Love Nows No Color

We sat on the back porch of the farmhouse, on a warm spring morning, the five of us. Mom and Shavonda were chatting about a little of everything, as I rubbed Shavonda's bare back. She was wearing a leopard print halter dress, and the open back was a temptation I could not resist. Grandma and Edie were also relaxing on the porch. The baby had been fed and changed, and was sleeping peacefully in her carrier at our feet. Looking out over the backyard, with the mountain towering above, it occurred to me that this would have been a perfect place to live if not for the backward attitudes here towards couples like us.

While racism wasn't an everyday thing Shavonda and I experienced, it was always there, lurking just beneath the surface, ready to rear its ugly head. Just that morning, I had been attacked by a former high school classmate who'd taken offense to my wife. As dumb luck would have it, I didn't have to defend myself. When he took a swing at me, I'd ducked and he hit a metal door frame instead. I was sure he had broken some fingers. It was fortunate in that it saved me the trouble of defending my wife and myself. Not knowing where we stood in the small Virginia town, we'd fled the scene in our car, driving across the West Virginia border to my parent's farm.

It was the day before Mother's Day, and our intention all along was to spend the day with her. We'd dragged Edie along with us, not telling her where we were going until she figured it out on her own. Shavonda and I had hatched the plan in order to get Edie together with Kenny, who we expected to show up at any time. Hopefully, they'd be able to patch things up. But I knew something that none of the others knew. Kenny had taken the buyout, and was prepared to move north to be with Edie.

Around lunchtime, Kenny did show up. Being in the back of the house, we hadn't heard him pull up. We didn't know he was there until he walked onto the back porch.

"Edie," he said, "I have something for you." He held out a small box. Edie took it and opened it. Inside was a beautiful diamond ring that had to set him back a couple of thousand. Edie looked at the ring, then at Kenny, tears in her eyes. "Will you marry me?" he asked.

Edie almost said yes, then her jaw clenched. "Not unless there's a moving van parked out front," she said. Kenny grabbed her by the hand. "I have something to show you," he said softly. We followed as he led her by the hand to the front porch. There, parked in front of the house, was a U-Haul truck. He'd done it. He'd given up all he had for Edie.

"Yes," Edie said softly. "The answer is yes." Kenny held her tight as she sobbed into his chest. The separation was over. Now they could start to rebuild their relationship.

Sitting on the front porch, Shavonda and I discussed the future with the newly engaged couple. Kenny was expecting two years' salary in the buyout, but had sacrificed his pension. As of yet, he had applications pending in Pittsburgh, but no one had offered an interview yet. "You can start tomorrow," Shavonda said. "We are losing one of our employees, and you can fill her spot if you want. I can't pay much, $10 an hour, but at least you will have steady work until you can find something in your field."

We also offered the use of one of our spare bedrooms, if Edie wasn't ready to live together just yet. That was something only they could decide. After two weeks where Edie had not talked to Kenny, letting others tell her what Kenny's intentions were, I suspected she'd need a little time to get back to normal.

After lunch, Kenny and Edie took off for his parent's house down the valley. The newly engaged couple would spend the day with his mother, then return here for the night. Kenny had already turned in his apartment key to the landlord, and had nowhere else to go. We let him borrow the Jeep so he wouldn't have to drive the moving van around. And tomorrow, when we left for home, Shavonda and I would take the van. Since I was used to driving larger vehicles. Kenny would drive my Jeep. I made sure to get the two-way radios out of the glove box, and plug them into their chargers. We'd need them for the trip north.

Shavonda and I sat on the porch with Mom and Grandma, and the conversation turned to the baby playing at our feet. "Has she started teething yet?" Mom asked. "She should be about due."

"Not yet," Shavonda replied. "And I'm not looking forward to it. I don't want her biting me every time I feed her. So we've started her on cereal. I figure if I can get her eating solid food I can cut down on the pain she inflicts on me."

"She takes bottles now," Mom said. "You have been pumping your milk all along, so you can still feed her your milk without getting bit."

"It won't be the same," Shavonda said. "Breastfeeding is a special time for me. I feel so close to her when I do it. It's something I never thought I'd be able to do."

"I can understand that. Jason was breastfed, and you see the bond we have." Mom was right. Even though I'd moved away, we had kept in close contact over the years. And sometimes it was like Mom knew what I was going to do before I did it. Take Shavonda for example. The first time we'd come here Mom had let us sleep together, but insisted we keep the door to the bedroom open "Because you're not married yet." She knew I'd found the love of my life even then. She was also the first one to know Shavonda was pregnant, when everybody else thought she was incapable of childbearing.

"I'm looking forward to when Miracle can walk and talk," I said. "There is so much I want to teach her." Miracle sat on the floor making cooing sounds, happily trying to chew on her chubby little hands.

"See, she's starting to teethe already," Mom said. "When you see babies start to chew on things, it's a sign their teeth are coming in." She changed the subject. "So, Von, have you been a good girl lately?"

"How is Jason going to flood the world with my babies if I am a good girl?" Shavonda laughed. "Truth is, we are trying to make a little boy. I don't know if I can have another baby, but I'd like a boy to name after Jason. Honestly, just being around that man drives me crazy. I've never been so attracted to anybody in my life. And I know he feels the same way. So even if I wanted to, I couldn't be a good girl around him. He brings out my naughty side."

"Y'all make me laugh every time you come here," Mom replied. "Your love is a beautiful thing. I've never seen a bond like you two have."

I have," Shavonda told her. "My Grandma and Grandpa were this close. When he died, she never got over his death. She wasted away, and a year later she was gone too. I know, I took care of her that final year. It was a sad thing to see. When he died, part of her died with him. Like us, they'd been through hell together. But theirs was worse. They were originally from Alabama, and they were right in the middle of the civil rights fight. That church bombing in Birmingham killed one of their cousins, she was only a child. That's when they decided to leave the south and moved to Pittsburgh. Grandpa chose it because he had been a laborer in the steel mill in Birmingham, and he knew he could get a job in the mills in Pittsburgh. Yeah, we've had it rough, but not like they did. And like us, it made them closer rather than driving them apart."

"Sounds like they were wonderful people," Grandma said. She'd been quiet all along, as she usually was. "I would have loved to have met them and heard their stories. I had a hard time, being Seneca, but nothing like what they went through. I remember the trains, with the coaches divided down the middle, colored on one end, whites in the other. I'm glad that isn't happening now."

"They did have it easier in the North," Shavonda said. "Grandpa was able to work his way through school, and got a degree in electrical engineering. That got him promoted in the mill, and he ended up as a supervisor. He had enough time in that when the mills started to close down about the time I was a baby, he was able to keep his job. He was also able to put Daddy through school, and Daddy found work on the railroad. They did well enough to buy land and have a house built. That's the house we live in now. It has a lot of history in our family."

"I never knew that," Mom said. "I know Jason worked hard to buy his, even after the divorce, in the hopes he'd have somewhere to raise the kids. And now, you two have a nice place together in the city. Jason, whatever happened to your house?"

"Tamika, Von's maid of honor, is renting it from us with her fiancé until they can get a loan to buy it," I replied. "Tamika and Brian are getting married in August."

"Was she the chubby girl?" Mom asked. I nodded. "She's beautiful," Mom continued. "I'm glad she is doing well."

"Tamika manages one of my stores. If it weren't for her and Velma, I don't know where I'd be. They have been there to keep things afloat during some hard times. And when I was pregnant, they ran the day to day operations. I worked as much as I was able, but they did the heavy lifting for me. Jason helped out too. He did a lot of the prep work on the jewelry, as well as gave us photos to sell." Shavonda explained. "Tamika has been there from the beginning. She started working for me when she was still in high school."

Shavonda decided to change the subject. "What has Kenny been like the past couple of weeks?"

"He has been really down," Mom said. "You know he loves that girl, right? He's been trying to talk to her since the last time you were here, and he even quit his job over her."

"Told ya so," I said. "Your sister just about blew things up for them."

"I know," Shavonda shook her head sadly. "I was so mad at you about yelling at Shaunice I never stopped to ask why."

"Wait," Mom said in surprise, "did you two have a fight over this?"

"Yes," I truthfully replied. "Von's sister said all sorts of bad things about Kenny, and that's why Edie wouldn't talk to him. Edie was told Kenny only wanted to use her for sex. It was also insinuated that he would replace her with a white girl. I knew that wasn't true, and I told Shaunice a thing or two about herself."

Mom shook her head. "Kenny wasn't dating anybody else. Where would Shaunice get that idea? If anything, Kenny would stop dating if he lost her. She's the only one he wants."

"That's what Jason said," Shavonda explained. "He thought Shaunice might be jealous of Edie, or had a crush on Kenny but Edie beat her to him. He also said that after Edie, Kenny wouldn't give Shaunice the time of day even if she threw herself at him. I honestly don't know why my sister acted the way she did, but she almost destroyed any chance they had of getting back together. Edie about threw a fit this morning when she realized where we were going."

"At least they're talking now," Mom said.

"OH, you don't know?" I asked. "They're engaged!"

"What? When?" Mom was shocked.

"This morning when Kenny arrived," Shavonda said. "You were sitting right here when he gave her the ring. She followed him out to the front and when she saw the truck she said yes."

Mom shook her head. "It's all your fault, Jason." She laughed. "Von, you know he's the black sheep, right?"

"I kinda got that feeling."

"Even back when they were kids, he was the one who did his own thing. Kenny followed him devotedly. Even though Jason is a year younger than Kenny, Jason set the pace. Kenny told everybody he was just trying to keep Jason out of trouble, but wherever Jason went, Kenny followed. They were everywhere in these mountains. One day, up on the mountain, Jason climbed a rock and got scared and couldn't get down. Kenny came running back here, and we got the forest ranger to rescue Jason with a rope. Another time, they were climbing trees and Jason fell. He'd have hit the ground head first if his foot hadn't got caught in the crook of a branch about six feet off the ground. Kenny ran back here, again. When we got there, Jason was hanging upside down from the branch screaming his head off. He sprained his ankle in the fall, and couldn't walk for a few days, but that branch probably saved his life." Mom was on a roll, talking about my childhood adventures.

"Jason was the odd duck around here," Mom continued. "In an area where all the boys hunt and fish he did neither. Said he couldn't stand to kill the animals. Instead, he was interested in the rocks. Him and Kenny loved looking at maps, too. When they grew up, Jason was going to be a geologist, then he decided to be a civil engineer, he wanted to plot out where things like roads or pipelines would go. Kenny wanted to be a surveyor, so he could lay out Jason's plans in the real world. They wanted to have their own partnership. But it never worked out for them."

"So that's why Jason went to school for geology and civil engineering," Shavonda said.

"Yep," I answered. "I'd have tried to get work down here, and dragged Rose with me. But I couldn't pull it off."

"So you see, Von," Mom said, "your husband has had a profound influence on this family, even if he doesn't realize it. We see things differently because of him. When everybody else was asking why he was asking why not. He really shocked us, though, when he brought you here. Although, in hindsight, it shouldn't have surprised us. If anybody was going to bring a black girl to meet the family, it would have been Jason. He just doesn't see the world the same way most people around here do. And when he brought you around, it forever changed how we see people in this family. Understand that we taught the kids to judge people on their character, and that's why Jason fit in so well with your family. Because your mother has the same outlook as Jason. She sees people for who they are not what they are. And we're proud to call all of you family now. And once again, with Edie, Kenny is following in Jason's footsteps."

"If Kenny thinks he and Edie are going to have the same kind of relationship we have, he's in for a surprise," Shavonda replied. "Edie is a lot different from me. She is the only child of a single Mom. Her daddy died years ago. She doesn't let many people get close to her. He's going to have to nurture her, she can be very insecure. Sometimes she's her own worst enemy."

"But I understand about Jason's influence," Shavonda continued. "I am dark-skinned, very dark-skinned. Jason was the first of my boyfriends to tell me my black was beautiful. I knew I was pretty, but until Jason I never thought I was beautiful. You see, among us black folks there is a feeling that the darker you are the less beautiful you are. I've had to deal with that all my life. To Jason, my darkness is part of what makes me beautiful. And he tells me so every day."

"I think he's right," Mom replied. "Von, you ARE beautiful. You also have an elegant air about you, just like your mother and father. But you also have that playful side as well. I have to admit I loved watching you turn the tables on Kenny and Nora during the times you were here before. They both tried to embarrass you, but you refused to back down, and turned whatever they said back on them. Like last time when you insinuated you shared your breast milk with Jason. Nora was so uptight she about had a heart attack." We all laughed, remembering Nora's reaction.

"I am glad you are with Jason," Grandma said. "It took me a while to accept you being with Jason, but I always liked you. We were always told it was wrong for races to mix like you two do. I remember my parents having a hard time when we moved here. They didn't take kindly to a Seneca woman being with a white man. But as bad as they had it, it was far worse for couples like you. It was just the way things were, and few challenged it."

"I meant to ask you sometime," Shavonda said. "How did a Seneca woman get to Appalachia anyway? The Seneca nation is in New York."

"My father met my Mom while working near the reservation in Salamanca. They got married there, and moved here to work on the rural electrification. Eventually, they bought land near Hot Springs. I met and married Jason's Grandfather, and we moved on his family's farm. Been here ever since."

I'd known my great grandfather had worked for the power company, but hadn't known he was putting in the very first electric lines in the area. I was learning as much about my family as Shavonda was. I'd known the Waites had lived in the area since the 1700s, but hadn't realized that Grandma's family had arrived much later.

I was also glad we lived in the present day, where I could openly take my wife anywhere, instead of the 1950s and 1960s, when we could have been arrested in Covington, for simply being married. Conditions in West Virginia would have been a little better, but our marriage would have still been illegal. It just wouldn't have been actively prosecuted. Miscegenation laws didn't go away here until the Supreme Court rules them unconstitutional in the 1960s.

Shavonda whispered in my ear. "Want to go up to KR by the tunnel?" She was referring to the spot where the railroad crested the mountain with a tunnel bored through the summit. It was a special place for us, one we tried to visit every time we came here. "I want to be alone with you."

"Sorry," I said, meaning it. "Kenny took the Jeep. I'm not taking the truck up there and get it stuck with all Kenny's stuff inside. Maybe we could take a walk down to the iron bridge instead?"

"I got a better idea," Shavonda replied. "Why don't we go to the treehouse?" I felt the stirring in my pants as I realized what she wanted.

Turning to Mom I asked, "Where do you keep the spare blankets? Shavonda wants to go for a walk, and I don't want to get her dress dirty when we sit down."

She looked at me with a knowing expression. "Upstairs, hall closet by the bathroom," she said. "We'll watch Miracle for you."

Shavonda and I padded barefoot to our room. We almost always took our shoes off when we were here. On the way, I got the blanket from the closet, and helped strap her sandals as she sat on the bed. I put on my comfortable old Velcro sneakers, and we started on our walk hand in hand, blanket slung over my shoulder.

"I wish I had love like that," I heard Mom say to Grandma as we walked away from the house.

"I did," Grandma replied. I smiled at my ebony goddess. Grandma understood. Even though she'd resisted our relationship until we were married, she understood what we felt for each other. I wondered how much that had to do with her change of heart.

We walked through the pine and oak forest to the treehouse. The underlying soil in this spot was a rocky shale, on which few things would grow, except patches of grass and a few small bushes. The shale barrens like this one were common in the ridge and valley, and the lack of undergrowth always gave them a parklike feel to me.

Arriving at the treehouse, I helped Shavonda up the ladder, my hands on her booty for support. As she climbed out of my reach, I watched her ass sway as she ascended. She was wearing no panties. She wiggled her ass as she reached the top of the ladder. "See anything you like?" she teased. "Boy, you better come get you some." In a flash, I was up the ladder and into the treehouse. Shavonda reached around the back of her neck and untied the halter strap on her leopard dress as I hastily spread the blanket on the treehouse floor. I watched in awe as the front of her dress fell away from her breasts. She slid the dress over her hips and let it pool on the blanket. My ebony goddess stood before me, naked and ready. Though I had seen her body a thousand times before, I still had trouble getting my head around the fact that this delectable creature wanted me, of all people. That she was just as in love and lust with me as I was with her, and that we were one now.

Here we were in this special place, one that I had built with my cousin, this place that represented my childhood. And my lovely wife wanted me to take her, on the spot. Shavonda turned her back to me and bent over, hands spreading her ass cheeks as she looked back over her shoulder at me. "No," I said. "Not like that." Shavonda looked disappointed. "Von, I am not going to fuck you here. This place is way too special for that." I pulled my t shirt over my head and unbuckled by jeans. "We make love here, or we don't do it at all."