Night blanketed the old Southern plantation in silence. There was no sound or light as the mistress of the grand house made her way down the servant’s stairs in the back of the stone home. It was the middle of July and summer had hit Louisiana with a ferocity not remembered in previous years. She was already sweating and she wasn’t even outside yet. Sweating on the outside, sweating on the inside. What she was doing was very wrong and she knew that if she got caught her life, as she knew it, would be over. But that wasn’t the worst of it, she knew if she got caught that her lover would be killed and she couldn’t bear that thought.
She hadn’t slept with him, not yet, just an incredible stolen kiss in the fields. But she was going to sleep with him tonight. No, not sleep; she was going to fuck her lover.
She had known him since childhood, as this was her family’s plantation. When she married her very powerful, very old and very cold husband he moved in and took over the operations of the plantation. She was an only child and her father had stipulated in his will that the only way she would get any of his money was to marry Charles. Either way she lost so she chose the lesser of the two evils; got married and therefore was allowed to stay in her home.
Charles was cold and cruel but he loved her, he had always loved her. She was his prize for a life of hard work. He knew he wasn’t liked but he didn’t care, he had Kitty and that’s all that mattered to him. She was perfection incarnate to him; her long blonde hair reaching her thin waist, her big brown expressive eyes, the pretty mouth that could bring about such unmentionable pleasure. They had been married for ten years and he still could not believe his luck. He prized her above all else.
She had known Marcus all of his life, she remembered when he had been born; she’d been 7 and a new baby in the slave quarters always brought happiness to the sheltered little girl. She ran wild and although she was not allowed to play with the slave children, no one really cared that she did. Growing up without a mother or siblings, with her father engrossed in his life and business, she pretty much did as she pleased around the plantation. She grew up caring for him the way you care for a favorite friend. She was always sneaking food and clothing from the big house for him and she taught him how to read and write by the time he was 8. When he was 13 he started working in the fields and their relationship completely changed. The easy friendship they shared was forever altered as they each took their ordained places in their respective worlds.
The summers came and went, she married and so did he. It was during this summer, the summer of her 32nd year that she decided to take refreshments out to the field hands. Charles, of course, was mortified, but it was just too hot she said. It was inhuman to not give these men refreshments.
She went out with the pitcher and glasses of lemonade and found him first in the far corner of the field being plowed. “Hello Mistress” he said with down cast eyes.
“Lord, Marcus, don’t call me that. It makes me feel old. I’ll always be Kitty to you.”
He lifted his head and looked at her hard. Staring at her like no man ever had before. And then he smiled that pure sunshine smile; she had forgotten just how incredible that smile was. “I missed you Marcus, how’ve you been?”
“I’ve been alright. And you? Are you happy Kitty? Does he treat you well?”
“I don’t believe anyone has ever asked me that before Marcus, but come, don’t get me melancholy, let me serve you some lemonade.”
He had never been served anything by a white woman before and the fact that this was the master’s wife and the object of his wettest dreams was dizzying. “Kitty, what do you think you’re doing? What if the master finds out that you’re out here all alone with me? He’ll have my hide.”
“No, he won’t. He knows I’m out here with refreshments.”
“Maybe he thinks you brought some lemonade out here but he sure doesn’t think you’re out here all alone with me.”
“Why shouldn’t I be alone with you Marcus, I’ve known you all of my life, certainly all of your life.”
“Kitty, please don’t be ignorant. It would be so easy for me to walk up to you and have my way with you; your husband would not want you placed in that position. And while I’m saying it, don’t go give refreshments to all the other men out in these fields. The temptation may be too high. A lot of these men would risk it just to know they hurt the master. Let Mrs. Haps do it. Go back to the house Kitty. Stay there.”
“Surely you joke Marcus, why would anyone want to hurt me? You wouldn’t, would you?”
“Hurt you, no. But you are a mighty fine looking woman Kitty and the fact that your husband is monster is incentive to lots of men. You don’t need to tempt anyone.”
“I only thought to do something right. I’m sorry if my being here offends you or makes you feel uncomfortable Marcus. I’ll go.”
As she turned to walk away from him he caught her arm. “Kitty, I’m sorry. I’m just telling you the truth. Don’t be mad at me okay.”
“I’m not mad Marcus, just sad. The truth is, I missed you. I thought it would be okay for me to do this and get to see you. I’ll go.”