Southern Heritage

"Waste of good money I tell ya!" I heard Dad call out from the other room.

I felt almost to tired to eat but the food was so good I was soon eating with an energy I didn't know I had. I looked up to see Maryloo's dark eyes on me. I gave her a tired smile.

"Told you I would make it back. Almost in one piece."

I saw tears start at her eyes. She dabbed at them with her apron then nodded.

"My Willy boy," she said in a low voice. "I've done been so worried about you."

I looked towards the door, and hearing dad talking to mom in the next room I held out my hand to her. She took the few steps after a second and took my hand. I felt the strength of her fingers as they tightened around mine.

I gestured for her to come closer.

She looked towards the door and shook her head.

I pulled her hand towards me. Glancing at the doorway fearfully, she slowly moved over next to me. I noticed she wouldn't lean down.

I looked up into her dark eyes.

"I love you."

My words were soft. They carried no more than the few feet between us.

"Remembering how you said goodbye to me... kept me going over there," I told her softly.

I saw her look up towards the door then back down at me. She slowly smiled. Her eyes fluttered away tears.

"I love you too, Willy boy," she said in a soft whisper. She looked up, then I saw her bend down in a rush.

Her lips touched mine for only a second but in that second I felt heaven open around me. I wanted to pull her down next to me. To taste her lips for long hours. To taste the rest of her in a thousand slow kisses.

"You finish your supper now, Willy boy," she said out loud. She patted my hand and walked away from me towards the kitchen. She stopped, looked back after a second. When our eyes catch and hold the others I watched her take a step to move back to me.

"Maryloo, put on some coffee!"

I hated the sound of my father's voice at that moment. It takes her away from me.

***

I start to laugh as a nearly lost memory comes floating back up to me as I pass a sign for a small restaurant. The sign says 'Best Fried Chicken in the South'. I'm chuckling thinking about my old friend for the next few miles.

***

"But why can't you just invite your friend here for dinner?" asked Momma. "I don't understand why you are meeting him in town for a meal at a restaurant."

My limp was a bit less as I put on nice civilian clothes for the first time in a long time. They felt strange. They actually fit better than my uniform did though. I wasn't as big in the chest when I left for basic.

"I just can't, Momma. I'll explain it later. Now love you, got to go."

"But William...?"

The old car ran kind of rough. It hadn't had my hands at it in a few years. I drove into town enjoying the feeling of going to go do something just because I wanted to. It had been a long time. I knew it was a fleeting feeling.

I was due back in twenty days. My medical leave could have been spent in Hawaii but I had a reason for coming back here. Well, a couple of them. Maryloo was the biggest of them of course.

Curtis Jackson was the other.

I pulled my car into the parking lot across the street and using my cane as little as I could, I crossed to the brick building. I could smell the food cooking.

When I stepped inside, the eyes that were on me were enough to set the hair on the back of my neck on end. That feeling of danger I picked up in my first days in Nam settled around me. My hands slid to where my gun's safety would be if I was carrying it.

"Willy!"

I looked towards the sound of my name and saw Curtis sitting at a small round table. His black wood cane sat on the red checkerboard tablecloth. I hobble over to him and he gets up with equal effort.

It must have been a rare sight in this place a white and black man hugging each other.

I can't say either of us cared. It was several long breaths before either of us even thought of turning loose.

He grinned at me, that familiar smile that always told me the fun was about to start was now comforting.

I pointed with a tilt of my head to the faded sign nearby that said 'Colored only.'

Curtis chuckled.

"I talked to the owner. He says if a white boy's willing to eat in here, he sure enough is willing to serve him."

A young colored girl came to the table after we sat down. Curtis ordered for us both.

"Darlin, would you get us two big old glasses of sweet tea. Then you just keep chicken and biscuit coming here to this table till we get full. Shouldn't take more than ten, twelve hours." Curtis watched her walk away. "Thank Lordy my boy, I'm back home. Those little gook girls sure could suck a cock but not a one of them got an ass like brown sugar there."

I chuckled. He hadn't changed a bit in the six months since I saw him last. That memory tried to surface but I drove it back into the past where it belonged.

The girl brought us our tea and after a minute a huge basket of biscuits and a platter full of fried chicken.

"Curtis, how the hell have you been?" I asked after finishing my first big bite.

"Willy boy, I've been so deep in pussy my black ass hasn't seen the light of day in months." He looked up at me and I saw a sly smile cross his face. "How about you? You learned if you prefer chocolate to vanilla yet?"

I grinned back at him... then slowly shook my head.

"You letting way too much time pass you by. You already said that she's older than you. If you don't get after that thing soon she's gonna find her someone who will. How long you got left back here?"

"Twenty days. Well really about seventeen then I got to go get my plane back." I picked out my second piece of chicken and grabbed a biscuit that dripped butter. My eyes went to his cane hanging now on the back of the spare chair. "How about you? How you coping?"

Curtis sat back and grinned.

"I'm home. I'm home with no chance of going back to that hell." He took a biscuit and dipped it into the gray bowl. "Rest of my life's gonna go down as easy as this." He took a large bit. Gravy dripped off his chin.

"And the leg?" I asked not looking up for a second.

"So I fucking limp." He shrugged. "I'm better than Franky."

I picked up my tea and nodded at the truth of that. I took a small sip then I slowly took a deep breath, determined to get out what has needed to have been said for half a year.

"I don't really know how to... I want to thank..."

"Hush your head. You don't have no need to be thanking me. I need to be thanking you Willy boy. Them gooks would have done me for sure had you left me."

"Curtis, I'm alive because of you." I tried to explain what I felt.

"You still a dumb white fucker though."

I chuckled and then we were both laughing loud enough to attract a lot of attention. Curtis waved them off.

I grew silent.

"Curtis. I don't know how to deal with the world back here now. I mean..." I looked up at him It was hard to keep the tears out my eyes. "Curt, I think of you as my brother. I would have walked into fire for you and would do it again in a heartbeat. I'd give my life for you without a thought, and yet I couldn't invite you to my house for dinner. That's so fucked up."

He takes a big sigh.

"Nobody ever promised the world wasn't fucked up, Willy. The only promise you got when you breathed your first breath was that one day you would breathe your last. Till that day all you got to do is one thing."

I smiled at him knowing what he was about to say. We said it together, grinning.

"Keep your dick wet."

I laughed with my brother and went back to eating.

***

A single tear rolls unnoticed down my cheek as the memory of Curtis flashes past. Dead ten years... no, more than that. Damn, closer to fifteen.

I turn the car up the last road and see the old house. It sits amid a cluster of newer homes. The old family property was sold off to developers. I look to my left and see the old oak tree is still standing down on what was our bottom field.

My god, the memories under that tree.

***

Sixteen days went by in a flash. I spent most of it trying to sneak a hidden kiss from the woman I loved. No real luck there. The looks she gave me at times told me that the chance would come before I left though.

My limp had begun to fade till it only appeared towards the end of the day.

I was standing in front of the sink finishing a second piece of pecan pie when Maryloo walked into the kitchen carrying the dinner dishes. She smiled to see me.

"You looking a lot better my Willy boy. A lot better."

I let the empty plate and fork slip into the sink and walked past her towards the TV room. I turned my head just as I passed her. I felt her hip against my leg, her hand brushed mine.

"Come back and meet me down by the big oak. Tonight," I said in a whisper.

I saw her eyes go towards the door, then I saw her smile slowly "You going to get us in so much trouble," she said.

I shrugged and went to sit and watch the news. Things back in the Nam didn't sound good at all.

When everything was finished for the night Maryloo came into the TV room with her coat and purse on her arm. "I'm heading home now Missus," she says softly to my mother.

Mom gave her hand a pat. "You be careful on the way home now Maryloo." Mom turned back to the news.

I watched the woman I loved leave without another word spoken to her. Her eyes caught mine for a second and I saw a slight nod to tell me she would meet me. Knowing she would soon be standing down there in the dark waiting for me to come to her lent haste to me. I soon complained that my leg was hurting and headed up to bed.

In about an hour, I heard the TV turn off and everyone head to bed.

As the last sound grew quiet in the house, I eased out the bed and walked down the hall. My cane made a tap I couldn't hide but the sounds of dad snoring gave me comfort. I paused at the bathroom, then headed down to the kitchen. I ran a glass full of water at the sink and sipped it, listening to the house.

The silence was broken only by the distant sounds of dad's sonorous breathing.

I noticed my hand was shaking as I went to sit the glass by the sink. I smiled at that. I'd been under fire and dead calm, and here the idea of getting to spend a bit of unwatched time with Maryloo had me shaking.

The back door opened with a squeak. I flinched and slowly eased it shut. The door closed without its customary slap.

The grass was high as I walked beyond the edges of the yard and into the fields. For a moment I felt a growing sense of unease, then realized it was because I was walking in the open under a bright moon.

"It's alright Willy," I said to myself softly as the tall grass brushed my pants. "No one here to shoot at you." That knowledge didn't help. I was trembling by the time I got to the other side of the field.

My heart nearly stopped when a shadow moved by the big tree. I caught myself before I could dive to the ground and I made my breathing slow down. I took a deep breath and walked over to join the woman I loved.

Her lips came to meet mine without a word spoken between us. I wrapped her into my arms and felt her soft breasts push against my chest.

My hands moved from the ample curves of her hips up her back and I pulled her closer into me. Her lips left mine then and I felt her breathe warm by the side of my neck.

"Oh my god, Willy boy. Oh my god, I love you!"

I breathed in the scent of her as I pressed the side of my face into her hair. Her body shook for a second. I held her tighter as I felt her start to cry.

"Shush now... Hush now... it's okay. I love you just as much."

She gave a laugh that was half tears.

"I know you do. That's not why I'm crying. You're going back to that foul place. I can see what it's already done to you!"

My lips found hers in the dark and I tasted the salt of her tears as I kissed her with a fierce passion.

I tasted her breath as she gasped when my hand found her breast. It sat soft and warm in my hand. I gave it a gentle squeeze, feeling the hardening point through her bra and shirt.

Her fingers dug into my hair, pulling me into her harder! I ran my hand down her side then back up to where it was but under her shirt. The soft cotton of her bra under my fingers was warmth I thought I would never get to feel. I found the hard tip of her nipple and tightened my fingers on it slightly.

She moaned into my mouth as we kissed.

I hesitantly let my tongue pass between my parted lips. Her's was there to greet it as her fingers dug into the back of my shirt.

Then she stopped. She pulled back from my mouth till the kiss was broken.

"Willy Boy?" I heard her take a deep breath. "I want to give you a better memory to take back with you this time. If me kissing you kept you going before I want you to have a better.... a better memory."

Her arms turned me lose and I opened my arms as she stepped back.

As I watched her in the dim moonlight, my heart beating at a furious rhythm she slowly began to unbutton her shirt. As it opened, the white cotton stood out against her dark skin brilliantly. She turned and placed her shirt by the trunk of the tree. Then I made out her arms going behind her back.

The white bra slipped away and down to join the shirt.

I cursed the lack of light that hid the beauty of her dark skin from me, but then she was back in my arms and the soft warm bare skin under my fingers more than made up for the loss.

"Oh my god, Maryloo."

I ran my hands across her bare back reveling in the contact. She moaned and pressed her body harder up against mine. In that second, I wanted more. The contact of my hands wasn't enough. I brought my hands back around and started undoing my buttons with frantic haste. Soon my shirt had fallen, forgotten to the ground by my feet.

Our skin came together with a feeling that was indescribable. I pulled her into my chest, kissing the side of her neck, the tender place just under her ear. Then I followed the vein that throbbed under my lips.

Her arms wrapped around my head tight as I sucked a nipple into my mouth. My face pressed into the heavy scented warmth of her breast. I felt the hard nub tighten as I sucked and licked around it. I tested it gently with my teeth and I groaned as I feel her fingernails claw at the back of my neck and shoulder.

"Oh Willy...Oh yes."

My hands caressed the small of her back, feeling the gentle curve out and down. I followed it and her soft ass cheek was soon filling my hand. My other hand joined it and I gave her a little lift.

My knee buckled under me and with a gasp we tumbled into the tall grass.

After a second I heard her start to chuckle. I couldn't help but join her. I lay back and she moved a bit till she was laying on top of me her legs on either side of one of my legs.

"That was a fool thing to try, you could have hurt yourself," she told me, her lips just above mine. "Oh, my Willy Boy, you are going to be forever getting scrapes for me to have to patch up."

I laughed and pulled her down to me. Her lips joined mine and then she was moving herself on my chest. Her breasts slid across my skin and back, the nipples running through the hairs.

I ran a hand back down her side and catch the side of her skirt. It easily slid up her leg. My hand slipped under it and I felt the thin cotton of her panties move under my fingers. I moved my hand till the fingers slid under the edge and gave her bare ass a tight squeeze. I felt her lips smile against mine.

"You like my ass? I've caught you looking at it so many times over the years. You got a hand full of it now... so what you think?" she asked me teasingly.

"I think it's wonderful." I tightened my fingers. "I love every part of you."

"So I can tell."

I caught my breath as I felt her hand come to rest on top of me. Her fingers ran across the bulge.

"It's been a lot of years since I last gave you a bath and saw this thing. I can see it's gotten a lot bigger since then," she said with a giggle. I felt her hand move till she had the zipper between her fingers. I shifted a bit as she slid it down. Freeing up a hand, I reached down and undid the snap

Her hand was wrapped around me in a second.

"What happen to your underwear?" she asked me, laughing. "Did you forget to put it on?"

"Got use to not wearing it over there. It rains so damn much there the whole place is just a wet mess. You go wading down a creek and then you're soaked for the rest of the day. By night fall you're chaffed to the bone. That and the blessed leeches! The last thing you want is a place for some of them to get caught."

I looked up at her face as she sat up off me a bit. I felt her other hand come around to my chest and her fingers run through the hairs, across the muscles. Her hand caressed me up the side of my neck, then across the beginnings of stubble on my chin.

Her fingers tightened around me!

"My little Willy boys so grown up. I think it's time I done something I wanted to do to you before you ever left here."

As I watched her sit up and then she was moving aside her skirt. I felt the warmth of her thighs on either side of my hips. Her fingers still held onto me firmly though. Then I felt the tip of myself brushing soft cotton. Her fingers turned me loose for just a few seconds.

Then the cotton was gone.

I moaned as I felt a warm, tight, wet feeling slowly engulfing me from the tip all the way down. Her weight came to rest against me.

I looked up as I heard a gasp from her.

"Oh yea...much bigger!"

I was about to chuckle, then it became a gasp as I felt her hips start to move against me.

I ran my hands up the sides of her bare thighs, pushing the skirt higher out the way. She leaned down onto my chest and I felt the heavy weight of her breast come to rest against me. The hard points of her nipples brushed teasingly around my own.

A soft whimper came from her when I bucked upwards into her. Then a breathy gasp when I did it again.

"Oh my god yes. Oh just like that."

My arms came up and pulled her tight against me as I began to pump up into her. I kept one hand at the middle of her back then let the other go back to her hip. I slid around and back under her panties to the warm plump softness of her ass cheek; I clutched her to me and listened to the sounds of passion rising with her.

"Oh my, Willy boy... oh my. Oh yes."

Her arms encircled my head again and I listened with a growing sense of pride to her panting breath as she started to rock against me even harder.

"Are you going to cum for me, Maryloo?" I asked in a whisper up to her. My own breath was a soft pant. I felt a slight twinge of pain from my leg but I ignored it, as the pleasure of her against me was too incredible to stop.

"Oh yes...," she said in a soft breath by my ear. I heard a building moan start in her, then it slowly rose and rose. Just as it could peek I felt one of her hands leave my neck and go up to cover her mouth. I smiled as I heard the muffled moan from my wonderful lover. Her other hand dug into my shoulder and the nails bit into the skin.

I feel a surge of pleasure start to grow in me then. I tried to fight it but her grinding herself against me made it build to quickly.

"Damn it," I said in a soft whisper.

I saw her eyes pop open and focus on my face.

"What's the matter? Is your leg hurting?" she asked me in concern.

I chuckled a bit.

"No...I'm about to cum. I wanted this to go on forever."

Maryloo giggled on top of me. Her lips came down to mine and she placed a soft kiss on my lips.

She stopped moving.

"Willy... I can't let you cum in me. You get me pregnant and I give birth to a white baby..."

I could hear a tinge of fear come into her words. She went to move off of me but I caught her. My strong arms pulled her back down against my chest. I hugged her too me as I lifted her just enough to let me slip out.