Love Knows No Color Pt. 10

The table was set, and they'd made pancakes and scrambled eggs, with bacon and sausage links for those who wanted them. I doused my pancakes with syrup until they were soggy like a sponge. It was great to be home.

The kids played in the backyard. Calvin and his family had showed up early, just in time for breakfast. His kids and mine were burning off the sugar from breakfast, running around, doing all the things country kids do. It was all new to Brittany and Ethan, and they were hesitant at first. City kids don't get the freedom that country kids do, there are just too many hazards in the city. Out here in the mountains, snakes pose a far greater hazard than people do, and snakes are easy to avoid if you know the places they prefer.

After we'd eaten, Shavonda helped clear the table, but was suddenly taken sick. She ran for the bathroom. I felt bad for her. Maybe she was coming down with a bug. "I told you, she's pregnant," Mom insisted. But I knew better. I wished she were. I'd love to have a little brother or sister for the kids, and Shavonda would be an excellent mother.

I quickly went out to the Jeep and brought back a cardboard mailing tube we'd packed. I handed it to Mom and said, "This is for you, Open it." She pulled the cap off the tube, pulling out the posters inside. She unrolled them. They were a set of our Love Knows No Color posters.

"These are beautifu!" Mom exclaimed. "You can just see the love there. Did you take these?"

"Yes." I said. Shavonda had come over next to me and I stood with my hand around her waist. "The one of us was at the New River bridge on the way down here last summer. The one with Ethan was one of the first times Von met him, they were playing in the park. We printed these and Von sells them in her stores. We can have them framed if you want, and you can pick them up at the wedding. But keep these ones as well."

Later in the day, Shavonda got the taste for ice cream again, so we asked Mom where the closest grocery store was. "Well, there's the general store in Paint Bank, but they may not have more than ice cream sandwiches. For a regular grocery store you'd have to go to Covington or Eggleston." Both were about 30 miles away. The joys of living in one of the most sparsely populated areas of West Virginia.

We opted to go to Covington, so I could show Shavonda the paper mill where Dad worked. Finding a store, we quickly acquired two half gallon cartons of fudge ripple, in case anybody else wanted some, and quickly hit the road to get it home before it melted. It was an unseasonably warm day for the end of March, with temperatures in the mid-70s. The trees had just a hint of green to them, a promise of the spring to come.

Spring was always my favorite season for the same reason Easter was my favorite holiday. Both symbolized rebirth, with a promise of things to come. After a long depressing winter, that sort of upbeat holiday was sorely needed. Plus, we could run barefoot again, which was just what we did the whole weekend.

After we each had a bowl of ice cream, Shavonda relaxed in the kitchen while I headed upstairs for my camera. On the way back down, Grandma cornered me in the hall. "Jefferson, why are you marrying that colored girl?"

"Grandma, we are not going into this. Better yet, come with me." I led her by the hand to the kitchen table where Shavonda was talking to Mom. "Get everybody in here," I said to Mom. "I'm calling a family meeting."

So far, Calvin and his wife Linda, and Kenny were at the house, with Uncle Walt and Aunt Penny as well as my sister Sally and her husband Bob due any time. The seven of us who were already there gathered round the table.

I started, "I called this meeting because it has come to my attention that somebody doesn't think I should marry Shavonda." I looked at Grandma. "Is there anybody here who doesn't like her?" Everybody, including Grandma, shook their head no.

"Grandma," I got directly to the point. "Why do you think we shouldn't get married? She's smart, beautiful, she can sing her ass off. What's not to love?"

"She's colored," Grandma replied.

"If she were white should I marry her?"

"You'd be a fool to let her get away," Grandma said warily.

"I'd be a fool to let her get away. Everybody agree?" They all nodded yes. "That's why I am marrying her. So she doesn't get away. Lord knows what she sees in me, but she loves me. I love her. Love knows no color."

"Race mixing is wrong," Grandma persisted.

"Grandma," I said in exasperation, "You're a quarter Seneca, the rest Scottish. If race mixing is wrong, your whole life is wrong. I am going to marry Shavonda whether you like it or not. You're lucky she's sterile or we would flood this family with cute brown children. And you'd have to love them, they'd be your grandkids."

"Oh, and by the way, she's not 'that colored girl' either. She has a name. Shavonda. It's a pretty name for a pretty lady. Do you have any idea who she is or what she does for a living?"

Grandma shook her head no.

"Von owns two stores and has seven employees. She makes and sells jewelry among other things." I pulled the pendant from around my neck, the one that said S Heart J. "She made this especially for me, to show her love. It took her a month working in her spare time. Baby how many pieces are there?" I looked at Shavonda. "14," she replied.

I continued, "There are 14 individual pieces of stone and glass in there, all cut and polished so perfectly you can't tell where the seams are. It looks like one solid piece of tiger's eye but it's not. Each piece had to be cut and fit around the letters." I took the pendant off grandma and passed it around the room. "She does stuff like this all the time. It's who she is. Everything she has she's worked hard for, and gotten it on her own. You need to show her a little respect. Because anywhere she's not welcome I don't want to go. You call her colored again and we will pack and leave, and I'll never set foot in this god forsaken hell hole again. Have you ever thought what would happen if you succeeded in getting me to call off the wedding, if we broke up? We are each a part of each other now. She leaves, she takes my heart with her. I'd be devastated. I'd never be able to love anybody else the way I do her. Would you rather have me miserable the rest of my life, because you didn't approve of the one I chose?"

I turned to Shavonda, "Let's get out of here," I said icily.

Just then. Sally walked in the room. She saw the look on everybody's faces. "What did I miss?" she asked.

"Jason just gave grandma both barrels," Calvin replied. I took Shavonda's hand and led her upstairs to the room, not caring what anybody else said. Once inside, I closed the door and sat on the bed. I ran my hand through my hair, trying to calm down. Shavonda sat next to me, embracing me, rocking me. I loved her soothing touch.

"We've been fighting Rose over this bullshit, now I gotta deal with my own grandma. Where does it end?" I asked sadly. I wanted to cry. I couldn't. For some reason, I never can, the tears just won't fall.

"It doesn't end," Shavonda said sadly. "It's like a game of whack a mole. You get one situation settled and another pop up. I've dealt with this my whole life. For me there is no escape. You don't have to go through this, but you chose to, just to be with me. That means the world to me, you know."

The cd player, with one of our iPod docked, played softly in the background, on shuffle play. Your Gold Dress, by the Dukes of Stratosfear, came on. I looked at Shavonda in her gold dress and started laughing. She acted pissed, but her eyes were laughing too. "Well I guess I better take this thing off so you can work off your frustration," she said, lifting the dress over her head. "Just hit it hard. I'm already horny so don't worry about me. This one's for you. But you owe me one." She undid her bra and slid her panties down her beautiful legs. I quickly pulled my shirt over my head and Shavonda helped me out of my jeans. She lay back in my childhood bed looking at me with smoldering eyes and said, "Come get your queen."

I felt a little strange as I climbed between her legs. When I lived here, I didn't dare bring a girl up to my room. Mom would have freaked. Now she had given us her unspoken blessing, by telling us we could shut the door. Shavonda spread herself for me with one hand, while she guided me into her heavenly tunnel with the other. "Jason, Take out all your frustration on me. Don't hold back. Give it to me hard, baby."

I placed her legs over my shoulders and thrust deep inside her. She was right, she was already aroused, and saturated with her juices. I placed my hands on her hips and drove myself into her, feeling her hips lift off the bed to meet each thrust. Watching those beautiful chocolate drop c cups bounce as I pounded into her. Hearing her moans of delight with each stroke. God I loved this woman. She knew just what I needed, when I needed it.

My hands left her hips and grabbed her ass as it lifted off the bed. My right thumb found its way into her special spot where cheek met inner thigh. I massaged that spot, hearing her moans of increasing urgency. I knew she couldn't take much touching there when she was aroused, it was aa sure fire way to bring her over the edge. This time was no different. "Ohhh Goddd. Jason. I'm comingggg." I felt her convulse around me as I thrust into her even harder. I was not being gentle. And she was loving every inch of it.

The room was filled with the sound of our bodies slapping together, the headboard banging off the wall, and the rhythmic squeaking of the bed springs. "Don't hold back, baby. Don't hold back. Give it to me, baby," Shavonda babbled riding her own wave of pleasure. Her eyes bored into me as she rode her orgasm, arching her back into me in a futile effort to take me even deeper inside her. I felt all muscles tighten and my toes curl as I neared my own peak.

"I want your nut Jason, give it to me," Shavonda moaned loudly. My body spasmed as I lost control, emptying my balls into her womb, her inner muscles sucking me dry. Spent. I collapsed on top of her. She moved her legs off my shoulders into a more comfortable position with knees bent on either side of my hips. Her hands held me in place within her, squeezing my ass. "Don't pull out just yet. Let me enjoy you inside me for a little while," she purred. "Boy, you know how to put it on a girl."

We lay there, listening to our heartbeats slow as I softened and fell out of her canal. I looked into her eyes again and saw nothing but love. I rolled us on our sides and we lay face to face. "Jason," she said, "Your family loves you. Don't deny them your company just because you mad at Grandma." She was right as usual. I did feel better though. I felt more relaxed. "Just remember, you owe me. I want you to lick my chocolate tootsie pop until I scream, tonight," Shavonda

We leisurely put our clothes back on and made our way back downstairs, holding hands. "I got him calmed down," Shavonda said sweetly to the family sitting on the back porch.

"So we heard," said Dad. Everybody looked at us funny, a look that said 'I don't believe they just did that.' Sally had a smirk on her face, like she was trying not to laugh.

"Just remember, you got to lick her chocolate tootsie pop until she screams," Kenny grinned. Sally lost it, convulsing in laughter as I turned beet red. "Next time, close the window."

"What?" Shavonda protested. "It's Easter weekend. So he got his chocolate bunny a day early." Sally and Kenny howled with laughter. I wanted to crawl under a bush and die of embarrassment.

"I'm surprised that old bed didn't come apart," Sally laughed. "I guess you two showed grandma a thing or two about race mixing."

"Long live the swirl," Shavonda said without a hint of embarrassment. She had put her bare feet in my lap and I automatically rubbed her arches.

"Where is Grandma, anyway?" I asked.

"Oh, she's out on the front porch. It got too noisy for her back here," said Mom. "Don't worry, she'll get over it. Old habits die hard."

"Fifty years ago, you would have gotten arrested for doing what you're about to do," Dad said. "Mixed marriages were against the law."

"Well, they've had 50 years to get used to it then," I said. "I have no problem with racial purity. If that's your thing go for it. I'm not going to stop you. But we believe in love, and love knows no color. God brought us together for a reason."

"You get no argument from any of us here," Kenny said. "We all think it's great you two lovebirds are tying the knot."

"We call it jumping the broom," Shavonda replied. "And for the record, everything Jason said earlier I agree with. Especially when he said I had his heart. He has mine too. This man hold me when I feel down. He rub my feet when I'm tired. He let me cry on his shoulder when I need to. Whatever I ask, he do. And he ask nothing in return but that I love him."

"As far as grandma is concerned, she is still invited to the wedding. All of y'all are," I said sincerely. "We have my old house where y'all can stay so you don't need a motel. If we have to we can make room at Shavonda's house too. We hope you'll come up a day or two early. Shavonda's Mom and Dad are holding a cookout so everybody can get acquainted before the wedding. They can't wait to meet y'all. You'll like them. They're some of the nicest people I know."

I continued, "And what I said about this being a godforsaken hellhole, I didn't really mean that. It's just that while this place will always be home to me, I am no longer of this world, and Von never was. We're used to a completely different way of life."

Later in the evening, Mom sat in the kitchen with Shavonda and me. We were discussing how we got the kids, and the stress Shavonda was under. I told her about the break in at Shavonda's store, and how we kept the kids when Rose was arrested. About the trumped-up child abuse charges, due to Rose trying to use and unfortunate accident in day care to try and get the kids back. About the phony phone calls to police reporting Shavonda roaming the alley behind my house picking up tricks. And how that ultimately led to her being detained and almost raped by a crooked cop. About how Rose had accused Shavonda of being a prostitute in order to try and permanently take the kids away from me. And how Shavonda had finally snapped and put Rose in the hospital. "You can't tell anybody what we've told you, Mom," I stressed. "Von's not a criminal. The stress we were under was unbearable. People will judge her without knowing the whole story. Rose wouldn't stop coming after us. Now, at least for the time being, she's leaving us alone."

"What does Rose's mother say about all this?" Mom asked.

"Barbara was not happy about the beat down, but she's a friend of the family now, and she'll be at the wedding," I said. "Althea, that's Von's mom, insisted we invite Barbara over for Thanksgiving dinner so she could see the kids. They've been close friends ever since."

We helped Mom hide Easter eggs all over the house in preparation for the egg hunt in the morning. Mom would hide more eggs outside in the morning before the kids got up. She didn't want animals eating them overnight. There were coyotes and black bears living in the area.

As the evening wore on, after we put the kids to bed, we brought the cd player and iPod down to the back porch, and sat there listening to music with Kenny and Calvin. We kept the iPod on shuffle play, letting it kick out songs at random. My cousins listened with an ear for songs they could learn how to play on banjo and guitar. There were surprisingly many of them. Tomorrow, at the Easter gathering, we would try to play them, with me on upright bass, and Shavonda doing most of the vocals. This would become a tradition every time we got together: an impromptu jam session, with them showing Shavonda new songs they'd learned.

They knew of Shavonda's love of R&B and soul, and made efforts to listen and appreciate the music themselves. I was impressed that they cared enough to broaden their musical horizons in order to impress her. Now if only I could get them interested in Porcupine tree.

We talked late into the night, listening to the music playing softly, and the spring peepers singing in the background from the pond. Eventually, Kenny said, "We better let you go. You still have to lick that chocolate tootsie pop."

And so, after midnight, we went upstairs. And yes, I licked the chocolate tootsie pop, while Shavonda feasted on Scottish sausage. "Just to keep me from screaming too loud," Shavonda said. "Hard to scream with your mouth full." We ate each other to orgasm, enjoying the taste of each other's juices. And, we were so tired after the long day we fell asleep with our heads nestled in each other's crotch. It was an odd position to sleep in.

In the morning, we made love again in the foggy dawn light, before heading downstairs to await the kids. They soon bounded down the stairs looking for "what the bunny brung them." Once again, Shavonda cooked breakfast. This time she did it on her own. Mom had stayed up half the night baking a ham and getting the rest of Easter dinner together. Shavonda wanted her to rest. My queen was so thoughtful.

At the egg hunt, Ethan was getting mad as the other kids found all the eggs. Dad distracted him by stuffing an egg up his shirt sleeve and impressing Ethan with his bulging "muscle." He had Ethan look up his shirt sleeve to see the "muscle." Ethan saw the bright purple and said, "That's not a muscle that's a egg."

"Well, then," replied Dad, "I guess you found one." Ethan proudly ran off to show everybody his egg.

For Easter dinner, there was a honey glazed ham, candied yams, and assorted greens and vegetables. Knowing that I wasn't keen on ham, Mom served Shavonda and me the leftover pot roast and potatoes from Good Friday. As usual, they were delicious. Shavonda insisted on fudge ripple for desert.

After dinner, we broke out the musical instruments, and played most of the afternoon. Shavonda sang her ass off. Even Grandma was out on the porch to listen. And by some miracle, I did manage to get them to play Porcupine Tree's Last Chance to Evacuate Planet Earth Before It Is Recycled. I think the banjo in the recorded version of the song had something to do with it. They only played the first half of the song, where it was a simple love song, and not the much darker second half.

After dark, we all pulled up chairs around the fire pit in the back yard. We sat around the fire, talking and listening to the peepers. Somebody brought a bag of marshmallows and we toasted them over the fire. God I missed the country life.

We wound up packing everything that night, so all we had to do was load the Jeep in the morning. I found an old blanket in the closet, and after everybody else had gone to bed we laid the blanket on the grass and made love in front of the fire in the cool night air. Shavonda's body never looked better to me than it did in the firelight, with the flames reflecting off the sweat of our exertion, and the light flickering on the shadows of her dark skin. Even her eyes seemed to have a glow to them in the firelight.

"That was fun, being by the firelight. How come we never did that before?" my queen inquired.

"I wanted to take you camping last summer, but there were too many festivals. We never had the time. I promise you, after the wedding we'll take a weekend and go sleep under the stars," I said, looking forward to having her experience nature with me.

We put our clothes back on and quietly walked back to our room. Curling up into each other, we got a few hours of sleep before morning.

Mom cooked us another good breakfast, before we had to hit the road. The kids were practically bouncing off the walls from all the sugar they'd ingested the past couple of days, and the pancakes with maple syrup mom had made for them didn't help matters. It was going to be a long trip. Just before we pulled off, She handed Shavonda an envelope. "Jason loves these. Since you're going to be taking care of my baby, I thought you should have them. Shavonda opened the envelope. Inside were cards with recipes of my favorite cookies and other foods i'd loved from my childhood. The first card was the recipe for Grandma's shortbread cookies, a recipe that had come all the way from Scotland. It was in its way, a small ceremonial changing of the guard. Mom had never given Rose any recipes. That she gave them to Shavonda told us everything we needed to know. Shavonda was more than a part of my family now. Mom had handed over responsibility for my well being to her, a fact that was not lost on my queen. She thanked Mom with tears in her eyes.