Part 12: link


    Gwen tells him the next night. Already wrung out from trying to explain why she’s leaving to both her morning and afternoon students, she decides to get it all out of the way right away, like tearing a bandage off.
    Because she really doesn’t have much time.
    “Elyan, I need to talk to you,” Gwen says after supper. Tonight she willingly cooked for him, deciding to try and ply him with her good cooking before dropping a nuclear bomb on him.
    “What about?” Elyan asks.
    “I’m… I’m movin’.”
    “Oh. Um, okay. Don’t want to live above your brother anymore? I won’t ask you to cook supper for me so much…”
    “I’m movin’ away, Elyan. Out of Memphis,” she interrupts quietly.
    “What?”
    “I’m fixin’ to move up north. With… with Arthur.”
    “What?”
    “We want to get married.”
    Elyan leaps to his feet, nearly toppling his chair. “You knocked up? So help me, if he got you pregnant, I am gon’ kill him,” he fumes, starting for the door as he talks, his hands balled into tight fists. “I don’t care, he’s gon’ die…”
    “Elyan Thomas, you come back here and sit your butt down this instant!” Gwen yells, her voice indignant.
    Elyan stops in his tracks. She sounds just like Mama used to. He turns around and comes back to the table, watching her standing there, fists on her hips and fire in her eyes. He meekly sits.
    “Is that the kind of girl you think I am? You think I’m the kind of girl who’d just open her legs for some white man – any man, for that matter – just ’cause he’s handsome and he talks pretty? Is that what you think of me?” She is yelling full-tilt now.
    “Uh—”
    “You are my brother, Elyan, you know that’s not how Mama and Daddy raised us! Even so, I thought you knew me better than that!”
    “So you’re not pregnant?” he asks, his voice very small.
    “I am not even gonna dignify that question with an answer,” Gwen huffs. “Honestly, Elyan. Is that really what you think of me?”
    “No.”
    “Then why was it the first thing you thought of? Or do you have somethin’ to confess yourself?”
    “No!” his eyes grow wide. “Toya and me ain’t even…” he trails off. “I don’t know why it was the first thing that came to mind.”
    “I thought you liked Arthur now.” She sits again.
    “I do. I just wasn’t expectin’… When did this happen?” He’s gone from furious to perplexed.
    “When did what happen?”
    “You and him. You been sneakin’ around somewhere?”
    “No! I don’t know exactly when or exactly how. It just did. Then the trial ended, and we both realized – separately – that the thought of never seein’ each other again was… unacceptable.”
    “Unacceptable?” Elyan raises his eyebrows.
    “Heartbreaking,” Gwen admits. She looks at her brother. “I love him, Elyan. And he loves me. He wants to marry me. We can’t do that here.”
    “So you’re gon’ leave me here all alone to go be with Mr. Charlie?” he asks, but he is smiling just a little now.
    “You could… come with us. I’m sure people need things fixed and built in Milwaukee.”
    “Milwaukee? Why Milwaukee?”
    “Arthur has kin there,” she shrugs. “And coloreds and whites can get married there, too.”
    “Convenient. But no, I ain’t gonna come with y’all and be no third wheel.”
    “I didn’t think you would. ’Specially considerin’ Latoya’s here.”
    Elyan looks down at his hands.
    “I do like her, Elyan. Don’t mess it up.”
    “Gwen, this ain’t about me and Toya,” Elyan says, looking back up at her. “Who’s gon’ look after me?”
    “Elyan,” she says, putting her hand over his, “you’re a grown man. Time to start actin’ like one. You don’t need me around to keep an eye on you and make you supper.”
    “I know,” he admits.
    “Toya can do that now. If you’ll let her.”
    He smiles finally. “When you leavin’?”
    “Saturday.”
    “This Saturday?”
    Gwen nods. “I’m gonna need you to send my things after. Merlin will help you. He’s got all the information. You won’t even need to pay nothin’. Arthur’s got an account set up with the UPS.”
    “Oh, Mr. Charlie has money, then?”
    “Yes,” Gwen admits with a heavy sigh. “Turns out he’s got money comin’ out o’ his ears. His Mama left him a big, fat trust fund.”
    “Oh, so you’re marryin’ him for his money. I can understand that,” Elyan teases.
    “Yes, Elyan, I’m marryin’ him for money I didn’t even know he had until after I’d already decided I was gon’ marry him,” she says, rolling her eyes at him.
    “What am I gon’ do with this house?” Elyan asks then.
    “Well, it’s paid for now. Do whatever you want. I’m sure you could find someone to rent the apartment once my stuff is out. Or I know you’ve always thought about convertin’ it to a one-family house. Do that. Make it a nice home for you and, oh, maybe Toya. Who knows?”
    “I might do that,” he muses.
    “So we have your blessing?” Gwen asks. “I mean, not that I need it, you know I’m gonna do what I want regardless. It’d just be easier knowin’ you’re not gon’ be a… a jive-ass turkey about all this.”
    “Just… call me when you get to Milwaukee,” he says. Gwen jumps up and pulls her brother to his feet and hugs him tightly.

xXx

    “Hello?” Arthur answers after just a couple rings.
    “Hey,” Gwen says. “I told him.”
    “Well, you’re alive, that’s good. Do I need to double-lock my doors? Or call Jim and have him send squads past at regular intervals?” he asks.
    “No, you’re not in danger. He’s all right, I think. Now, anyway.”
    “Was it bad?”
    “He accused me of being pregnant.”
    Arthur pauses. “We may hear that question a lot, Guinevere. Just to warn you. I mean, I know that you would never… um… but other people…”
    “But my own brother? It hurt.”
    “I’m sorry, Guinevere.”
    “Thank you. And I did let him have it with both barrels about that, too.”
    “That’s my girl,” Arthur says, smiling. “Guinevere, is Elyan home tonight?”
    “So far,” she answers.
    “Do you think it’d be all right if I came by and talked to him myself? You know, man to man? Let him know that my intentions are honorable?”
    “Um—”
    “Yes, I know he’s your younger brother, but he’s also the only family you’ve got left, and…”
    “Arthur,” Gwen interrupts him.
    “Hmm?”
    “I think he would appreciate the gesture. I’ll go down and make sure he stays home.”
    “Thank you. I’ll be over in ten minutes.”
    “Okay,” Gwen says, her hand reaching up to check her hair now.
    “Oh, and Guinevere? I love you.”
    “I love you, too, Arthur,” she says, smiling.

xXx

    It took longer than the promised ten minutes, but Arthur eventually came knocking. When she saw the 12-pack of Budweiser in his hand, she knew what had kept him.
    “Arthur…” she says, shaking her head at him.
    “Peace offering,” he explains as he walks inside. Gwen is tempted to peek out the door to see if anyone’s looking, but decides against it. That would only look more suspicious.
    “That might actually work,” she says. He leans in to give her a kiss.
    “No,” she whispers. “I want to, but not now.”
    “Right,” he nods, a little disappointed, but he understands.
    “Elyan, Arthur’s here,” Gwen says, leading Arthur into the living room.
    “I figured that when I heard the door,” Elyan says. Gwen switches the television off.
    “I’ll leave you two to talk,” she says.
    “Are you going upstairs?” Elyan asks.
    “Yes. So behave yourself,” she says pointedly at Elyan. As she walks out the door, she hears Arthur clear his throat.
    “Beer?” Arthur pulls a bottle from the box and offers it.
    Elyan gives him a sideways look, but then takes the bottle. “Thanks.” He reaches over to a side table and produces a bottle opener. He opens his bottle and then passes the opener to Arthur.
    “Thanks.”
    Both men take long drinks from their bottles, each waiting for the other to speak first.
    “So…”
    “Um…”
    Arthur sets his beer down. “Elyan, I love your sister.”
    Elyan nods. “She told me.”
    “Well, I do. I know it’s not smart and it’s not safe and it’s not even legal, really, but I do. I want to marry her, and she says she wants to marry me. It would really mean a lot to both of us if you were okay with it.”
    “You ain’t askin’ for my blessin’,” Elyan says.
    “No, I ain’t. You and I both know that Guinevere’s gonna do what she wants to do regardless of what either of us says,” Arthur says, chuckling. “I’m simply askin’ that you accept me as Guinevere’s choice.”
    “I love my sister,” Elyan says.
    “I know. That’s why it’s important to her that you’re okay with all this.”
    “I do want her to be happy.” He takes another long pull from his bottle.
    “Elyan, I promise you that I will make her happy. We ain’t foolish enough to think that movin’ north’s gonna solve all our problems. I can’t promise you that other people won’t make her unhappy. All I can promise is that I will make her happy and if others upset her, I’ll be there to dry her tears or hold her hand or punch someone out, whatever she needs.”
    Elyan nods again and takes another drink, draining his bottle. He reaches for another. “Can I ask why?”
    “Why what?”
    “Why her? I mean, I know she’s special; she’s my big sister. But you’re a handsome rich white boy lawyer. You could have any gal you wanted, man, how is it you fell for a poor colored girl?”
    Arthur ponders his bottle, picking at the label with his fingernails. “I don’t see it that way at all,” he says finally, finishing his beer and reaching for another.
    “You don’t?”
    “Uh-uh,” Arthur shakes his head. “The only thing you said that I agree with is that Guinevere is special. And that she’s your big sister. Just because I could get any gal doesn’t mean I want just any gal. Hell, I recently learned that the receptionist at my office has been makin’ eyes at me for months. I didn’t even notice! And that was goin’ on before I even met Guinevere.”
    “She pretty?”
    “Yeah, I guess, if you like that type,” Arthur shrugs.
    “What type is that?”
    “She looks like one o’ them Barbie dolls. And she’s almost as smart as one.”
    Elyan chuckles. “You still ain’t answered my question.”
    “Why do I love Guinevere?”
    Elyan nods.
    “I’ve never met anyone like her. She’s… genuine. Real. Like… you know that she ain’t puttin’ on a front or bein’ who she thinks you want her to be. She’s herself, all the time. And she’s smart. She’s also the strongest person I’ve ever met.”
    “Strongest?”
    “Well, yeah. The way she still made it through college, graduatin’ with honors, even, while takin’ care of you and your dad, and right after your mama died? I would have just pulled the blankets over my head and given up.”
    “You wouldn’t have,” Elyan says. “But you’re right. I don’t know how she did it. Me and Daddy… we fell apart when mama died. Gwen held us together. And still did good enough in school to keep her scholarship.”
    “She’s also beautiful and kind,” Arthur says. “Sings like an angel. And I’ve heard she’s a good cook, too, though I haven’t gotten to sample any o’ her cookin’. Yet.”
    “You gon’ get fat, Arthur,” Elyan says, laughing.
    “You ain’t.”
    “I grew up on it,” Elyan shrugs, as if that explains everything. He puts the second bottle aside, now empty, and reaches for a third.
    “All I know is Monday night, when she left, I thought my life was going to end because I didn’t know how I’d get to see her again. The very idea of not seein’ her again felt like a knife in my heart.”
    “She said kinda the same thing,” Elyan admits.
    “Did she?”
    “Don’t go gettin’ all eager lookin’ there. But yes, she did.”
    Arthur chuckles and cracks his third bottle.

xXx

    Gwen looks up from her book, hearing a noise. Is Arthur still here? I don’t think I heard him leave. She slides out of bed, glancing at the clock. 11:33. She looks out the window. Arthur’s car is still parked outside.
    A thump. Male laughter. They’re drunk. Arthur needs to go home. He can’t sleep here. She sighs and pulls some clothes on, just a pair of Capris and a shirt, and heads downstairs.
    “Guinevere!” Arthur’s face breaks into a bleary grin when she appears.
    “Arthur, I think you need to go home,” she says, speaking like she is addressing one of her five-year-old students. One of her naughty five-year-old students.
    “But we were gon’… what were we gon’ do?” Elyan asks, his face crumpling in confusion.
    “We were… oh yeah. I was gon’ teach you how to play poker…” Arthur slurs.
    Shaking her head, she walks over. “You both have to work tomorrow, and I got things to do, too. Elyan,” she hoists her brother to his feet and points him towards his bedroom, “go to bed.”
    “Aw, Gwennie…” he complains, letting her gently push him to his room. Arthur is giggling on the sofa behind them. “Put your damn shoes on, Arthur,” she shoots over her shoulder.
    Once she’s gotten Elyan onto his bed, she heads back out. “Come on, baby, I’ll drive you home,” she says softly, lifting Arthur by his elbow.
    “Baby…” he repeats, grinning. “You called me baby…”
    “Yes, I did, now move those feet.”
    “’Kay.”
    She moves with purpose, businesslike and proper, bundling him into her car.
    “Wait, this ain’t my car…”
    “No, it’s mine,” Gwen says, starting the engine and pulling out.
    “How am I gon’ get my car?”
    “You should have thought of that before you came to my house with a case o’ beer. And mind that hand o’ yours don’t go no higher,” she says, his hand having found her knee as soon as she sat. It’s been creeping higher as she drives.
    “Oh…” is all he can think to say.
    “Maybe Merlin will take pity on you and drive your sorry tail back over here to collect your car tomorrow.”
    “You could…”
    “I could not and you know it. It’s enough I’m drivin’ you home now.”
    Arthur closes his eyes and leans his head back. “Elyan likes me again.”
    “Good. Don’t fall asleep.”
    “’M not sleepin’…”
    Gwen just sighs. At least he’s an affectionate drunk, not a mean one. He’s actually kind of silly.
    A short time later, she pulls up in front of Arthur’s building, helps him out of the car and up the steps.
    “Key,” she holds her hand out.
    “’Sin my pocket,” he says, grinning at her and angling his hip toward her suggestively.
    “All right, then, please take it out of your pocket and I will unlock your door for you,” she says calmly, again using her kindergarten-teacher voice.
    “No fun at all…” he mutters, shoulders slumping as he digs into his pocket and puts a key ring in her hand. “That one,” he points, poking his finger into her palm.
    Gwen bites back her laughter at him as she unlocks the door and helps him up the stairs, where she unlocks his apartment door.
    “Goodnight, Arthur,” she says, placing the keys on the coffee table.
    “You’re not goin’ to tuck me in?” he asks, pouting.
    “Arthur, it’s midnight. And I shouldn’t even be here.” Again. She looks around and suddenly notices that he’s been busier packing than she has. Of course, he has more things than I do.
    “Please? I’ll behave…”
    “I doubt it,” she says, but relents, taking his arm again and heading to a short hallway.
    “This way,” he points.
    She takes him into his room and sets him on his bed after pulling the covers back, pulling his shoes from his feet. “That’s all I’m doin’. You can take the rest off yourself or sleep in your clothes.”
    “Okay,” he says, still pouting slightly, but he is falling asleep already.
    Gwen covers him up and kisses his forehead. “Goodnight,” she whispers to him.
    “’Night,” he mumbles. “Love you…”

Part 14: link