Jack & Diane (8 page)

They all sat around the table and ate dinner together, the conversation drifted away from the dramatic events of the day to their normal chatter . Everyone had their take on the situation. They laughed and talked and ate. Once again she was thinking how much different it was from her family dinners. One difference was there were no waiters or waitress, the main difference though was the ease with which everyone interacted. The only expectation they had of each other was the expectation of happiness.

After dinner Diane helped Jack clean up the kitchen then he drove her out to “their spot”. They lay in the bed of his truck under a blanket, looking up at the stars, being in Jack’s arms made her forget the stress of the day.

“Jack, Megan and Andre are not the only ones that feel that way,” she said breaking the silence.

“I know, but it only matters what we think.”

“I wish that were true, but we don’t live in a cocoon separated from everyone else. Is love enough to battle the stupidity of the world?”

He sat up on his elbow and looked down at her. “For every one intolerant Megan in this world is five people that support us and another four people that don’t give a flying care. I can’t tell you how hard or easy it’ll be for us or that we won’t have folks trying to tear us apart just because of our differences in skin color. What I can tell you though, is that life is too short to live with the regret of not giving love and happiness a chance.”

“Jack I’m afraid. I’m afraid of the difficulties. I’m most afraid of is I’ll lose lying in the arms of the man I love looking up at the stars with a belly full of his Momma’s cooking.”

“The man you love?”

As the realization sunk in that she’d finally said she loved him, his mouth covered her lips. She gave into her heart and let go of any thought other than the sensation of kissing his unshaven upper lip. It was rough and erotic against her skin as he kissed his way down her neck.

 ♥♥♥

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Diane was shocked to see her parents in her apartment when she opened the door early Sunday afternoon. Several emotions spun through her at once, but dread is what the wheel stopped on.

“Mother, Daddy what are you doing here?” She did not know if it was out of shock or embarrassment that kept her from walking through the door and revealing Jack as well. It wasn’t shock, or embarrassment, it was protection that she felt. She wanted to protect her relationship from her Mother.

“Diane! We’ve been worried sick,” her father said looking suddenly relieved.

“Why?” Diane said giving her father a hug and a warm smile. “Hi, Daddy.”

“Your phone is dead,” her mother said with an emotionless tone.

“Yes it is,” Diane said reinforcing the statement unnecessarily. “I left my charger here. Our normal call is on Sunday so why are you alarmed that you drove all the way down here?”

“When I could not reach you on your cell Thursday or Friday, I called the apartment. Your roommate said you had moved out. When there was still no word from you we thought maybe your roommate was not joking when she said you had moved in with some boy you just met. ”

Jack gently pushed the door all the way open which prompted Diane to step forward. “I would be the boy she just met ma’am. Jack Sloan.”

He extended his hand but Diane’s mother ignored it as though it was at best irrelevant or at worse contaminated with a drug resistant plague.

Diane’s father came forward and firmly took Jack’s hand into his. “I’m Robert Clark, Diane’s father. This is her mother Catherine.”

“Diane, what exactly is going on here?” Catherine moved the conversation forward, seeing no need for pleasant introductions.

“Mother, this is Jack. Since Thanksgiving we have been…” Diane paused looking for the best word to describe her relationship with Jack.

“Dating,” Jack provided. This was a different side of Diane. She was unsure of herself.

“Thank you, Jack,” she said softly with an easy smile that contradicted the panic in her eyes.

“Diane, how are you dating when you are engaged?”

“Mother, I’m not engaged.”

“Fine. You were engaged on Wednesday then dating on Thursday? Or were you dating before you abruptly called off the engagement? If so, I did not raise you like that.”

Diane did not respond. It seemed that she was willing herself to stay where she was and not flee out of the door. Jack put a comforting hand of support on Diane’s mid back.

“Ma’am, your daughter and I met when I stopped to help her after her car broke down the day before Thanksgiving.”

“Jack is it?” Catherine said his name as though it was a bitter tea that had been steeped too long. “I am speaking to my daughter. If you would be so kind as to remove your hand from my daughter it would be appreciated.”

Jack wasn’t quite certain why he felt the need to protect Diane from her own mother, but he did. Diane did not seem like the beautiful flower she normally was, but one that had been withered by harsh sunlight. Instead of removing his hand, he began to rub her back with his thumb. He was about to respond when Robert shot him a sympathetic look and a slight shake of his head to deter him from responding.

“Sweetie, why don’t we all sit and you can tell us what’s going on,” Diane’s father said trying to bring the boiling tension to a simmer.

Catherine sat first and motioned for her daughter to sit next to her. Hesitantly Diane took the seat next to her mother. Robert sat in the only remaining chair next to the end of the couch nearest Catherine and Jack sat on the arm of the couch next to Diane.

“When did your car break down?” Robert asked Diane.

“It broke down on the way home just before Thanksgiving.”

“Why didn’t you call for help?” her father asked

“My phone had died after talking to Mother and Dr. Insincere…Alan for almost two and a half hours straight.”

“Are you saying this is somehow my fault?” Catherine said with her arms crossed and the same disapproving look on her face that she’d had since Jack and Diane had arrived.

“I’m not saying that at all.” Diane said holding back the exasperation she felt from being heard in her voice. “I am simply answering Daddy’s question.”

“After sitting on the side of the road with no one else in sight for about an hour, Jack pulled up and helped.”

“Why didn’t you tell me your car needed to be repaired? I could have had it fixed by now.”

“I fixed it, Sir. She had it back by the following Sunday.”

“You are a mechanic?” Catherine asked saying the word mechanic as if it were a synonym for hooligan.

“No ma’am. I’m a farmer.” Jack was finding it difficult to maintain the polite tone like his momma raised him. He did not want to make an enemy out of Diane’s mother even if every word coming out of her mouth sounded like they were coming from the mythological banshee.

“Oh good Lord,” Catherine mumbled.

“Sweetie, what did your roommate mean when she said you’d moved in with Jack?” Robert said getting the conversation back on course.

“I haven’t moved in with Jack, yet. I did stay the last couple of nights at his house.”

“Oh, good Lord in heaven,” Catherine said.

“What do you mean by yet?” Robert asked and for the first time turned a less than amicable eye to Jack.

“Just to clarify sir, she didn’t stay with me. She had her own room at my parent’s house out on the farm. Did her roommate also tell you that she’d made some racist comments that caused Di not to feel safe sleeping in the apartment?”

“Her name is Diane, not Di,” Catherine said.

Jack just stared at her. He could not seriously believe that what stood out in that question was his use of a shortened form of Diane’s name. He also found it rather sad that neither Robert nor Diane seemed to be phased by this.

“What racist comments?” Robert asked staying the course of the conversation.

“Thursday morning when I came back from Jack’s…”

“Excuse me?” her father interrupted.

“She’d come out to the farm for dinner with me and my family and fell asleep while studying afterwards,” Jack said. “Once again, she had her own room Sir.”

“He didn’t think it was safe for me to drive back sleepy,” Diane continued. “So, his Momma offered me one of their spare rooms,” she finished.

“Oh, good Lord in heaven, have mercy on me,” Catherine said in response to her daughter’s use of the word Momma.

“When I returned home the next morning, Megan expressed her disapproval of me dating someone that was white because being black makes me inferior.”

“If she threatened you any harm we need to call the police.”

“She didn’t threaten me, but the conversation got pretty heated and I just didn’t feel safe. I didn’t know what she was capable of because it was a whole different Megan.”

“You should have called us instead of running to people you barely know. We are your parents,” Catherine said.

“I didn’t want to worry you Mother.” Diane felt the statement was true enough to not be a lie. The first person she thought of calling was Jack. Contacting her parents was an afterthought.

“I think leaving was the best thing to do Sweetie, but your Mother is right. You should have called us to let us know what was going on.”

Diane looked nervously at Jack. “Since I hadn’t told you about Jack, I felt that was a too much to explain over the phone. I planned on telling you everything when I came home for Christmas next weekend.”

Jack had assumed from her parents’ earlier statements that Diane hadn’t told them about him. Her confirmation of that fact had him unsettled. He wasn’t sure how he felt about being her secret.

“Were you returning because you and Megan straightened things out?” her father asked.

“No, Daddy. I haven’t spoken to her since Thursday. I don’t know what there is to straighten out. She believes that blacks are okay as long as they know their place and apparently I am out of my place. Jack’s family has offered me a room at the farm and I’ve accepted.”

“That may be best since there’s only a week left before finals,” Robert agreed shocking everyone.

“You cannot possibly be serious.” Catherine cut her husband a look that would kill if he’d not built up an immunity to it over the years.

“We can find an apartment for next semester over winter break.”

“Daddy, I checked and the lease can’t be broken without paying a steep penalty. If I moved into another place you’d practically be paying rent at two places and that seems excessive.”

“We offered for her to stay out at the farm. We have plenty of room.”

“Give me strength,” Catherine said to no one in particular or perhaps it was a prayer to God.

“Well. There seems some logic to that,” Robert said. He looked from Jack to his daughter and then back to Jack. “Can we come out to your farm and meet your parents? I’d like to see where my daughter may be staying.”

“Yes sir. Just let me call and let them know we’ll have two more for supper.”

Catherine mumbled something with the only intelligible words being Jesus, supper and Mayberry.

It took Diane only a few minutes to pack and grab her phone charger. Once outside Diane started towards the safety of Jack’s truck to head to the farm.

“Diane, where are you going?” her mother chastised her. “You are riding with us.”

“Mother, it would be rude to have Jack ride by himself.”

“You are right. Your father can ride with him.” Catherine didn’t wait for any further discussion of the matter.

Jack stood closely behind Diane and whispered in her ear, “I’ll drive fast to make the ride quick.” He kissed her on the top of her head and headed to his truck. She smiled. He knew her so well it was like he was reading her mind. She felt herself fall a little more in love.

The door to the car had barely closed before her mother began her inquisition. “Diane, is this Jack Sloan boy just to help you get over Alan?”

“No Mother.”

“Then what is the boy to you?”

“Jack is not a boy. He’s a man.”

“What is the man to you then?”

“I don’t know exactly. I do know that he’s more than just a distraction, much more.”

“How can he be much more than a distraction when you have only known him for a couple of weeks?”

“I’ve known him three weeks and emotions can’t tell time.”

“What emotions could you possibly have for him?”

“I don’t know,” she said raising one shoulder to emphasize her lack of knowing. Diane wished she could talk to her mother and tell her that she was falling hard and fast in love with this man, but she knew she couldn’t. She knew she’d only get judgment and her doubt would increase.

“Have you talked with Alan?”

“No I haven’t.”

“Why have you not talked to him?”

“I don’t know what there is to talk about.”

“Are the past four years of your life not worth talking with him about?”

“I haven’t had time to talk to him.”

“Perhaps you would find some time to talk with him if you were not out wasting your time with a relationship that is not going anywhere. The term relationship is used very lightly.”

“Why do you think our relationship isn’t going anywhere?”

“Diane, are you really delusional enough to believe he wants a relationship with you? You are just some fetish for him to check off his bucket list. Once he gets what he wants, all the lovely things he is saying to you now will cease and you will be left with a broken heart.”

“That won’t happen,” Diane said with a little more confidence than she felt.

Catherine gasped and looked at Diane for a moment before returning her eyes to the road. With forced calmness she asked, “Have you had sex with him?”

“No Mother,” Diane said on an exhausted sigh. She was tired of the interrogation and lecture her mother passed off as a conversation.

“Well, that is good. Diane?” she paused wanting her daughter to respond so she could be sure she was listening to what she said next.

“Yes Mother?”

“Be careful. The emotion with the least concept of time is regret.”

They drove the rest of the way in an unusual silence.

♥♥♥

Diane was surprised to see Jack and her father laughing when they got out of the truck at the farm. Their ride was obviously more congenial than her drive with her mother. Jack walked over to Diane and took her by the hand then kissed her on the head.

“You ok?” he asked deeply in her ear.

She was now. She liked that he was concerned about her. It was also attractive that he felt the need to protect her, even from her own mother. She smiled up at him and nodded then rose on her tiptoe to brush a quick kiss on his lips.

Her mother cleared her throat and said, “It is rather cold out here, perhaps we should go in.”

As they walked through the front door, Jack’s Momma came from the kitchen smiling and drying her hands on a dish towel hanging from the waistband of her apron. She kissed Diane on her cheek as usual. She then approached Catherine with a smile.

“You must be Cathy,” she said and forced the other woman into a hug. “Di is the spittin’ image of you.”

“It is Catherine and my daughter’s name is Diane,” she said not returning the unwelcomed embrace.

“Isn’t that what I said?” Before Catherine could respond she’d moved over towards Robert. “You must be Rob.” She surprised him with a warm friendly hug as well. “You’re not lacking in the looks department either.”

“It is Robert,” Catherine corrected.

“Isn’t that what I said?”

“Mrs. Clark, Robert, this is my mother Rose Sloan.”

“Jack, take their coats and put them in the closet please. Rob, my husband is in the family room watching football if you and Jack want to join him. Di, I know you want to join them too, but I’d like your help in the kitchen for a bit. Cathy, Jack will introduce you to my husband and then you can join us girls in the kitchen.”

“It is Catherine,” she said not hiding the frustration by the use of the shortened form of her name.

“Isn’t that what I said?” Rose said feigning ignorance with a glint of amusement in her eye.

Everyone followed Roses’ instructions, even Catherine, though with a slight delay in protest. She was used to doing the ordering around and not being ordered around.