by Londyn Skye
Elizabeth did not necessarily agree with interracial relationships before Lily began to change James’s life. But on the night of his tenth birthday, she genuinely meant it when she told him that she hoped there would come a day when he and Lily could marry. All the comfort and joy James had brought into her life in the midst of her despair made Elizabeth want the same for her son, no matter what or who had the power to bring that into his life. The fact that Lily was that person, made her just as special to Elizabeth as James was to her. For that reason alone, she felt that Lily was more than worthy of wearing her priceless family heirloom.
… And now, here James was, fifteen years later, on bended knee on their sacred plot of land, nervously presenting an equally sacred precious stone to the only woman he felt was worthy of wearing something so sentimental to him. “You’re the best thing that’s eva’ happened to me, Lily,” James expressed with a slight tremble in his voice as he held tight to her hand and kept his eyes on her tear-streaked, beautiful face. “My motha’ realized that long ago. She knew I was in love with you before I eva’ did, and she was adamant that I give this family treasure to you … and only you. I actually wanted to give this to you years ago,” he admitted. “I had this grandiose idea. I thought by the time I turned eighteen I’d have enough money saved to give to my fatha’ to set you free. With the rest ‘a the money, I wanted to buy us a little cottage far away from here. The day we moved in, I always imagined myself gettin’ down on one knee in front of our fireplace, holdin’ this very ring, and askin’ for your hand in marriage,” he laughed lightly. “But life obviously doesn’t always go accordin’ to plan. We certainly ain’t in no cottage, and ain’t no fireplace anywhere to be seen. But in this very spot, we fished togetha’, climbed trees togetha’, played with Wilbur, re-enacted the stories we read, and celebrated birthdays togetha’. In my estimation, all ‘a that makes this spot I’m kneelin’ on far more sacred than a fireplace in a cottage. And that’s why in this very place … the very place I fell madly in love with you as a boy … I wanna know if you’ll allow me the honor of bein’ your husband?” He squeezed her hand tighter after suddenly feeling the urge to cry. “Lily, will you marry me?” he asked, emotion dripping from every word.
A sea of tears was racing down Lily’s cheeks. “Your words, this gesture, and that ring are all so beautiful. Trust me they are,” she replied. “But why would you tease me with such a thing, James?” She took a step backward and let go of his hand. “You know there ain’t a church in all these United States that would eva’ see us married.”
James stood up. “Lily, I know in the eyes of society, and in the laws, that our union would hold no value. But when I stand across from you unda’neath God’s heavens, holdin’ your hand, and I speak my vows to you, I promise to be loyal to each and every word I utta’ for the rest ‘a my life … laws be damned! The vows I profess to you won’t mean anything to anyone else, but they’d mean everything to me … and to God. And that’s all that should eva’ matta’. And look, I know this is backwards and poorly timed, but I wanna be clear that I’m not just askin’ you this because of our baby. I’ve neva’ been more certain of wantin’ somethin’ eva’ in my life. Lily, I know for a fact that I don’t have the capacity to love anotha’ woman the way I love you… and I’ve been convinced ‘a that since I’s just a boy.” He got down on a knee again. “So please, Lily … tell me that you’ll marry me,” he begged, raising up the sentimental ring his mother had given him.
Lily took a step forward. “Then that’s all that matta’s to me too.” She then placed her hand back in his. “Yes,” she said through her tears.
“You’re certain?” James questioned as a smile began to grow on his face.
“Absolutely certain,” Lily nodded as a smile grew on her face as well. “There’s nothin’ I’d love more in the world than to be your wife,” she reassured him.
A tear ran down James’s cheek as he proudly slid his grandmother’s ring onto Lily’s finger.
“It’s so beautiful,” Lily replied after getting a good look at her new priceless piece of jewelry.
“You like it?” James asked, finally standing up.
“I love it!” Lily stepped into his embrace. “Just as much as I love you.”
“I love you too,” James replied. Standing in the very place where he had fallen in love with her, he then leaned down and tenderly kissed his fiancé for the very first time.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Slave Code
Article V Section II
Any free Negro intermarrying with any white person shall become a slave for life, and any white man or woman intermarrying with any negro shall become a servant for seven years, to be disposed of at the discretion of the court.
The morning following their engagement, Lily walked with James hand in hand to the plantation gates just before sunrise. When they reached the entrance, James turned toward the woman he was eager to marry. “You okay?” he asked her, after noting the obvious disappointment on her face.
“I just don’t like it when you’re gone,” Lily admitted. Her paranoia was especially high after recalling where Jesse had dragged her the last time James left on a trip.
“I know, but I promised Gideon I’d go with ’em.”
Lily looked down.
James lifted her head back up. “Lily, it’s just for a few days.”
Still, she kept her eyes aimed elsewhere.
“You trust me, don’t you?” James questioned.
Lily finally directed her eyes at him. “Of course, I do,” she said, sounding offended that he would suggest otherwise. “It’s not that at all. I just hate it when you ain’t here.” Adhering to their two-week long rule of positively focusing on the present, she had yet to divulge what Jesse had exposed her to. She now considered confessing, but she did not want to send James into a rage right before his departure.
None the wiser to Lily’s true fears, James pulled her in for a hug to try to lighten her mood. “I won’t be gone long. You’ll hardly notice I’m missin’,” he teased.
“A few days, a few hours, or a few years … my heart don’t seem to know the difference.”
“Trust me, the feelin’s mutual. It gets harda’ and harda’ for me to tear myself away from you too. I don’t like it any more than you do.”
“Don’t mind my whinin’ anyway. I’m just bein’ spoiled. I know I’ll be fine,” Lily lied, trying to talk herself into the fact.
“I have no doubt about that. You’ve always been strong.”
“I know,” she replied confidently. “But don’t you be gone from us a minute more than you need to be, ya’ hear?”
“I know betta. Not a minute longa’, Miss Lily, I promise.” He kissed the back of her ring bearing hand, expressing how much he cherished her wearing it. He then sat his satchel down, pulled out a necklace, and blew out a frustrated breath. “I hate havin’ to do this to you,” he explained, staring at the necklace, unable to look Lily in the eyes. “But I’m gonna have to hold on to that ring for the time bein’. I’m so sorry.”
Lily felt an irrational urge to cry over the matter but knew that she could never let Jesse catch sight of the glimmering stone. “It’s okay,” she replied, holding back her tears as she slid the ring off her finger and handed it to James.
“No, it’s not okay. It shouldn’t be anybody’s damn business what I decide to give you. You should be able to wear this proudly if ya’ want to.”
“Trust me, I certainly want to. But this is just part ‘a what we have to accept if we’re gonna be togetha’ in this crazy world, right?”
James exhaled and nodded as he stared at his grandmother’s ring. “You’re right … but I hope there comes a day in this crazy world soon when you neva’ have to take this off. It twists my insides to keep takin’ wonderful things away from you. You deserve betta’ than that,” he responded, exasperated over the fact that society’s rules kept dictating how long she could keep the things he gave her.
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This time for a change, it was Lily who placed her hand softly on James’s face and made him lift his sorrowful hanging head to look at her. “That day will come,” Lily replied confidently. “I believe that with everything in me.”
James gazed at her, feeling the utmost pride that such a stoic woman was in love with him. “Spoken like the strong woman that I’ve always known you to be,” he expressed, finally feeling his guilt subsiding. Her words helped him find the courage to slip the ring onto his necklace and latch it around his neck.
Lily reached over and tucked it underneath James’s shirt to keep it out of sight. “Keep this beautiful treasure safe for me,” she stated, patting the place on his chest where it was now hidden.
“I promise you, I will,” he replied, gathering her hand into both of his and kissing it. He then kneeled, reached inside of his satchel, and pulled out a ball of yellow yarn and some knitting supplies. “I figured maybe you’d love to keep busy with these,” he said, handing her the items. “Thought maybe it’d give you somethin’ positive to focus on while I’m gone.”
“Thank you! I’ve been itchin’ to knit this baby a blanket. Gonna need somethin’ to wrap ’em in when he gets here.”
“We sure will need somethin’ to wrap her in,” James retaliated.
Lily laughed and tapped him on the arm with her yarn. “Stop callin’ our son a her.”
James kneeled again to touch Lily’s belly. In the little time that they had reconciled, her appetite had returned, and her stomach had already grown noticeably larger. “You hear that, Daffy? Tell your mama she doesn’t know what she’s talkin’ about.”
“Get that name outta your head,” Lily laughed again. “It ain’t happenin’!”
“You go easy on your mama now, ya’ hear Daffy?” James said, despite Lily’s playful scolding. He then kissed her stomach. “Daddy loves ya’,” he whispered and then stood back up and stared at his fiancé for a moment.
“What’s that look for?” Lily questioned.
“Gratefulness … I’m eternally grateful to have you in my life,” James answered, continuing to gaze at her with extreme appreciation. “I love you and our baby more than anything in this grand world of ours, you know that?”
“I don’t doubt that for a second,” Lily smiled, as a surge of butterflies fluttered through her stomach. “We love you too,” she replied, touching her belly.
James then placed both of his hands on the sides of Lily’s face and kissed her tenderly, easily conveying how much he was going to miss her while he was away. After pulling back from the precious moment, he picked up his satchel and tossed it over his shoulder. He touched Lily’s stomach one last time. “Bye Daffy, daddy’ll be back soon.”
Lily shook her head and giggled, still finding his new nickname for the baby amusing. “Come back to us safe.”
“I will.” He caressed Lily’s cheek and then departed for what he had told her was a medical mission trip with Gideon.
****
Hours after kissing Lily goodbye, James arrived at his true destination. “Mitchell and Associates. Has a nice ring to it,” he said after walking into his fraternity brother’s new law office. He had gotten off the train in Ohio and had gone straight to Harrison Mitchell’s old office but was directed by a secretary to the place he stood now. “’Bout damn time you got your own firm.”
“You’re damn sure right about that!” Harrison replied.
“You’re just slowly leavin’ us little people in the dust. Don’t forget about me when you become a millionaire,” James joked.
“Says the doctor that all ladies line up for miles to get personal examinations from,” Harrison laughed, getting up to shake his fraternity brother’s hand. “Haven’t seen you since I sprang you outta jail last year. Hope you’ve stayed outta trouble since then.”
“I’d have to buy you a few rounds at a pub to get you to sit long enough to listen to the ups and downs ‘a my life as of late.”
“That bad, huh?”
“Yeah, fortunately for you though, I don’t have time to torture your ears that way. I’s actually hopin’ you could give me a lift ova’ to see William?”
“William? He’s not here. I thought you of all people would know that. Hell, actually, I’m surprised you’d have the guts to show back up here afta’ everything that’s happened.”
“What do you mean?” James replied, looking perplexed.
“You mean you don’t know?”
“Obviously not, Harrison. What the hell’re you talkin’ about? And why isn’t William here?”
“Ghost Rida’s burned William’s house to the ground,” Harrison answered bluntly. “Left some man’s head hangin’ on a cross in his front yard. They even found an elderly couple’s charred remains inside.”
James felt his knees get weak. Luckily, there was a chair behind him to settle slowly into. “You’re lyin’,” he said, a distraught look instantly overtaking his face.
“Why the hell would I lie about somethin’ like that?”
“W-why would anyone do that?” James asked, suddenly unable to lift his eyes and look at Harrison. He was too busy fighting the urge to vomit.
“I think you know the answa’ to that,” Harrison responded again with brutal honesty.
“D-do you know the identity of the two people inside?” James asked hesitantly.
Harrison was just as hesitant to answer. He waited for James to look up at him. “Yeah … And so do you.”
James dropped his head back down to hide the tears that were now threatening to fall. “How am I eva’ gonna tell Lily? She’s gonna blame herself,” he said, a slight crack in his voice as he spoke.
Harrison closed his office door and then went over to place a sympathetic hand on his buddy’s shoulder. “I’m sorry you’re findin’ out this way. I honestly thought you knew.”
“Do you know where they’re buried?”
“I heard they were on William’s land, but I’m not sure. You can take my carriage out there if you’d like.”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“Take as much time as you need,” Harrison assured him with a firm squeeze on the shoulder. “It’s gonna be a long one here for me today anyway.”
“Thanks.”
“Not a problem.”
Not long after leaving Harrison’s office, James pulled through the gates of Werthington Estate. He stepped down slowly from the carriage, feeling extraordinarily hesitant as he surveyed the yard. The grass was much taller than normal and now covered the blood that once stained it. He looked up and his eyes were greeted with scaffolding, ladders, and an array of men hammering and painting. They had the majority of the outer portion of the house renovated. James then suddenly felt fortunate that his eyes had not witnessed the carnage that had led to the necessity for all the work he was currently seeing. He got sick to his stomach just thinking about William’s heartache the day he road through the gates of the home he had spent half his life in creating and collecting family memories and treasures.
Despite the strange looks he was getting from the contractors, James begrudgingly walked up the newly renovated steps of William’s wraparound porch. He then hesitantly stepped through a new set of massive double doors. As soon as he walked through, Ben flashed in his mind. He was the first to ever greet him at that door. Back then, James recalled how the interior beauty of William’s home had stolen his attention as soon as he walked inside. But now, in place of the priceless artwork, fine furniture, and family heirlooms, there was nothing but sawdust, bare walls, and the smell of fresh paint.
James then headed toward the dining room that Ben had guided him and Lily into the first night they arrived at William’s home. It was the place that Ben’s lovely wife, Anna Mae, had laid out an immaculate dinner on the massive dining room table, as a way to welcome them. They had all rallied around that table some nights after rehearsals, talking and laughing and unwinding from the strenuous days of hard work. But that table was gone … al
ong with Anna Mae and Ben. In fact, James had just turned and looked in the kitchen where Anna Mae loved to create elaborate meals, not knowing that he was staring at the place where she passed away in her husband’s loving embrace.
James left the dining room and walked into the very place where Lily’s show idea had taken form. He hovered in the doorway of the enormous library, just like Lily had when she first heard William playing the morning after her arrival. While James just stood there, hesitating to enter, he glanced up and noticed that the ceiling, which once held a chandelier, was now bare, just like the shelves that lined the walls. When his eyes focused on the middle of the room, he had a flashback of the way Lily used to smile and laugh for hours while seated next to her mentor at his custom-made grand piano, underneath that sparkling chandelier. James then finally got the courage to step inside the library. As soon as he entered, the memory of Lily playing a sentimental song for his birthday came rushing back. That memory was followed next by the moment Lily had stunned a packed room into silence during William’s annual spring fundraising gala. The beautiful custom-made centerpiece, that Lily had created such extraordinary memories on, had been hauled away as a pile of ash, leaving James now staring at the empty floorspace where it once sat.