Aunt Vikki and her husband had returned from their trip that same day. I was relieved that I was already home before them. Piper was still out with her friends while Jay was busy filling his role as a quarterback. I wore a button-up shirt to hide my bruises and tried to walk less funny when I met my aunt and Robert. Aunt Vikki, keen as she was, didn't notice any change in me, or that I was good at hiding it.
The next day after school, I drove in my car to Allecra's house by myself. She said she had a surprise for me. I saw her waiting by the front gate and picked her up from there. Every time I saw her face, I found myself anticipating the coming of new excitement and maybe a little of the sexual side as well.
"Why didn't you just wait for me inside the house?" I asked her.
"You took donkey years to show up," she just said and pushed her sunglasses back. I made a face at her, but I also found it sweet of her, waiting eagerly for me.
Once we got inside, Allecra took me straight to the library. After we got there, she blindfolded me.
"What are you doing?"
"Don't worry, Nina, I'm not into that," she said and walked me forward. When we stopped, Allecra sat me down on the sofa and removed my blindfold. There, sitting on the coffee table in front of me was a glossy red typewriter.
I gasped with my hands over my mouth.
"The Remington Starfire!" I said and went over to touch the machine like a bright-eyed kid in Christmas.
"It's for you," Allecra said, smiling down at me. "Do you like it?"
"Oh Allecra, I love it!"
It even had our initials N&A on one side. I got up to give her a bone-crushing hug.
"Thank you, Allecra," I said and pecked her on the lips. "Can I try it?"
"Of course, it's yours," she said, "Type away."
I grinned and sat down again, continuing to admire the typewriter for a while before putting a blank sheet of paper, which Allecra had already prepared for me. Then I put my fingers over the keys and slowly pressed on a character at a time. It startled me how easily the metal keys hit the ribbon and a fully created letter already appeared on the paper, also how sweetly it sounded in my ears. It wasn't as loud as I expected, in fact, its noises were like the rattling sound of coins. It was soothing to hear.
Allecra sat behind me and leaned over my shoulders.
"What are you writing, sweetheart?" she whispered while nuzzling my neck.
"Have a look," I said and turned the typewriter towards her.
Written on the page was the three words 'I love you'.
Allecra smiled and looked at me again.
"I love you, too," she said and then we kissed.
During that week, Allecra and I spent time together at her house. I kept the typewriter there. I didn't want my nosy cousins to know or worse, my aunt to find out what we'd been doing. Not that I expected them to solely think we both spent time knitting together all day, but it was best to keep it that way.
My aunt had insisted I invite Allecra for dinner again. I almost got a panic attack, trying to find an excuse. She just said she wanted to get to know Allecra more and that she found her a bit too fascinating. Although my aunt seemed genuine about it, I was glad Robert wasn't there to hear her saying that.
But things started getting wilder (in a good way) between Allecra and me, regardless our cautious behaviors.
It only lasted for a while when the restraints broke again, and we developed what became an increasingly intimate pattern.
After school, we would speed off to her house because there were this constant buzzing and ringing in us. It happened after a stolen kiss or even a slight brush of our knees or fingers, and just like that, we couldn't wait to try again and again to get enough of each other, but sometimes, as led by impulsive impatience of our teenage hormones, we just slipped into our good old attic above the storage room or drove the car into the quietest area of the wood by the beach where we tried to quiet that buzzing and ringing until we had to stop from exhaustion and rawness, but it was like some curse for the more we tried to suppress it, the stronger it became.
Yet I no longer locked myself in the prison of doubt and fear. There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. It's a sword that kills relationships. It had bothered me terribly, like a fishbone stuck in my throat. But now I was free. I could enjoy my freedom to love and to give as much as I wanted.
When the cherry blossoms had all fallen and in their place, misty green leaves had begun to grow, I felt like a bird that has flown out of its cage into the open sky.
It was the beginning of summer.
CHAPTER 39
The first two weeks before summer was the busiest. I had been working ahead of my classes. If I passed all the exams, I could earn my required credits and be able to take SAT college admission test before graduation.
But for now, I just wanted to make sure my transcript was decent enough for a scholarship. If I needed to get out and go to college, I had to work extra hard. Although my aunt said she wouldn't mind paying for my tuition, I couldn't just rely everything on her or Robert. And of course, Allecra had offered to cover up my entire life's expenses if I ever let her, I didn't want that either.
To make up for that, I agreed to let Allecra plan on our secret quantum adventure this summer. Sadly our sexual rendezvouses had to be postponed until school let out. It was mainly my idea. I needed my mind to stay focused on schoolwork. Allecra respected my decision. I could tell she didn't want to pressure me. Also, I had to submit my entry to the writing contest despite starting just two days before the deadline.
Sitting on the wool carpet of Allecra's library, I was typing away on the branch new Starfire. Needless to say, I was enjoying every bit of it, the typing, actually. It made me feel as though I was a real writer. Yet I had to pause several times to think of what to say or try to find the right word. It was a bittersweet process.
Allecra was lying leisurely on the couch, flipping through the Holy Bible. That's right. After I told her that we were going to have dinner with my aunt and my Christain uncle-in-law again, the Bible was the first book she grabbed when she came down here.
Aunt Vikki insisted she hadn't gotten acquainted enough with Allecra during the garden party. She would like to get to know more about her. Robert would even get off work for the very occasion. So I couldn't just say 'no'.
"What are you reading?" I asked Allecra after I decided to take a break when I was stuck on my writing.
"Funny stuff," she replied casually.
"Don't be so blasphemous, Allecra!" I said. "It's the Holy Bible. You must not disrespect."
"Well, I'm trying! But how could you not find it funny?" she said and then proceeded to read a passage to me. "It says here, 'Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. Matthew 21:18-22."
Then she burst out laughing.
"Why are you laughing?" I said with a disapproving look.
"Why are you not laughing?" Allecra said and continued to chuckle some more. "It's too funny. I think I kinda like Jesus more knowing this side of him."
"You seem to enjoy your Bible reading way too much," I said.
She sat up from the couch and put the big book away. Then she leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek and looked at my unfinished writing.
"What are you writing about?"
"I can't tell you yet," I said.
"Nina, I could read everything you've written with just a glance and you're still hiding from me?"
"I'm almost done!" I told her and tried to cover the page with my hands. "I have to close it on a perfect note. That's why I'm stuck. I need more time."
"Or you could just put 'The End'," she said.
"Allecra, writing the ending is like saying goodbye to a lover," I said. "You can't just be blunt and impassionate like that."
"Okay, a
t least tell me the summary," she said while trailing kisses on my neck softly.
"Well, if you insist, it's a story about a white raven."
"A white raven?" she said. A spark of interest lit up in her eyes.
"Did you know there are actually white ravens?" I asked. "They're not albinos either. There's simply no melanin in their body. They actually exist."
Allecra raised her perfect brows and said, "So how does the story go then?"
I got up and sat down on the couch, pulling my knees to my chest. Allecra followed suit.
"The white raven is the protagonist, who miraculously escapes death before his mother eats him after he hatches."
"His mother tries to eat him?"
"Because he's white and considered as ugly and worthless," I told her. "Though he grows up to adulthood, he gets bullied from the other black ravens because he's different from them. He feels lonely and confused. He doesn't understand why everyone hates him so much. He believes in his heart that he's just like any other ravens, but no one likes him, so he never finds his mate and stays on his own for the rest of his life."
"Sounds like a very sad allegory," Allecra mused. "Now that you mentioned it, it just reminds me of a Greek myth."
"Oh, another myth?" I said. "Tell me."
"Well, at first, all ravens were white," Allecra started. "They were messengers of the god Apollo, but one day, they failed to inform the god about an affair of his mistress, a princess of Thessaly. He cursed the ravens so furiously that their feathers were scorched, and all ravens have been black ever since."
"Oh, I didn't know that!" I said,
"Maybe you can elaborate this for you ending."
"What should I say?" I murmured to myself. "The white raven is excluded from the society of the black ravens because of the color of his features, but they don't know he's just the same as them. They're indeed the same species, but they forget that they are one."
"That seems like a perfect ending," Allecra said.
"Thank you!" I kissed her cheek and added one on her lips. But before I could break away, she gripped my chin and deepened the kiss. We held each other and fell back onto the sofa with me on top.
"I can't stop thinking about kissing you, by the way," she murmured against my lips. Her sweet, gentle mouth, her strong, lean arms enveloped me.
I felt her hands feeling over my back then slithering inside my shirt. I made a soft sigh. The second I did Allecra got bolder. Her mouth moved over mine in a rough urgent need, so fast it was as if she was trying to create fire with our lips.
I grabbed her face between both my hands to stop the madness, but she took it as a sigh of enthusiasm. And before I knew it, her velvety long tongue unraveled and filled my mouth with its hunger. Allecra was going to get more into it, but I unhooked my lips from hers with a wet smacking sound.
"Allecra, I can't do it now," I said apologetically and wriggled away from her grasp
"Oh why?" she asked.
"Well, I'm afraid I'll forget the perfect lines if I don't write them down quickly," I said and pushed myself up again.
"Yep, every freaking writer ever," she scoffed. I bit back a smile and gave her another kiss on the lips before I got back to my writing.
~*~
Aunt Vikki was on the doorstep waiting for us. She looked elegantly sophisticated in a creamy white dress. Behind her was Jay, chest puffed and chin up like he was a house guard ready to throw people out.
When we reached them, Allecra exchanged pleasantries with my aunt, who was obviously dazzled by her. Even Jay studied Allecra from head to toes with gawking eyes. She was wearing a white button-up shirt and a black checked Polo sweater with khaki pants. She even tied up her blonde mane nicely. Everything seemed plain yet still elegantly well-put. She wasn't extravagant or trendy or stylish. She was just flawless. Her simplicity was indeed pure perfection.
We went to the living room. Piper was there, smiling from ear to ear at us.
"Aw! Look at you two, so coupley!" Piper said.
Even in my extraordinary state of queasy embarrassment, I felt the warmth of her approval.
"Piper," Aunt Vikki warned.
"Hello, Piper," Allecra said.
"Hi, Allecra," she replied quickly and enthusiastically. If I wasn’t mistaken, my straight cousin was subtly checking my girlfriend out.
We saw Robert stood up from the sofa.
"Mr. Black," Allecra greeted him politely. "Nice to see you again."
"You, too," Robert said with a tone of formality back. I felt my stomach churn from the tension.
"Thank you for inviting me," Allecra said and smiled easily, looking between him and my aunt.
"It's nothing, my dear," Aunt Vikki said as she came to stand with her husband, and I saw her gave him a pinch. "We're all family now, aren't we?"
Robert made an awkward shift and glanced to his wife, but he didn't say anything.
After a few cordial words, we moved on to the dining room. A nice dinner was already prepared on the table, completed with expensive bottles of wine.
We all began to take our seat. Robert sat at the head of the table. Aunt Vikki sat beside her husband. Jay and Piper were facing us.
Allecra pulled a chair for me.
"Drink?" Robert said to her. He was already holding the uncorked wine bottle towards her glass.
"Yes, please," Allecra said.
Afterward, we began to eat. Aunt Vikki asked us about our plan for college and stuff. I told her we were preparing to take the admission test after the summer.
"What are you going to do during the vacation then?" My aunt turned to Allecra.
"It depends on what Nina wants to do," she answered unabashedly. I felt my throat tighten.
"Oh," Aunt Vikki said, "but we're going to Florida to visit Robert's parents, would you like to join us?"
By 'we', she also included me. Allecra and I exchanged a look. I didn't know about my aunt's plan.
"Actually, if you don't mind, we both want to spend time studying for SAT here," I said, and it wasn't a complete lie.
"Oh, is that so?" My aunt said. "Well, that's good. But are you sure, you want to stay behind, Nina? I don't know if it's a good idea to leave you all by yourself."
"Don't worry, Aunt Vikki, I'm eighteen now. I can take care of myself."
"Indeed," Allecra said with a voice like a casting spell. "We'll just do a lot of studying together."
From across the table, Piper wiggled her eyebrows at me. I pretended not to notice her. Aunt Vikki was silent for a while. But Allecra left no room for doubt with the way she said it.
"Alright then," my aunt said. "After all, I should give Nina some independent time."
I wasn't sure if Allecra was using her mind-control thing or not. But either way, I wasn't going to complain.
"Mom, can I have some independent time at home, too?" Jay asked. "I don't want to go all the way there to listen to grandpa's talk of the Cold War or the Great Depression all day."
"Me too," Piper said. "Gram's gonna make me eat until I turn into a regular hippo."
"You kids know they're getting old now. You should spend some times with them," Aunt Vikki said.
"Yes, no excuse," Robert added.
The twin just groaned at exact the same time.
Robert seemed less poised now after a few glasses of wine. His face was slightly red when he turned to Allecra.
"Say I would like to ask you about a certain topic to stimulate our brain cells, do you mind?"
Aunt Vikki murmured, "Here we go again."
"Not at all, sir," Allecra said.
"Well then," Robert cleared his throat. "How are you two going to have children?"
"Rob! You can't just ask them like that," my aunt cried and looked apologetic at us.
"Why not? If we are family, we better be frank with each other," Robert said with a shrug.
Allecra just smiled.
"It's alright," she said. "Actually, Mr. Black, I think there's a chance Ni
na and I can have children."
I gave Allecra a 'what are you doing?' look. But she ignored me. Robert burst out laughing.
"But I didn't mean the artificial procedures. I refer to natural procreation. Since your relationship isn't natural, I don't think it's the same thing, isn't it?"
That was when I realized that, deep down, we were still different from them, just like the white ravens in the society that values black. The bridge of understanding would be so difficult to build as long as people still held this false belief.
But Allecra didn't show any sigh of disdain. If at all, she looked amused.
"What is 'natural' exactly, Mr. Black?" she said. "If you reject something that is unnatural, then you should've rejected your cars, computers, or your smartphones because only animals, plants, and people are natural, even bacteria are natural. So why a child born from a same-sex couple that can grow into a person isn't?"
Robert blinked.
"Well, but straight marriage is the most valid because they produce children. And gay couples might raise gay children."
"If gay parents will raise gay children, so straight parents only raise straight children?"
Robert blinked again. Everyone was looking between the two of them like they were seeing a tennis match.
"At least, they have been around for a long time and are supported by God."
"No wonder Solomon had three hundred wives, and a bride who could not prove her virginity must be stoned to death, and a girl who is raped must be married to the rapist."
There was a long silence. My aunt and Piper were clearly disgusted by what the Bible said. Jay scratched his neck in discomfort.
"Man, that is not cool at all," he said.
"How could people do that?" Piper agreed and grimaced.
Aunt Vikki was looking pointedly at her husband.
"Oh come on, darling, don't look at me like that. I'm not the one who wrote the Bible!" Robert protested.
"That's enough for now," my aunt said, "or you can sleep in your office tonight."
Robert raised his hands up in surrender.
"Mr. Black, my apologies if what I said has offended you," Allecra said. "I don't claim that everything in the Bible is fallacious. But there are some parts that no longer serve the greater good in the modern world. Things change and people change, it's just the way it is."
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