A Kiss of a Different Color

by Bettye Griffin

  “It’s pronounced Az-lin,” she replied good-naturedly. “But don’t feel bad. No one gets it right the first time around. And because of the spelling my parents chose, people who read my name for the first time pronounce it Ays-lin.”

  Jon asked if she would be coming by the Rhett home, and Aislinn explained that she was about to drive down to her parents’ home in Kenosha to spend a few days. “My bag is already in the car, so I’m going down right now. Maybe tomorrow the three of us can get together for lunch, or even breakfast.”

  “Sure,” Miranda said. “I’ll be in touch.”

  Miranda tried to avoid being alone with her mother, and once back at home, she and Jon went to their respective rooms to lay down after the long drive and the long church service. She’d just sat on the full-size bed and pulled off her boots when Geraldine knocked on the door.

  “Is there something you’d like to tell me?” she asked.

  “No,” Miranda replied truthfully. As she expected, her mother ignored her and plowed on.

  “That was a rather a personal gift Jon gave you. I thought you were going to tell me that he’s not just someone you bowl with, but a boyfriend.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend, Mama.”

  “You’re sleeping with him, aren’t you?” Geraldine didn’t wait for an answer. “You know, when we saw you with him on the news, Daddy said there was something going on between you. I told him he was wrong, that it was just as you said, you just bowled together. He said no man would offer to drive a woman all the way here from Minnesota unless he had feelings for her. Then he laughed and said that two generations down the road, our descendants might be all white, sitting around talking about how much they can’t stand black people.”

  Miranda knew that her mother, despite her attempt at a joking tone, was more than a little worried about the future of their family. Travis’s wife was biracial, but she was considered by society to be black, and she had married Travis. Yet her parents were worried about any biracial children she might have? Miranda resented the additional burdens put on her because she was dating Jon. Technically she hadn’t even started dating him yet. It wasn’t fair for there to be all these damn issues. “Is that it why you’re so concerned, Mama? Tell me, would you be so interested in my love life if Jon were black?”

  “Of course I would, Miranda. I’m always interested in who you’re dating, because who you date today might be who you marry tomorrow.” Geraldine shrugged. “Of course, Jon’s being white might represent a different situation. His family might not be as accepting as us, and I don’t want you to get hurt, honey.”

  She smiled. “I don’t want me to get hurt, either, Mama. But Jon’s family—his mother, grandmother, and sister—were very nice to me. I told you that already.”

  Geraldine’s reply came fast. “Yes, but they didn’t see that sexy bathrobe he gave you. That’s what clued me in that there’s more to you two than simply bowling on the same team. The Lindberghs might be fine with you and Jon being ‘just good friends,’ but they might not feel so kindly toward you if they know you’re romantically involved.”

  “I’m not worried about that, Mama. His family wasn’t just pretending to like me. I was right there when his grandmother told him he should drive to Wisconsin with me. If there’d been anything fake about their behavior, I would’ve been able to tell. It was genuine, right down to his niece and nephew.”

  “You just don’t know about people with money.”

  Miranda looked at her mother in astonishment. “Money? Who says they have money?”

  “Well, don’t they? I’ve never been to Eden Prairie, but it doesn’t sound like a ghetto.”

  “You don’t live in a ghetto, either, Mama,” she snapped. “You should know better than to make assumptions about people you’ve never met. Haven’t you always told me not to do that? Don’t you get mad when people do that to you?” She rushed on, not waiting for a reply. “No, the Lindberghs aren’t rich. They’re just ordinary people, a family of mostly women who still run the dance studio that Jon’s great-grandmother founded after she quit working in Hollywood.”

  “She worked in Hollywood? In the movies?”

  “Yes. She helped choreograph musicals in the Thirties and early Forties. I had a nice chat with Jon’s grandmother over breakfast while he and his mother went to the ER to get his shoulder x-rayed.” She took a breath. “Look, Mom. I’m enjoying Bismarck much more than I ever thought I would. I’ve made new friends, I’m doing new things…this thing with Jon, it actually just started recently.” That wasn’t entirely true, of course, but there had been a long, frustrating interval between that night in Bottineau and last night in Eden Prairie. “It probably won’t last beyond the end of the league we bowl in, which is over in the spring. So stop worrying and let me enjoy what’s a very happy time in my life, all right?”

  “Miranda, why didn’t you tell your family that we were partners in dance class?”

  Jon asked the question as they drove down to Kenosha to meet Aislinn at Frank’s Diner for breakfast. Miranda took her eyes off the cleared, snow-lined road to glance at him and saw he wasn’t smiling. “I just didn’t want them to know that I’m taking dance lessons. My family tends to josh around a lot, and I don’t feel like being teased because of my interest in dance.”

  He looked at her incredulously. “What’s wrong with being interested in dance?”

  “Jon, ballroom dancing was your family’s bread and butter, but my family would think it silly and un-cool. I can hear their jokes now. They’d be asking when I’m going on that TV show they still show reruns of on public television, that bandleader with all the champagne bubbles.”

  Jon laughed. “You mean Lawrence Welk. He came from North Dakota, you know. I understand that thousands of people travel miles to visit the farm where he was born. I would have thought all his followers would be either dead by now or too old to travel to the middle of nowhere.”

  “Yeah, that’s the guy. That’s the type of teasing I’d get. Anyway, thanks for not giving me away. Besides, our dance classes are over, but we’re still bowling, so it made more sense to just say that we bowl together.”

  “Yes, but didn’t you want to participate in the annual competition Hot to Trot holds in April?”

  She swallowed hard. April. That would mark the end of their seasonal affair. One last twirl on the dance floor before they went their separate ways, him off to begin a new affair, and she to spend her nights in front of the TV, munching on popcorn. How boring her life would become without him to spend time with…

  He seemed to sense her apprehension. “Uh…something wrong with that?”

  “Nothing,” she replied, as instantaneous as a light switch. “I’d like that.”

  “We should probably start working out our routine.”

  Miranda thought of the dance number that had inspired her to sign up for lessons at Hot to Trot. “You know what I’d like to do?”

  “What?”

  “The Dancing in the Dark number that Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse did in The Band Wagon. It’s my favorite dance number of all time. Well, aside from that lively barn dance in Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, but we’d need six more couples to do that.”

  Frank’s Diner was a long, narrow building that had once been a railroad car. It was quite small, with a dozen barstools and maybe ten tables at the most. On weekends there was usually a waiting list, but with this being a weekday they got a table right away.

  Jon squeezed his long legs under the rather tight space.

  “I’m sorry it’s a little cramped,” Aislinn apologized. “But trust me, the food will be worth it.”

  “I’m all right. I’m just glad you’re sitting across from Miranda, so I can stretch out a little.”

  “So, Jon, are you enjoying Wisconsin?” Aislinn asked.

  “Yes, I am. Compared to Minnesota, it’s more like autumn here.” He chuckled. “And compared to North Dakota, these temperatures in the twenties are like summe
r.”

  “Did y’all do anything special last night?”

  “We all went to the show last night, even my parents,” Miranda said. “We saw that new political thriller that just opened. It was good.” She took a sip of her hot chocolate, loving the way the liquid warmed her tummy. “It’s really been a good trip, considering the harrowing way it started out.” She turned to Jon, sitting next to her in the booth. “I just hope we get home okay.”

  He covered the back of her hand with his palm. “It’ll be all right. Planes have been flying that route since the night we took it with no problems. It was just an unlucky fluke that our flight hit that pocket of turbulence.”

  They perused their menus and placed their orders, each of them ordering variations of the plate the restaurant had christened with the un-appetizing name of “garbage,” for an all-in-one dish of eggs, potatoes, meats, and the vegetables often found in omelets. After they ordered, Jon excused himself to go to the washroom.

  “He looks even better in person than he does on camera,” Aislinn marveled as she watched his retreating form. “Tall, blond, and beefy.” She turned a suspicious eye on Miranda. “Are you really asking me to believe you and he have never…” she blinked her eyes demurely.

  Miranda hesitated before coming clean. “No, I can’t say that anymore. We did. Twice.”

  Aislinn looked askance at her. “Twice? Miranda, that’s what happens in a single evening. I understand you didn’t fall into bed with him at the beginning, but still…why just twice?”

  “Well, it was actually two different occasions, not just twice in one night. But it’s complicated, Aislinn. We both work for the same company, and they’ve got a strict rule in place about employees dating across levels. He’s a director and I’m just a physical therapy assistant.” At her friend’s blatant ‘so what?’ look, she said, “They enforce it, Aislinn. Look. I didn’t go to the expense of moving all the way to North Dakota so I could lose my job for the sake of my love life. Besides, Jon made it very clear that he’s not interested in settling down. Apparently there have been no successful marriages in his family for the last hundred years or so. He said his relationships generally only last for a season.”

  “An affair that only lasts for a season,” Aislinn repeated. “I’ve seen movies with that plot. You know…Sweet November…A Warm December…Autumn in New York…”

  “Thanks a lot, Aislinn. The female lead characters in those movies all die.”

  “Just an unfortunate coincidence. I didn’t mean to imply your days are numbered. But back to this season thing…what happens when the snow melts? Does he stop calling? Give one of those ‘Nice knowing you, see you around’ speeches”

  “I don’t really know how Jon’s relationships end, only that they do.”

  In a show of bewilderment, Aislinn scrunched her shoulders around her neck and held up her hands out flat in front of her, palms up. “Well, hell, Miranda. You’re practically living in the North Pole. Winters must be even longer over in North Dakota than they are in Wisconsin.”

  “From October to May,” she replied, laughing. “When I went skiing the first weekend in November with some mutual friends, he came up and surprised us, only he couldn’t get a room. So he stayed in mine. It was supposed to be platonic, but somehow we ended up having sex.” She paused. “The most exciting sex I’ve ever had, I might add.”

  “Oh, sex,” Aislinn said, closing her eyes and rotating her head from side to side. “Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever get to experience it again. This has been my longest drought ever.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “Okay, what about the other time?”

  Miranda bit her lip sheepishly. “Just the night before last. Christmas Eve.”

  “At his mother’s house?”

  “It’s not as daring as it sounds. His mother and grandmother sleep on the second floor, and we were in the basement. We had complete privacy.”

  “So that was your Christmas present, huh?”

  “No, this was my Christmas present.” Miranda used her left hand to point to the charm Jon had given her. “I, on the other hand, was his present…and he insisted on unwrapping me right then and there.”

  The two friends shared a laugh, and Aislinn said devillishly, “So is Big Bad Jon a long john?”

  “A lady never tells. All I’m going to say is that he’s six foot four. You figure it out.”

  “Oh, I’m soooo jealous! I guess it’s true what they say about black women’s dating habits these days: White really is the new black.” Aislinn giggled, and while Miranda’s face grew warm she asked, “So tell me, does he have a friend?”

  Miranda immediately thought of Garrett. “Actually, he does, but he lives in Minnesota. He’s a software developer who did athletics with Jon in high school.”

  Aislinn wiggled her eyebrows up and down. “Is he tall, blond, and beefy, too?”

  Miranda shook her head. “Actually, he’s black. Biracial, I’d guess. He’s fair, with electric blue eyes you notice right away. Jon’s eyes are blue, too, but so dark I didn’t notice right away.”

  “When can I meet him?

  “As nice as the idea sounds, it’s a bit impractical, don’t you think, considering he lives six hours away? Back to me and Jon. I’ve already decided to continue the sexual side of our friendship, as discreetly as possible.” She sighed. “The thing is, he’s someone I could really fall for, Aislinn, and I’d like to keep him in my life as long as I feel the way I do.” She wasn’t ready to admit that she’d already fallen. “Do you have any advice for me?”

  Aislinn didn’t hesitate. “Sure I do. Spend the winter with him. Have fun. And do your damndest to get him to change his mind about breaking it off in the spring.”

  Miranda watched as Jon approached. He graciously took the heavy tray with their breakfasts from the waitress and followed her to the table, where he held it out while she removed the three food-laden plates and placed them on the table. Suddenly Miranda felt a new hope she hadn’t felt before.

  It was only December. She’d enjoy the next few months with Jon, and she’d see to it that he did, too…to the point where there would be no petering out come spring.

  Jon called his mother after he and Miranda returned to the Rhett home following breakfast. “Did you guys have a nice day yesterday?” he asked his mother.

  “Oh, wonderful. Sara went to the movies with some friends last night, and Mor watched the kids for her. They were worn out from all the excitement and their new toys, anyway.”

  “What about you?”

  “Oh. I, uh, went out for a while myself. The mother of one of my gifted young students invited me over for the evening.”

  “That was nice of her. Did you have a good time?”

  “Yes, actually, I did.” Nina saw no point in mentioning that she’d planned on asking him to go with her so she could introduce him to her. “We did miss you, though. How was your holiday?”

  “Very festive. We got here early enough for brunch. It’s a tradition in Miranda’s family. Then we opened our gifts and went to church. We spent the afternoon at Miranda’s brother’s house and had dinner there. Then all of us went to the movies.”

  “So it sounds like Miranda’s family was very nice to you.”

  Jon frowned. “Of course. Why wouldn’t they be? I’m the hero of the holiday, cut my own short in order to make sure she got to Racine safely.”

  “I’m sure they appreciated that, but…I’ve been a little worried. Do they know you and Miranda are romantically involved?”

  Nina listed to the silence of stunned surprise before Jon, his voice low, said, “Who said Miranda and I are romantically involved?”

  “I do. I carried the mugs Mor and I had our eggnog in down to the kitchen the night before last and stumbled across the two of you in front of the fire.” She decided to have some fun with him. “You were, uh, unclasping her hair at the time.”

  “I didn’t know you were there.” He sounded embarras
sed.

  “It was a very sweet scene. I didn’t know my love-em-and-leave-em son could be so affectionate.” She paused. “Tell me, is it serious between you two?”

  “What’s up with that, Mom? Are the church members asking if you’re about to have a black daughter-in-law?”

  “They wouldn’t dare. Jon, from the time you were in high school and sneaking girls into the basement whenever Sara spent the night at one of her girlfriends’, I’ve always made it a point to stay out of your love life, you know that.”

  “Other than to tell me to use protection, because if somebody’s daddy came to the door with a shotgun you were going to hand me over without objection,” he reminded her.

  “I’m your mother, Jon. It was my duty to remind you that girls get pregnant and that you shouldn’t fall for anyone telling you they were on the Pill.” Nina cleared her throat. “But back to you and Miranda, I saw something passing between the two of you…I can’t explain it. You seemed so gentle and loving with her. Something tells me she isn’t just the lady of the moment.”