The Pledge

by Chandra Sparks Taylor

  Candy shook her head. “She’s not that type of person, Courtland,” she said.

  I sighed, trying to hide my frustration. I couldn’t believe Candy was trying to ruin the biggest night of my life. “Okay, let’s say Allen did beat her. Why did she stay with him? Why didn’t she break up with him?”

  Candy shrugged. “I really can’t answer that,” she said. “All I know is what she told me, and I would never forgive myself if I didn’t say anything and something happened to you.”

  I laughed. “Girl, please, the only thing that’s going to happen to me is that I’m going to go have some fun with my man.”

  She gave me a sad smile. “I hope for your sake that’s all that happens.”

  “Is that why you acted so funky with him that night at the fountain?”

  “Yes,” she admitted.

  Candy’s vibe was starting to mess up my evening. “Well, since I’m dressed, you can leave. I’m sure you want to get dressed for the dance,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound as rude as my words felt. She was going with a group of cheerleaders, and they weren’t going to leave until later.

  “Yeah,” she said, catching my hint. She gathered her things and gave me a hug I didn’t return. “I really hope you have a good time, Courtland.”

  Allen arrived at seven sharp, looking good in a navy suit, white shirt and a navy and red tie. It was as though we had planned our outfits so we matched.

  “Don’t you two look nice,” Momma said as I came downstairs after she let Allen in.

  She grabbed her digital camera off the coffee table and began snapping pictures while Daddy sat there pretending to read the paper. I noticed he still had on his police uniform, and I wondered if he had to go back to work, but I didn’t bother to ask.

  “Thank you, Mrs. M.,” Allen said. He leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “You look beautiful, Courtland,” he said, handing me a wrist corsage.

  “So do you,” I said, accepting it.

  “You ready?” he asked.

  I nodded. As I was going to grab my purse and coat, Daddy stood. “Before you go, I need a DNA sample,” he said.

  My mouth dropped open, and Allen looked at me, not sure if Daddy was serious. Honestly, I wasn’t sure either until Momma said, “Corwin, leave that boy alone.”

  I burst out laughing, and Momma looked up from the digital camera. “Oh, Lord,” she muttered as she started taking pictures.

  “Daddy, you’re silly,” Cory said, and giggled.

  “Naw, baby, I’m crazy,” Daddy said. “Allen is a nice guy, but I want him to know Courtland’s daddy is crazy, and he won’t hesitate to act a fool if someone hurts his daughter.”

  I shook my head and looked at Allen, whose eyes widened as Daddy plopped down in a recliner, grabbed a handful of peppermints from the bowl on the table and started eating them with the wrappers on. After a few seconds he spit them out and grinned.

  “I’m just messing with you,” he said to Allen, who looked relieved.

  Daddy grinned, and I relaxed. Daddy excused himself, and Allen and I stood posing for pictures. I was relieved when Momma said the memory card was full. She started deleting pictures, and I used the break to get out of there.

  I gathered my purse, and Momma called for Daddy.

  “Corwin, the kids are leaving. Come say goodbye,” she said.

  I went to the hallway mirror to check my makeup, stopping short when I saw Daddy’s reflection over my shoulder. I turned around, not believing what I was seeing.

  Daddy looked a hot mess as Momma would say. He had a necktie around his head like a scarf, his shirt was half out of his pants, his belt was wrapped around his leg and he’d somehow managed to put a sock on over his shoe.

  When I thought we were free to go, he turned to Allen. “I need to talk to you,” he told Allen, and I groaned to myself. I thought we were going to get away without him saying anything more.

  “Yes, sir,” Allen said.

  I gave Momma a look, and she shrugged. She had already given me the talk about behaving myself like a Christian young lady, spending an hour talking about why abstinence was the only sure way of not getting pregnant or getting an STD. I had tuned most of it out. The girls in Worth the Wait had already told me she’d do that.

  It wasn’t that I hadn’t thought about having sex with Allen because I had, but I knew it wasn’t something I was ready to do anytime soon. I was really serious about the vow I had taken to stay a virgin until I got married, and Allen was cool with it.

  Daddy and Allen stayed gone for about ten minutes. When they came back, Allen winked at me, letting me know everything was okay, then he helped me into my coat.

  “You guys have a good time,” Momma called, while Daddy stood next to her with his hand resting on his gun. “Allen, have my baby back here by eleven.”

  I turned and looked at Momma. We hadn’t discussed my curfew, but I had assumed it wouldn’t be so early. I mean, granted she had given me a little leeway since I had to be home by ten-thirty when I hung with my friends and Aunt Dani would be there for part of the night, but I figured she would at least let me stay out until midnight since it was homecoming and my first date.

  I thought about saying something, but Allen took my hand and squeezed, telling me to let it go. “Not a problem, ma’am.”

  “Courtland, do you have that stuff I gave you?” Momma asked. It took me a second to realize she meant the twenty dollars, and I nodded.

  “Good,” she said, kissing me. “Y’all be careful and have a good time.”

  Momma and Daddy stood in the doorway until we pulled away in Allen’s father’s Mercedes.

  “Where’s your car?” I asked, looking around as though his Ford Explorer would appear. He had gotten it shortly after he had started coming to visit me when his other car broke down, but I had yet to ride in it since Momma wouldn’t let Allen drive me home from school. Hopefully all of that was about to change now that we were on our official first date.

  “I figured we needed something a little more special for this occasion,” he said. “You don’t like this car?”

  “Man, are you crazy? It’s beautiful,” I said. “Thank you for making this night special for me. If I forget to tell you, I had a wonderful time tonight.” I had heard Julia Roberts say that in the old movie Pretty Woman, and I decided to claim it as my own.

  “Anything for my baby,” he said, and I smiled.

  “So where are we going?”

  “Don’t you want to be surprised?”

  “Not really,” I said, although I loved surprises. “I’ve been trying to think of where it could be since Daddy said we could go out.” I looked at Allen and grinned. “We’re on our first date. Can you believe it?”

  He smiled, and his dimple, appeared. “I’ve been dreaming about this day for months,” he said.

  “Really?” I said. “That is so sweet.”

  “No, you’re so sweet.” He grabbed my hand and kissed it, then we held hands all the way to the restaurant.

  When we arrived at the Empire Club, my mouth fell open. “Are you kidding me?” I asked. The restaurant was one of the most expensive in Birmingham. Momma had told me one time that they printed the menus without prices, and that if you had to ask how much something was, you couldn’t afford to eat there.

  Allen laughed. “You know I had to make sure I did this thing right. Come on.” He grabbed my hand after he gave the valet the keys, and we headed inside.

  There was a man who looked vaguely familiar standing at the front entrance. Allen walked over and shook his hand, then waved me over and introduced me.

  “Courtland, this is Miles King, the head coach for the Atlanta Sentinels.”

  “Nice to meet you,” I said, shaking his hand. “I knew you looked familiar. I’ve seen you on ESPN a few times.” I didn’t add that Allen had told me he was interested in signing with the Sentinels. I vaguely remembered hearing players weren’t supposed to deal with coaches when they were being recruite
d. I looked at Allen with a question in my eyes, but he just smiled.

  “So what are you doing here?” Allen asked.

  “Randy’s mom was rushed to the hospital, so he asked me to come here tonight in his place.”

  “Who’s Randy?” I asked.

  “He’s a trainer I met this summer during camp,” Allen explained. “I didn’t know you guys knew each other.”

  “He’s my frat brother,” Miles said. “I hope it’s okay that I came. I don’t want to get you in any trouble. I can assure you that I’m not planning on talking about basketball at all tonight. I can’t wait to see the young lady you have to introduce to me.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief that Allen hadn’t known about Miles coming, then studied Miles. He actually was a nice-looking guy. He looked like he was my parents’ age, in his late thirties or early forties, and he sported a low fade and a mustache. I figured Aunt Dani would like him.

  “Where’s your aunt?” Allen asked me, checking his watch. “Our reservation is for seven-thirty.”

  As though she was waiting for someone to mention her, Aunt Dani breezed through the door.

  “Hey, Corky,” she said, switching her way over to me in these ridiculously high heels.

  I groaned to myself, but I wasn’t sure if it was because she used my nickname or because of what she had on. Her shoes were red patent leather, and she had on black fishnets and a red strapless dress that barely covered her butt. She also had on a mink stole and her freshly done weave was blond. She reminded me of Hottie from Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School.

  She didn’t wait for me to respond before turning to Miles. “Miles King, is that you?”

  “You guys know each other?” I asked.

  She laughed. “Girl, please. You know I know all the major players in the big cities.” She turned to Miles. “I don’t need an introduction, but I’m Loretta Danielle Dennis. You can call me Loretta. All my friends do.”

  I had to try hard to keep from laughing, since I didn’t know anyone who called her Loretta.

  Miles smiled. Before we could say anything, the maître d’ walked up and told us to follow him.

  Once we were seated, I looked around, impressed by the ambience. “Is this your first time here?” I asked Allen, picking up a menu. Momma was right. There weren’t any prices on it.

  He shook his head. “Nah. My dad has brought me here a couple of times.”

  “So what do you recommend?”

  Allen made a few suggestions, and I finally settled on shrimp cocktail to start followed by filet mignon with a baked potato and salad. Allen and Miles ordered crab cakes and shrimp scampi, and Aunt Dani ordered two appetizers followed by a surf and turf, which I learned was a combination of lobster and steak, along with a bottle of Cristal champagne, which I knew had to be expensive because all the celebrities had it in their refrigerators on old episodes of Cribs. I thought it was rude to order so much, but the guys didn’t seem to mind.

  “Is my food too expensive?” I asked Allen, thinking maybe I had overdone it.

  “Girl, quit tripping. Get what you want. Money’s no object when it comes to you.”

  “You’re so sweet,” I said.

  “You know I love you, right?” he leaned over and whispered.

  My heart stopped. He had only said it once before, and I had relived that moment over and over in my mind, wondering if it had been a dream. This was the first time he was saying the words to my face.

  “I love you, too,” I said. “More than you know.”

  “Ahh, isn’t that sweet? Y’all need to get a room,” Aunt Dani said, messing up the moment again. She started laughing all loud. “I forgot my niece doesn’t need a room.” She leaned over to Miles and said loud enough for the entire restaurant to hear, “She’s a virgin.”

  My face turned bright red, if that was possible. I stared at my plate, wishing I could crawl under it.

  Allen squeezed my hand, but it didn’t really help. “I think it’s cool that Courtland’s a virgin,” he said. “I’ve been thinking about joining her club, too.”

  I looked up in surprise, and he winked at me.

  “Boy, please. You’re about to go pro. In a few months you’ll have so many women throwing themselves at you, you won’t be able to see straight. They’re probably already throwing themselves at you.”

  “Just because they throw it doesn’t mean I have to catch it,” he said. “Courtland is the only woman I want to be with.”

  Allen and I grinned at each other and we all made small talk until the waiter brought our salads. Allen fed me a bite of his Caesar salad, which was amazing.

  The waiter smiled at us when he came to refill our water glasses. “It’s so nice to see young people in love,” he said.

  I smiled. It felt good to be in love.

  “It sure is,” Aunt Dani said. She was already on her third glass of Cristal, and she was still talking loud. “You know what, Miles? Let’s get our own table and give these kids some privacy. They’re going to be leaving soon for the homecoming dance, if they actually go,” Aunt Dani said, giving us a sly wink, trying to look sexy.

  I was glad she made the suggestion, and I relaxed a little when Allen and I were finally alone.

  “So what stuff was your mother asking you if you had?” Allen asked as we continued to eat.

  “Oh,” I said, laughing, “she gave me twenty dollars, which she insisted I keep with me at all times in case you trip.”

  He got this strange expression. “Why would she think I would trip on you?” he asked.

  “I don’t think she meant you, really,” I explained. “I think she just meant guys in general.”

  “Why would she feel that way?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe some guy tripped on her when she was growing up. Who knows? You know we don’t get half the stuff our parents tell us to do.”

  Allen wiped his mouth and threw his napkin on his plate. Before it had landed, a waiter came and refolded it so it looked like a bird, then he used some metal thing to scrape up the crumbs that had fallen on the table.

  “Man, both of your parents are tripping. Do you know your dad threatened me while we were in the kitchen?”

  “Are you serious?” I asked, my eyes getting big. “What did he say?”

  Allen moved aside as the waiter slid our appetizers in front of us before he continued. “Something about you being his baby, and if I laid a hand on you he’d shoot first and ask questions later.”

  I laughed under my breath, unable to imagine my daddy saying something like that. I thought about sharing my thoughts with Allen, but instead I said, “You know my parents can be overprotective. I’m their baby girl.”

  “You’re my baby girl, too,” he said, grasping my hand so tight my fingers started hurting. I looked down at our clasped hands, and Allen must have realized how hard he was squeezing because he let go. “Courtland, you know I’d never do anything to hurt you, right? You’re the only woman I’ve ever loved.”

  The image of the hickey he had on his neck flashed through my mind, but I brushed it away. “You’re the only man I’ve ever loved,” I said. “I’d never hurt you, either.”

  Allen smiled before he fed me some of his crab cake. I returned the favor by giving him some of my shrimp, and we both agreed mine was better. We ended up sharing it, which was fine with me.

  The food arrived a few minutes later. While we were eating, a band started playing and couples began to get up and dance. The music was slow and beautiful and so infectious that before I knew it, I was moving in my seat.

  “I guess you want to dance,” Allen joked.

  “I don’t, but my body does,” I said.

  “What else does your body want?” he said, giving me a kiss that almost landed on my lips.

  I looked down at my plate and tried not to blush. We had talked about sex before, and although Allen had admitted he wasn’t a virgin, he promised me there was no pressure for me to sleep with him.

  “Okay,
I’m not going to tease you,” he said. He held out his hand, and I shyly took it so he could escort me to the dance floor.

  I didn’t expect Allen to be as graceful as he was. He wrapped his arms around me, and I felt so protected and loved.

  We danced through two songs until Aunt Dani pulled Miles on the floor, backing that thang up like she was in the club. Allen thought it was funny, but it killed my mood. We headed back to the table to finish our food. The waiter was nice enough to warm it up for us, and it tasted even better than it had originally, if that was possible.

  After we ordered dessert, I glanced at my watch. “I can’t believe it’s only eight-thirty,” I said. “We have time to stop by the homecoming dance and hang out for a while. What are you going to do with me for the rest of the evening?” I realized how my question sounded and shook my head. “That didn’t come out the right way.”

  “It’s okay,” Allen said. “I know what you meant. Do you want to skip the dance? I have a few more surprises up my sleeve.”

  I seriously thought about what he was saying. Although I wanted to go to the dance to show off my man, more than that, I wanted to spend some time alone with Allen, which we had never really done, since we were always around others at school or my house.

  “We don’t have to go to the dance if you don’t want to. Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” I asked.

  “You’ll see,” he said mysteriously.

  I almost didn’t finish my dessert I was so excited about where Allen was going to take me.

  I watched as Allen paid the bill, and I couldn’t believe it when he put down three crisp hundred-dollar bills into the holder with the receipt.

  “Was our food really that much?” I asked in amazement. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was that expensive here.”

  “It’s not a problem,” he said. “I paid for your aunt and Miles, too.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked, looking doubtful.

  “Baby, it’s fine,” he assured me.

  “How can you afford this?” I asked.