She was glad to be moving in another direction . . . one that would take her away from the town of Hawkinsville The town itself, and its deviltry of saloons and loose women, made the Italian people seem to fear even to wander the streets when night fell in its total blackness.
“But maybe I can change all these things for my people,” she thought to herself, moving on toward the iron bridge. “Marrying Nathan Hawkins gives me a bitter taste in my mouth, but I have to remember what I might be able to accomplish by being Mrs. Nathan Hawkins.”
Pulling her hat lower on her head, Maria moved onto the iron bridge, now hearing a faintness of bull frogs croaking and crickets serenading their mates. It was as though she was entering another world when she stepped from the bridge onto the mossy ground, then on into the thigh-high Indian grass. It was so thick, not even a path had been made by all those who Maria knew had to move through it to go to Ruby's house. The only other way would be to travel across too much of Nathan Hawkins's private estate grounds.
The only thing that Maria couldn't understand was how the men traveled by horseback? Or did they leave the horses at Hawkinsville and travel by foot as she was doing? But then she remembered Ruby's fancy horse and carriage. There had to be a road that Maria hadn't noticed. Had Michael taken that road? Was he now living somewhere besides this place she remembered having been called Saint Louis? Her heart raced, thinking to see him soon. Oh, how she would ache to run to him … to fall into his arms … to let him carry her away to a wonderland of love. But she had to remember the dangers… her Papa… her Alberto
The sounds of dogs barking grew near as Maria made her way into the thickness of brush beneath the towering oak trees. The trees’ limbs were whipping around her as the wind seemed to increase in strength, making Maria even more aware of the chill of the night.
She trembled, continuing to move beneath the limbs that hung low, scraping her face, almost knocking her hat from her head. She held onto her hat, lifting her legs high, then tensed when an owl above her let out a loud screech. Her heart pounded and her knees weakened, and she felt so isolated from the world … the only world she had ever known … a world guided by brother and father….
“Finally,” she said, sighing. She reached upward and touched the fence, then recoiled when one of Ruby's dogs raced toward her. Its eyes were two sparkling stars as the moon reflected into them, and its teeth bared in long white points as it continued to have a fit of barking.
“Please,” Maria whispered, stepping away from the fence. Now what was she to do? If Ruby let the dogs run loose, how could Maria move on to the front door of the house? And once there, would Ruby recognize her in such a garb? Would she even recognize her at all? They had only met. . . that. . . once.
A sound of footsteps approaching made Maria stiffen She covered her mouth with her hands, barely breathing. She watched in the direction of the continuing sound, then gulped back words that wouldn't surface when she saw a large, burly Negro moving toward her, carrying a rifle.
He stopped and bent down over the dog, taking it by the collar, talking in soft, soothing tones. Then when he had succeeded at calming the dog, he looked Maria's way, frowning. “Wha’ cha’ doin’ ‘round Ruby's place?” he said in a throaty voice. His plaid shirt and dark pants revealed muscles trying to protrude from each. Maria hadn't ever seen such a large person in all her life. But the gentleness of his facial features calmed her insides. His dark eyes were focused on her, waiting.
“I'd … like … to see … Ruby“ she stammered,
moving toward the fence.
“What's a whitefolk woman want with Ruby?” he asked, moving toward the fence, now resting the rifle on his left shoulder.
“How did you . . . know I'm a woman . . . ?” she gasped, eyes wide.
The Negro laughed throatily. “Ain't nevah seen hair as long on a white man befoh,” he said, pointing. “An’ yore voice ain't that of a white man neither.”
Maria reached upward, discovering her hat was missing. “Oh,” she said, blushing. Her eyes traveled around her, seeing the hat on the ground at her feet. She stooped to pick it up, hearing the dog growling once again. She hurried to stand in an upright position again.
“Ya knows Ruby?” the man said. “How's ya know mah Ruby?”
“We met one day while I was taking a walk,” Maria said, placing the hat back atop her head, working her hair beneath it.
“Not many white womenfolk venture onto this heah property,” he said, leaning closer, studying Maria's facial features as the moon came from beneath a cloud. “Wha’ cha’ wan’ with mah Ruby? Huh?”
“Your . . . Ruby .. . ?” Maria gasped, remembering the role Ruby played in this house of girls.
“Mah wife,” he said, throwing his shoulders back into a proud square. “Ruby's mah wife from ways back. Now ah asks you again. Wha’ cha’ wan’ with mah Ruby?”
Maria cast her eyes downward, not able to disclose the truth to this stranger. He wouldn't understand. No man would understand. “She told me to visit anytime,” she suddenly blurted, watching him again. Her pulsebeat raced. She knew that was a lean explanation. His laughter made her smile awkwardly.
“So's you come visitin’ in the daid of night dressed as a man?” he said, chuckling. He motioned with his gun.
“Come on. Ah'll meet you at the front gate. Ah'll then takes yah in the back door. Goin’ in the front door would cause some commotion. We don’ need no troubles at mah Ruby's house.”
When he began to walk along the inside of the fence, shooing the dog away from him, Maria began to follow alongside him. She breathed more easily now, seeing how gentle and kind this man was. And she was relieved to know that she wouldn't be going into the parlor of this grand house after all. The back door was much better. Now she only hoped that Ruby would remember her. What if she . . . didn't. . . ?
Maria swallowed hard when she drew close to the house. She looked upward at the lights flickering through the upper-story windows. Which room . . . was . . . Michael in? Alberto said that the gambling room and the playing of cards was in one of those up-stairs rooms. Her stomach fluttered as though it had many butterflies inside it.
“Michael, oh, Michael,” she said softly to herself. “If you knew I was so close, would you be as excited? Would you be as eager to get just a glimpse of me?” Then she had to wonder if even a glimpse would be enough for her Once she saw him, could she hold back? Wouldn't she lose her mind and rush to him?
“Here's the gate,” the Negro said, opening it for Maria. “Now you jus’ follow behin’ oP Clarence. Ah'll takes you to mah Ruby.” A chuckle rumbled through him. “Now she jist might laugh a mite when she takes a look at the likes o’ you. But she's a woman of good heart. She won’ mean you no harm by laughin'. She'll jus’ be as me. Ain’ used tah secin’ no womanfolk in breeches.”
Feeling her body being consumed by heartbeats, Maria followed beside him, still eyeing the upper-story windows. She could hear laughter and music surfacing from inside the house and then felt her first moment of apprehension. She had forgotten, in her anxiety to see Michael, just what sort of house she was entering. In the daylight, it had appeared to be a normal house . . . possibly filled with normal people. But now? In the darkness? It appeared a bit foreboding. But she knew that was because she was aware that sharing of lust occurred in the house during the night hours.
She had to divert her attention . . . her thoughts. “Did you say your name is … Clarence . . . ?” she asked softly.
“Sho is,” he said, stepping aside when he reached the back steps that led upward onto a small square of a back porch.
Looking toward the back door, Maria felt more doubts creeping into her mind. Now could she really . . . ?
“Jus’ you go on up to the porch and wait until ah can go and speak tah Ruby,” Clarence said, moving on past Maria, two steps at a time.
“Okay,” Maria said, swallowing hard. She watched him as he moved on into the house, leaving her to stand alone.
She clasped her hands behind her, afraid to move. The sounds surfacing from the house kept her alert and the two dogs now lying at her feet made a tightness, like a band being pulled, form around her forehead. She had never been so bold before.
“Oh, please let Ruby come and see who it is asking for her,” she prayed silently to herself. She continued to look around her, seeing only the total blackness of the night crowding in around her. Doubts truly assailed her now. “I'll leave. Now,” she whispered. “What I'm doing is wrong. I shouldn't be at such a place. Especially after dark. What would Papa think if hecver found out?” She began to inch her way toward the steps but stopped, startled, when the back door swung widely open.
“Who's there?” Ruby said, stepping out next to Maria. “Clarence said a white femalefolk in man's breeches was here to see me. He didn't think to ask your name. That Clarence of mine. He doesn't use his brains at all.”
Maria sighed with relief when she saw the familiar face of Ruby as lights flickered through the back window, then onto her face. She was just as statuesque and beautiful in the semidarkness as she had been in the brightness of day. “Maria. It's mc. Maria Lazzaro,” Maria said, reaching up to pull her hat from her head. She shook her hair to hang freely down her back. “I had to see you. Ruby,” she added quickly, moving toward Ruby, touching her gently on the arm. She eyed Ruby's dress. It was red satin with a plunging neckline, revealing her magnificent bosom.
Ruby laughed softly, tossing her head back. Then she eyed Maria more closely, reaching up to run her fingers through Maria's hair. “Land's sake. It is you. I had thought you had forgotten about Ruby's invitation,” Ruby purred. “But why now? Dressed in such a way? And in the darkness of night? God, girl. Don't you know the dangers?”
“Yes. I know the dangers,” Maria said softly. “That is why I chose to dress as a man. To disguise myself from men's stares.”
“But you haven't revealed to me why you have chosen to come,” Ruby persisted, looking impatiently toward the door, as though she wanted to return inside, where the action was.
“My brother Alberto told me . . . that. . . someone is here that I. .. uh … know,” Maria stammered, feeling a blush rising from the neck upward.
“Your brother was here? Who did he see?”
“A man I met while aboard ship on our way to America from Italy.”
Ruby laughed throatily. “Oh, I sec,” she said “So your brother saw this man. What is this man's name? Maybe I will know him from all the others who are here this night”
Maria thrust her hands inside her front breeches pocket and lowered her eyes. “His name is . . . uh . . . Michael Hopper,” she murmured.
Ruby emitted a loud gasp. “Michael .. . ?” she said. “You are speaking of Michael Hopper? The Michael Hopper that I also know?”
Maria's heart began to throb wildly. It was true. Michael was at this place. He was only footsteps, heartbeats, away. “Then . . . you do . . . know of this . . . man?” she asked anxiously, looking toward the window, only able to make out fleeting shadows through the lacy, sheer curtains.
“Know of him? Yes. He's been quite a frequent customer,” Ruby said. “But I have to ask. Why is it you are so anxious to see him? Did you share more . . . than . . . uh . . conversation … on that ship?”
Maria turned her head from Ruby's imploring eyes. “I cannot say,” she whispered. “But I do want to see him. Only see him. Can you help me?”
Ruby moved toward Maria, lifting the tail of Maria's jacket up between her fingers. “You want to see this man dressed in this . . . this . . . outfit?” she said, laughing amusedly.
Maria moved away from her, embarrassment etched across her face. “You don't understand. Ruby,” she mumbled. “I want to see him. I don't want him to see me. Can you help me? Can you arrange this? I only want to take a look at him. I have a need to see him. Just one more time. Before. . ..”
“Before? Before what?” Ruby persisted, placing her hands on her hips.
“Nothing. It is of no importance. The thing that is of importance is that I want to see Michael.”
“But why would you want to see him, and him not you? I do not understand, Maria.”
“It's hard to explain, Ruby. But that's how it must be.”
“You are in love with this man, aren't you?” Ruby said softly, once again lifting Maria's hair from her shoulders. “No need to hide this from Ruby. It is only one person you will have to share this secret with. I talk to no one of gossip. Tell me. You love this Michael Hopper, don't you? You'd like to do more than see him, wouldn't you? You'd like to be with him. As man and woman. Tell me it's true. I sense it is a truth.”
Maria's eyes brimmed with tears wanting to surface. “Yes, Ruby. I love him. But it's no use. I can't confess such a love to him. There are too many things standing in the way of such a happiness between Michael and myself. Please. Please. I want to take just one look at him. If you can't help me, then I shall leave.”
“No. Don't leave, Maria,” Ruby urged. “You want to be with this man. Right?”
“More than anything on this earth,” Maria admitted. “But… like I said … it is impossible. . . .”
“Nothing is impossible,” Ruby said, laughing throat-ily. “When one is at Ruby's house? Nothing is impossible.”
Maria's eyes widened. “I don't understand. What are you saying?”
Ruby leaned down into Maria's face. “Honey, I have an idea. Want to hear it? Ruby's mind works in many directions. At all times. Ruby can sometimes play the part of Cupid. Are you willing to participate in a scheme I have just thought up?”
“I don't. . . know,” Maria said, fluttering her thick lashes nervously. “What do you have … in mind… ?”
“You don't want Michael to know you are here?”
“He can't. . . .”
‘Then he won't,” Ruby said firmly.
“What are you thinking of doing, Ruby?”
“You will be with Michael. Tonight you will be with Michael Hopper if you are willing to play a role. Are you?”
Maria's pulsebeat quickened. She swallowed hard. “I don't understand …,” she mumbled.
“You do want to be with Michael sexually, don't you?” Ruby said, smiling almost wickedly.
“Well… I . . .”
“Yes. You do. This truth shows in your eyes. In the way your heartbeat races in the hollow of your throat. So you will be with Michael in this way. Within the hour.”
“But.. . how … ?”
“Michael usually wants a woman before he leaves my house,” Ruby said. “Once he tires of gambling, he fulfills his desires of the more pleasurable side of life by choosing one of my best girls.”
Maria's eyes widened as she let out a loud gasp. She put her hands to her throat, listening further… .
“I was the one who personally gave him his pleasures at first,” Ruby continued. “But I don't make it a practice to stick with one man too long. It's bad for business. But tonight? I will lead him to a room where there is. a new girl. One that will set his heart to racing. One who will make his mind leave him. Arc you ready to be . .. this . .. girl… ?”
Maria flushed fully. The thought of Michael having been with so many different women made her heart ache. But she had to know that a man had needs . . . needs that possibly needed to be fulfilled each and every night. She had had such needs . .. but had had to leave them to lie dormant, tormenting her insides to shreds it seemed, since having last left Michael's bed on the ship. And now? To have the opportunity to be fulfilled . .. and at the same time to be with the man she loved … the man she would always love? She couldn't say no.
“What must I do?” she asked quietly, wishing the trembling would cease inside her.
“Just follow me,” Ruby said. “But first. The hat? Place it back on your head. You must look the part of a man for just a short time longer … a man I am taking to my room to entertain privately.”
Maria's heart lightened. She giggled as she placed her hair benea
th the confines of the hat once again. “I don't know about this,” she said. “Are you sure … ? How will Michael not realize who it is? Won't he see … ? Won't he recognize my voice?”
“You'll soon see, honey,” Ruby said, circling her arm through Maria's. “Now just act the part of a man. Walk into the house with me very casually, then walk beside me up the steps. My room is upstairs. Next to the gambling room. But keep your head lowered. Damn. One look at that face and those eyelashes and the fellas would think I was going to have fun myself with a female tonight. Don't want to get that reputation. Men are my cup of tea. Not women.”
Maria giggled once again, suddenly feeling lightheaded. She had never suspected for one minute that anything like this could happen. She had never thought Ruby could be so much fun … so full of wonderful schemes…. “I don't see … I still don't see how you are going to pull this off,” she whispered, as they moved into the parlor. It was hard for Maria to not look around her. She heard so many things being spoken between men and women. And the music was soft. Music played for lovers. The warmth of the house wrapped her in its embrace, making her almost sigh, and then she was led up the steepness of the stairs and whisked into a bedroom before Maria could even stop to see the door that led into the room of gamblers.
“We must hasten,” Ruby said, already helping Maria with the removal of her clothes. “Michael has been here for some time now. I have to be sure to catch him before he heads down the steps, looking for someone to take to bed. Here. You just hurry with disrobing, splash some of that oil from those bottles over there on my dressing table over your body, then wait for further instructions when I return.”
“Where are you going?”
“Togo and tell Michael that I have this beautiful new thing that needs to be broken in by the right man.”
“But.. . what will I wear . . . ?” Maria said, looking desperately around her, standing cross-armed, partially nude, in the middle of the room.
“Honey, for what I have planned, you don't need a stitch on,” Ruby laughed, then rushed from the room, slamming the door behind her.
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