by Cher Etan
“Details,” Tony said airily with a dismissive wave of the hand.
Sophie laughed up at him and pinched his cheek, “You’re so goofy sometimes.” She said, “Who’d a thunk it?”
“I’m being serious,” Tony replied deadpan.
Sophie stared at him, eyes narrowed, “I can’t tell if you’re joking or not.”
“Not.”
“Well in that case, let’s talk about it when we get home. This is our honeymoon after all.”
Tony shrugged and smiled, staring at her with affection as she rubbed some lotion on her legs, “so it’s settled then. Next stop, New Orleans.”
Sophie stopped what she was doing to stare up at him in disbelief, “When was it settled?” she asked.
Tony just smiled at her, saying nothing.
***
“So where are we going?” the boy was asking cautiously as he walked by Roman’s side.
“We are going to meet your family.” Roman said with a smile that filled the boy with foreboding. He was scared, and he didn’t know why.
“How did you get me out of there?” he asked, “How did they just let me go?”
“I know the right people.” Roman said with a side smile that was the coldest thing the boy had ever seen.
“Where-“he began to ask, but Roman cut him off.
“Look, Solomon, if you’re just a bit patient, all your questions will be answered. Meanwhile could you please shut it?” he said.
“Sorry,” Solomon murmured and kept walking with his head down.
They were headed toward an airport terminal. Roman had bought tickets but Solomon did not know where they were for. They seemed to be heading toward international departures however, and Solomon wondered where his family could be. Were they not in the United States? Perhaps he was a Jamaican? Solomon quite liked that idea. He opened his mouth to ask Roman about it, but then remembered what he had said about shutting it, and closed it again. He’d know soon enough after all.
***
They took the Sunset train from LA to New Orleans because Tony said it was the best way to see the country. Not only was the route scenic but it passed through vast expanses of the country, with a throwback feel to the frontier days. Sophie pointed out that it wasn’t exactly an era she wanted to know more about but Tony countered that he’d never seen that part of the country and he would really appreciate seeing it for the first time with her. This effectively check-mated Sophie and she made her way to their carriage, marveling at the size. It was a double-decker train with huge windows, comfortable chairs and very good lighting. As she dropped their bags on the floor, an attendant came up to them.
“Hi. My name is Peggy and I will be assisting you today,” she said, “Can I see your tickets?”
Tony rummaged in his wallet and came up with the tickets which he showed to Peggy with a smile. She smiled back at him as she checked them, and then informed them that she needed to give them the whole gamut of rules that needed to be followed as well as information they might want. Sophie sighed and settled down on the bed to listen in resignation but Tony crossed his arms with a smile and said, “Pray continue.”
“The train has a sleeping and dining car and there are spectacular views to be beheld from the Sightseer Lounge Car,” Peggy began.
“The Sightseer what?” Sophie asked sitting up, this sounded like more fun than she’d anticipated. She hadn’t really been interested in this trip to begin with but at least there would be some form of entertainment on the way. The final destination though, was still causing her to feel headachy.
Peggy went on to inform them about the prohibition of smoking on the train and said that if this rule was broken they would have no choice but to expel them.
“Don’t worry, we don’t smoke.” Tony interjected with a laugh.
She acknowledged his words with a nod but went on to state that alcohol not purchased on board the train was prohibited, in fact, it was a federal offence. Travelers who broke that rule would also be expelled from the train.
“Wow, is this a train or a prison?” Sophie murmured to herself but Peggy took no notice.
“If you need anything, I’m at your beck and call,” she finished.
“Wow, are you our beck and call girl then?” Sophie drawled with a laugh.
“I’ve always wanted to say that; ever since I saw Pretty Woman,” she said in an aside to Tony. He looked at her, puzzled.
“What’s this Pretty Woman you speak of?” he asked.
Sophie’s mouth opened in disbelief, and so did Peggy’s.
“I don’t care how uncivilized y’all are over there in Russia, there is no way you have not heard of Pretty Woman!” Sophie said, her southern accent exaggerated.
“Don’t worry, we have wifi. You can download it. I’m sure Netflix has a copy.” Peggy put in.
“Thank you Peggy, you’ve just given us our program for the evening, “Sophie said smiling at her for the first time.
“But first you should partake of our Dining Car. It’s not just the views that are spectacular. The food is too,” Peggy continued.
“If you do say so yourself,” Sophie teased.
Peggy smiled at her, bowed and left them to themselves. Sophie turned to Tony to see him studying her pensively.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing. Just realizing I’m truly married now, seeing as you’ve taken over our itinerary without so much as a by your leave,” he said, but he was grinning.
“I’m sorry Tony; would you care to join me in an evening of cultural enrichment watching one of the greatest movies ever made?” Sophie asked.
“I’d love to. But let’s wash up and go eat now. I’m peckish.”
***
The day was bright and sunny as they entered into desert country. Sophie and Tony walked through the train to the dining car as they pulled into the first train stop at Palm Springs in the LA suburbs. The landscape was made up of stark bare hills, except for the tracks made by either SUVs or dune buggies. The desert and hills glowed as red as a sunset, although the light was sharper and colder. Sophie was moved to take pictures for her Instagram and even managed to forget for a few minutes, what their ultimate destination was. They enjoyed a leisurely meal before deciding to visit the Sightseeing Lounge briefly.
As they took their seats, the train passed a huge lake which the in-house tour guide informed them was the Salton Sea. He told them of a large tourist boating trade that had been built up in the fifties which was stalled by the pollution from the Mexican side of the river. The Sightseeing Lounge was luxurious with comfortable sofas interspersed along the huge windows. Sophie sat back, tuning out the commentator and just watching the horizon. It was eerily peaceful. Tony reached out his hand and enveloped hers, prompting her to turn and smile at him, but then she turned back to the horizon and lost herself in it again.
“Hey,” He whispered at her after a while, “Netflix awaits.”
“Don’t think I’m not aware you just want to get me alone,” Sophie said with a smug smile.
“You know me too well already,” Tony replied lifting her to her feet.
They went to their carriage where Sophie fished out the laptop to search for a copy of the film. Meanwhile, Tony was arranging the pillows to make a comfortable nest for them to lie in as they watched.
“Got it,” Sophie exclaimed triumphantly as the screen lit up with the opening credits. Tony held out his hands to her and she came into them, snuggling into him with the computer on her lap. As she settled into him, he began to nuzzle her neck.
“Hey. Watch!” she said, moving his face away and turning it toward the screen.
Tony opened his mouth to ask a question but Sophie forestalled him, “Okay thing you need to know about me; I don’t talk when watching movies. Complete silence; shhh,” she said.
“Yes master. Got it,” Tony said saluting. He leaned back pulling her closer and settled down to watch the movie.
Sophie straightened up after the final credits
rolled and looked at Tony, “Well?” she asked.
“Amazing. Makes me want to save you so you can save me right back.” Tony said as he leaned in and kissed her gently.
Sophie looked him affectionately in the eye, “You did,” she said.
Tony stopped smiling and looked back at her with a serious look on his face, “You did too.”
“Yay, we’re Pretty Woman,” Sophie teased and Tony leaned forward to kiss her neck.
“Can we get to the making love part now?” he murmured against her neck.
***
After a peaceful night helped along by satiety and the lulling motion of the train, they woke up to Texas. The daylight hours were spent in the Western Texas desert where the landscape was brush and hills. After breakfast, they decided that they’d use the time to catch up on all the other movies Tony hadn’t seen.
“So your family wasn’t much for movies huh?” Sophie asked, curious because he really seemed to enjoy watching so she wondered why he hadn’t seen them before. Tony shrugged sheepishly avoiding her eyes.
“My uncle wasn’t much for such idle pursuits.” He said making air quotes around the word idle.
“Oh yeah? Why? What did he want you to do instead?” Sophie asked, wanting to see beyond the veneer he put up where his family was concerned.
“Oh you know, work, study, and get ahead. Achieve my goals. That sort of thing.”
“So no time to relax huh?”
“I could relax. You know, in the shower or playing soccer on Sundays…that sort of thing. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t unhappy or anything. Or at least my unhappiness cannot be laid at my uncle’s door. He did the best he could with what he had. I’m glad that my dad sent me to him, otherwise, I imagine I would have been a lot unhappier,” Tony shrugged. Sophie could see that he was embarrassed so she changed the subject.
“So this landscape, man. I half expect some highwaymen to hold us up for the gold in our purses,” she said, wanting to get him to smile. He obliged her but his eyes told her he knew what she was doing. The country was empty of highwaymen or gangsters of any kind, cowboy or not but they did see the occasional stretch of empty tarmac to remind them that they were still in the twentieth century. At different points during the day, they caught glimpses of the Rio Grande River which was smaller and more unassuming than Sophie was expecting. They encountered border guards with dogs who dragged a hapless marijuana smoker off the train after sniffing his luggage.
“Wow, and he’s not even black,” Sophie joked as they leaned out of their carriage car window to watch the police drag the man away. Tony gave her a look and said nothing for a while. A frown had settled on his brow that let Sophie know that he was thinking seriously about something.
“What?” she asked sitting back down on the sofa.
“Nothing. I was just wondering about proper etiquette,” Tony said.
“Proper etiquette? Like? What do you mean?”
“I mean like…you make all these passive aggressive remarks sometimes about being ‘black’, which are kinda framed as jokes. But I’m not sure if you’re joking, and if you are, does that mean I can joke back or…?” Tony raised his brow at her and Sophie just stared back at him with her mouth open. No-one had ever been so straightforward with her before, especially when it came to matters of race.
“I mean,” Tony continued, “I’m an immigrant too; it’s not like my ancestors possibly kept slaves or anything. So am I like, supposed to feel guilty or agree with you or empathize, or what? I just want to know because if we’re going to be dealing with each other for the next fifty years I don’t want to be walking on eggshells the whole time,” he finished.
Sophie’s mind was completely blank with shock; she couldn’t imagine anyone talking to her like that and she was just completely floored - and impressed. Floored and impressed that he would just come out and address the issue head on like that. She realized that that was one of the reasons she loved him so much. She smiled at him with affection and saw that he was taken aback by it.
“Fifty years huh?” she said, further throwing him.
“Yes.” He replied smiling back.
“Okay then, fifty years is a hell of a long time to be watching your words so let’s do like Will and Jada and assume that where there is love, then the intent to deliberately hurt someone is absent. So if I say something, or you say something that the other feels is offensive, the assumption is that one of us must have misunderstood the intent behind the words.”
Tony seemed to mull that over for a bit, “Okay. That seems fair. And another thing we could do is always be honest with each other.”
Sophie’s lip curled skeptically, “always?”
“Yes.” Tony said narrowing his eyes at her.
“What if I fart and I’m not ready to admit it?” Sophie asked feigning distress.
Tony burst out laughing. He laughed so long that his face was becoming extremely red. Sophie began to worry that he would choke on it.
“Hey, it wasn’t that funny.” She said.
This just set him off again. Sophie shook her head and went to pour him some water from the jug sitting near the sink. She picked up the glass and came and stood with it in front of it, waiting for him to stop rolling around in glee long enough to take it.
“Seriously though,” he said amid gasps as he mouthed the word farting and then doubled over again.
“Seriously…Tony stop laughing so I can talk.” Sophie said.
“Sorry.” Tony said still wheezing but upright anyway.
“Seriously, I didn’t know I was being passive aggressive with the race shit. It’s just stuff us black people say. I mean you’re my family so obviously I’m not trying to make you feel bad or accuse you of anything. You’ve been nothing but great with me and mine. But we can’t ignore the rest of the world that keeps going on outside our little bubble of happiness. So just answer the way that you would regardless of what color I am.” Sophie finished with a shrug.
“Okay then.” Tony said, still gasping occasionally, “I will. Seriously though, you fart?” he asked grinning.
“You’re such a little boy sometimes Tony.” She said pulling the snapback he was wearing low over his eyes, “Come on, we’re watching Pulp Fiction, you’ll want all your concentration for this one. Its curazzy,” she said as she played the film.
At 9:30 that evening they reached San Antonio where there was a two hour stop. Tony invited Sophie for a drink in a nearby bar where they sat getting to know other passengers on the train. They were enjoying themselves so much that they lost track of time and almost got left by the train. Luckily for them, the conductor had to deal with some people being drunk and disorderly so departure had been delayed to give time for the police to get there and arrest them.
“One of them’s black.” Tony whispered in Sophie’s ear and she turned to answer him and saw that he was smiling in that way that made her insides melt. She completely lost her train of thought.
“Wanna fuck?” she whispered back, making Tony’s eyes go wide with surprise – he hadn’t heard her use profanity yet – and she put her fingers over her mouth as if mortified. Then her tongue came out and licked slowly up and down between her index and middle finger. Her eyes trained on him. Tony’s eyes widened and his skin went red. He picked her up in full view of all the other passengers heading to their cabins and bolted for theirs amid cheers and catcalls.
“We’re just married!” he shouted at the hoopla before diving into their room and kicking the door shut behind him, his lips tight on hers.
“Alone at last.” He said and she smiled slowly, eating him up with her eyes.
“Hey Mr. Blue eyes,” she said huskily and ran her tongue slowly up his neck to bite his ear. The taste of him had her dripping with anticipation, especially when he groaned in response. She rubbed herself against him, one leg looped around his middle. He gasped and shivered, dropping her legs to the floor to place both hands on her behind and hold on really tight. Sophie
tittered against his ear making him shiver again. His thick member pressed into her and she rubbed herself softly against it. He picked her up and dropped her on the bed without further ado. the veins already popping in his forehead. She was wearing a shift dress which blew up her legs as she fell and she watched with gratification as his eyes widened with emotion when he realized she wasn’t wearing any underwear. She smiled knowingly up at him.
“Well hello there”, he said falling forward onto her and managing to land with his lips on hers, his hands buried deep inside her and making her moan against his kisses. She gyrated her hips in encouragement and he shoved his middle finger as deep as it could go. She groaned in a mixture of gratitude and need, making incoherent noises.
She fumbled for his jeans, tearing at the buttons with more savagery than they deserved but too impatient to care. Getting them off was made more difficult by his rock hard member straining the fit. It was luck rather than skill that enabled her to undo them at last and he helped her divest him of them along with his boxers.
“Let me in,” he whispered hotly against her ear and her legs closed around his waist, giving him all the access he could ever need.
“Sophie.”
He said her name like a prayer and then made an incoherent sound as he slid home, face reddening with the effort not to come on the spot. He stiffened, eyes closed and thought about dead puppies to gain some control over his straining body.
“Oh baby.” Sophie moaned, urging him on with her legs on his ass and her hand digging into his back.
“Please, don’t talk or I’ll come.” Tony said pacing himself as he tried to control his shuddering frame. Sophie laughed softly, the feel of her breath on his chest causing Tony to groan.
“You’re determined to make me the one-minute man aren’t you?” He complained, slowing his rhythm as Sophie’s inner muscles grasped him with strength.
“Oh no, not me. I want you to be the 30 minute hero. Just tell me what I gotta do.” She answered as her back arched to give him greater access. He drove deeper into her slowly and carefully and then out again. He did it again, his body straining as she cried out in encouragement.