by Darrel Bird
kidding, right?”
“Yes, I’m kidding, I’m sorry for the way I treated you Olivia, last night I realized you are the most important person in my life.”
“I’m sorry for the way I treated you too Billy, I was falling in love with you and I didn’t know any better. That was my way of trying to run from my own feelings.”
“Olivia Beckman, are you purposing to me?”
“I suppose I am Billy.”
“Then I am purposing to you, I said it first.”
“You did not!”
“Yes I did, you just weren’t listening.”
He kissed her gently on her cracked lips, “I must look a mess.” She said.
“No, you are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.”
“Do you have any of that meat you had last night? I’m starved.”
“Yes, its cold but I can heat it in banana leaves.”
“You’re such a wild man Billy Theroux.”
“May be, but you love it.”
“Yes I do. I never knew what it was to live before now; I thought I was going to die.”
“I thought you were too, I even prayed. I hadn’t prayed in a long time and that is something I am no longer going to neglect.”
“Would you teach me out of the Bible when we get a chance? We never had one in our house. I see the inner strength in you that is absent in most men. That comes from your faith right?”
“I suppose it does. Mammy Theroux taught me from the time I was big enough to read. Both my parents have a faith, but it is a quiet faith.”
They talked long into the night. The next morning when Olivia awoke Billy was again gone into the bush.
She busied herself about the camp and she gathered what little fire wood she could from the edge of the bushes, she was still too weak to climb the hills and Billy had forbade her to go into the bush.
“I’m not taking any chances on losing you now.” He had said before he left. She thought she heard a plane and she listened peering up at the sky, she finally spotted it buzzing around way high, then she saw the plane dive, it kept going toward the water until it seemed as if the plane was going to crash into the water, then it leveled out and she could see the plane coming toward the Island.
She grabbed the blue sheet and started waving it in the air until the plane flew directly over head waggling its wings.
It wasn’t long until Billy came back to the camp and as soon as he got within earshot he yelled, “That was a spotter plane, they know we’re here!”
He came into camp all out of breathe and hugged her tightly.
“But how did they know Billy?” He pointed to the smoke boiling up from the fire, she had put green wood and leaves on the fire.
“Ok, I need to go to the very top of the hill and get on that big rock and wait for the boat to show up. Will you be ok here by yourself?”
“Yes, you go on, I’ll be ok.”
He reached over and pulled her to his chest and kissed her. He noticed her lips were getting smoother.
Four hours later a boat tooted its horn about a mile from the south shore. When the boat got closer he tied the blue sheet on the end of the spear and began waving it at the boat, the boat captain tooted his horn twice to let him know he had been seen, and then he quickly headed down the hill toward the camp.
When he got to the camp Olivia was ready to go and they made their way through the brush and trees to the beach.
Before they left though Olivia turned and looked back toward the camp, “I wish we had more time to get acquainted though.”
“Don’t worry; we’ll have plenty of time to get acquainted. We are going to get married, remember?”
“Yes, I remember and I’m not going to let you forget either.”
By the time they reached the beach a boat had landed on the shore. The two men beckoned them to get in the boat, neither of them spoke English.
Two days later they were in Hawaii boarding a plane for the states. The plane landed at San Francisco air terminal just about noon where a limo was waiting to take them back to the offices of Ming Ho Imports.
When they walked into Ming Ho’s office he was stand with his back to them looking out the window over San Francisco bay.
He turned and grinned, “Aw! The prodigals have returned! You do anything to get out of work.”
“Yeah, we took some of the vacation you owe us.”
“Uh huh, and how you two getting along now? I send you two maybe straighten you out. Maybe next time send bettu plane. I no get no work done.”
He came over to shake their hands warmly, but instead hugged them both.
“Ming, did you send us off hoping we would get along better?” Billy looked at Ming closely.
“Aw, you like children, not know what you want, I try help you to find out.”
Olivia hugged Ming, “Thank you Ming.”
“No thanks needed, you like my daughta and son. You betta call your folks, they been worried much.”
“I decide you take both take two more week off, then come back and we work hard.”
“You go now, you get out my office, I have much work to do.” But Ming couldn’t hide the tears of joy. “Oops, something bother eyes, you two get out of here.”
Both Billy and Olivia were stunned as they walked out of Ming’s office. They both realized that their actions had affected more people than themselves.
“I have to go back home to Louisiana other wise Momma Theroux will never believe I am ok. You can stay here and visit your folks.”
“Don’t you want me with you when you go Billy?”
“Of course I do, I just didn’t think you would want anything to do with Louisiana.”
“Billy, I want to be a part of your life, I want to meet your folks and if they will have me, I want to be a part of their lives too.”
“What about your folks, do you think they will accept me?”
“If they don’t, then they can’t have me, Billy I love you and I will never give you up for anyone.”
“I love you Olivia Beckman Theroux.”
When the car pulled into the driveway her folks were waiting to rush out to greet them both and after many hugs and kisses it settled down a bit.
Olivia’s mother had dinner on in the kitchen and Olivia went in to help, leaving Billy in the sitting room with her father.
“I heard you kids had a pretty rough time of it out there, how did you manage to survive?”
“Well Sir, my family has been living off the land for more than two hundred years, they still do and I guess survival skills just come natural.”
“I’m glad it was you with my daughter, I believe you two are in love?”
“Yes sir, we are, we are planning on getting married soon.”
“That’s good; we will stand beside you when you do.”
“Thank you Sir.”
“When are you going back to see your folks”
“I am scheduled to fly out in the morning, Olivia wants to go.”
“Good, I’m glad she will be seeing how other people live, I’m afraid her mother has tried to shield her too much.”
“You boys come to dinner!” Olivia’s mother called from the kitchen.
On Wednesday they rented a car in New Orleans and drove the 150 miles to the Theroux house which sat on the bank of a bayou. Coon hounds howled a welcome as the car pulled up in front of the neat white house. There were two boats on trailers sitting in front of a large shop. There were a dozen other pickups sitting in a haphazard fashion around the yard.
“Has half of Louisiana turned out for your homecoming?”
“No, just Theroux’s I would imagine.”
Women and kids came pouring out the door and men came out of the large shop and converged on the rental car like geese on water.
They drug Billy and Olivia out of the car and the hugging began in earnest. Big men grabbed her and hugged her so tightly her feet came off the ground and she felt like they would break every bone in her body. When it
was done Olivia knew she too, had come home.
The wedding was a huge affair with cars piled along the narrow paved road that ran in front of the neat white house. Her parents, Aunts and uncles were there as well as Ming Ho with his family, the long tables that were brought in by Billy’s relatives were loaded with food, kids by the droves ran and played between the cars and pick-ups as the Cajun music rang thru the trees and out across the water. People danced wildly to the fast music as Olivia Susan Beckman Theroux learned what it was to live.
Ming Ho stood beside his wife of 40 years and grinned at the couple as they danced, tears ran down his face. The wise old Chinaman, a descendant of the hardship of communist china knew the important things of this life.
The end