UNTHINKABLE

Chapter I

1968
He had seen her lying in the park on the yellow checkered blanket, her laughter tinkled in the air and created a buzz across his skin. She seemed so freeing for a girl, no a woman, in her position. Like she had no care in the world or what anyone in the park thought of her. Their small city had been one of the many to integrate in 1965, although there were still massive tensions from both sides. The black folks didn't trust the white folks and vice versa. Josiah didn't care and didn't feel he was any better than some black folks, they were poor, and he was poor. He thought they were in the same boat. This one, this black woman though didn't look poor, she looked like a refreshing drink after a long hot day breaking his back in the sun. Josiah was a hardworking man and rarely had time for leisure like most people, and he cherished the times he was free to do what he wanted, being twenty-one and the oldest of five children, Josiah lived with his mother and siblings in their three-bedroom shack on Loving's Lane, the poorest of the poor. Josiah spent six days out of the week working in the coal mine in a small town, two cities over, and only came back home on Sundays to give money to his mother and check on his siblings. It was sometimes hard for Josiah to get back home, but this time he saved enough money to buy himself a truck, it was old and beat, but it drove fine, and he was able to get home faster. He decided to make a stop at the park since it had been so long since he had visited the large pond there, but he ended up sitting on the park bench pretending not to watch the woman in front of him, he did, he tried, but his eyes could not help but watch the ray of sunshine in front of him. She was beautiful with her dainty full features, she sat on the blanket in a frosted blue dress and white flat shoes. She was reading a book, unaware of the hostile and sometimes lustful stares she was receiving. The book must've been good for her to be drawn into it and unaware, laughing. Josiah wasn't much of a reader but when he did read it was either something that had to do with work or a form he had to fill out for his mother, he was much better with his hands. Josiah watched as a tall, lanky black man approach the woman and said something to her that made her smile turn into a pout, a pretty pout it was. She must've said something to the man because his shoulders tensed, he watched as she packed up her blanket and book into a basket, and once she stood he noticed she was very tiny in stature but so full in other ways, she was perfection. He was sure he wasn't the only one that noticed as he looked around subtly and also saw that other men were watching her. He didn't know the strange feeling that jolted through his system and decided to ignore it. Likewise, he watched as the tall man took her hand and walked her out of the park. He sat there for a while staring at the spot she had left.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?"

The soft ruff voice jolted Josiah out of his thoughts, looking to the source. Josiah found an old white man sitting beside him, he didn't realize he was sharing the bench with anyone, it was empty when he'd first got there. Josiah just stared back, not wanting to say anything.

"You're not the only one who has an eye on her, my boy."

Josiah kept silent.

"She comes here almost every day to read in that same spot."

Josiah grunted, he didn't want to acknowledge what the old man was saying. He had other things to worry about, such as getting home before the sunset. He didn't care for the woman, a black woman, nevertheless! Not in this day and age. The old man was still talking.

"Times are changing, my boy, so much fortune and future to look forward to."

At this point, Josiah wasn't sure what the old man was going on about, but he had enough. Josiah got up to walk away but was immediately stopped by the words of the old man.