The Boy She Illegally Brought To The Lavender Field (bwwm)

Page 46

Annie previously cleaned the entire house from top to bottom and now just laid in bed staring at the ceiling.

Her mama was due to be home in the next ten minutes. She'd bother Marshall about last night but figured he was at work.

Annie's door opened and she looked towards it to see her mama entering.

She sat up in her bed.

Diana shut the door and walked over to Annie's bed to take a seat.
Annie noticed she held a bag in her hand.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes.

"I don't like it." Diana stated. "And I mean I don't like it at all. Not one bit."
Annie looked at her mama who stared at the wall.
"But I spoke to him today." she began. "And oh...you should've seen the way he spoke about you." she snickered fondly.
Annie grew a smile but tried to hide it.
Diana sighed and looked at her daughter. "And...you don't wanna try with Johnny?"
Annie shook her head.
"Why not? Just for safety?"
"I feel safe with Daniel."
Diana took a deep breath. "And if people find out? Is he gonna keep you safe from that mob?"
"If Mr. Ross wouldn't have run for mayor and married Ms. Nancy, would you still be with my daddy?"
Diana didn't respond.
"You wouldn't, would you?"
"Annie, it's not the same..."
"It is." Annie argued. "I promise it is except I'm doin' what makes me happy and Daniel ain't runnin' for office. He promised he wouldn't."
Diana didn't respond.

"I think I'm gonna be a nanny in his house when he gets one." she dealt.
"Now you know your daddy ain't lettin' you leave here without a ring on your finger."
"I'll figure somethin' out."
"Annie..."
"No, mama. You wanted me with somebody and I found somebody. I can't apologize because I'm not sorry. I'm sorry that you don't like it. But I'm not sorry that I do. He doesn't hurt me. He wouldn't hurt me. And I'm happy. You don't understand how happy I am. My cheeks hurt after I see him 'cause I was smilin' too much."
"Annie, y'all can't do this. It's illegal. He's a predator."
"You did it!" Annie yelled.

Diana wished her child could stop mentioning it.

"You would've done it but you were scared!" Annie restated. "I'm not scared and I will do whatever it takes to be with that man. I love him."
Diana kept her eyes away from her daughter's.
"Mama, I love him. So so much. And it hasn't been that long, I know, but nobody has ever made me happier."
"Yea, I hear you."

"Do you know he stopped bein' friends with those boys?" Annie asked.
Diana looked at her.
"He stopped participatin' in that stuff they were doin'. For me. He did."
Diana didn't respond but she also didn't believe Annie's words.
"He said we could go on a march together."
Diana's eyes widened. "Like a...a protest march?"
Annie nodded. "He promised that at the next one, he'd go with me. We'd have signs and everything. The whole nine. He promised. And if he don't go...then I'll stop like you want me to."
"You mean it?"
"Mhm. If he don't go to the march with me, I will stop talkin' to him for good and marry Johnny. But if he goes...I'm stayin' with him."
Diana thought it over.

She didn't believe Daniel would ever go to a protest march anyway. Not with his father being the mayor and how much Daniel relies on people liking him. The boy's attractive and rich, she knew he was used to everybody loving him. Which let her know that he wasn't going to a protest for colored people's rights.

She agreed. Because she knew she'd finally get her daughter to let that white man go.

The two shook hands like dealers.

•~~~•

Annie and Diana stood in the kitchen while getting ready for dinner.

Annie couldn't help but stare at the front door.

"Mama..." Annie called.
"Yea, baby."
"Have you seen Marshall today?"
"No, I didn't."
"That's right, you weren't here this morning." Annie remembered.
Diana shook her head. "Had to press some suits for Mr. Ross. He's got a busy schedule ahead with them about to start holdin' new elections."
"Hm."
"Why? You ain't seen him?"
Annie looked at her mama and shook her head. "All day."
"Grab the phone and ring up Jenny's family. He might be over there."

Annie walked to the phone on the table in their living room and began dialing.

"Hello?" Jenny answered.
"Jenny, is Marshall over there? Tell him-..."
"No, I haven't seen Marshall all day." Jenny answered. "Why, what happened?"

Annie froze and just stared at the wooden table.

"Is he over there?" Diana asked as she stirred her pot.

"Thank you, Jenny."
"You're welcome."
The two hung up.

"No...Jenny said he's not there." Annie explained.
"Must be out with the boys. I tell ya, that boy needs to learn to tell us where he goin'. It's dangerous out there." Diana shook her head. "But I guess he a grown man, can't tell him what to do too much anymore."

The front door opened and Annie looked towards it excitedly, in hopes that it was her big brother walking inside.

It was Sirius.

Annie loved her daddy but her face fell when she saw it was him and not Marshall.

He took a deep breath and pulled off his hat to hang on the coat rack.
"What's goin' on?" Sirius asked.
"Your son is out again. Waitin' on him to come home."
"Hm. Must've had plans. He left early this mornin', guess he wanted to get work out the way."
"You saw him?!" Annie asked eagerly.
"No, I didn't. Just noticed he wasn't here. He like to head to work early when he plan on bein' out with Samuel and Johnny or at that girl's house."
"Jenny." Diana stated.
"Yea, Jenny."

The Moore family was used to Marshall going into work early and also with him taking a while to come back, only because, unlike Annie, he had friends and a girlfriend that he spent a lot of time with. They weren't too concerned since they knew how strong Marshall was. Out of his friends, he was the biggest. They didn't worry too much about him unless he said he was going on white man territory.
Annie was the only one with a racing heart. Because she was the only one who knew where he was headed last night.

But she didn't want to tell her parents. She'd rather not worry them especially for if Marshall might come back, he'd just be in trouble for going that way.
So she kept to herself and just stared at the door.