Mystics of the Tuolumne

Dalliance #

"So look at my college girl.  Momma is so proud,"Ericia's voice was itself celebratory.

"Me too, my lovely and intelligent daughter,"  BJ chipped in.

"Can I have your room and your stuff when you go to Berkeley?"  Joel piped in greedily.

"Joel!" everyone yelled in unison.

Evenings were so hot and the sleeping was difficult, perspiring until the sheets were wet.  Dahlia tossed and turned.  Her mind would not be quiet. she was reacting to Albert's disquiet.  Albert was tormented by his passionate longing for Dahlia.  For the first time, their gifts were not serving them well.

School was still in summer recess.  It would have been stifling in those classrooms.  The older students were helping in the fields.  The younger ones were flowing and ebbing around town in large and small coteries looking for something to end the ennui of a scorching summer.  The river was getting heavy use.  Three young boys and one young girl would not be returning to school because of the river.

Dahlia had cognizance of each tragedy and felt effete for not being able to intervene on their behalf.  "I feel so heavy like I can't move my arms and legs.  I knew...I saw...I felt their panic...but, I was helpless."

"I saw it too.  I felt the same way.  I could see them swirling in the current.  They were so afraid."  Albert concurred with Dahlia.  "It was not our fault.  That does not make it hurt less."

They took each other's hand and walked along by the river.  They knew this would be their last summer of innocence in the sun.  The taste was sweet melancholy without bitterness. "I need to paint you again."

"This very minute?" Dahlia was surprised.

"Yes, come with me to my house and I will take my paints to where I will get the best light."  Albert was enthused about painting another work in his series. 

"Florita, Do you have some iced tea for Dahlia and me.?"  Albert called out.

"Yes, Mr. Albert and some peach upside down cake."  Florita was so happy she considered Albert her child.  Florita served the cake and iced tea on the kitchen table.  They both drank the tea with delight and also the cake,

"Wait here Dahlia, I am going to get my paints.  They are in my room."   Albert announced.

"May I please come with you.  I would love to see your room?"  Dahlia inquired.

"Si por que no?  Your mother is gone to Stockton  shopping and will remain overnight."  Florita knew about Mrs. McKinley's feelings for Dahlia.  Florita already loved the young woman.

"I didn't know that," Albert was surprised by the news but he wasn't surprised by the lack of communication between him and his mother.

"I have been here many times.  I love this room because we have been here together so many times."  Dahlia prattled on.  Dahlia strolled around the room touch, lingering, and absorbing the sanctum of her enamorado.

Albert took Dahlia's hand and showed her his wardrobe cabinet where he kept his painting supplies.  She leaned her head against his shoulder.  He turned and kissed her hair.  She looked up and put her hand on his cheek and he moved to kiss her fully on the lips. Then the passion arose as they wrapped themselves around each other.  "Oh Albert, I love you so much.  I want you so much. I don't care about anything but you."

Albert picked her up and cradled her in his arms, walked to the door and closed it.  "I love you and I always have.  I need you so much right now."  He placed her gingerly on his bed.  Dahlia sat up and started unbuttoning her dress.  "Here let me do that," Albert whispered.  Dahlia started unbuttoning his shirt and pulling it from his trousers. a minute later through silence but for the heavy breathing their clothes had been strewn on the  floor.  

They sat completely naked on the bed taking each other in. They reached out simultaneously grasping each other and fell into a swoon on the bed.  As they moved their hands seeking each other's bodies, the steam of passion was filling the room.  They lay together seeking the sweetest position lightning was traveling through there arms and legs causing an eruption of love's fire between their legs.

"Oh! Albert...please...please," Dahlia panted.  She opened her legs and felt him gently enter her.  tI hurt but in a beautiful way.  They made love for only a few minutes.  They were spent.  They  lay in each other's embrace.  "I liked that," Dahlia finally said.

"So did I," Albert replied smiling from ear to ear. "I guess we learned how."  They both laughed.  gathering their clothes and Albert's painting supplies, they made themselves ready for the outside world.

"When are we getting married?" Albert was thinking about what just passed between them.

"Aren't we already?"  Dahlia was teasing and serious.  It seemed to her that no glorious ceremony could be more glorious than what they already shared.

"Climb onto that lowest alamosa branch and lean over gazing at the river,"  Albert instructed Dahlia as he set up his painting.  He quickly laid out his ideas with charcoal.  He began his basic layout with his base layers of oils and was finished within an hour.  "You can come down now, I don't want you to fall asleep and fall into the river."

"Are you sure you have completed enough?"  Dahlia loved where she was sitting and she loved Albert's painting.

"You know by now how I do this.  I have to let this layer dry first." Albert explained again.  "Let's go back to my house and put this canvas in its place and my paints away.

"That is all we can do because I am a little sore."  Dahlia quickly interjected.  She had been taught by her very careful mother on what to expect from her first time.  Dahlia was grateful that her mother was so practical.

When they finished at Albert's house, Dahlia walked home.  "Momma, may I talk to you in private?"

"of course, Joel find something helpful to do outside," Ericia rapidly ordered.  "Pues?"

"Momma, I made love to Albert earlier this afternoon,"  Dahlia was having some difficulty.  But, she had always been truthful with her mother.

"How long ago?" Ericia asked clinically.  She went about gathering herbs and vinegar.

"About an hour,"  Dahlia was wondering what that meant as she watched her mother bustle around.

"Dahlia, take this, fill it with this herb mixture, and use it like this,"  Ericia demonstrated.  She took Dahlia to her bedroom and put the chamber pot under her.

"What will this do?"  Dahlia asked.

"I hope it will prevent the possibility of your having a baby so young."  Ericia carressed her face as she spoke.