Rapture's Rendezvous (28 page)

“Have I upset you, Maria?”

“A bit,” she said, stretching out beneath her covers. “But I will be all right. We will all be all right. You shall see.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing,” she said. “Now, Alberto, please go on to bed. Promise to not leave the house again tonight? I feel much safer when you are beneath the same roof as I. You know that Papa is ailing. You are the strong one of the family now. We depend on you.”

“You .. . do .. . ?” he stammered.

“Yes. You know that both Papa and I do.”

“I'm glad, Maria,” he said, leaning down to kiss her softly on the cheek. “I'm glad. You mean so much to me. I would die if anything would ever happen to you. I would just die.”

“I'll be all right, Alberto,” she said. “Now, please? I need to be alone.”

“To think about that Michael Hopper?” he growled, standing, doubling his fists at his sides.

“Him .. . and much much more,” she confessed.

Alberto swung around and stomped from the room,
leaving Maria to stare after him, but glad to now be alone with her thoughts. “Oh, Michael,” she whispered, looking toward the window, seeing the blackness of night, wondering how she might arrange to possibly even get a glimpse of him.

“I could go to Ruby's. . . .” she said, sitting upright, biting a lower lip. “Yes, I can go to Ruby's, tell Ruby of my feelings for this man who is in her upstairs room gambling. See if she can arrange for me to take just one small peek at him. Surely it wouldn't hurt.”

Her heart thumped wildly against her chest, feeling the excitement building inside her. She knew that this was a dangerous scheme. She knew that a woman did not move through the darkness of the streets at night without taking a chance of being accosted by a drunken man.

“The chimney sweep costume will have to be my disguise once again,” she moaned, hating to think of slipping into it another time. But it was the only answer. If she hid herself beneath its looseness and her hair beneath the hat, she could race down the streets without drawing even that first glance from either man or woman. Then even when she entered Ruby's, no heads would turn to stare after her. She would just be another one of the guys … in search of a playmate.

She giggled, thinking about it, even wondering if the whores would come to her, thinking she was a “he.” “If only one would touch me beneath my jacket,” she giggled further. “Wouldn't I surprise her? What a shock would register on that whore's face!”

Trembling from the anticipation of seeing Michael once again, after all these months, Maria finally pulled the last of her clothes on, then her hated shoes that
laced up the front. She had no idea how she looked, but she could feel the way each piece hung from her and knew that not even one of Ruby's whores would probably want to draw near her after all. “A man of a six-foot height and lankiness elsewhere surely would be the last thing they would want to take to bed with them,” Maria said, giggling still. “And my clothes. Surely they would know I would have no money with which to pay for bedding up with them.”

Rechecking to see if her hair was beneath her hat, Maria knew that she was ready to sneak from the house. She only hoped that Alberto had been honest with her and had gone to his room to sleep. If he had gone on to Ruby's, then Maria would most surely be headed for trouble. But she had to take that chance. To see Michael would be worth any trouble her brother could create for her. And wouldn't this be her last night of true freedom? Didn't she have to show up at Nathan Hawkins's house the very next morning? A sick feeling rippled at the pit of her stomach just imagining herself having to be in the same room as that terrible man, much less alone with him … on a bed .. . sharing .. . so much more than words with him.

“I mustn't let myself think about that now,” she whispered, tiptoeing to the back door, watching cautiously around her, checking and rechecking for shadows in the room, knowing if she did see any, it would be Alberto, possibly up to his old tricks of sneaking, watching her. But when all stayed silent around her and the only shadows were her own, she opened the back door and crept on outside, carefully reclosing the door behind her.

She let her shoulders slump lazily forward, breath-
ing with relief. “Well, I got this far without being discovered,” she said, closing her eyes, wiping her brow with the back of a hand. “Now to proceed further.”

With brisk steps, she moved across the back yard, around to the front, then on down the middle of the street, dreading having to move across the iron bridge, into unfamiliar territory. She dreaded most of all having to push her way through the darkness of the trees that stretched out between her and Ruby's fenced-in yard, where the dogs browsed constantly, sniffing out any strangers who might come snooping about.

The dogs! The thought of their sharp teeth made pinpricks of fear stab her flesh. She would just have to hope that the dogs would be securely tied … that she would be able to reach the front door without being bitten. But surely Ruby had to secure the dogs for the night's business of men arriving. How else could they get to the house … to pay for the many types of services that Ruby's house offered?

The moon seemed to be playing games this night. First it would be shining brightly, lighting the area all around Maria, then it would suddenly become hidden by gray, fluffy clouds that appeared to be trimmed in white lace as the moon's rays shone at its edges.

Maria shivered in the chill of the night, pulling her jacket more securely around her neck. She watched on all sides of her as she ran toward the tall Indian grasses in the distance. As was the house she had just left, all the houses lining this street were dark. Maria had argued with her Papa about having to go to bed so early. “Eight o'clock, Papa?” she had grumbled. “I am no longer a child who needs to be pacified by enormous amounts of sleep.”

Blowing out the kerosene lamps, her Papa had just ignored her and had crept on into his own bedroom, himself needing all the rest that he could get.

“Boredom is the reason,” Maria whispered to herself, stepping high to avoid a pile of horse-dung lying in the middle of the street. “Sheer boredom. What can my people do but work and sleep?”

She had to wonder how her life would change afier moving into Nathan Hawkins's mansion. She peered into the distance and could see a bright collection of lights and knew that these were being emitted from Nathan Hawkins's windows. Did he have so many electric lights? She had seen her first at Ruby's. “Such a marvelous invention,” she sighed, stopping to listen when she heard the noises that she was fast leaving behind her. The loud guffaws and the tinkling from the pianos at the saloons in Hawkinsville drowned out all other noises.

She was glad to be moving in another direction . . . one that would take her away from the town of Hawkinsville The town itself, and its deviltry of saloons and loose women, made the Italian people seem to fear even to wander the streets when night fell in its total blackness.

“But maybe I can change all these things for my people,” she thought to herself, moving on toward the iron bridge. “Marrying Nathan Hawkins gives me a bitter taste in my mouth, but I have to remember what I might be able to accomplish by being Mrs. Nathan Hawkins.”

Pulling her hat lower on her head, Maria moved onto the iron bridge, now hearing a faintness of bull frogs croaking and crickets serenading their mates. It
was as though she was entering another world when she stepped from the bridge onto the mossy ground, then on into the thigh-high Indian grass. It was so thick, not even a path had been made by all those who Maria knew had to move through it to go to Ruby's house. The only other way would be to travel across too much of Nathan Hawkins's private estate grounds.

The only thing that Maria couldn't understand was
how the men traveled by horseback? Or did they leave
the horses at Hawkinsville and travel by foot as she was
doing? But then she remembered Ruby's fancy horse
and carriage. There had to be a road that Maria hadn't
noticed. Had Michael taken that road? Was he now
living somewhere besides this place she remembered
having been called Saint Louis? Her heart raced,
thinking to see him soon. Oh, how she would ache to
run to him … to fall into his arms … to let him carry
her away to a wonderland of love. But she had to
remember the dangers… her Papa… her Alberto

The sounds of dogs barking grew near as Maria made her way into the thickness of brush beneath the towering oak trees. The trees' limbs were whipping around her as the wind seemed to increase in strength, making Maria even more aware of the chill of the night.

She trembled, continuing to move beneath the limbs that hung low, scraping her face, almost knocking her hat from her head. She held onto her hat, lifting her legs high, then tensed when an owl above her let out a loud screech. Her heart pounded and her knees weakened, and she felt so isolated from the world … the only world she had ever known … a world guided by brother and father….

“Finally,” she said, sighing. She reached upward and touched the fence, then recoiled when one of Ruby's dogs raced toward her. Its eyes were two sparkling stars as the moon reflected into them, and its teeth bared in long white points as it continued to have a fit of barking.

“Please,” Maria whispered, stepping away from the fence. Now what was she to do? If Ruby let the dogs run loose, how could Maria move on to the front door of the house? And once there, would Ruby recognize her in such a garb? Would she even recognize her at all? They had only met. . . that. . . once.

A sound of footsteps approaching made Maria stiffen She covered her mouth with her hands, barely breathing. She watched in the direction of the continuing sound, then gulped back words that wouldn't surface when she saw a large, burly Negro moving toward her, carrying a rifle.

He stopped and bent down over the dog, taking it by the collar, talking in soft, soothing tones. Then when he had succeeded at calming the dog, he looked Maria's way, frowning. “Wha' cha' doin' ‘round Ruby's place?” he said in a throaty voice. His plaid shirt and dark pants revealed muscles trying to protrude from each. Maria hadn't ever seen such a large person in all her life. But the gentleness of his facial features calmed her insides. His dark eyes were focused on her, waiting.

“I'd … like … to see … Ruby “ she stammered,

moving toward the fence.

“What's a whitefolk woman want with Ruby?” he asked, moving toward the fence, now resting the rifle on his left shoulder.

“How did you . . . know I'm a woman . . . ?” she
gasped, eyes wide.

The Negro laughed throatily. “Ain't nevah seen hair as long on a white man befoh,” he said, pointing. “An' yore voice ain't that of a white man neither.”

Maria reached upward, discovering her hat was missing. “Oh,” she said, blushing. Her eyes traveled around her, seeing the hat on the ground at her feet. She stooped to pick it up, hearing the dog growling once again. She hurried to stand in an upright position again.

“Ya knows Ruby?” the man said. “How's ya know mah Ruby?”

“We met one day while I was taking a walk,” Maria said, placing the hat back atop her head, working her hair beneath it.

“Not many white womenfolk venture onto this heah property,” he said, leaning closer, studying Maria's facial features as the moon came from beneath a cloud. “Wha' cha' wan' with mah Ruby? Huh?”

“Your . . . Ruby .. . ?” Maria gasped, remembering the role Ruby played in this house of girls.

“Mah wife,” he said, throwing his shoulders back into a proud square. “Ruby's mah wife from ways back. Now ah asks you again. Wha' cha' wan' with mah Ruby?”

Maria cast her eyes downward, not able to disclose the truth to this stranger. He wouldn't understand. No man would understand. “She told me to visit anytime,” she suddenly blurted, watching him again. Her pulsebeat raced. She knew that was a lean explanation. His laughter made her smile awkwardly.

“So's you come visitin' in the daid of night dressed as a man?” he said, chuckling. He motioned with his gun.

“Come on. Ah'll meet you at the front gate. Ah'll then takes yah in the back door. Goin' in the front door would cause some commotion. We don' need no troubles at mah Ruby's house.”

When he began to walk along the inside of the fence, shooing the dog away from him, Maria began to follow alongside him. She breathed more easily now, seeing how gentle and kind this man was. And she was relieved to know that she wouldn't be going into the parlor of this grand house after all. The back door was much better. Now she only hoped that Ruby would remember her. What if she . . . didn't. . . ?

Maria swallowed hard when she drew close to the house. She looked upward at the lights flickering through the upper-story windows. Which room . . . was . . . Michael in? Alberto said that the gambling room and the playing of cards was in one of those up-stairs rooms. Her stomach fluttered as though it had many butterflies inside it.

“Michael, oh, Michael,” she said softly to herself. “If you knew I was so close, would you be as excited? Would you be as eager to get just a glimpse of me?” Then she had to wonder if even a glimpse would be enough for
her
Once she saw him, could she hold back? Wouldn't she lose her mind and rush to him?

“Here's the gate,” the Negro said, opening it for Maria. “Now you jus' follow behin' oP Clarence. Ah'll takes you to mah Ruby.” A chuckle rumbled through him. “Now she jist might laugh a mite when she takes a look at the likes o' you. But she's a woman of good heart. She won' mean you no harm by laughin'. She'll jus' be as me. Ain' used tah secin' no womanfolk in breeches.”

Feeling her body being consumed by heartbeats, Maria followed beside him, still eyeing the upper-story windows. She could hear laughter and music surfacing from inside the house and then felt her first moment of apprehension. She had forgotten, in her anxiety to see Michael, just what sort of house she was entering. In the daylight, it had appeared to be a normal house . . . possibly filled with normal people. But now? In the darkness? It appeared a bit foreboding. But she knew that was because she was aware that sharing of lust occurred in the house during the night hours.