“Honey, I sure am glad you came in today. I’ll be thinking about you tomorrow and I’ll be thinking about you on Saturday. What time you think you’ll be getting married?”

“About noon I guess. High noon.” I giggled. “Shoot out in Carolina.” The waitress laughed with me. We kept on laughing harder and harder and she filled my cup one more time and I gobbled down the second doughnut and drank the coffee while I laughed.

Chapter

16

A boy and girl walking into a gray stone building to get married. It is very early in the morning. He is wearing a pair of chinos. She is wearing a long white dress with tiny pearl buttons down the front. They are holding hands. Her hand is beautiful and plump and the color of apricots. His hand is large and bony and covered with fine brown hair. They look like brother and sister. Neither of them has slept in days.

“What if we can’t get it?”

“We’ll get it.”

“Did you bring the blood tests?”

“I told you I did.”

“Oh, Malcolm. I can’t believe it.”

“I can’t believe we’re doing it.”

“I bet they aren’t open.”

“Yes they are. People are going in.” A man wearing suspenders walked up the steps and disappeared into the heavy polished doors. Walhalla, South Carolina, June 2 5, 1956. Malcolm and I are going to get married.

The night before we had made love all night in a small motel room on a lumpy bed. The motel was on a rise of land surrounded by pine trees. All night the wind sang in the trees and pine needles fell on the asphalt roof above our heads. All night long we moved our hands up and down each other’s bodies and told each other secrets and said a hundred times, Are you awake, are you still awake, are you asleep yet? I love, love, love you, I said a hundred times. I love you too, he answered. Get on top of me. Stay like that. Do that some more. Don’t move until I tell you to.

So it went until the sun rose above the hills and we slept awhile. At eight o’clock I woke up and looked at my watch. “Get up,” I said. “It’s eight o’clock. Let’s get up and go get married.”

“Let’s sleep some more. Come get back in bed.”

“No. I want to do it now. I’m afraid you won’t marry me. I have to do it now.”

“Oh, Rhoda.”

“I can’t help it. It’s how I am. Come on, get up, I want to be the first person married today. I want to be the first person in the world to get married on this Saturday.”

“Let’s sleep a little longer.”