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PART I
SPEAKING IN TONGUES

25

“A CEMETERY?” MARINA gasped as Trey turned into a driveway just off Fifteenth Street.

“Not just,” he said with a devilish smile and wink. “It’s also a park. Elmwood is where all of Kansas City’s movers and shakers come to rest, knowing the living will enjoy life here instead of being in mourning from the time they enter to the time they leave.”

Marina gasped, then began to grin. “That’s lovely,” she gushed, feeling more free now to show her true feelings since she knew the only thing standing between her and a wedding was the calendar.

He was going to be her husband and he liked it when she showed her true feelings, so in spite of her habitual circumspection, she liked that she could be as carefree as she felt. Her hesitance was just something she’d have to train herself out of no matter how uncomfortable.

Gene and Dot were leading the way and they drove down a more tranquil path toward the back of the walled garden which was dotted with only a few massive tombstones and family mausoleums.

“Oh, isn’t that beautiful,” she whispered, seeing the stone chapel in the middle of it all.

“We’ll take a tour after we eat,” Trey assured her.

Their picnic spot was in a deep shade that kept out the hot sun but not the refreshing breeze. Marina helped Dot spread the red-and-white-checked tablecloth while the men scouted rocks to secure the edges. She and Dot laid the “table” and accepted when their men helped them to the ground.

“We each thought it would be nice to bring something so you could tell us how much better we are than the other,” Dot teased, unpacking her basket while Marina unpacked hers.

Marina had brought the fried chicken, fresh bread, lemon meringue pie, and lemonade. Dot had brought the potato salad, baked beans, marmalades, pickles, and relishes.

Of course, each of their men refused to say who was better cook, but exclaimed in delight at each of their talents.

They weren’t saying it to make them feel good, either. They each asked for seconds and thirds, completely obliterating the feast to its last crumb. Marina and Dot exchanged delighted glances every time one of them moaned over a bite.

Marina and Dot were wiping the plates and packing everything up when Trey lay on the cloth, pushed his fedora over his face, and announced, “Marina, that was so fine I may not care what the calendar says. But for now, please forgive my rudeness in wanting to relax and relive that delicious meal.”

“I second that,” Gene sighed, doing likewise.

“Well!” Dot said with mock outrage, “if you boys are going to take a nap, Marina and I are going to pick flowers.”

“Be our guest,” Gene murmured lazily.

Marina was so excited and happy she thought she’d pop. She was more relaxed than she had ever been and her inhibitions were slipping away. Perhaps Mother and Father were stiff and formal, but deep down inside, Marina didn’t want to be like that. Maybe she wasn’t as jaunty as Dot, but she felt pretty jaunty at the moment and she liked it.

“What did he mean by the calendar?” Dot asked once they were over a dale with the peony bushes.

Marina excitedly relayed the conversation, taking great delight in Dot’s growing incredulity.

“And that’s what he meant.”

Dot had clapped her hands over her mouth to giggle with wide eyes. “Oh, Marina, I am so happy for you!”

“I thought you didn’t like him,” she teased.

“I don’t care! He makes you so happy. You are positively glowing, and that’s all that matters. I knew this was the real you, and he brought it out!”

“And best of all, Father approves!” She sobered a little. “Trey thinks you were right about Mother.”

Dot waved that off and when their arms full of flowers, they headed toward the chapel. “It’s nothing to worry about now. The man is the head of the household, so if your father approves, then it’s as good as done. Goodness, my mother had to pull my father’s fingernails off to allow me to drive out with Gene last night and today. Not really, but the argument was glorious, I tell you! The whole neighborhood could hear it!”

Marina laughed. “Has Gene said anything?”

Dot scowled. “No. He knows I’m going to college and have no intention of marrying ever.”

Marina glanced at her suspiciously. “I don’t believe you.” At Dot’s outraged gasp, Marina said, “Your voice is different. You don’t sound as firm about it.”

Dot’s mouth twisted. “Is it that obvious?” she grumbled.

“Yes,” Marina chirped.

Dot laughed. “Oh, silly.”

They had arrived at the chapel and went in, both of them stopping dead at the back. Marina held her breath in wonder.

After a good long while, Marina whispered, “I want to get married here.”

“In a cemetery? They hold funerals here!”

“In a park. Trey says it was built specifically to be a place of fun and enjoyment so you aren’t sad about people dying, but happy that they’d lived. He didn’t say it in those words, but that’s what I got from it.”

“That’s nice,” Dot said wondrously. “I like that.”

“Is this your idea of hell?”

Dot thought a minute, then began nodding slowly. “I think … maybe? A beautiful park where you can pick peonies and walk amongst sorrow while working off your regrets then play croquet.”

“That’s an awfully nice hell,” Marina murmured, wondering what her parents would think of that. “I wouldn’t mind.” Then she laughed. “Boredom is your punishment.”

Dot giggled. “It would be a definite punishment.”

“Do you think the boys are finished napping?”

“Let’s go see. I want to play.”

 

26

MARINA HAD NEVER been so happy in her life as she was today, her body relaxed and languid, her mind open to possibilities, Trey in her sight and thoughts.

She was It. Trey, Dot, and Gene were hidden. Another several couples had joined them in their game, but Marina had stumbled over a married couple lying under a tree hugging very close, hands where they oughtn’t be, and kissing in a way she had never seen before. She was so embarrassed, she squeaked and ran, but the vision stayed with her for the next hour, making her wonder …

When it was Trey’s turn to be It, Marina hid where she’d already successfully hidden as he wouldn’t think she’d do it again. She leaned back against the trunk and tried to catch her breath, but she couldn’t stop thinking about that kissing couple and how they were kissing.

Her parents didn’t kiss at all, not even a peck on the cheek. Not each other, not Marina. She had looked with envy upon children and teens whose parents kissed and hugged them, but Marina had never seen what that couple had been doing.

She was breathless, not from running and dodging, but from seeing that couple and, to her shame, she wanted to see more, know more.

Be kissed.

Not like that. It looked half disgusting but since she couldn’t believe people would put their tongues in each other’s mouths, clearly she wasn’t seeing the truth of the kiss.

The couple was married or they wouldn’t be lying so close to each other, the man halfway on top of the woman, but Marina couldn’t see why he would want to be. Proper married couples slept in separate rooms.

She gulped as she examined the scene in her mind. The woman was wearing a dress, she remembered now. The man’s hand had been up her dress, the fabric gathered over his wrist. Why? Why would she let him touch her that way? That was why Father preached against dresses, she knew, but he could trust Marina not to allow anyone to touch her that way.

Yet today, she was wearing a dress and the fabric slithered in the breeze, caressing her legs and making her feel almost naked. Marina’s body went hot and her heart continued to race and the pit of her belly tingled not unpleasantly. Maybe she was getting sick. Maybe she’d eaten too much. Maybe she’d run too hard. Maybe it was too hot and humid. But her tummy didn’t ache nor was she nauseated. It was lower than that, in between her legs almost. And also in her chest— No, her breasts, particularly at the end, her … nipples … hard the way they were when she was naked in cool air. Why would they do that now? It was a hot day. Why was she thinking about her body at all, much less her private parts?

She still hadn’t been able to catch her breath. She closed her eyes. She allowed her head to drop back against the trunk. She clenched her fists at her sides, trying to control her sudden fever because she didn’t want to leave but she didn’t want to be sick while on an outing and be a spoil sport.

But she didn’t feel like throwing up, so what was it?

“Hi.”

She started so badly at Trey’s amused voice that she tried to back up against the tree further. He was too perceptive not to know she was sick.

“Hi,” she answered weakly after a gulp.

His smile faded. “What’s wrong?”

Oh, no! She licked her lips. “Um, nothing. I, um … ” She looked at his mouth. She couldn’t help it with that couple still in her head. She looked away again, feeling even hotter.

“Marina,” he murmured, his voice deep in his chest.

“I think … I think I might be sick.” She pressed her hand to her tummy.

The corner of his mouth twitched. “You’re not sick.” He sounded so sure, so unconcerned. He sounded— Well, she didn’t know. She’d never heard that tone before.

“I … ”

“Look at me.”

She didn’t want to. She really didn’t want to. She did, but she couldn’t look in his ice blue eyes. Nor could she look at his mouth. She looked at the open collar at his neck, but even that was too much.

She started again when he leaned toward her, bracing both hands on the trunk on either side of her head. He didn’t touch her with his body, but …

She wanted him to.

She mewled a little and turned her head away again.

Again he said, “Look at me.”

She felt compelled. Possessed, almost. She did, then closed her eyes.

He leaned in and touched his mouth to hers. Lightly. Once, then pulled away.

“Don’t be ashamed,” he whispered. He caressed her cheek lightly with his knuckles, and suddenly she couldn’t breathe. “I’m a man. You’re a woman. Men and women kiss.”

Yes, they did. She saw sweet little pecks between husbands and wives at church all the time. Like the kiss Trey had just given her. Just because her parents didn’t …

She felt him again. This time he nudged her lips open a little. It was no peck, but it wasn’t anything she hadn’t seen between married couples at church.

But Marina and Trey were not married.

She was about to pull away when his mouth lightly captured her bottom lip. Then her top one.

She felt she should do the same to him, so she did.

“That’s good, Sugar,” he whispered.

“That feels good,” she whispered back.

“I’m about to make you feel real good.”

Marina couldn’t think anymore, so she closed her eyes and leaped lily pads.

25-26

If you don’t want to wait 2 years to get to the end, you can buy it here.

Speakeasy staff.