Marriage

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LONG TIME WOUNDS, PART IV: THANKSGIVING DAY, PART 1

Before Thanksgiving Day arrived, Charles and Angie found out that dinner would be ready at four o'clock that afternoon. They decided to leave in the morning by ten o'clock so they could visit with the Millers.

Angie was nervous as she got dressed on Thanksgiving morning. "Oh, Charles, I want to look just right when we go over there. They're the parents of your best friend," she said as she fixed her makeup.

Charles walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. He leaned close to her and whispered, "Angie, don't worry. They will love you no matter what," he said. "And you look beautiful. The blue blouse brings out the color in your eyes." He kissed her tenderly on the lips and pulled her into an embrace. "They'll love you," he whispered again. He rubbed her back.

Just then Jeremiah came in. "Mommy and Daddy, I'm ready to go!" he exclaimed. "How does my green sweater look?"

"Just darling, dear," Angie said. "Just wonderful."

Charles grinned. "He's just like his mom, wanting to look just right for his daddy's old friends," he said. "Well, it's 9:30 now. We should be heading over there."

Charles, Angie, and Jeremiah drove to the Millers' house. When they got to the front porch, they saw that Tyrone and Keisha were right at the door waiting for them. They greeted the Williams family with embraces and tears. "Angie," Tyrone said as he hugged her, "I can't tell you how much I wish I had met you before instead of being so angry with you. When I first heard you were a Klansman's daughter, that was all I could think about and assumed you must be like him. But you're not, and you love our son's best friend, and he loves you." He kissed her on the cheek.

"I'm sorry, too, dear," said Keisha. "I felt the way my husband did when I heard about your dad, but I can see what a sweet young lady you are from the heart you have for Charles and for all of our people and your passion for those sit-ins and marches and all. Thank you so much for helping to fight for our freedom." She also kissed Angie's cheek.

"I was happy to do it. Everyone should have their God-given freedoms and rights acknowledged," Angie said. Charles slid his arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead. "And I am glad to be your friends. Any friend of Charles's is a friend of mine."

"Come on in," Tyrone and Keisha said simultaneously. Charles, Angie, and Jeremiah walked in.

"Where's LaToya?" Charles asked.

"She's upstairs," Tyrone answered with a sigh. "She's still angry and bitter. We're still praying for her."

"We'll keep praying for her, too," Charles told him. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a picture of him and Tyrone when they were eleven years old. They were sitting at a picnic table at the Millers' house. That was the day that he and his family had come to visit the Millers at their house. He walked over to the mantle and kept his eyes on that picture. "Is it OK if I held it for a minute?" he asked Tyrone and Keisha.

Tyrone and Keisha nodded. Charles gently picked up the picture and looked at it. "We were so young then," he said. Suddenly the memories of his friend, as well as knowing he was now dead, overwhelmed Charles. Tears came to his eyes, and he began to cry hard and tremble. He set the picture back onto the mantle and sat down on the couch with his head in his hands. Angie went and sat beside him, putting her arms around him and leaning her head on his shoulder.

Jeremiah went to Charles and sat on his lap. "What's wrong, Daddy?" he asked.

Charles grabbed a tissue from a box on the small table beside him and wiped his eyes. "Daddy's just sad because he saw a picture of his friend on the mantle of the fireplace," he said. "It's Thanksgiving and we're spending it with his family, and it especially hurts on special days like this that he's not here." He hugged Jeremiah with one arm and Angie with the other. "But I am thankful to God that my family and Ty's family, who I love very, very much, are here with me."

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