House Divided (2 page)

He stepped closer. “Why?”

“Because, Brady
Jackson
. You know
the rules as well as I do.”

I turned to leave, but he caught my hand.
“Aren’t you tired of the rules?”

I thought about it, and if I was honest
with myself, the answer was yes, but I loved Aunt Lu and couldn’t bear the
thought of disappointing her. But as I looked down at our entwined hands, I had
an interesting sensation, nothing like I had ever felt before. No boy had ever
held my hand, and he didn’t seem in any hurry to let go. I should have pulled
away, but I didn’t.

“Please, Miss Ellie, meet me by the old
tire swing on the river tomorrow,” he said with every ounce of country boy
charm he had.

And that was it. That was when I began my
life as a rule breaker and a deceitful, awful girl. We snuck around that whole
summer. We mostly met at the river, and we dove right into the current of
forbidden friendship. I was easily swept away. We spent hours swinging on that
old tire swing, just talking and laughing. We were going to change the town.
There weren’t going to be any sides when we were done. As our lazy summer days
on the river waned, our friendship waxed.

The day before school started, we met once
again, lamenting our last day of freedom and planning on how we could see each
other during the school year without getting caught. It was going to be tricky
because he’d be knee-deep in football practice and I would be involved in
everything else, like drama, choir, debate team, student government and so on.
It was my goal to be the valedictorian when we graduated. Of course we had to
be discreet; no one could ever see us. We had already had a couple of close
calls during the summer, but it had been a marvelous summer at that, and I was
sad to see it end. I was becoming very fond of Brady Jackson. He must have been
fond of me, too, because he did something surprising. He kissed me for the very
first time that day. As he pushed me on the swing, he suddenly stopped it and
held on to it and me, and he just stared at me for several seconds.

“What?” I asked with a smile.

He leaned in closely. “Miss Ellie, I’ve
wanted to do this all summer.”

Then, without warning, he pecked me
quickly on the lips. It was sweet, like honeydew melon. That became the first
of many stolen kisses, and each kiss only grew sweeter.

Our sophomore year began, and we became
masters in the art of deception. I knew it was nothing to be proud of, but as
my fondness for Brady grew, I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind. We
slipped notes to each other each day and met behind the bleachers on many
occasions, where he would kiss me until I forgot I was an Eaton and he was a
Jackson. Sometimes we were even able to sneak away at night and meet at the
bank of the Kaysville River; I would lie in his arms, and we talk about
everything and nothing. Brady would beg me to make our relationship public; he
wanted everyone to know I was his girl. He hated that he couldn’t take me on
real dates, especially to the school dances. I wanted that too, but I just
couldn’t hurt my Aunt Lu, and I knew the firestorm it would cause in Kaysville
if ever anyone found out about us.

People did start to talk, though. They
wondered why two of the most popular kids in school weren’t taking or accepting
dates to homecoming, prom and the winter cotillion. We would go, of course, but
we could never dance with one another. After every one of those dances, Brady
would meet me by the river bank where he would turn up the stereo in his new
red Ford F-150 he got for his sixteenth birthday and would hold me close as we
danced in the headlights.

It was after prom, as we swayed to mellow
tones of George Strait, that Brady looked deeply into my grey eyes. “I love
you, Miss Ellie.”

I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t quite
sixteen; in my mind we were too young to be in love. Don’t get me wrong, I felt
deeply for him, he had become my best friend and if ever I was going to be in
love, it was going to be with him, but I just couldn’t say it then. I looked
into his expectant eyes. “Oh, Brady.”

I thought he would be upset that I didn’t
say it back, but instead he just smiled that sweet country boy smile as he ran
his fingers through my long, brown, curled hair. “Don’t worry Ellie, you don’t
have to say it back, I love us enough for the both of us.”

We spent the summer before our junior year
the same way we had the previous summer, the only exception was that my
fondness for Brady grew into love, but I didn’t tell him. I felt like holding
that back was sparing me some of the ever-present guilt I felt for lying
constantly to my Aunt Lu, my Aunt Lu that had just bought me a silver Mercedes
Convertible for my sixteenth birthday (she would not be outdone by the Jacksons),
and the same Aunt Lu that told me every day that she loved me more than air and
that I was more than a beautiful face.

Our junior year began, and Brady was
getting lots of attention on the field; he was the most talented wide receiver
our school had ever had, and recruiters from all across SEC land were
frequenting our games. It was a waste, though, because his name had been down
at the University of Alabama since before he was born. His blood ran crimson.

At least I could go to the games and cheer
for him. There was one exception to the rules, and of course, it involved
sports. It didn’t matter what side you were on, Eaton’s or Jackson’s, you could
play together on your school’s team, and everyone was expected to cheer the
teams on to victory. Of course, I tried not to be over-exuberant in my cheering
for Brady, but in my heart, I was cheering the loudest every time he caught the
ball or made a touchdown. I also worried the most (ok, maybe not more than his
momma) when he got tackled and didn’t get up right away.

By homecoming of that year, Brady had
finally had enough of the sneaking around. I’ll never forget standing at the
refreshment table in my pale pink chiffon dress—Brady marched himself right up
to me, in his black suit with a pale pink tie, and grabbed my hand and led me
right out to the middle of the dance floor. I was so stunned I didn’t have time
to object, I just followed his lead. He held me close. “I’m sorry, Ellie, but
I’m tired of pretending I don’t love you,” he whispered in my ear.

How could a girl say no to that?
I
couldn’t, because I loved him too.

The dance became instantly silent, except
for the music, as people realized what had just happened. It was like the world
was coming to an end and everyone was standing around watching it. Brady didn’t
care, he just pulled me tighter and smiled that country boy smile of his. I
responded by resting my head against his chest and closing my eyes. I needed
his comfort and protection at that moment. I knew we were in for a whole lot of
trouble.

When the song ended, Brady left no doubt
in anyone’s mind that this wasn’t just a one-time thing. He leaned down and
took my face in his hands and softly kissed me. “I love us enough for the both
us,” he said.

I think one of our chaperones may have
fainted.

Well that did it. His parents and my aunt
were called, and we were hauled out of the dance and straight to the church to
meet with Pastor Norton, like we had been fornicating or something. You would
have thought the apocalypse had begun by everyone’s reaction. His momma was
crying, and his daddy’s head looked like it would explode as he used every
explicative he could think of. I didn’t care about their reactions; I was only
concerned about my Aunt Lu. Her reaction was unsettling; she was calm and
didn’t say a word, but I could see in her eyes that I had hurt her, and that
killed me.

I felt sorry for Pastor Norton. It looked
like he had already been in bed fast asleep, with his bed head and pajamas on,
when he got the “emergency” call. When we entered his office, Brady tried to
sit by me, but his daddy yanked him right out of the chair and placed him by
his momma. It was like it had always been in this stupid town, Eatons on the
right and Jacksons on the left.

Pastor Norton began by spouting off about
how it was wrong to lie, that it was a commandment from God to honor our
parents and we had done a poor job of that, and he was disappointed in us. He
looked sternly between Brady and me. “I want you to promise me and your parents
that you’ll not see each other again.”

I started to cry, because I couldn’t
imagine not ever seeing Brady again. I loved him.

Brady jumped up. “I will not, I love her.”

His momma went into hysterics. His daddy
let off another string of explicatives and yelled at Brady, “Look what you’ve done
to your momma, and over an Eaton girl of all things! An Eaton girl with a daddy
that died a drunk and a momma that didn’t even want her. How could you, Brady?”

Those words cut. I knew everyone in town
knew about my parents, but no polite people ever spoke about it.

And that’s what set my Aunt Lu off; no
matter what I had done, she would not let my name be tarnished. She stood up with
her beauty queen poise and confidence and stared directly at Mr. Jackson. “Yes,
well, maybe you would like to tell Brady about your shotgun wedding and how
premature babies weigh nine pounds.”

I thought Mrs. Jackson was going to lose
consciousness. Mr. Jackson stood, but his face went pale. I didn’t know what he
was going to say or do as he stared back at my aunt.

Pastor Norton cleared his throat
uncomfortably. “Please everyone, take a seat.”

Brady and I just kept looking at each
other.

“I’m sorry,” he mouthed.

“Me too,” I mouthed back.

Pastor Norton looked at me. “You have been
quiet during all of this, what do you have to say for yourself, young lady?”
Like it was my entire fault, like I had lured Brady into some web of mine. I
had always had a feeling Pastor Norton leaned to the left side of his
congregation. Looks like my suspicions were right.

That lit a fire in me. I sat up straight
and wiped my tears away. “I’m sorry for lying to my aunt.” I looked over at
her. “I love you Aunt Lu.”

She gave me a half smile.

I looked over to Brady. “But I love Brady
too, and we’ve done nothing to be ashamed of.” The adults all made to say
something, but I didn’t give them a chance as Brady beamed at me. “We’ve been
taught in church our whole lives that we’re to love everyone and to forgive and
to do unto others as we’d have them do to us. Why does being an Eaton or a
Jackson change that?”

Brady and I both looked at Pastor Norton.

He rubbed his reddened face. “It doesn’t.”

Well that was that. The Pastor had nothing
else to say and we all went our separate ways that night. Oh, don’t get me
wrong, we were both in loads of trouble. We were each grounded for a month, but
at least now we could sit together during lunch at school and hold hands in the
halls, but we each had new rules now. Neither of us were ever allowed in each
other’s homes, and there were strict curfews in place. That was ok with me. I
was just so happy I didn’t have to lie to my aunt, or my friends anymore, for
that matter; and I was happy that everyone knew I was Brady Jackson’s girl.

The town was in a tailspin. No one quite
knew how to react. Eatons and Jacksons hadn’t mixed in over thirty years, and
it was quite disconcerting to some, but mostly to our parents. Aunt Lu wasn’t
angry, but I could tell she worried an awful lot. I was warned daily about the
ways of Jackson men. I tried to tell her that Brady was different, but she
always replied, “Apples don’t fall far from the tree, Ella Lu.” Brady’s parents
were a real treat—they called in the cavalry, including all of his brothers and
their beauty queen wives, and when that didn’t work, they started bringing
girls to town. Several years earlier, his momma had been a consultant to
several pageants around the state and even around the country. She decided it
was time to start grooming the next generation of beauty queens. Imagine that.

I wasn’t too worried because Brady was as
attentive and loving as ever. I don’t know if a girl ever had a more loving
boyfriend than I did. We sailed through the rest of junior year and even got to
go to prom together. We had both been nominated for the junior court, but I was
never allowed to have a crown, so I had to politely rescind my nomination just
like I had the year before for the sophomore court. It was the least I could do
for my Aunt Lu. I was still planning on keeping rules one and two, even though
that meant not attending college with Brady, but we knew our relationship could
survive it. Brady would always say, “It’s ok, Ellie, we’ll just be a house
divided.” We would day dream about the day we would be married and have those
cheesy license plate covers that said, “House Divided” with the Auburn
and Alabama mascots on them. Brady withdrew his nomination too; to say his
parents were livid about that was an understatement. They thought I was ruining
his life. I told him not to, but he wouldn’t hear of it. If I couldn’t be his
princess, no one would be.

But summer came and the tide began to
change. Have you ever met someone and just knew in your belly that they would
change your life, and not for the good? The first time I saw Amber Capshaw, I
got an uneasy feeling. Her family moved to Kaysville for the sole purpose of
having Brady’s momma mold her into a future Miss Alabama and Miss America. She had already won the Junior Miss title in Alabama and a slew of other smaller
pageants, but her parents just knew she had what it took to go all the way. I
had to give her this, she was beautiful. She was tall and slender, with long
raven hair, violet eyes, flawless skin, and she just had this air about her
that screamed, “Someone please put a sash on me!
”
She even walked like
she was holding a crown steady on her head.