Love Across Colors (Urban BWWM Interracial Romance) (6 page)

              Melinda could only sigh. “Dad is giving me a hard time about Wayne.”

             
“What does that mean?” she asked.

             
“He is opposed to us being together because Wayne is white
,
and I am African-American. And it isn’t even just him. Marcus confronted me the other day about it
,
and I think he went ahead and told my father about it. I am not sure exactly what he told him, but on Sunday evening when they were to meet, Marcus dropped by
,
and when he left, Dad told me that I didn’t tell him that Wayne was white. I didn’t think much of it at first until he was quiet all through dinner
,
and when Wayne left, he attacked me with it. Ever since that day, we haven’t really spoken; it’s like he doesn’t want to hear anything about anything unless it is that the relationship is over.”

              “Wow. I never realized it was this tough on you, but that is very unfair of your father. This is your decision to make. I don’t know what the big deal is when it comes to inter
-
racial relationships. It happens all the time,” she fumed as if it w
ere
as
her in the situation.

             
“That’s what I tried to tell him, but he refuses to listen. He is adamant that I should leave him.”

             
“So what are you going to do?” Helen asked.

             
“I don’t know what I’m going to do about him, but Wayne I am not leaving,” Melinda said determinedly.

             
“I don’t blame you. Maybe he will come around eventually,” Helen offered to say.

             
“Yeah, maybe.”

             
The rest of the day was spent trying to distract herself from the thoughts that tormented her, and by the evening, she found that she was no better
off than
had been
she
was twelve hours ago. When Wayne came to pick her up, she asked that they go to the community park. They circled the park before coming to rest on one of the wooden benches overlooking the pond. Melinda had always loved skipping stones
,
and she now did this much to the amusement of Wayne. He joined her momentarily
,
and they spent the evening laughing about who made the worst attempts.

              Soon they sat down once more, and she stared at the single star that was now to her far right, and
she
wished something different would happen in the following days that would render the last few days null. But nothing did
,
and the sour expression she got from her dad was now common
place. It became difficult for her to function normally
,
and one night she went out with Wayne, needing the comfort of alcohol more than sleep. They stopped at a local bar that had a western
-
themed night, and the constant rounds that were passed amidst the yodelling and stepping was enough to calm Melinda’s nerves. Wayne had a little more than she had to drink
,
and by the time they ventured to sit, he was laughing and pointing at everything
—
;
a sign of near drunkenness.

             
“You are not driving home,” she said.

             
“So, who will?” he slurred. “You? Come on.”

             
“Look at you. You are a mess right now. I’m going to call a cab,” she said.

             
“Okay, but not just yet. Let’s stay here awhile.”

             
Melinda looked around her at all the people still having fun and who ha
d
ve
now formed a Congo line circling the dance floor. “Sure, why not,” she said, for she could not think of a reason why she should even
have
be
en
hurrying home.

              After another glass, which Melinda tried in vain to wrestle from him, he looked her dead in the eye
,
and she learn
ed
t
on the spot how powerful alcohol was in revealing one’s true nature and thoughts.

             
“Why doesn’t your father like me? Is it because I am white?” he asked as he gulped.

             
Melinda was taken aback by the frankness of his question
,
and she stumbled over the words as she tried to answer. “How did you assume as much?” she asked.

              “Lucky guess. That plus the fact that I haven’t been invited to your house after that one time,” he replied
,
and then clasped his fingers as they rested on the table.

              “Um,” she started
,
and was about to find some reason to defend her father, but she could think of nothing. “No, he doesn’t like the fact that I am with you
,
and he refuses to speak with me unless I end it with you,” she admitted.

              “So will you break it off with me?” he asked and gave her a sideways grin.

             
“I had no intentions to,” she said.

             
He was quiet for a moment as he swished the remainder of the gin in his glass. “You know, Mark, close friend of mine that I introduced you to once? He doesn’t like this any more than your father does. He thinks I am just going through a phase and it will all soon blow over.”

             
“And what d you think?” Melinda now asked.

             
“I don’t know what I think,” he said as he raked his hand through his hair.

             
Melinda stared at him after his response. “What are you saying? Do you think we won’t survive because we are from different backgrounds?”

             
“No, not that. But this is going to be difficult to an extent. I just hope we are ready for it. It has already started on your end.”

             
Melinda had to agree with him there, but his latest pronouncement caused her to think he had doubts as well. He staggered to his feet, and Melinda moved swiftly to steady him. “Hold it, sit,” she instructed. She left him and went to the bar and asked the bartender to call a cab for them. When it came she gave the driver the two addresses
,
and by the time he drove off, Wayne collapsed onto her lap.

              “I think we should take him home first,” she whispered to the driver, who shook his head in acknowledgment. Wayne was not aware when he got home, and Melinda had to request the help of the driver to get him inside. Once done, she rested her head against the back of the seat and relaxed for the long ride home.

             
Things at home did not change
,
and for the first time in her life Melinda felt estranged in her own home.

              “Is this what it has come to?” she asked her father one day. “Our relationship is suffering because you disapprove of who I’m seeing?” she asked.

             
“I just can’t get past the fact that you have betrayed me. How could you do that?” he asked.

             
“Betray you?” Melinda asked. “How is that betrayal? You know what? I don’t even want to know, but I can tell you I am not staying here any longer under these conditions.”

             
Melvin said nothing
,
and the fact that he didn’t stung Melinda more than him bashing her choice in men. With tears in her eyes she went to her room
,
and for the days that followed she tried desperately to locate an apartment she could afford. Eventually she did
,
and the day that she was to move Melvin was conveniently absent because Wayne came over to help her pack. When they drove off, Melinda spotted Marcus sitting on the curb ahead staring at them with a serious expression. He was cracking his knuckles and wearing a scowl on his face that made her shiver slightly.

              “Was this necessary
,
Mel?” asked Wayne after they had left the community behind.

              “I think so. It had become unbearable that my father would take it this hard that I am with you that he couldn’t even speak with me again.”

             
“It has to be something deeper than just us because that doesn’t make any sense on a surface level. Even if he didn’t approve, normally people would just avoid the subject, not the person entirely.”

             
“I don’t know
,
but it doesn’t make much sense to me either. He would rather lose me than accept you
,
and that’s what has become difficult to absorb.”

              She looked out the window now at the houses as they whizzed by until she came upon her building. She didn’t have much of anything to take with her
,
so she had to buy furniture
,
;
an unnecessary burden she now had to bear. Her saving grace was that this place was semi-furnished so she had the basic amenities provided such as a stove, a refrigerator and a bed; everything else she would need to get on her own.

             
“Do you want to continue with this
,
Melinda? I hate that I have come between you and your father,” he told her after they had finished unpacking all that she could.

              She looked at him steadily. “Do you? I recall you were the one with doubts.”

             
He raised his eyebrows at her. “Really? When have I ever said that?” he asked.

             
“That night at the bar. Mark thinks you are just going through a phase by being with me
,
and it sounded like you agreed.”

              “Mel
,
that must have been the alcohol speaking. There is nothing I want more than I want to be with you right now, and I am willing to back off if needs be so that you can work something out with your father, but there is no way I would say that I don’t want you. Because I do want you,” he said as he moved closer to her.

              She smiled and opened her arms to greet him. “That’s all I ever wanted, but the decision to stray was not my own but my father’s. Even if we separated for a while his attitude would not change any more than your skin tone would.”

             
“That’s true,” he said. “I just hope something will work out
,
and that he will get an epiphany of sorts
,
because I know you do love him and need him.”

              Melinda could not even respond to the truth of that as the words choked in her throat. She did need her father, but he had left her no choice.

             
Two weeks passed
,
and Melinda neither saw him nor heard anything about him, and even being away hurt as much as being at home. Wayne felt her tension whenever she was around
,
but there was nothing he could do to soothe her sorrow. He comforted her as much as he could, but how effectively could he heal a bleeding heart from the outside?

              Melvin was experiencing the same torture that was being meted out to Melinda, but his pride would not allow him to concede. He sighed and got up from the sofa and walked gingerly to the room at the back of the apartment where he kept his old books and memorabilia. He dug around, fanning and coughing while looking for a shoe box he had buried deep inside. He had to take apart the entire room before he was able to locate it. He lifted it from its resting place, dented and dusty like the memories they held. He walked back to the living area with box in hand. He lifted the lid off to reveal pictures of Melinda when she was six years old playing Tinker Bell in the school play. She looked so beautiful then
,
and was determined to become a ballerina one day. She even used to take many lessons
,
but eventually gave it up when she hit adolescence. It was funny that was the only dance she knew how to master, having awkward feet for everything else.

              Melvin smiled at the memory and placed the tattered photo next to him on the sofa. He continued to remove item after item revealing several other childhood memories of Melinda and her mom. He paused when he came upon a picture of the three of them, and sighed as he placed it atop the pile that was mounting next to him. At the bottom of the pile and out of everyone’s line of sight lay a single picture of a woman, sitting on a swing, holding a parasol over her head. She was a beauty and Melvin smiled as he traced the picture with his index finger, emotions swallowing him whole when a single tear escaped his lashes and rushed down his cheek. He held his head forward and started crying, unable now to compose himself. Beneath that photo, he was with the woman from before, and they were holding hands and standing next to a golden retriever. He held the tears long enough to be able to replace the contents of the box
,
and then returned the box to its safe haven, minus the last two pictures he held in his hands.

              He closed the door and went to sit where he always had with his daughter, and the sounds of her laughter in his head caused him to smile. He sighed and rested his head back against the sofa
,
and it was then that he heard the thunderous voice in his head, threatening him to end the relationship. Back then, it was not as easy to be defiant of one’s parents; you simply had to conform or leave, and where was he to go? He squeezed the photo that still rested there, and he remembered as if yesterday the endless pain he had felt when he was forced to leave the one woman he had always wanted
,
;
the one who held his heart and soul entwined with hers
,
;
the woman who had left the state shortly after with her parents who were desperately trying to prevent the two seeing each other.

             
He had met Melinda’s mom a few years later, and though he loved her, she in no way compared to Charlotte in matters of the heart. Their union had produced a beautiful baby girl whom he cherished more than life itself. But now she was all grown up
,
and in a world where the same methods wouldn’t yield the same results. He was not yet prepared to lose that one part of him he had left, even if the odds weren’t in his favor. He vowed he would find her and apologize. But that seemed much harder to do than thinking about it.

              The following days found Melvin wandering the streets trying to find Melinda. He knew what bus she took to work, but he had no idea where exactly she would get off. It wasn’t until he ran into Marcus that he knew for sure, and he wondered how the young man knew exactly where she worked and currently lives. He found her office the following day, but when he got there, he was informed that she had left early to take care of personal matters. He didn’t leave any messages. The following day he turned up again, only this time he didn’t go in. He stood outside for most of the morning until around noon he saw the silver Volvo pull up and she stepped into the midday sun. She looked radiant
,
and his heart skipped when he saw her; the last three weeks had made him realize how much he need her in his life, but she disappeared inside the car before he could get a chance to signal to her.

              He lingered until she got back; visiting a nearby diner to grab a sandwich and juice while he waited. In another fifty-five minutes she returned
,
and as he watched her walk inside, his legs began to cave under him.  He got up to move and almost fell as his strength left him. Luckily Wayne had seen everything
,
and he leapt from the car to aid the old man. He propped him up on his shoulder and assisted him in sitting back down.

              “Are you alright? What are you doing here?” Wayne asked.

             
“Melinda. I need to speak with Melinda,” Melvin said and swooned. It seemed the sweltering heat had done him over
,
and he almost fainted right there.

              “Let me take you home. I will tell her you came,” Wayne suggested.

             
Melvin gripped Wayne’s hand and looked deeply into his eyes. “Take her to see me later. I have something to tell the both of you,” he whispered.

             
“Okay
,
Sir. I will tell her,” he said. Wayne then all but lifted Melvin to the car and placed the man on the back seat. He made sure the air conditioning was on so that he could be cooled faster, and by the time they got to the house, the color was already returning to his face.

              “Thank you. Now remember, tonight, take her to me. This is very important
,
and I am sorry I did not tell her sooner,” he said as he stepped out.

              All the way back to work Wayne wondered what it was that Melvin wanted to tell them both, especially him, and he could only hope it would not cause Melinda any greater distress. He did not tell Melinda about seeing her father earlier in the day, nor did he tell her that he would be taking her there. Not until she was already in the car and headed South did she look at him in horror.

             
“Where are we going?” she asked him.

             
“To see your father,” he told her and kept his eyes on the road.

             
“Why? He doesn’t want anything to do with me
,
and I will not be the one to reach out anymore. Please take me home,” she demanded.

              “You aren’t the one reaching out this time
-
—
it is him.”

             
Melinda stared at him in confusion. “I don’t understand. We are heading there so how is he the one reaching out. Did he call you or something, although I doubt that because he didn’t have your number,” she said as she brainstormed the possibilities.

             
“He came to see you earlier today. When I dropped you off after lunch I spotted him across the street. He almost fell as he was standing so I rushed over. He told me to take you to see him this evening,” Wayne said.

             
“Oh God,” Melinda said as her hand flew to her mouth. “Was he hurt? How did he look? I couldn’t stand it if something happened to him and I wasn’t there,” she said as tears began to spring in her eyes.

             
“Calm down,” he said as he reached over to stroke her hair. “I think it was just the heat. He looked a lot better when I dropped him off.”

             
“You took him home?” she asked as if surprised.

             
“What else was I going to do? Leave him there?”

             
“Thank you,” she said and now stared out the window, anxious for the reason he wanted to not just see her, but to speak with Wayne as well.

             
Melvin was waiting for them both and already had the door open by the time they got there. “Come in, come in,” he hastened them.

             
Melinda needed no encouragement as she bounded up the steps leaving Wayne behind. “Are you alright
,
D
d
ad?” she asked anxiously.

             
“Yes I am,” he smiled
,
and she hugged him tightly, missing being around him these last few weeks.