The large, rattling transit bus pulled to a creaky halt at its final stop before leaving the city limits of Baltimore. The only passengers waiting to board at the remote stop were a couple of nuns, bent low over their hands as they waited for the doors to open. The driver looked down at the two bowed heads, covered in the starched wimples. The taller one looked up at him and he tried not to sneer. A Negro nun, and an ugly one at that. Ridiculous, he thought, but tried to steal his features so as not to offend. After all if this darkie did have the ear of the Guy Upstairs it would be better not to get on her bad side, just incase.
"Is this the bus that's going to New York?" she asked in an odd sounding, high pitched voice.
"That it is sister," he answered coolly. "So, are you coming aboard or not?"
"Yes, we are," the other sister said looking up. He couldn't resist smiling at her. She had cute, young face with a bright grin and a wisp of golden blonde hair that escaped her wimple and curled over her forehead.
"Well, of course we are," her companion said in her odd tone. She waved a hand for the shorter nun to precede her and then climbed the steps and followed her down the aisle. The bus driver blinked in surprise as her smile revealed two shiny gold teeth.
As they shuffled their way down the aisle, Penny leaned back against Seaweed's chest. "I think you're over playing it just a little," she said softly.
"Why, what ever do you mean Sister Penny?" he teased and she giggled loudly before ducking her head to hide it.
They plopped together into a seat near the back, Seaweed letting Penny have the window so she could look out at the scenery as they past. He looked at her happily as she leaned back against the vinyl seat and smiled up at him.
"We're really doing this."
"We are, if you're sure you want to," he restated, looking at her seriously. She began to nod enthusiastically.
"Oh, I'm sure; I'm ready to get out of this place, and I want to be with you…" realizing how that might sound, she blushed. "I mean, where people won't try to stop us… and away from my mother and father. But I sure will miss Tracy."
Seaweed smiled. "You don't have to worry, baby," he whispered. "We're gonna be in New York. You know Tracy will be on her way to the Big Apple as soon as she can, with Link following after like a well trained pup. Besides you know she won't be able to stay away from you."
Penny sighed. "You're right, I know." She smiled and looked out the window. After a moment she brought her fingers up and started toying with her lower lip, watching the trappings of city life begin to thin as the bus rambled along the highway. Seaweed looked at her and saw her frown.
"What's wrong baby girl?"
"I wish we had stopped at a store," she said looking at him, both serious and slightly embarrassed. "I, um, I forgot to bring my candies… Hopefully, they'll have some wherever the bus stops for lunch." She looked so distraught; Seaweed would've felt bad for her if he didn't know he could fix the problem. She was awfully cute though.
He bit his lip and reached inside the deep front pockets of the habit he wore, his fingers closing over a mid-sized box. He extracted it from the dark folds of fabric and held it out to her.
"Think this will be enough to tide you over?" he asked, smiling. "At least until we stop for lunch?"
Her eyes grew wide with surprise and she seized the box, hugging it close to her chest. "Oh wow," she said, grinning up at him so widely he could swear all her teeth were visible. Looking back down at the box, she tore off the top with an enthusiasm that was much unbecoming a nun. She pulled one of the bright red candies out and popped it into her mouth, rolling in around on her tongue, filling the air with the warm, sweet scent of cinnamon. She closed her eyes and moaned in pleasure for a moment before pulling it out and holding it with her fingers. "Oh, Seaweed, I really want to kiss you right now."
He bit his lip, his gaze falling instantly to her mouth as he thought of her cinnamon flavored kisses. "I think we better wait on that, honey, it might be pushing the sisterly affection thing too far for all these nice folk." She giggled and then covered her mouth to hide it. After all, nuns were reserved, not giddy and exuberant. Seaweed let his fingers slide softly down her wrist and over her palm, entwining his fingers with hers.
The bus stopped in a little town in Virginia and the couple departed, hands folded, and heads bowed. Nuns did tend to draw some attention, but not the negative kind; and certainly not as much as a white girl and black boy traveling alone together. Even if they hadn't been under age it would've been impossible to stay under the radar. They didn't want to be too easy to follow; Prudy Pingleton was a determined woman. She wouldn't be likely to give up too easily. She underestimated how much of that determination had been reborn in her daughter, finally bursting forth now that she had something she believed in.
They found a little motel surrounded by oak trees and walked together into the office, trying not to be nervous. Seaweed assured himself that as long as they behaved like nuns no one was going to suspect anything; people usually liked to believe that what they saw was true.
He started to step forward first. As the man, it seemed like his place to make the arrangements, but Penny put a hand on his arm and smiled softly at him. In this situation he was not the man, he was a black woman; and they'd expect the white woman to be in the lead. It wasn't right of course, but right now they were all about hiding, not fighting.
"Hello," Penny said, both proud and reserved at the same time, so much confidence Seaweed couldn't help but be proud of her. "I'm Sister Mary Penelope and this is Sister Mary…Sea… Cecilia, we would like a room for the night."
"Of course Sister," he said smiling as he moved around behind the counter. He scribbled in his book and brought a key and an extra blanket from the back room. "That'll be fifteen dollars."
Penny nodded and pulled the bills from her habit pocket.
Once inside the room, Seaweed pulled all the curtains tightly closed and slid the wimple back off his head and sighed with relief. He stripped out of the habit altogether a moment later, revealing the brown corduroys and plaid button up shirt he'd worn beneath. His head was no longer wrapped in a bandage, but one spot of gauze still shielded the injury over his left eye, standing out brightly against his dark complexion.
"Well, we made it this far. So far so good."
"Mhm," Penny agreed, her mouth once again full of candy as she bounced on the end of one twin bed. She had already taken off her disguise and her light blue skirt flipped up as she bounced, revealing a bit of the pale soft flesh of her thigh.
"Tomorrow we'll take a different bus, I guess."
"Okay," she responded.
They stayed silent for a long awkward moment - Penny wondering why Seaweed hadn't started kissing her yet. After all they were alone in a room, with a bed, where no one was going to be interrupting them; and Seaweed wondering what he should do, whether kissing her would be too much for their first night out. He didn't want her to think this whole thing was just about… sex.
"So then you want to have that bed and I'll just take, um, this one?" he asked, trying to be adult about the whole thing.
"Seaweed!" Penny declared standing to her feet and looking flabbergasted, "and here I thought you were a desegregationist!"
He just stood there, blinking as he stared down at her. Then he said, a bit of mischief stealing into his gaze, "Segregation never?"
"Integration now!" she said happily and leapt into his arms, kissing him fully on the mouth.