He was a plain man. Painfully plain, even for a white man.

Due to being women of color, all of the help was unfortunately well acquainted with most of the officers on the Hinds County police force, and they had often joked that Sheriff Bill Williams was as "dull as stale wonder bread". Everyone got a hearty laugh out of good ol' Bill, but no one ever really took the chance to get to know him. He was very misunderstood and actually quite a sweetheart; one former maid loved to always point out.

"Are you out yo' mind!? Catching feelings foh a white man will get you killed! What if he lying to you? This could be a set up Aibileen!"

"Oh Minny please! I'ma nobody in this town, why would a cop wanna set me up?"

"A 'nobody'? Top writer fah the newspaper advice column, author of a best selling book, and the only woman on this side of the Mississippi to tell off that awful Ms. Hilly Holbrook...Foh a 'nobody' you sho got a lot mo' goin' on than other black folks in Jackson!"

"No one knows about that but us! And the Ms. Myrna column is almost anonymous, everyone in Jackson thinks a white woman is advising them, not some unemployed black maid! Honestly Minny, I thought you be happy for me."

"Girl...look, I'm coming over later. We need to see eachother in person so I can talk some sense into you. I don't care, just be home!" Minny hung up the phone whilst Aibileen tried to object to the plans.

Aibileen's not-so-secret beau wanted to come and see her tonight, and eventhough it'd be hard to tell him no, it'd be even harder to tell Minny no.

It had been about a month since Bill and her first met and it was a whirlwind romance like neither of them had ever experienced. When they held eachother it was like the World stood still. When they kissed one another it was like no one else in the World mattered. And when they made love...chile, it was like the World shook and shattered, again and again and again. She'd rather spend time with him than anyone else. Which didn't exactly sit well with Minny.

The heavy set woman barged through the rickety door of her best friend's home, scanning the room from wall to wall until her eyes landed on her pitiful and frail looking friend, who clearly didn't expect the visit to be as early as it was. The maid charged on over to her, aggressively grabbing hold of Aibileen's shoulders.

"Now what in God's name is wrong witchu!?"

"Nothing Minny! But you act like something wrong with you!"

"That man is no good, I can feel it in my bones! A white man can't be trusted, and they don't trust us neither!"

"He not like that! He don't really hate colored folk! He...he sweet on me, and I sweet on him. His job make him be that way."

"'His job'!? I bet he still call you a n*gga whether that badge is on or off! You sound like a real Aunt Tom you know dat? A damn fine fool!"

"He's changed! He don't say that word no mo, and I know you don't mean that Minny so I ain't mad at you. I know you just a little jealous, i-is all." her voice nervously cracking.

"You sound like the stupidest person ever right about nah! Who the hell do you think you are calling me 'jealous'!? I'm trynna look out foh yo dumb ass 'cause clearly yo brain ain't working at all!"

Those words tore at Aibileen's heart. Her best friend had never seriously spoken to her like that for as long as they had known eachother. She didn't know what else to say, only managing to gape up at her friend and cry. However the tears had little effect on the stocky maid. Minny simply shook her head in disappointment and let go of her friend's shoulders, plopping down in the seat next to her; not speaking, while the other woman sniffled and wiped her tears throughout the silence. An eternity seemed to pass before Minny finally spoke.

"You know that last day I been with Leroy...He beat me real bad...beat the chilren right after...say he teach us all a lesson...he take out the iron skillet, headed foh my youngest baby-" Minny broke off for a minute as her eyes welled up, trying to refrain from breaking into her own tears; pursing her lips briefly, she continued "...I scream so loud you swear a window could shatter. He come fah me again but befoe he lay his hands on me I just yell 'get out, get out, get out, get out!'" At this point the tears streamed down the maid's face, she couldn't hold onto them anymore. "He stare at me with his hand raised, and I wait foh him to strike me...but I think he finally hear me. He finally listen to me...He left, Aibileen. He left, and I gots me and my chilren a new house nah. Me and them finally safe!" she choked out the last part in between her sobbing. Her face seemed to glisten in the drearily lit room, almost serving as a symbol of her hope being restored. Aibileen wrapped her arms around the woman, as far as they could reach, and hugged her tight. They cried into eachother's shoulders for a long time, yet eventually locking eyes.

"I's safe now...I just want you to be safe, too...You my best friend, I love you, like a sister, maybe mo'..."

"You know I love you Minny, you the closest friend I ever had. I knows you wanna look out for me...but you ain't gotta worry! Bill treats me good and we're happy."

The large woman rolled her eyes and groaned loudly. Aibileen just didn't seem to get it. There was only one way to show Aibileen what she really meant. She rolled up her sleeves and took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for what she was about to do.

"Minny, what are you-" the woman's words were cut short as her friend did the unthinkable. Minny grabbed hold of Aibileen's face and inched close to her full lips, taking a moment to admire them before inter-locking them with her own. The kiss was tender but understandably didn't last long. The thinner woman shoved the other away from her and backed into the couch. Her eyes were wide and her expression seemed bewildered, to say the least. She found it difficult to look directly at her friend and shuddered when the plump woman placed a hand on her good, un-injured knee and squeezed, poorly trying to ease the tension.

"Now girl don't be mad at me, I wanna show you how happy you can be without that white man, that's all!"

"Y-You...y-you're crazy! You've lost it! I-I can't believe this..." she clutched at her heart which was beating abnormally fast. She simply couldn't fathom that her 'sister' would do something like this, but surprisingly she wasn't disgusted. The shock of it all was surely affecting her though.

"Aibileen please, don't hate me foh this! I never mean you any harm."

"I thought we were like sisters, you even s-said it yourself! How could you do this to us? This ain't right Minny..."

"I've had to fight this thing foh a long time, alright? You know it's hard fah me to express my feelings like this, but I been thinking about it and thinking about it and...and, maybe you is right. I might be jealous, but I've always loved you. I never felt this way about Leroy, or anyone else in all my life! I don't know, but foh some crazy reason, I thought maybe...just maybe, you loved me too."

"...I...I do love you, Minny." she exhaled and shut her eyes, only opening them once she was finally able to look at her friend's face. "But a woman can't lay with another woman. That's God's rules."

The heavy set maid sighed deeply and cupped her face in her hands. She took a moment to gather her words and spoke softly.

"Aibileen, do you really think the creator of all things: sky, land, flowers, sunshine, you, me- He made us! Do you really believe he would hate his own creations foh loving who they love?"

"But you know how the church stands on this. It's a sin for a woman to be with a woman, or a man with another man. I don't want to upset our pastor and our friends and-" Minny simply waved her hand in the air to silence the slim woman and gave her a more piercing look.

"You didn't answer me...Do you really believe, that God, would hate you for loving me?"

Aibileen's eyes were glazed over. It seemed as though the question would exhaust her to answer, but she eventually found the strength to say "no." The smaller woman inhaled and sat up straight noticing her friend's victorious face, dreading the fact that she was about to burst her bubble. "It's true that I love you, but I love Bill too. Maybe even more than I love you. And I ain't lying to myself, or God, or even you when I say that. And I...I'd rather be with him instead of committing the greatest sin of my life by being with you. I'm sorry Minny. I really am..."

Minny broke down in tears yet again. The thicker woman was adept in dishing out insults and harsh, stinging words, but when it came to getting a taste of her own medicine, it was a hard pill for her to swallow. Her heart had sunk and it took everything in her to keep from falling apart right then and there. When she spoke it was strained and spotted with breathless gasps. "I understand you can't loves me the way I loves you but it don't make it no easier to take the news!"

She got down from the couch on one knee and began praying for resilience with tears still falling from her eyes. Aibileen attempted to continue being strong and self-righteous; doing her best to ignore this display of grief, but soon found herself with her arms wrapped around her friend in an embrace, her cheeks lined with tears as well. They rocked back and forth in eachother's arms until the feeling of sadness sub-sided, and was replaced with other feelings.

Aibileen had to acknowledge that she might just love Minny as much as Minny said she loved her. Maybe this had been something that she had always felt, but never knew if it was actually real. Now that the doors had been opened she wouldn't have to keep it on the back-burner any longer. She sat herself down in front of the couch as she let go of her best friend. The emotional maid wiped her face clean as she noticed this change, and sat next to the thin woman. The two of them stayed there on the floor together, not saying a word to one another no matter where their thoughts went.

Moments later, neither of them was sure who initiated it, but somehow their lips met yet again, this time naturally instead of forced, and their bodies became inter-twined. The skinny woman laid on top of the big maid, running her fingers through her friend's hair while kissing her. She savored the feeling before opening her eyes, both of them staring longingly at eachother. Un-surprisingly it was Minny who broke the intense silence.

"You sho this is what you want Aibileen?"

"Yes Minny, I know what I'm doin' with you...and I like it."

"Well I like it too...I promise not to tell if you won't!" They laughed at this, indulging in a sweet but quick peck.

Rain started to fall and tap against the room's window at this point. In the distance thunder could be heard, and although it was low it helped the women realize that they were so grateful to be in the other person's arms at that moment. They only had eachother on their minds, forgetting all about their cares, and worries, and plans made earlier in the day. It never occurred to Aibileen that she forgot to contact her beau and tell him not to come over. Officer Bill was about the farthest thing from her mind, but he was much closer than she or Minny could even imagine.

He was there, drenched in rain, standing outside and watching through the window in absolute horror. His rage built up inside of him. It took everything in him to not pull out his gun and shoot at them through the glass he stood behind. It was devastating to see the woman he loved and thought to be only his, being seduced by another woman. Though it was difficult for him to think straight, there was one thing that was clear...Minny needed to be taken care of. And he was going to be the one to do it.

"Oh lord Minny, look! I done got so distracted with you I never shut any of my curtains!" The slim woman let go of her friend and stood up.

"Well I sho hope nobody came by and did some spyin' on us!" The two maids engaged in a good laugh as Aibileen went around the room and covered her windows, but not before looking and examining outside.

"My, my, it sure did come down pretty hard out there. And it's so dark...I can't possibly let ya walk home now...Stay here for the night." She toothily smiled at her friend, whom had already picked up on what she was trying to do.

The plump woman agreed to stay over, since her children were staying with another family member for the night anyway. With support from the couch she got up as well and walked over to the other woman. She kissed her deeply, taking her hand afterward.

"I'm feelin' sleepy already, let's head to yo room." She said this with a wink and lead the way to Aibileen's bed, where they spent a very special night with one another.

They watched the sun rise together in the morning, struggling not to break into making love again as they shared a passionate kiss. The two women got dressed in their Sunday best and headed to the church that they had always come to worship and praise in. Something seemed unusual about today, however they shook it off and attributed the feeling to the fact that they both were holding in a secret from the rest of their friends. They were welcomed in by their fellow members like normal and sat in a middle row instead of the front.

Just as the pastor stepped up to the stage and was to begin his sermon a terrible thing took place, confirming the suspicions the two maids had felt earlier. Canisters smashed through the left side window of the building; clanging as they hit the ground, and filled the large single room of the church with tear gas.

The congregation, some of them experienced with this horrible circumstance and some of them not, gathered to their feet and ran at the exit, scattering outside as the burning sensations impacted them. Eyes and noses ran, many people coughing and too busy to notice anything or do anything other than getting out of the hazardous area.

In all the commotion of escaping Aibileen was somehow able to search for Minny through her red, streaming eyes. Unfortunately she was nowhere to be found. Refusing to panic the thin woman headed to her neighborhood to look for her companion there. After unsuccessfully checking to see if perhaps the stocky maid had somehow arrived at her house before her, she cleaned herself of tears and sweat, dabbing her face with a cold wash cloth. Once she felt somewhat herself again she continued trying to find her partner, scouring every one of her friends' homes to no avail. The sun began to set as despair crept up to tug at Aibileen's heart strings.

Where in the world could Minny be?

The next morning brought about a community effort to find the missing woman. Every maid did as much as they could, trying to get everyone involved with the search though many were still distraught from what happened the day before. They looked everywhere they could think of, including travelling 30 minutes outside of town to see if she went to stay with her employer Miss Celia Rae Foote; no luck. The stores, the jails, the white neighborhoods; nothing.

Aibileen was extremely worried that the same person who attacked the church might have something to do with her best friend gone missing. She became desperate and went as far as contacting Bill to maybe get the police involved with finding her. Repeatedly she called his number until finally he picked up.

"Oh Bill! Thank God you there, I been callin' all day, I need yo help!"

"Yes I'm here, Aibileen. What's wrong?"

"Somethin' awful happened, Minny went missin'! Our church was attacked yesterday mornin' and she been gone ever since!"

"Well I'm sorry to hear that. I'm sure she'll come around soon. Maybe she went to one of your friends, or maybe she went back to her husband..."

"What? N-No, she wouldn't. I know she wouldn't, and she ain't at anyone's place. Everyone lookin' around for her and-"

"Everyone? What do you mean everyone?"

"Everyone in our neighborhood, there ain't a single person I know who ain't lookin' for her! And I think whoever attacked the church took Minny!"

"I see...any idea who it was?"

"No...that's why I'm callin' you. Maybe you can ask some of the other police to help find the person. Y'all might find Minny too."

"There isn't much I can help you with I'm afraid. It hasn't been long enough to rule her a missing person yet. Maybe I can come by the church and write up a report about the damage done but that's about it..."

"No, there gotta be mo' you can do! My best friend is missin'! Don't you care that she important to me!?"

"God damnit Aibileen I'm busy with more important cases, so no I don't give a rat's ass about your friend! I don't got time to be searching for that nig-, that woman. Find her your own self!"

Defeated, she hung up the phone and cried into her hands. If Bill really loved her he would want to bring her best friend to safety, simply because it would make her happy again. The woman could not understand why Bill would act in that way, going so far as to almost utter that hateful, evil word. It's not like he knew anything had been going on between her and Minny...Or did he?