Chapter 10
The next morning after the large party was when Caevia announced to the women she was pregnant. Embry had told her that there was no special protocol for announcing a pregnancy. The celebration didn't come until the baby was actually born. When explaining it to Renesmee, she was able to equate it to a birthday party and baby shower all in one big event. The mother received all nature of crafted baskets and items needed to care for a baby and the baby was given toys and clothes as well. Jacob's gift was already pretty much done. He was going to give the baby all the wooden toys he'd crafted while Renesmee was getting better. Though she couldn't fully understand everyone, she was thrilled that, when they were all doing chores together, she seemed to be actively included in the conversation. Even with Caevia having to translate, it was a welcomed change. Even Leah, who'd not said a word to her since she'd attempted to apologize, was beginning to be nicer to her. She still didn't like Renesmee, but a cordial relationship was at least a step in the right direction. Later in the afternoon, Jacob came to Renesmee and told her that Sokajili wished to speak with her about something important. They walked to Sokajili's tent together and the man was sitting across the fire pit smiling when they entered.
"Do you drink water?" Sokajili asked Renesmee after she and Jacob were sitting down. Jacob translated his question and she nodded.
"I'm alright with water," she affirmed. Jacob told Sokajili her answer and he filled three cups with water and distributed them.
"I'm trusting you to translate this accurately, Jacob," Sokajili said to Jacob before refocusing his attention on Renesmee. "What you did was a great thing. That family is indebted to you." Jacob translated Sokajili's words and Renesmee smiled.
"Thank you for saying." Jacob translated.
"Having said that," Sokajili continued, "I've given a great deal of thought to the fact that I still have no apprentice." Jacob translated, but he kept his eyes on Sokajili. "Normally this position would go to the medicine man's son or to an interested young man that earned the right to learn. In your case, you've more than earned it. Your knowledge of Pale Faced medicine surpasses even what I can do to help the people thrive. It only makes sense, then, that you become my apprentice. That is, if you'll accept my offer." It took a moment for Jacob to translate; firstly because it was a really long sentence, and secondly it was a strange request. If Renesmee accepted, that would make her the first woman of the tribe to ever become a 'Medicine Man'. Though given what happened, he knew she'd be readily accepted into the position by the village. Even Jacob's father was showing signs of liking her. Finally, Jacob told Renesmee Sokajili's request and she just gawked at Jacob a moment.
"He's asking me to work with him?"
"Yes," Jacob answered. "It's not typical, but you have the credentials." Renesmee smiled and looked at Sokajili. It was, in all technicality, still a nurse's position, but it was a nurse's position with the promise of becoming a doctor. It might not be what she'd envisioned, but it was more than she'd ever been offered back home. Had all this happened in Chicago or anywhere else she'd lived and worked, this would never have happened. Even if a doctor had not been present to treat such a wound and she'd taken over, she would've never received due credit for it. At best, she would've been patted on the head like a dog and given a metaphorical treat. Here, she was being treated like an equal after proving that she was one.
"Tell him I'd be happy to," she finally said and Jacob translated.
"I'm happy to hear it," Sokajili smiled. "Now all that's left is for you to teach her our language so I can teach her properly."
"I'll do that," Jacob answered.
It was yet another announcement made later that night. Renesmee couldn't believe her ears when she heard the tribesman cheer when they heard Sokajili was taking her as an apprentice. Jacob noticed Renesmee brush a tear away and it made him smile to see her so happy. As it turns out, all Renesmee really needed to be taught was the language and the religious practices. It was the first time Renesmee had any deep explanation of the tribe's methods of worship and it was so foreign to her. With Caevia's help, she brought up the issue of virginity. Sokajili wasn't married and she naturally assumed, based on her own religious upbringing and moral structure, that this required her to remain a virgin and asked how Sokajili knew she still was. He surprised her when he said such a trivial thing wasn't important. He explained that the tribe never held virginity in such anally high regard. While it wasn't discredited as a good thing, a woman was hardly scorned if she were not. The only reason Sokajili wasn't married was because he never found the right woman. He was certainly allowed to marry if he wanted, but the desire never came. That all certainly explained why Jacob had been so on board with her accepting Sokajili's offer now that she thought about it. The realization made her blush heavily, but she realized that were virginity or never marrying were requirements, he'd never have been so open to it. And the fact that she was currently married, albeit never consummated, would've immediately disqualified her. Jacob did his best to teach Renesmee Quileute while still making sure they practiced English. Meanwhile, Caevia and the other women were content to get Renesmee immersed into the language so she could learn quickly. She was happy with how things were going. She dared to say that the women were even beginning to consider her a friend.
"I realized something," Jacob said suddenly one day when Renesmee had come back to his tent. He would be leaving for patrol soon, so he wasn't usually very talkative at that time of night.
"What's that?" she asked.
"The other day when you sent me and Leah to get those things from town, I realized Leah was reading the labels. At least, she explained to me that's what she was doing."
"I didn't know Leah could read," Renesmee said.
"She said their grandma taught them."
"Certainly not a bad thing to be taught," Renesmee agreed.
"Yeah, I thought so too. That's why I want to ask you to teach me how."
"How to read?" Renesmee asked. Jacob nodded his head.
"My English is getting much better, but I'm noticing there are some things I just won't learn through talking. Leah said that reading is a way to expand one's knowledge. At least, according to her that's what her grandma said.'
"She's right," Renesmee agreed. "I have no books to teach you with, though."
"I can steal some tonight. Just show me what ones to take and I'll get them."
"It's not that simple," Renesmee said shaking her head. "What I might suggest they might not have and I'd be leaving you without alternatives."
"Alternatives?"
"Other options," Renesmee clarified.
"I can take you with me, then," Jacob suggested and Renesmee looked at him strangely.
"You mean take me into town?"
"At night, yes. We can sneak around until we find the books you want to use. We can go to Forks later tonight."
"Not Forks," Renesmee said. "They may have some books, but I doubt they have quite the variety I'm used to. Is there a large city near here?"
"There's one over the mountains."
"You mean Seattle?"
"Is that what it's called?"
"Yeah, it's the biggest city. Maybe they would have the variety I would like." Renesmee became thoughtful a moment. "We'll have to do it late, though. The authorities probably have my picture and are looking for me."
"We'll go at a time they won't see you," Jacob promised with a smile. "Do you have books in mind?" Renesmee nodded and came closer so she could touch Jacob's wrist and show him her favorite books to read. Naturally, he didn't know what she was referring to.
"Just look for books that look like that or have the same title."
"Title?"
"It's a name given to a book. Like Jane Eyre, and Persuasion to name two that I showed you."
"What are they about?"
"I'll tell you when we have them. Before we can start reading, I need to teach you the alphabet."
"What's the alphabet?"
"It's a sequence of letters that, when put together in specific ways, create words. I'll show you more after we get the books."
"Okay," Jacob said eagerly.
That night, Jacob went out on patrol as usual, but came back when it was late into the middle of the night. He let the pack know what he and Renesmee would be doing and that they'd come back as soon as Renesmee had what she needed. Renesmee was sound asleep when Jacob came back into his tent. He nudged her gently until she woke up.
"It's late enough," Jacob said.
"Okay," Renesmee pushed herself off the ground and yawned. She could go back to sleep as soon as they got back. Based on how fast she knew Jacob could run, they'd get this done in no time. Renesmee followed Jacob out of the tent and he shifted back into a wolf before her eyes. He stood next to her for several seconds and then bent down, indicating that he wanted Renesmee to get on his back.
When she was on, she held on as tight as she could, taking a clump of hair in each hand so she would be secure. She tightened the grip of her thighs when Jacob started running. It was a speed that could catch up to or even outrun her parents, but she held on tight. To her surprise, Jacob cut directly through the mountains until they reached the cluster of lakes near the big city. Renesmee instructed Jacob to swim across all the lakes until they reached the end of the last lake which would bring them into the heart of Seattle. They stayed discreet and when they reached land, Jacob changed back. Renesmee remembered, only then, that Jacob was naked. Forcing herself past blushing, she hurried to find a homeless man or any man that they could incapacitate and steal clothing from. They eventually found a drunk of the water's edge near the docks and just stole his pants off his sleeping body. Aside from the usual nighttime patrons, the streets were dominantly empty of traffic. She noticed women that had tattered dresses lined up along the docks with bright lip paint on and rouge. Jacob noticed the odd look Renesmee gave those women and asked if she knew them.
"No, I don't know them. They're just painted women," she said.
"What's a painted woman?"
"It's a prostitute."
"What's a prostitute?" Renesmee blushed a little. She knew it was down to being new to the English language, but there were times when she felt like she was having the 'why?' conversation with a small child.
"A prostitute is a woman that trades sexual favors in exchange for a set rate of money."
"So," Jacob thought a moment, wanting to come to an understanding of his own rather than make Renesmee explain it more. "It's a woman that will have sex with someone if he gives her something?"
"Usually money, but yes. It's like bartering, but instead of a woman trading sex for a dress or something she's trading sex for money." Renesmee brought her hand to Jacob's cheek and showed him money. "Those are called US Dollars."
"Ah," he answered. "Why did you stare at them so harshly?"
"Because painted women aren't exactly considered the prime example of a classy lady. They're women that lost their way and turn to prostitution for a number of reasons. It's looked down upon."
"If it works, it works," Jacob said innocently. "If sex is all she has to offer, why scorn her for getting what she can with what she has?"
"I keep forgetting your people seem far less strict about one's sexual exploits."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean your people aren't punished for sexual conduct out of wedlock."
"Wedlock?"
"Being married."
"Oh," Jacob said, and then he chuckled a little. "Why should it be so strict? Sure it's main purpose it to create new life, but the truth is its just fun."
"Perhaps, but it's supposed to be between people that are married and intend to procreate."
"Procreate?"
"Make babies."
"Pale faces are so needlessly strict," Jacob joked. "You can't walk around naked, you can't have sex until you're married. How do you people live?"
"I could ask you the same question," Renesmee said, deciding to join in the joke. "How do Indians stand to live outside, sleep in the dirt and have to share bathing areas?"
"It's not so bad," Jacob said with a smile. "So where are we going to get these books you're looking for?"
"We'll start with the library and bookstore."
"Do you know where those are?"
"I'll ask," Renesmee said, and then nervously walked up to a painted woman. She was leaning against a large building smoking. It made Renesmee scrunch her nose. It was so unladylike to smoke, she thought. "Excuse me, miss," Renesmee said and the painted woman looked at her and giggled.
"Oh my," she said. "So you're one of those people," she seemed to tease. She didn't know what the painted woman was talking about. "Alright honey, here's how it works: I usually do men, but I'm willing to do women. Usually I charge an extra three dollars for women, but for a pretty thing like you, I'll charge you the normal ten dollar rate."
"Wait, what? No! No, no, no, I'm not trying to pay you for sex. I wanted to ask you if you knew where the library and bookstore are in this town."
"Oh, the library and bookstore? I can't help with the bookstore, but I know there's a sizeable library up in the University District."
"And where are we now?"
"You're at Harbor Island, baby. The University District is north of here. When you leave the Island, just follow the train tracks until you reach the end, which will take you to the end of 4th Avenue. From there, make a right on Yesler Way. You'll reach a road called Broadway. Turn left there. Broadway will eventually merge into 10th Avenue, so keep going down that road. Now, 10th Avenue will end at Roanoke Street. You'll want to turn left there. Keep going until you reach Eastlake Avenue and go right. Follow Eastlake until you get over the bridge. Now once you're over the bridge, there are a few libraries there that belong to the University, so what you're looking for will dictate which one you go to. What kind of books are you looking for?" Renesmee didn't immediately answer. She was stunned this painted woman seemed to be so familiar with the libraries. "What books are you looking for baby?" she asked again.
"Oh," she started, still flabbergasted. "I was hoping to get several things but mostly the classic literature. Jane Eyre and Sense and Sensibility were two I was really banking on. I'd like to grab a Bible and anything else there that looks suitable for teaching someone to read."
"Who're you-" the woman started to ask, then she looked towards the tall man in too short pants, realized he was an Indian, and began to giggle. "That's admirable, teaching an Indian to read. Since you're teaching a man to read, I recommend some Greek poems. I hear men love those. For titles like that, you'll want the University Public Library on the corner of 50th Street and 9th Avenue. It's a huge building with a big green roof. You can't miss it."
"Thank you," Renesmee said weakly with a smile.
"Not bad for a whore, eh," the woman joked.
"I wasn't trying to..." Renesmee began, but held her head down.
"Oh don't worry about it, baby. I've been dealt worse. I used to turn tricks in that part of town, so I know my way around in that area. College boys," she joked, "they're always willing to spend their parent's money on a sure thing." She looked at Jacob again and back at Renesmee with a smile. "He your man then?"
"What?" Renesmee asked, surprised and a little embarrassed. The blush on Renesmee's face told the woman all she needed to know.
"Oh, you're innocent as the first bloom aren't you?" She giggled. "And don't worry about a thing, baby. I'll keep my lips sealed about seeing you."
"What are you-?"
"Your picture's all over town, baby. The police are looking for you. I won't ask what you did; it's none of my business, but you be careful walking around."
"Oh," Renesmee said. "I didn't do anything."
"Like I said: none of my business. You just go find yourself those books and teach that handsome squaw how to read all proper." The woman laughed a little. "And good luck to you." Finally, Renesmee nodded and walked away from the woman. Jacob followed after her.
"I didn't understand everything she said," Jacob said when they were approaching the road that connected Harbor Island to the mainland.
"She was just giving me directions," Renesmee said. "Do you mind if we run? She said my picture is all over town and I don't want to risk us being seen."
"What's a picture?" Jacob asked.
"It's-" Renesmee began to explain, but then she saw the picture in question. It was the photo she'd sent to Peter on a large paper listing her name and that police were to be contacted if she were found. "That's a picture," she pointed at the one of her pinned to the wooden pole.
"We definitely don't want to risk being seen, then," Jacob said. "You lead the way. I'll follow." With a nod, Renesmee took a moment to remember what route the painted woman had instructed her to take and began to run. Jacob ran after her and they cut through the city street by street doing their best to avoid the eyes of nighttime citizens. Once they were over the bridge they'd been told about, finding the University Public Library took no time at all. It was a large white building with a green roof, just as the painted woman had said, surrounded by trees wilted to just branches. "So what is this place?" Jacob asked.
"It's a library, which is a building designed to hold a large collection of books for public use."
Renesmee and Jacob began to slowly circle the building trying to find a way in. They found a side door that was being opened by a janitor taking out some trash. They used that opportunity while the janitor wasn't looking to sneak into the building and work their way around until they reached the books. Jacob seemed mesmerized by the place and its sheer size, so Renesmee let him take it all in while she looked for the books she wanted. Her first stop was the classics she really liked. She grabbed a copy of Jane Eyre, Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility, and she was pleased to discover that the library held The Canterbury Tales. That would certainly be something she and Jacob read much further down the line. It wasn't useful for learning how to read seeing as the entirety of the book was misspelled. Though since the English Language was still being constructed at the time of the book's writing, one could hardly expect the English people to have a well-constructed written language. She looked around for books she knew Jacob would find appealing. He seemed like the adventures type. She made sure to grab Treasure Island. That was her Uncle Emmett's favorite book. Then she found row after row of Charles Dickens and his many books cut up into their many three chapter pamphlets: truly a brilliant marketing strategy. Her Uncle Carlisle would tell her all the stories of when he lived out east when it was just him and her father and how they'd wait at the docks to get their copy of that month's installment of Hard Times. But Renesmee chose to shy away from Hard Times. She didn't want to pick anything too complicated. She, instead, decided to grab A Christmas Carol. She could think of no better way to introduce Christmas to Jacob. She'd make sure they read it once December rolled along. While she was picking out books, she narrowly avoided bumping into Jacob.
"Do you want me to help?"
"You can carry these for me," Renesmee said and handed the books to him. Then she turned and began looking through the sections again. Out of pure impulse and simple liking for the book, she reached for The Scarlet Letter, but then retracted.
"What's wrong with that book?" Jacob asked innocently when he saw Renesmee stop so suddenly.
"Nothing. It's a very good book. I'm just not sure I want to read it right now."
"What's it about?"
"It's about a woman that has an affair with a pastor in her town and becomes pregnant by him. She becomes the scorn of the town and refuses to tell anyone who the father is."
"What's an affair?"
"In this case, affair means she was having sex with a man other than her husband. Affair can also mean an event, but in this case its adultery."
"Adultery also means affair?"
"Yes," Renesmee answered. It was then that Jacob realized why she was so hesitant to grab the book.
"I think these might be enough."
"I would like to see about grabbing a few more." Renesmee continued along the rows until she found the Greek poems the painted woman had suggested.
She saw all the ones she was familiar with but so many she wasn't too keen on. She didn't want to grab Oedipus. The last thing she wanted to discuss was the concept of incest. She saw several philosophical writings from Plato, both his own and written manuscripts based on the teachings of his master Socrates, but she found those so boring. She doubted Jacob would find them any more interesting. She settled for The Iliad and The Odyssey. She also made sure to grab The Aeneid when she saw it. Those ones she was completely familiar with and she knew that at least they were adventures. It would also be a great way to introduce him to Roman and Greek culture seeing as both have such a great influence on the modern world. Renesmee was delighted when she found translations of works by Alexander Dumas. She knew Jacob would appreciate reading a book written by a black man rather than a white man. She grabbed The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. She looked high and low until she found William Shakespeare. Jacob smiled when he saw how happy that seemed to make Renesmee.
"Did you find something you like?"
"Some plays and poems by William Shakespeare. His sonnets would be a good place to start with teaching you to read. They're short, so we can focus on the spelling. Eventually we can study the structure, but one thing at a time. Oh!" Renesmee grabbed Othello. "This is my favorite!"
"What is it?" Jacob asked looking at the cover.
"It's Othello. It's about a black man that's a general I believe is his rank and he marries the beautiful Desdemona behind her father's back-" Renesmee stopped suddenly, looked up at Jacob and smiled. "You know what. You'll just have to wait and see."
"That good, huh," Jacob joked.
"Like I said: it's my favorite. One year Uncle Carlisle decided to take us all to England and I got to see this play performed at the Globe Theatre."
"The Globe Theatre?"
"Yes. It's where William Shakespeare had all his plays performed originally. It's a famous London landmark." Shifting the books to free her right arm, she lifted her hand to Jacob's cheek and showed him the Globe Theatre and the beginning to Othello where Othello was being confronted about marrying Desdemona.
"I couldn't understand them," Jacob said when Renesmee took her hand away.
"I'll help you get a feel for the language. It's just a more archaic version of the English language."
"Archaic?"
"It means really old."
"Oh," Jacob said. Renesmee looked through the shelves and grabbed Hamlet, another one of her favorite Shakespearian tragedies, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. She wanted to grab something a little funnier.
"I wonder," Renesmee mumbled to herself before locating and perusing through the P section. To her delight, she found what she was looking for. "Edgar Allen Poe," Renesmee said.
"What's that about?"
"It's the name of the author. He wrote a poem called The Raven and loads of short stories that are well known for their very dark macabre tone."
"What does macabre mean?"
"It's something that's dark and troublesome in content because it's referring to injury or death. In Edgar Allen Poe's case, it's usually death, though The Pit and the Pendulum isn't so much about death as it is about surviving a torture chamber."
"There are so many things you've just said that I don't understand," Jacob joked.
"A pit refers to a big hole. A pendulum is this," Renesmee said before reaching her hand to his face and showing him the pendulum of a clock. "The pendulum in Poe's story, however, would look more like this." Renesmee proceeded to show Jacob a bladed pendulum used during the Spanish Inquisition, the time at which the short story was based.
"Is that a blade?"
"Yeah," Renesmee nodded. She kept her hand on his face and showed him what that pendulum was used for. When it got to a part that was showing a man about to be sliced for the first time, Jacob pulled away and stopped the image.
"Why on earth would one do that?"
"No one does it by choice. It's meant as a torture or slow form of execution. Torture is when you inflict pain on a victim slowly either to get them to tell you things or to just kill them slowly. Execution is killing someone that's done something wrong or broken the law."
"We don't do that," Jacob said weakly. Renesmee grabbed as much Poe as she could.
"All that's left is the Bible and an Atlas."
"What's an Atlas?"
"It's a collection of maps. It'll help me out a lot when we're reading books from different countries." Renesmee ran around looking for a section it would be in and when she found it, she found one long row of the same bible. "Here we are," she said and grabbed one copy of a Bible and an Atlas. "Let's look for a bag to put all these in and get out of here."
"Okay," Jacob answered, following Renesmee through the bookshelves. She made sure they were alone before they moved to the next shelf. Eventually they made it to the front desk. Renesmee went around and started looking for large bags she knew they must have. She grabbed the first one she saw and piled all the books she carried into them then told Jacob to do the same.
"We need to avoid the water on the way back. It would ruin the books."
"Okay," Jacob answered.
With all the books in one large bag, Renesmee hoisted the bag over her shoulder and the two proceeded to sneak out of the Library the way they came in, making sure to avoid the janitor that had granted them access. But as they were leaving, they crossed a map of the state and Renesmee stopped to look at it and groaned a little.
"What's wrong?" Jacob whispered.
"We can't go around the lakes without passing through Olympia," she said.
"Olympia?"
"That's where you took me from."
"Shit," Jacob uttered and Renesmee gawked at Jacob.
"Where'd you learn that word? I know I didn't teach it to you."
"Leah," Jacob answered. "Did I misuse it?"
"No," Renesmee said awkwardly. "No, you used it correctly. Try not to use words like that so casually. They're very offensive words."
"Leah told me they're 'cuss words'."
"They're? So you know more?"
"She taught me shit, fuck, asshole, damn and cocksucker. Those are the ones I remember at least. What is a cocksucker by the way?"
"It's…" Renesmee held her head down a little and scratched her head. "Cock is usually in reference to a male Chicken, which is a type of bird, but in the context Leah taught you, it's referring to an individual that performs oral sex."
"What's oral sex? Another thing pale faces frown upon, no doubt," Jacob joked.
"It's when….well….it's referring to…you see in that context 'cock' is referring to a man's…" Renesmee couldn't finish. She was blushing too much. "Make Leah explain it," Renesmee finally muttered before they continued to make their way out of the library.
"I take the 'frowned upon' statement was correct," Jacob joked again.
"I wouldn't know. We'll have to pass through the water, so I'll hold the bag above my head so they won't get wet," she said, desperate to change the subject.
The two just went west from the library towards the mountains. When they reached the water, Jacob discarded the ill-fitting pants and changed to a wolf when they were both sure they were alone. They managed to get back to the village before the sun was peeking through the horizon. They went to Jacob's tent and placed the books in a corner for later use.
"So which one are we reading first?" Jacob asked.
"Shakespeare's Sonnets. They're nice and short so we can focus on the spelling and how to read it. I need to start with the alphabet before we can do that, though."
"Okay," Jacob said. He positioned himself in a sitting position on the ground right across from Renesmee and waited. Moments later, Renesmee realized he was waiting for her.
"You want to start now?"
"Yeah."
"It's almost dawn. I need to sleep before meeting Sokajili tomorrow morning. After he's done with teaching me for the day, we'll start our reading lesson." Renesmee went to the bed and crawled under the blanket. "I promise: we'll start in the afternoon."
"Okay." Renesmee rested her head on the ground and she was asleep in minutes. It had been a hard night. She got hardly any sleep by the time she was nudged awake by Caevia, telling her that Sokajili was asking for her. She assured Renesmee that she'd already told Sokajili about the night's exertions, hence why she was tired and running behind this morning.
"How'd you know about that? Did Jacob tell you?"
"No, Embry did. They can read each other's minds when they're wolves apparently."
"That sounds helpful," Renesmee said through her yawn.
Meanwhile, Jacob did as Renesmee had told him and went to Leah with his question regarding the word Renesmee was so averse to discussing. Leah was blunt with her explanation and joked how Renesmee really did have 'lily white hands' when Jacob told her how shy she'd been when he'd asked her to define the word for him.
"What do you mean by 'Lily White Hands'?" Jacob asked after Leah had made the statement in English. Leah was a little surprised.
"Your English is getting better isn't it?" Leah sighed. "I'm calling her a virgin."
"What is a virgin?"
"Someone that's never had sex."
"Oh," Jacob said. He'd already known about that. She'd shown that to him. "Don't make fun of her. I thought you were going to be nice to her from now on."
"I said I'd be nice to her. That doesn't mean I have to like her. But anyway, pale faces hold a woman's lack of sex in very high regard. Especially if she's married. In that respect, you just got really lucky."
"It wouldn't have bothered me if she weren't."
"I would certainly hope not given you kidnapped a married woman."
"She's not married!" Jacob blurted out, then cleared his throat. "I might not know how pale faces handle marriage, but I do know part of being a husband requires sleeping with your wife. He didn't do that."
"How do you even know that, by the way? I was just joking before but she's really a virgin, huh? She's certainly not the type to just come out and tell you."
"I don't think she meant to tell me, but she did," Jacob said, preferring not to bring up the 'showing' thing.
"Well then, there might be some merit to your argument." Leah tapped her index finger on her chin thoughtfully. "You see, pale faces follow a very strict structure with regards to marriage. If I remember correctly, a couple can break their marriage; inEnglishthe word to use is'Divorce', if the wife is a virgin at the time ofdivorce. I don't know the exact details behind that. Daddy was never really alegalman per se."
"So," Jacob began to reason, "If she and her husband never actually slept together, that means their marriage never even started. So if Renesmee and I are intimate or she agrees to marry me, then her marriage to Peter really is null and void?" Leah almost laughed at the eagerness in Jacob's voice.
"You could argue that, yes. Renesmee sleeping with you would certainly be grounds for divorce at least, but that would require making her whereabouts known and Peter cooperating. That's not even getting into the social scorn she'd face. Pale faces aren't exactly tolerant as you and I both know all too well. They're intolerant of their own, even. To put it bluntly and only the wayEnglishspeakers can put it: Women kind of get the shit end of the stick with regards to most matters of 'civilized' society."
"Explain that sentence," Jacob requested.
"Shit end of the stick is a term meaning that one isn't being treated right or isn't being treated the same or are on the bad side of a bargain. Women, for instance, are secondary citizens to men in white culture. It's still better than being black or Native American I guess, but that's like saying that being a mosquito is better than being a fly. You'll be squashed either way. The only difference is who gets squashed first."
"On the bad side of a bargain? You mean getting a bad deal?"
"Yeah, that's what it means." Leah patted Jacob's back. "I'm impressed, Jacob. I'm really impressed. You keep this up and you'll be able to talk English good just like all the other learned white folk." Leah laughed at her joke, but it went over Jacob's head. "Sorry, it was a grammar joke. I guess that's a little much."
"No," Jacob mumbled. "I think I get it. Isn't it supposed to be 'speak well just like other learned white folk'?"
"Yes," Leah said. "It's just 'talk good' is me implying that pale faces are stupid and don't use proper grammar, hence the joke."
"Yeah, I get it," Jacob smiled. "Any other jokes you can teach me?"
"I'll teach you those as they come up," Leah said. "If you're asking me for jokes to tell to your lady love, I've got nothing. I don't know her sense of humor so I wouldn't know what jokes she'd appreciate. I'd ask Caevia about that."
"That's a good idea," Jacob said as he began to scout the village looking for Caevia.
Jacob found Caevia near the shore preparing geoduck with Embry at her side and two other couples. Jacob walked to the beach up behind Embry and grabbed the half of belly meat right out of his hands and ate it.
"Jacob!" Embry yelled. "If you want geoduck, get your own!"
"Why harvest one when you've done that for me?" Jacob joked then sat down next to Caevia. "Can I ask you something?"
"Not after taking food from my husband's hands you can't."
"We always do that. He's taken food from me many times. It's not like I'm taking food from a pregnant woman." Caevia rolled her eyes.
"Because he's unable to understand our conversation and defend himself, I will regard your statement as untrue."
"Sure, sure," Jacob said dismissively. "Anyway, back to what I wanted to ask you."
"What might that be?"
"Do you know any jokes I could tell Renesmee?"
"Come again?" Caevia asked as she raised an eyebrow at Jacob like he was crazy.
"Do you know any jokes she likes? So far, the only jokes I know are moment jokes."
"You mean situational humor," Caevia corrected.
"Either way, it's no knock-knock joke," Seth said suddenly as he walked by with his own geoduck harvest. Caevia laughed a little.
"See? I need you to teach me how to do that. What is a knock-knock joke anyway?"
"Seth, come back here a second!" Caevia yelled and Seth came back. "Knock-knock."
"Who's there?" Seth asked, as was apropos.
"Miss Ann."
"Miss Ann who?"
"Misanthrope." And then there was silence. "I guess that was a bad example."
"What the hell is a misanthrope?" Jacob asked. Caevia laughed again.
"I see someone's been teaching you to swear," Caevia joked. "A misanthrope is an individual that dislikes or distrusts humanity."
"So Leah?" Jacob asked.
"No, Leah's just racist." Seth snickered a little and Jacob rolled his eyes.
"You still aren't teaching me any jokes."
"You know what, Jacob," Caevia said, "If you really want to make her laugh, you're just going to have to get good at situational humor and witty quips."
"What is a witty quip?" Jacob asked, getting extremely frustrated.
"They're just comments that are funny based on how they're used. Like the comment I made about Leah being racist. That was a 'witty quip'. I was poking fun at her. Hell, you probably do that all the time without even thinking. I heard from Embry she'll be teaching you how to read, so just take advantage of that time and start making humorous comments about whatever you're reading. I'll even give you one. I already know she grabbed Sense and Sensibility," Caevia said with a light giggle. "That's one of her favorites. Anyway, early in the book, a character named Fanny, or Mrs. John Dashwood as she's also referred, refers to her husband's half-sisters and how comfortable they'll be with so little things. When you get to that part, just say something like, 'Oh how considerate of her. "Imagine how comfortable they'll be," indeed.'"
"I don't get it," Jacob said.
"Of course not. You haven't read the book. But once you get to that part, just say that. I promise you'll have Renesmee in stitches."
"I'll have her in what?"
"She'll laugh really hard," Caevia said, a little louder than necessary. "We need to start teaching you figures of speech too."
"What are figures of speech?"
"They're comments and sentences that express something other than what is being directly said. Like the one I just used. I have no idea where 'have her in stitches' comes from, but it means have someone laughing really hard. Another one would be 'beating a dead horse'. That means you're referring to something that is no longer useful or relevant to any overall outcome or current issue. For instance, if I had continued to yell at you over you eating Embry's piece of geoduck, I would be beating a dead horse. You ate his food. Nothing will change that you've eaten his food, and continuing to argue about it would be 'beating a dead horse'. Do you understand?"
"Yeah, I do."
"There are a lot of figures of speech that involve horses. There's 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth', which means don't question a good thing. 'A one-horse town' refers to a really small town and can even reference that town having backwards sensibilities."
"Backwards sensibilities?"
"Outdated opinions on things. Then there's the term 'dark horse', or 'underdog' which refers to an individual about whom little is known but they unexpectedly do well or succeed. The technical term for these phrases is idioms by the way. They don't always pertain to horses, though. There's 'kill two birds with one stone' which just means getting two things done at once usually by doing one specific thing."
"I get it, I get it," Jacob said with a heavy sigh.
About that time, Renesmee came back from the woods with Sokajili carrying a basket full of flowers and herbs he'd showed her how to locate. Renesmee had chosen not to bring Caevia with her on this excursion because she was to force herself to communicate with Sokajili in Quileute to the best of her ability. She'd learned several new words that she'd have to get clarification for from Caevia or Jacob, but all in all the stroll was very educational. Jacob glanced skyward to gage what time of day it was. It wasn't quite midday yet, but it was close enough, so Jacob walked towards the pair.
"Sokajili, are you done teaching Renesmee for the day?"
"Nowhere close. Sorry, but unless it's an emergency you'll just have to wait. I need to show her how to mix these. If you want to be helpful, go get Caevia and let her know we need her back at my tent."
"What's wrong?" Renesmee asked.
"I was asking if Sokajili was done with you yet."
"I know what you said," Renesmee said proudly. "I was just asking if there was a problem." Jacob smiled at her, just as proud.
"I was just hoping you and Sokajili were done so we could start my lesson."
"No, we still have a few things to do. As soon as we're done, I'll come get you."
"Go on," Sokajili interrupted. "Go get Caevia for us." Sokajili and Renesmee walked away proceeding towards Sokajili's tent. Jacob did as his uncle instructed with a mild grimace on his face and told Caevia that she was needed at the tent. Jacob decided to keep himself occupied by finding an apple tree to lay in and snack on. They were likely the last apples of the season. Winter would officially be here before too long. He wasn't sure how much time had passed. After his tenth apple, his eyes became heavy and he fell asleep. He woke up to the feel of someone that smelled very familiar tapping him on the shoulder.
"So this is where you're hiding," Renesmee said. She was straddling the large branch that was to his left.
"Sokajili finally done?"
"For today, yes. I'm sorry it's so late, but with teaching me a craft and a language all at once, it's taking longer than I thought."
"You're learning quickly," Jacob said as he began to sit up. When his back was to the trunk of the tree, it brought the two of them at eye level.
"Indeed. But right now we're focusing on your learning. Let's get down from here and I'll show you the alphabet." Jacob maneuvered himself until he was able to jump down from the tree. He'd been really high up, so Jacob turned around expecting Renesmee was waiting for him to be ready to catch her. But Renesmee jumped and landed on her feet just like he'd done.
"How are you?" he asked moments later. "With blood I mean."
"I'm alright. I'll be alright for another month."
"Month?"
"It's a measure of time. I'll have to show you that while we're going over the alphabet too."
"Let's just do that here. Or was there something you needed at my tent?"
"No, we can just have our lesson here." Renesmee sat down at a patch of dirt she found suitable and grabbed a stick that she and Jacob could use to write with in the dirt. Jacob sat across from her as he usually did, but she patted a spot next to her. "Sit over here. I need you looking at the letters right side up."
"Right side up?" Jacob asked as he did as Renesmee instructed.
"I need you to look at the letters the way you're supposed to." Jacob took a spot next to Renesmee and smiled. Renesmee allowing the two of them to be so close was a good sign. Renesmee proceeded to write out A-Z and also wrote down numbers 1-10. "Now repeat after me." Renesmee named each letter one by one, making Jacob repeat after her and they did the same with the numbers. She decided to keep the numbers between one and ten for the time being. They could focus on larger numbers later when she started teaching him math. "There's a little song kids have for remembering their 'ABCs' as they're called." Renesmee sang the song for Jacob and made him sing it with her after that so he'd have a way to remember what she was teaching him.
"How do these letters make words?" Jacob asked after they sang through the song a third time.
"You just put them together." Renesmee cleared the dirt and rewrote the alphabet and 1-10 in smaller print and higher up so she would have some extra room. Keeping it simple, she wrote J-A-C-O-B. "That's how you spell your name." Renesmee handed Jacob the stick. "Try writing it."
Jacob took the stick when Renesmee handed it to him. She then proceeded to spend a good five to ten minutes showing Jacob how to properly hold his writing utensil. He got close enough and Renesmee promised he'd get used to it given practice then told him to write his name. His didn't come out near as elegantly. Writing his name was awkward and he didn't feel like he had control over what he was doing. Renesmee took the stick back long enough to re-demonstrate the proper way to hold a writing utensil. Then she handed it back to Jacob and used her own hand to shape his around the stick. Then she guided his hand to write his name more cleanly.
"Just keep practicing," Renesmee said. "Let's start practicing other words." Renesmee took the stick from Jacob and spelled out six simple words: Cat, Dog, Tree, Wolf, Man and Woman. Once they were spelled out she said them so Jacob would know what he was writing. Then she positioned the stick back into his hand and guided him to spell out each individual word, making him spell it out loud while he moved his hand.
This entire time, Renesmee and Jacob's proximity was much closer than it had ever been, at least by her initiation. Their shoulders touched and her fingers were touching his. It had Jacob less focused on the spelling lesson and more so on Renesmee. The smell of her hair was filling his nose and the sound of her voice had him mesmerized as he looked at her face. She didn't seem to notice he was staring at her. Renesmee guided Jacob's hand over the last word, woman, and said it out loud as Jacob just stared. When the last word was spelled out, she looked up and him and told him to get ready to spell them out again on his own. Renesmee went silent when she saw the look Jacob was giving her. To her it seemed ravenous, as if he were hungry for her and the look left her feeling mixed. She let go of Jacob's hand, leaving the stick in his hand, and began to look away, but Jacob stopped her. He dropped the stick and brought his right hand around the back of her neck. Without warning, he used his nose to gently nudge her face back towards him so he could press his lips to hers.
Renesmee stared at Jacob as he kissed her. The grip he had on her neck was firm and gentle all at once. Renesmee's hands went to his bare chest and she tried to push. The initial push wasn't enough, so she started to dig her nails into his skin. Initially Jacob didn't respond to the feel of her nails digging. He continued not to respond until Renesmee began to draw blood. He let go of her neck and Renesmee jumped to her feet. Jacob fell on his butt and just stared at Renesmee just as shocked as she was. Eventually Jacob came to his feet attempting to reach her.
"Renesmee I-"
Renesmee didn't let him finish as she slapped him clear across the face. It was enough to actually force him to side step. It wasn't as if he'd never been slapped before, but Renesmee's slap had power and strength behind it. The slap not only had the force behind it to force him back, but it also hurt 'like a son of a bitch' if Leah's lessons on swearing in the English language were to be believed. Renesmee stormed off back to the village and Jacob followed after her. When they reached the village, Renesmee saw Leah sitting with some other women doing laundry together. She tapped Leah on the shoulder as she passed and said, "I'm staying at your tent," before walking away. Leah noticed Jacob running after her and came to her feet running after Renesmee ahead of Jacob.
"What the hell do you mean you're staying in my tent? I never said you could. Stay if Caevia if you want to stay at someone else's tent."
"Caevia's a newly married woman. I wouldn't want to impose on her."
"You're alright with imposing on me though?" Leah said sarcastically. Having reached Leah's tent, she lifted up the flap and said, "Yes," before stepping in and closing the ties from the inside.