"Really!? You mean…you are a Negro…," responded Gilligan, to the revelation about Mary Ann having Negro blood.
"Yes. Part…actually," she replied.
"But…how!?," asked Gilligan.
"My great-grandmother was…after the Civil War ended, she left Louisiana on her own when she was 19…met a man up north…they married interracially…had a daughter…my grandmother, who met a man…."
"Oh, I see," Gilligan said, his face collecting itself now. "Are there any other Negro relatives that you know of?"
"No," Mary Ann said. "They were all only children…my great-grandmother…my grandmother…my mother…who all married interracially…and me."
After a brief silence, Gilligan turned his head away for a moment, then looked back over to Mary Ann and spoke again.
"You know, I always wondered about you," he said.
"About what?", she replied.
"About how you tan during the summer months…so much so…than when I saw you in the lagoon, I sometimes had to do a double take to make sure that was you and nobody else stumbling onto the island. Sometimes, you were not always recognizable. Beautiful…. but not recognizable," Gilligan said.
"This is not a problem for you, is it?", asked Mary Ann.
"Problem? Oh, no! How could it ever be!? All that does is give me something else…something more…to love about you,", said a grinning Gilligan.
"Aww…really, Willy?", she said, her eyes and smile widening with surprised amazement.
"Yes," Gilligan said. "In fact, to tell you the truth…I always thought, in a way, that you reminded me, a little bit, of Lena Horne."
"Oh, Willy…what a sweet thing to say! I just love you so much! Thank you!", Mary Ann said, her smile beaming ear-to-ear, leaking a tear from her left eye, as she kissed her boyfriend deeply once more. "You Know, my Aunt Martha took me to see her in the movie, Stormy Weather, as a child. I always thought she was so beautiful. Still is."
"Yes, she is. She is a great singer, too," Gilligan said.
"I know. I only wish I could sing as good as her," Mary Ann sighed.
"Well, maybe you are not a good singer…but you are a good dancer, though," Gilligan said, encouragingly. "Every time I see you working around the island, whether you are doing laundry or cleaning or cooking, I see you moving around with more energy whenever a Motown song comes on the radio—more than any other music that is played."
"Thank you. Yes, Willy, I do. It always helps me with my chores and makes my days go by faster," Mary Ann said. "Although I like all kinds of music…pop…rock…jazz…blues…country…. gospel…classical…there is one particular kind of music I really like most."
"Really? What would that be?", asked Gilligan.
"Soul music," Mary Ann smiled.
"Soul? Like…Motown?", Gilligan asked.
"Yes…but more so than that…," Mary Ann said, "…there is one more brand of soul I love the most. One that, particularly, brings all those elements together."
"What is that?", Gilligan asked, curiously.
"Stax", she answered.
"Stacks, as in stacks of dishes?", Gilligan asked.
"No, dear. Stax", Mary Ann politely corrected him on. "S-T-A-X. It is a small record company down in Memphis, Tennessee. Since we have been on the island, they have really come into their own with some really great music."
"What kind of songs have they done? "Gilligan asked.
"Well, there was Gee Whiz by Carla Thomas…'Cause I Love You, by Carla with her father, Rufus Thomas…who also recorded, on his own, Walking The Dog…Last Night by The Mar-Keys…These Arms of Mine by Otis Redding…Green Onions by Booker T. and The MG's…", Mary Ann listed.
"Oh, yeah! I know that one!" Gilligan remarked.
"Yes. And since then, they have become more fertile in their output", Mary Ann said. From there, she got up and switched the station, on their newly acquired multi-band radio, from KHSL AM to KHSL-FM. She was rationed one for her hut when several of them rolled into the lagoon from a crate one day, allowing them more leeway in their radio listening. Five radios there were in total: one for each hut, the fifth kept as a spare in the supply hut (a large supply of rechargeable batteries—provided by the Thurston Howell Battery Company—was also provided in the cargo. Like the radios, the batteries worked!). Yes, Mary Ann always loved her soap operas when she relaxed during the day. However, with these radios, with AM/FM/MB/SW/VHF+PB availability, she opted for music at night…particularly once Ginger began spending more time in the Professor's hut…and once KHSL-FM launched, allowing the station to do things as program deeper LP cuts and flipsides—on nights such as this one when the overnight man, Rocky Soul, unleased Slow Stax, soul songs designed for serious slow dancing. That is when Mary Ann, secretly (at first), seriously began taking in the nights Rocky played Stax music (of all types and tempos) on the air—and other artists, from other labels, on other nights, as well. The song he was playing now on the radio: When Something Is Wrong With My Baby by Sam & Dave—their latest release.
Mary Ann turned up the radio and invited her Gilligan to dance with her. Gilligan obliged his Mary Ann, got up from the bed and joined her as the couple came together to dance to Double Dynamite's slow song.
They stayed locked in each other's arms…Mary Ann's head, with its long, thick brunette mane, long since released from the pigtails she normally wore around the island, and flowing down her back, resting on Gilligan's lean-albeit-defined muscular chest…through other slow-moving Stax dance songs…such as Otis Redding's Just One More Day…Booker T. and The MG's cover of Summertime…Don't Have To Shop Around by The Mad Lads…the aforementioned-These Arms of Mine by Otis Redding…Somebody Mentioned Your Name by William Bell…My Lover's Prayer by Otis Redding…Share What You Got (But Keep What You Need) by William Bell…Left Over Love and Don't Get Caught by Mable John….I'll Run Your Hurt Away by Ruby Johnson…and the latest release at Stax, Let Me Down Slow by Bobby Wilson.
They then went in for a deep, passionate kiss…only to be broken up by a new song debuting by an old familiar musical name: Aretha Franklin. Her odyssey at Columbia Records ended, Atlantic's Jerry Wexler brought her in, took her down to Muscle Shoals, AL, and dropped a whole new sound on everyone…a sound which was about to have a significant impact all over the world.
"This is a brand-new record from The Queen of Soul, Ms. Aretha Franklin. After all those wasted years at Columbia, it looks as if she may have something that will bring her talent out to where it belongs," Rocky Soul said over the radio. Although the Queen was not a Stax/Volt artist, this was something Rocky felt compelled to play at this time—right here…right now! Gilligan and Mary Ann both looked over at the radio to see what this new song was going to be. They got their answer.
"The name of this new Queen Aretha song…on her new label of Atlantic Records…will also be the name of her forthcoming first Atlantic album…so here it is…if you are listening…please…call up tell me what you think. The number here is 808-RNB-SOUL. The name of the song: I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)," Rocky said over the radio.
The song began…and once Aretha started singing…Mary Ann and Gilligan started kissing deeply with such fevered intensity…that they ended back up on the bed…and never left it…shedding all remaining inhibitions…losing themselves into the music…and each other.