THE SOUL OF MARY ANN CHAPTER 3
Next door, in The Professor's hut, he and Ginger were locked in another one of their deep, passionate kisses…when they heard Queen Aretha's new Atlantic debut single coming from next door in the girls' hut, presently occupied by Gilligan and Mary Ann. The familiarity of her voice caused a rare pause in their lovemaking.
"That voice…it sounds famliar…" Professor Roy said.
"Yes, darling," Ginger said. "That is Arteha Franklin. The Queen of Soul."
"So, you are familiar with who she is," he replied.
"Yes, I am, dear. She did a few jazz records years ago. But they never really went anywhere," Ginger said.
"Is this one of them?", he asked.
"I don't think so," she said. Ginger, never one to bed with clothes on, got up naked, went over to the multi-band radio her boyfiend kept in his hut, turned it on, and fiddled around with the dial…switching between both AM and FM…until tuning in to KHSL-FM, and finding the song Queen Aretha was singing.
"I've never heard this song before," Ginger said.
"Maybe it's a new release, my love," Roy said.
"Well, whatever it is…it sure sounds haunting. That organ in the background…it's stirring something inside of me…," Ginger said panting as a glowing mist was suddenly coming over her nude, white voluptuous body. Her femininity was simmering from head to toe.
"I know. I have to admit…even I am feeling this, too…" Roy confessed. Seeing his woman standing up , glistening in heat, was enough to raise his manhood instantly. Holding his outstetched, musclar arms forward, Ginger went right back into her lover's embrace and onto him then and there.
Granted, not that these two ever needed any mood music to make love to one another, this new sound from the Queen's new single release brought them to places they never, ever thought they could ever go. Yet, somehow, they were about to find more things out about themselves they never thought possible.
One was in Ginger's very own exquisite singing voice. As Queen hit her high notes at the end, Ginger found herself, in the heat of ecstacy, wailing notes she never hit—or thought she could—in her life!
The other was in how Roy found a new verile stamina he never knew he could have. The heat in the hut was so intense that they were both soaking wet in sweat in no time.
As they both laid back in Roy's bed, in the buff, they just listened softly to the music playing in the background on KHSL-FM when a song came up which changed the mood considerably.
As Rocky Soul was fielding calls on I Never Loved A Man—all of which were overwhemingly affirmative: the phone lines lit up non-stop—he also paused to allow a new set of callers, while playing another Stax Slow Soul song, Crying All By Myself, by William Bell.
Midway through the song, Ginger suddenly started sobbing.
"My dear, what's the matter?," Roy asked.
"Oh, it's Gilligan," she said, through her tears.
"What about him, honey?", Roy asked.
"Well, I have been thinking about him these past few days, ever since this ordeal with Kincaid," she answered.
"Exactly in which way?", Roy asked, turning to look at his girlfriend.
"Well, to be quite honest…I really did not think he was going to make it out alive when he was being hunted by Kincaid," she said. "I did not have any confidence in him."
"Really?", Roy asked.
"No. To be honest with you, darlng…I never had much confidence in Gilligan, at all", Ginger confessed. "All along, I took advantage of his naivete for years, not even seeing him as a boy…let alone a man…only using him for to take and get what I needed…and wanted. ln the beginning, he ever was to me was a means to an end. I openly mocked him with my seduction, knowing he was not strong enough to withstand me. "
"Really? He meant that little to you?," Roy said, looking at her seriously.
"Yes. In fact, the lyrics to this song have made me wonder if Gilligan maybe went off crying all by himself, considering the way we have all treated him at times, over the years. Yet, these past few days, something has happened to change my opinion of him," Ginger said.
"Was it in the hunt? The chase? His survival?." Roy asked.
"The fact he survived was one thing. Another was in the chase, dear. But the one that got me was how he stood up for Mary Ann," Ginger said. "When he talked about how he took on Kincaid and dared him on, the way Gilligan fought him off, and defended Mary Ann, in the end…that was the first time that I truly saw him as a man." Ginger began to sob once more.
"Are you having any thoughts about Gilligan in any new kind of way?", Roy asked.
"Yes, I am," Ginger confessed. "I realize that, underneath that naive exterior roars a quiet courage I did not know he could ever have."
"Well, dear love, the man was in the Navy. That takes quite a bit of courage right there. You may not have seen it…or just did not want to," Roy said. "You may see those things in Skipper, being that he is a war veteran, his age and size notwithstanding. You may even have respect for Mr. Howell, given his immense wealth and his status in the businessworld—very much the respect you have had for me as an academian since when we first met. However, Gilligan, not even half the man the Skipper is, as wealthy as Mr. Howell, or even as learned as I am, found the courage in rising to the challenge Kincaid presented and went on to win in the end. Now, I have to admit, I, too, have had my doubts about Gilligan over the years…but also he showed me a lot out there. And, with that, I have a new found respect for him now, as well."
"Actually, so do I," Ginger confessed, drying her eyes. "And all those years I saw him as scrawny…I have been noticing lately how Gilligan is growing into his body, becoming more fit…muscular. He has come a long way, darling."
'Yes, he has," Roy said. "Have you ever thought about telling him how you feel?"
"Maybe," Ginger confessed. "You think I should?"
"Honey, that is up to you," Roy said.
"Well, if I decide to do so, would you please come with me to tell him?," Ginger asked.
"Yes, I will, my love," Roy said. "I will always be by your side…no matter what."
On that note, the two lovers held each other in their arms, Roy kissing a stray tear away from Ginger's cheek, listening to Carla Thomas close out the Slow Stax hour with Comfort Me.
Meanwhile, next door, Mary Ann and Gilligan continued to sleep peacfully in each other's arms, blissfully unaware about the convesation Roy and Ginger had while Comfort Me played on the radio in the girls' hut. Upon Gilligan's face was the smile of a confident young man laying in bed with the woman he loved…locked in with the woman who loved him.