THE SOUL OF MARY ANN CHAPTER 4
Mr. and Mrs. Thurston Howell, III, were out taking their late morning lesirurely stroll through the island, heading towards the lagoon, as they always did. A few weeks had passed since the Kincaid ordeal, and life on the island was more harmonious than ever. Today, they were walking together, hand-in-hand, smiles aplenty. Mr. Howell had his straw hat on, ascot around his neck, short-sleeved shirt, kachki trousers; Mrs. Howell had her perichat over her head, resplendent in her makeup, wearing a blue and pink floral dress. As they reached the bushes near the lagoon, they were startled by a very loud scream coming from that area.
"TRAMP!", the person, sounding very female, cried.
"Good heavens, Thurston," Lovey, his wife, asked. "What is that?"
"Sounds like someone very upset about something", he ansered his wife.
They stopped to listen in what all was being said to understand things better before going forward.
Turns out, there were two voices coming from the lagoon. One, male…the other, female.
The woman was going on about how the man had no money, sharp clothes or hats to wear. The man could only reply with megar things he had in comparison to what the woman wanted…or expected.
"Dear heavens, Thurston," Lovey said. "The young woman sounds so disappointed. It seems as if she has no respect for this man because of what he doesn't have."
"Well, if this man said he had all these things, she believed him, and he actually has nothing…then maybe she has a right to be upset at him, dear," Thurston said, unaware of how prophetic his deduction turned out to be.
The billionaire and his wife continued to listen in on the exchange for a little while longer…before the woman became so insenced with the man she was trying to talk to…that The Howells decided, right at that point, to intervene.
"All right, stop it! This instance! That is enough," Thurston said, finally forwarding to the lagoon, with Lovey, to see Gilligan and Mary Ann, taking a brief break, while doing some fishing in the area, finishing the bantering which marked the song they happened to be listening to on the radio, which had just ended.
Suddenly falling back out of character, and back into each other, after the song ended, the younger couple turned to welcome the older couple upon their emergence.
"Hi, Mr. Howell, Mrs. Howell," Gilligan politely welcomed, as Mary Ann waved in unison alongside her boyfriend.
"Egads! What are you two fighting about!?", Mr. Howel asked.
"Oh, we weren't fighting, Mr. Howell. We were acting out the song," Mary Ann answered.
"Really?," Mrs. Howell retorted. "It sounded like you two were having an argument.
"Oh, no, Mrs. Howell. It was a song we just heard on the radio. A duet," Gilligan answered.
"A duet?", said Mr. Howell.
"Yes. See, in this song, it is a spoken word exchange between a man and a woman," Mary Ann explaned. "The woman is so incensed with the man, who says he has all these things…clothes, shoes, hats, money…but when she finds out he has none of those things…she calls him out on everything. It is a really fun song."
"Oh really," Mrs. Howell said. "What is the name of this song, dear?"
"Tramp," said Gilligan, smiling.
"What did call my my wife, young man?", Mr. Howell fumed, moving towards a Gilligan who never flinched, nor budged, as the older man came towards him.
"Oh no, Mr. Howell, that is the name of the song. Tramp." Mary Ann concurred her Gilligan on, sliding between her boyfriend and the billionaire. "It was a major hit earlier this year for Lowell Fulson and now, it is being covered by Otis Redding and Carla Thomas on their new Stax album of duets, King and Queen."
"King and Queen, eh?", Mr. Howell said.
"Yes, sir," Gilligan said.
"King and Queen of what?" Mr. Howell wondered aloud.
"Well, Otis is regarded as the King of Soul by many," Mary Ann said, "while Carla is known as the Memphis Soul Queen."
"Oh, really? I sure would love the see the cover of that album," Lovey said.
"I know. I bet it is a nice one," Gilligan said.
"So, tell me, do you two usually do this, playing along with the music when certain songs come on the radio?", Mr. Howell asked.
"Sometimes," Gilligan said. "In fact, here comes one now…"
On that note, Mary Ann turned up the radio as the younger couple started in on the Marvin Gaye-Kim Weston duet on Motown's Tamla label, It's Takes Two. The two used short banboo sticks as makeshift microphones, Mary Ann lip-scynching Kim's verses, Gilligan lip-synching Marvin's verses.
As the song continued, The Howells actually got into things with the young pair, actually being entertained and enjoying the performance. Through it all, the elder wealthy couple could not help but notice a few things about them.
One, Gilligan was really doing such a fine job with his dancing that he was, unbeknownstly, displaying the posturing that Marvin Gaye, himself, was wont to display whenever he performed in concert or television.
Secondly, Mary Ann was doing such a fine job with her lip-synching that she looked as if she were actually singing and that Kim's voice was actually, instead, that of the Kansas farm girl, herself.
During the instumental bridge, Mary Ann and Gilligan also briefly, albeit openly kissed each other, on the lips, like the couple THEY really were.
The Howells, while enjoying their performance, and appreciating what they were doing, could not help just how fluid and natural Mary Ann looked and felt during It Takes Two. It was as if the farm girl they met that fateful day aboard the Minnow was strutting more like a bold soul sister descended from New Orleans (as she actually was).
When the song ended, the Howells confronted the young couple.
"I have to say," Mr. Howell said, "you two are on to something. The way you two come alive during those songs is tremendous!"
"Yes. And you two have such wonderful, loving chemistry. It is as if you two really belong together," Mrs. Howell said.
"Thank you, both," Mary Ann replied.
"Yes. That is very nice of you two to say that," Gilligan concurred.
"Yes, darlings. And it is not just the singing we're talking about, either," Mrs. Howell, said.
"It isn't?", Gilligan asked.
"No. It is more than that, see…?" Mr. Howell replied.
"How so?", asked Mary Ann.
"What Thurston means, dear, is that you two clearly have a special love for one another. We can see it in your eyes, how you both connect, and how much in harmony you both are," Mrs. Howell said.
"Gee, you see all that in us…from this, Mrs. Howell?", Gilligan asked.
"Yes, my dear. I sure do," Mrs. Howell said, smiling.
"So do I," Mr. Howell concurred, also smiling.
Gilligan and Mary Ann both look at each other, with small smiles on their faces, then looked back at The Howells with returned smiles, standing arm-in-arm with one another.
"Well, if you two will excuse us, Lovey and I will be running along and back to our stroll," Mr. Howell said.
"Yes, we'd better get back and finish our fishing," Gilligan said.
"Yes, we are almost finished," Mary Ann said, turning up the radio to hear Cannonball Adderly's jazz instrumental, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.
"Say, Thurston, darling, isn't that Julius playing in the background?", Mrs. Howell asked, calling Cannonball by his given name, as she and her husband turned and exited the lagoon…
"You mean, Cannonball, my dear? Yes, it is," Mr. Howell said. "I know that saxophone anywhere."
"I know you do, darling," Lovey said. "I know you do."
As The Howells walked away, arm-in-arm, smiling…Mary Ann and Gilligan sat down and resumed their fishing, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder…as Cannonball gave way to a brief station interdule by afternoon soul sister, Lanie Johnstone, who then brought up The Marvelettes' latest hit single, "The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game. As the song played, Mary Ann hauled in a big fish, assisted by her boyfriend. While she was reeling in the red sea catfish, Mary Ann lip-synched Wanda Young's lead vocal all the way through, adding the fish to their collection, while finishing up with a kiss on her Gilligan's lips.
Meanwhile, as The Howells walked away from the lagoon, the Professor and Ginger looked on from another distance near the area, behind bushes, hugged up with one another in their very own loving embrace. They both looked on admiringly at their younger island couple counterparts.
"There they are, dear. Don't they look cute out there together?", Ginger asked.
"Yes, they do, my love," Professor Roy answered.
"You know what, darling? ", Ginger said.
"Yes, sweetheart?", Roy replied.
"I think I am ready to have that talk with Gilligan now," Ginger said.
"Are you sure?", Roy asked, stroking the lovely, flowing red hair on the left side of his honey's face.
"Posiitive. I have given this a lot of thought. I am ready to do this" Ginger admmitted, resting her left hand on her lover's chest.
"Okay, then. We'll set it up for this afternoon," Roy agreed.
Roy and Ginger then shared a kiss of their own before heading back to camp to set up their meeting with Gilligan.
As they walked away, Gilligan and Mary Ann were gathering their fish gets as they prepared to head back to camp themselves.