Part 6

What if we rewrite the stars?
Say you were made to be mine
Nothing could keep us apart
You'd be the one I was meant to find

Satan was in my mind, testing me the second I left him. Seeing how hurt his face was, it was haunting me. I didn't want to hurt him, but I wouldn't put myself in danger for him. White men got to make mistakes, got to lust after things they aren't allowed to and get off scot free. But no colored man could ever make that mistake… ever.

But now all I can feel is warmth against my lips from our kiss. Oh I should have ran away, I shouldn't have given in to the curiosity of him. But it didn't matter now. I was to marry Miles Rockwell in three months' time when he was finished with his first year of school. That way our families could merge. Soon I was to be Mrs. Miles Rockwell. I liked Turner better, hell I liked any name better than Rockwell. Speaking of Miles, we were expected to bond more. That meant going on drives in his car, picnics and walks. He wasn't a bad guy, but he seemed a bit too soft for me. There was something off about him, that I couldn't place.

I was in one of my white dresses, hair braided back and wearing my nice church shoes as we walked casually down the road.

"So have you always wanted to study law?" I asked. He smiled wide.

"Oh yes. One day I'm going to be a lawyer, gone fight for colored men's rights." he exclaimed quite proudly. I gave a gentle smile before it faded.

"You not worried about the dangers?" I asked and he shook his head.

"Nope. I got God on my side. That's all I need." he said before turning to me with a smile, taking my hands with hope in his eyes. "Velvet, I know I have to go off to school soon, but when I return and we get married, I'ma take you away from all this. We gone live a life of luxury in the city. You ain't ever going to have to work at all." His words made me smile, but deep inside that was a dream especially for us. But I would not be so heartless as to crush his dreams.

"Oh Miles. You're going to be a great lawyer." I replied and he smiled more.

"Promise me you won't be with another while I'm away and I won't be with anyone while I am away." he said. Great, a promise is not something I wanted make to him. But I nodded.

"Alright. I promise." I replied and he gave a happy sigh before leaning and giving me a gentle peck to my lips. It was too quick to return but I just smiled and we continued to walk on. A week later, my dad and I were at the Rockwell's getting to know their family more. Abigail Rockwell, Mile's mom was staring at me like she wanted to shoot me with a rifle. His sisters did not seem too happy by the sight of me either. All their anger and feelings made me direct it to my father for he was the one who agreed to marry us. I wasn't speaking to him a lot as of late because of this arrangement.

Their house wasn't much bigger but they sure acted like they were better than us. Lord I felt so trapped in all this longing to be free. Pa and I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

"Why am I marrying into that disgusting family?" I asked as we moved to his truck.

"Hush, they are one of the few colored of wealth in this county. You marry into a good family you'll be taken care of." he stated. I frowned as I sat down and shook my head.

"They hate me." I said and he shook his head.

"Nah they just jealous you're prettier than them." he said shooting me a crooked smile. I gave a small smile and we drove away. That night I sat on the porch staring up at the stars while the forest mimicked the sky. I could see little dots of fire up in the hills. I was sure those were bootleggers getting into trouble up there. I immediately thought of Howard again and gently touched my lips remembering our kiss yet again and tried my best not to compare it to my kiss with Miles. But of course, it was so different. It made me feel things from my chest all the way to my toes and… in between my legs. I let out a gentle sigh feeling I needed to definitely do something to take my mind off of the older Bondurant.

I went inside, grabbed a lamp and a blanket and snuck back out. The house was filled with my father's snoring and I just grinned and slipped on some slippers before heading out through the back. I used to do this as a younger child, completely scared my dad would find out, but he hadn't yet which made me want to keep doing it. It wasn't cold out, quite the opposite which I was happy about. I hurried deep into the woods to the lake. It was beautiful at this time of night and was a straight walk from the house. I hoped my dad didn't wake early. I could hear crickets and birds all around me. I was surprised I wasn't scared, but then again night can't kill me. Only man. I could hear the swishing of the water in the distance and smiled as I came to the deep lake that had the moon in it.

I smiled and looked out to see no one was near. I clutched my blanket hard and moved closer to the water. Once I was close enough, I opened the blanket and spread it out on the grass before looking around once more. No one was here. I then leaned up and began to unbraid my hair letting it come undone and then I moved my slippers off and began to take off my night gown and place it on the blanket. A cold dip would definitely take my mind off of Howard Bondurant. I kept my panties on and moved to the edge of the water keeping my hands over my breasts. I stared at the water for a moment wishing I was it… water. No expectations, no men trying to marry it. It was free to do what it wanted.

And staring at it now, I realized I didn't have to hide from it. I slowly put my hands down to my side and gave a gentle sigh as I just stared it for a moment. I then looked down at my panties before slowly reaching down to slide it off. I've seen Lucinda and some of her friends jumping in this water naked and trusted that it was fine. I stepped out of my cotton panties and just placed them on the blanket. Finally I stared at the water completely naked. Without much thought I jumped right in.

Normal POV

Howard mostly kept his thoughts to himself unless he were drinking then all bets were off. He was hanging out with Ida Bell and his friend Lenny around a fire on their side of town. Ever since Velvet left, saying what she said, the thoughts came harder than before if it was even possible. Before he was drafted, he remembered seeing her one last time.

"I may not be the man you remember if I come back." he said to her. Her smile was infectious, it lit up a room even if it was empty.

"You coming back at all will be a miracle in itself. That's all I want." she said. And now their worlds were being pushed further apart. Howard liking drinking when it was quiet so he didn't have to be so stuck in his head. Between his brother's business, and his farm, he didn't have much else to do but to drink. He would never really admit he was lonely after coming back from the war and he craved any interaction he could from those he cared for around him. He didn't feel this way before the war, because he had his brothers and he had Velvet, even if it wasn't how he actually wanted her. Secretly he felt he was courting her by walking with her and spending time with her even if it was doing a chore for her daddy or her teaching him to read. Drinking drowned out her face, but after that kiss, nothing was drowned out. He couldn't drown her out anymore and it scared him.

"Boy you sho are whipped." Ida Bell said and Howard looked at her confused glaring slightly.

"What?" he asked and she grinned slowly, already tipsy off her White Lightning.

"You heard me. Whipped over Velvet… Turner." she hiccupped. Lenny went ooh as he looked at Howard as he quickly hit the air in front of her.

"Aw I ain't nothing!" he defended taking a gulp of his whisky. He wasn't even tipsy yet but he planned to make sure he got there so he could try and drown her out tonight. How would Ida bBell even know?

"It's okay! We are a beautiful people that many have wanted since we were in chains. You can't hide the lust." she said. Howard sucked his teeth.

"It ain't lust." he said.

"AAAHHH!" both she and Lenny said pointing at Howard as if catching him in his lies.

"Well she is a pretty girl." Lenny said.

"And soon to be married." Ida Bell added. Howard was staring at the fire before them before glancing up at Ida Bell curiously.

"You hear who she's marrying?" he asked and Ida Bell nodded.

"Yeah. Preacher Abraham's son Miles. He's going to be a lawyer. He goes back to school soon. They're going to be getting married when he comes back. That's at least what I hear." she said giggling. Howard nodded before sniffling and standing up some.

"Where you going?" Lenny asked watching him.

"Going to take a piss. That okay with you?" he asked brashly only making Lenny laugh more and down his whisky. Howard trailed off into the trees not really planning to urinate but to merely get away from the laughter of the two which was seeping into his brain. Now that all he could hear was people laughing at him. He stumbled a bit pouring half of his whisky out, but got back up.

"Aw shit." he said looking back to the ground to see what he almost fell over. But it was getting darker by the second. Only the moon was all he could see before closing his eyes at the sky. The bark of the wood he could smell, the warm air made him shiver, and the sudden splashing made him open his eyes. He looked around wondering if he heard that in his head or not. He looked around before hearing a faint laughter in the night. He blinked and looked all around listening to the echoing laughter again.

Being in the war you had to learn to listen and listen good for the enemy. But this wasn't the enemy, this was something opposite. He followed the noises reminding himself that he wasn't even tipsy yet.

"I'm all here." he said to himself as he followed the, what seemed like, enchanted laughter. He was definitely hypnotized. As he followed the noises, he couldn't help but be excited some. Suddenly, he came upon a thicket and finally came upon the source of the heavenly laughter. His blinked a few times to get a good view, but all he saw was a lake that's water was so beautiful. But where did the laughter come from. He leaned up some to look around. Surely he heard something that his mind wasn't playing tricks on him because if so, he would be doubting everything around him. Before he could take a step out, something or someone was emerging from the water.

His body seemed to freeze, but not before his legs could lightly raise him so he had a clear view of the scene before him. Not only was someone walking from the water like a beautiful swim suit model, but it was the one he had been thinking about all this time. His hands went numb, dropping the bottle. For once he didn't care about wasting his alcohol. The moon illuminated Velvet perfectly and he got a full view of her… everything.

As she walked out onto the grass, she combed her fingers into her hair, causing her back to arch and her chest to push forward. Howard had seen enough naked women to be attracted to the female body, but this was an entirely different level of attraction. Her breasts were plump and round and her hips weren't wide, but she definitely had a shape. Howard's mouth dropped into a perfect O shape as his eyes came down to her crotch. Just like the curls atop of her head, she had a beautiful patch of black curls between her legs. He's felt her curls before and a part of him wanted to know if her lower curls felt just as soft. She suddenly turned and he got another view of her ass. It was perfect and round like a peach. Howard found himself silently groaning as he felt his pants tighten as he felt his erection start to grow fast pressing against his jeans.

Velvet ran to the water and jumped back in diving into it. Now she was gone and Howard waited for a moment before looking about at the water. She came back up again flipping her hair off her face. She was now waist deep in the water smoothening her hair back, and smiling to the sky. Howard was completely ensnared his hand gently making its way to his crotch where he gently began to cup the bulge in his pants. He knew this was wrong, but as Velvet gently brought her hands up to her chest and lightly curling her fingers so they laced into each other, made the excitement grow inside him. His lips pierced together doing his best not to make any noise, but the thoughts that formed in his mind along with the vision in front of him, made it too hard to resist.

He needed to be closer. Just a bit then that was it. However, he didn't see the small dip after the thicket in the earth that definitely sent him tumbling to the ground.

Velvet's POV

I hadn't been out here like this since I was a young girl. It felt nice to get away from the world and think a bit. Everything was perfect. But I knew I couldn't stay out here forever. I stared up at the sky a bit longer before suddenly I heard a loud groan and I immediately jumped as I turned to see someone rolling to the ground. Oh no! Someone saw me. I immediately hurried to the grass again trying to get to my blanket.

As I reached my things, I bawled it all up and just tossed it around me.

"Ow goddamnit!" I heard a familiar voice curse. I did a double take as I looked at the figure trying to get to his feet.

"Howard?" I asked and he finally looked up at me, hat on the ground beside him. He slowly stood up and looked at me with wide eyes.

"I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to be here." he said.

"What are you doing here?" I asked instead looking him over. He swallowed some.

"Was with some friends but needed to get away from them for a second… kind of stumbled your way I guess." he said and I looked him over unsure of what to think of him now.

"How much did you see?" I asked lowly and he winced some looking down at the ground.

"I'm real sorry Velvet." he said. I tensed now. He saw me naked, fully naked. I watched him for a moment as he shook his head looking up at me.

"I know after this night, you ain't gone want to see me again and I'd understand, but I want you to know at least, that I think you're the most beautiful woman in the world and you being a colored girl ain't going to ever change my thoughts." he said quite strongly. I felt my eyes start to water, but I immediately wiped them away as I looked away unsure of what to say. I was fighting my thoughts inside. I hated that he said voiced his thoughts and made it real. I hated myself for believing him.

"Are you drunk?" I finally asked. He lifted his head to me.

"What?" he asked.

"Are you drunk?" I asked louder and he shook his head.

"No. I'm trying, but I'm failing." he said with a quick and nervous laugh. I stared up at him for a moment once more taking in his form. His coat covered his faded red checkered shirt. Then there were just pants and boots. He never put his hat back on. I swallowed some and slowly took a step toward him. Immediately my heart began to pump hard in my chest. Once again no one was around. No one was watching. No one would know. He noticed my steps toward him and his eyes locked on mine as I approached him. I let the blanket and everything inside it fall to the ground.

"We can't do this." I said out loud but I didn't even know who I was really saying it to. Howard didn't even seem to notice my words as he opened his arms to pull me in as I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him into me and once more our lips crashed again in a violent and passionate kiss.

No one can rewrite the stars
How can you say you'll be mine?
Everything keeps us apart
And I'm not the one you were meant to find