16

I moved over towards Ray and his friends sort of shifted away from us.

"What?" I asked Ray and he sneered at me.

"Don't act like you don't know. Those fuckers are here." he replied. I shrugged and looked in their direction to see them blending in with the crowd. They didn't say much to the people and Forrest looked our way multiple times. I looked at Ray.

"So, you know they aren't that bad." I replied. He frowned.

"They insulted you and our family, almost ran us off the road, and further more got you shot," he replied and I bit my lip and looked away. He shook his head. "No. They are enemies and will forever be enemies and I aim to put a bullet through their heads to prove it."

I looked at him stunned, but not surprised by his words. He and Arliss have killed before back in Chicago. They were not strangers to the sight of death and torture. I was going to say something when I noticed Arliss was not around. I looked around now.

"Where's Arliss?" I asked. Ray smirked and tilted his forehead and I looked in the direction to see he was dancing with some young blonde girl. He kicked his legs around and smiled as the woman danced around him. Ray and I were now laughing out buts off. I have never seen him so happy.

"Eula!" I turned to see Jack moving towards me. 'Oh no Jack don't'. I put on a polite smile, but not a very big smile. I could already see Ray tense from the corner of my eyes. By now I can tell many people had gotten drunk and excited from the alcohol and the dancing. I was hoping I could stop any aggressive behavior from starting. It only took Ray and Jack to rile up Howard and Arliss and who knew maybe it would end with dad and Forrest.

"Hello Jack." I replied trying to sound respectful. He smiled and was going to reply when Ray came beside me and Jack's smile fell.

"Move on Bondurant." Ray said in a low tone. "We don't need you messing up our family time."

Jack looked a bit intimidated and cleared his throat and nodded.

"Evening Ray, I was just going to ask if your sister wanted to have some words with my brothers and I." he said kindly. Ray frowned and completely blocked me from Jack's vision and could see some people getting a bit excited about the conversation.

"My sister doesn't hang around with you or your brothers." he said bitterly as if they were the worse things on this god made earth. Jack frowned a bit.

"With all due respect she is an adult and can make her own decisions for herself." he replied. Ray squinted his eyes now and began to walk up on the young Bondurant and I tensed and grabbed Ray's shoulder.

"Ray be friendly." I said and in moments Howard was coming up behind Jack.

"Is there a problem here?" he asked. Ray looked at him now.

"How about you tell your brother to get lost? My sister is not interested in him or you little trio misfits." he threatened. Howard now moved Jack out of the way.

"You looking to get your ass beat boy?" he threatened viciously. Now the whole crowd was disturbed and everyone began to crowd them. I felt as if I should back away. I looked for the rest of my family and I couldn't see them. Would they break it up or let them fight it out. Everyone was cheering now and in seconds their coats were coming off and their fists were rising.

"Ray! Arliss!" I called out and looked for my parents to see they were cheering on with the crowd and I felt so crowded now. Were they drunk? Arliss was not too far down from them with that girl he was dancing with also cheering them on. Maybe this was what they needed. In the end, though, someone was going to be humiliated. I began to move from the crown not liking to be around mobs of white people when they were drunk and excited. That was never a good combination for any black person, whether they are proper or not. Once I was out of the crowd I hit a stern chest and gasped as I looked up to see it was Forrest. He took my hands instantly and pulled me from the crowd. We also began to move towards his truck and I looked at him now.

"Where are we going?" I asked. He didn't answer. Instead he opened the door once we were close enough and maneuvered me into the passenger's side. I wasn't sure if I was being kidnapped or not and I felt as if I should scream but as I looked back out the window I saw Howard throwing fists at Ray and everyone continued to cheer them on. Forrest got into the truck and began to start it and we began driving me from the crowd. My heart was beating now and I looked around for a second and then looked up at Forrest who seemed so calm.

"Where are we going?" I asked again with a bit of base.

"It is a Wednesday and the sun is still up. I figure we have our date tonight. Mm somewhat of an idea." he replied and then drove off the road and now we were in the forest. I was shocked by his words and the fact he had an idea for a date. This war veteran must have more to him then I thought. I tensed up a bit not sure if I was comfortable with being surrounded by the trees and not knowing where I was.

The drive was silent and I wasn't sure of what to say.

"Eula… you gonna tell me what happened yesterday? Gonna tell me why you ran away?" he asked. I looked at him with a wince.

"Do you really care?" I asked. His eyes scanned the road.

"You are my woman and I care for you more than I care about the bootlegging business I'm in." he replied. His words touched me a bit and I shrugged.

"Memories I guess. But they are all in the past. My parents are dead and they're never coming back." I replied softly yet strongly as well. He replied with a simple hm sound and for a second he looked so calm as if he didn't care but after a second his right hand moved slowly to my left thigh and he rubbed it slowly and soothingly and I smiled at him.

"So tell me Forrest, does my father know you have taken me?" I asked with a chuckle already knowing he didn't and he nodded.

"Yes." he replied. I was shocked by his answer and I leaned forward a bit.

"He does?" I asked wondering if he was joking, but Forrest Bondurant never joked around.

"Uh I confronted your father while he was drunk and asked him if I could talk to you and through all of his laughter he said yes. That's what I went off of." he replied. I blinked with shock and chuckled, holding on to my necklace for a second.

"He will be angry with you later." I told.

"Hm. He said yes that's all I care about." he replied and I noticed we were on a hill like trail and I decided to stop asking where we were going because I wanted this to be a surprise now.

"What about your brothers? Won't they need a ride home? Will we be back in time before anyone notices we're gone?" I questioned. He shook his head.

"We'll come back in the morning. My brothers know where our bar is." he replied. I only nodded and then he took one more turn and then parked the truck and I looked around and noticed logs stacked on each other in front of a large tent and I mean a large tent. Now I was curious of what plans Forrest Bondurant had for us.

(Authors Notes)

Okay so now things are heating up more for the secret couple. Hope you all have been enjoying the story and I thank Paradoxical Warpath and you guests for your comments as well. The bigger drama will arriving soon! ^.^