AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER 12
Dean and Jonah are walking with me to go to the hardware store. We need some supplies to change the room Dean will come to live in permanently. He already kind of has his own room, but they want to make it more Dean, whatever the hell that might mean. O isn’t allowed to help. Jonah went off in an hour-long rant where he told us how extremely controlling and annoying O became when he was decorating the house, so he got vetoed. We’re on a mission to get new curtains.
“What kind of curtains were you thinking?” I ask Dean. He has his arm wrapped around my shoulder while Jonah walks on my other side, holding my hand.
“Did I need to come up with a game plan before going there?” Dean asks. “I was just going to get in there, pick some out and take them.”
“Oh thank the lord,” I blurt out, “I’m not the only one who’s naive in this relationship.” Jonah tries to hide a laugh, but fails. “Have you even taken measurements?” I add.
“Measurements?”
“Yeah, to know what size you need to get?”
“I was going to get a window sized curtain.”
My grin gets so wide it hurts, and the look of confusion on Dean’s face is hilarious.
“How the hell did you put stuff in your previous apartment?” Jonah asks.
“My sisters did it. I didn’t get a say in it. They were all like: Drill a hole here, hang this plank there, no, you don’t need more kitchen space, one kitchen is enough for one person living here.”
Now all of us are cracking up.
“So,” he continues, “I’m doing this myself. But it seems like I’ve got no clue as to what it is I’m doing exactly.”
Before I can find anything to answer, Misses Lawrey walks up to us and stands right in front of our path, her eyes wide, sucking in a huge gulp of air.
She’s one of the friends Miss Frieda and Miss Patterson play cards with, head of the welcoming committee, leader of the pie sale and organizer of the Thanksgiving parade. She’s a very religious person, which I’m fine with. There’s a lot of them in Charlington. But they’re a bit of a tight clique. You know the type, right?
Her eyes fall on where I’m holding Jonah’s hand and the way Dean has an arm around me.
“It’s true then, isn’t it?” she asks with horror on her face.
“What is?” I ask, because I don’t have a clue as to what she means.
“You’re really dating all of them!” Her face sours and somehow manages to make me feel uncomfortably warm.
I try to step out of Dean’s embrace, but he doesn’t let me go. At the same time the grip of Jonah’s hand on mine tightens.
“So?” Jonah asks.
“That’s…” Misses Lawrey starts, but she seems lost for words. “You’re a harlot!” she finally manages to stumble out.
The first thing that comes to mind is that Meggy would be so proud of me, before I get stunned by the implication. Dean’s posture changes, starting to look mad.
“So it’s okay when people who are married cheat and do everything behind closed doors, but when we have an understanding we’re all okay with, it’s something bad?” With his free hand he pushes a strand that has come out of his knot back behind his ear. He turns to Jonah. “Know what I hate? How people are always measuring with double standards. We’re all in this together, yet she’s attacking Morgan?”
Misses Lawrey looks at us, open mouthed. “I’m going to call your parents about this!”
That manages to make me chuckle. “You do that, Misses Lawrey, they’re in Indonesia right now, so please keep the time difference in mind so you don’t wake them in the middle of the night.” I’ve told my parents all about us. Not in too many details, but they know what we’re up to, and they just want me to be happy even if they think it’s a bit unconventional.
I ended the phone call when my parents started discussing if something like that would’ve been an option for them if they were born in a different era.
I’m done with the conversation and being accused of being a harlot, and want to walk on, but Misses Lawrey thinks differently about it. One of her church friends, Mister Colby, walks by and she grabs his arm.
“Frank, did you know that Morgan is dating multiple men?” she asks him. Her cheeks and ears have turned all red, and I wonder if it’s because she’s shocked or because she’s been imagining what it’s like to be with more than one man and it’s secretly turning her on. Perhaps she’s waiting to be struck down by lightning or something for her impure thoughts. I bet she got some in her time.
“Multiple men?” Mister Colby asks, his eyebrows practically disappearing in his receding hairline.
