Meeting Jackson

The cranes made their final flight over the muddy river, devouring a swarm of mosquitoes. She watched as two men cast their reels from a fading pontoon. Their mumbled voices were interrupted every now and then by the crack of beer cans. It was one of those sticky, slow nights that seemed to stretch on indefinitely. She looked up at the little white house resting above the mossy bank. The windows reflected the fading sun in shards of orange light. Haley stood there beside her, reaching for her fingertips from time to time, smiling up at her with that little half grin, just like her daddy’s. She was growing up too fast, already five, and everything about her reminded her of him.

The sun hung above the line of maples and oaks…casting a warm, lingering glow across the subdued current. She thought of the evenings she had spent with her mama on the dock when she was a child, watching the sun set and listening to the water gently lap against the muddy bank. She missed those nights. She thought that if she could go back for only a moment, she’d absorb every detail — her mama’s gentle hands, the old painted red and white fishing boat, the smell of freshly snapped Kentucky Wonders… She’d remember all of it just as it used to be.

When Blake was younger, her mama would come home from the stove manufacturing plant at night reeking of sulfur and burnt plastic. She’d kiss her good night and say, “You’re not gonna work your life away for nothing. You’re gonna get an education and do something with yourself, you hear me?” Blake would smile and kiss her cheek as she held her breath.

Her father, John, was a quiet, slim-faced man. He worked odd jobs painting houses and hanging sheetrock. He had a nervous nature about him, and that’s why, according to her mama, he couldn’t hold a job. Two weeks after Blake’s ninth birthday, he left the house on a job and never came back.

She was plagued with guilt when she left for college. She’d worked hard to get an academic scholarship at Ole Miss, but she was leaving her mama. They always had each other after her daddy left. She felt she’d always compensated for everything in some way by being a good child. Her mama was a tough woman, but Blake knew a lot of her mama’s strength came from her.

Jackson was in his second year of law school when he met her on an unseasonably warm September night. Ole Miss had shown little mercy to Tulane’s collapsing defense during the second half, leaving the Grove full of Rebel fans tipping back their red Silo cups of Budweiser in rowdy celebration. He was making his way to the Sigma Chi house for their ritual Saturday night kegger. He was still recuperating from the Delta Gam mixer from the previous night and didn’t know if he could take another drunken evening of quarter shots, but he couldn’t let the guys down.

He’d just passed Fulton Chapel when he spotted her surrounded by strewn notebook pages, sitting under a sprawling live oak. The moon was shining down in gleaming white patches through the twisted branches, casting a maze of light across her face. Her long, dark hair lifted slightly with the breeze as she pushed it back behind her shoulders, never lifting her gaze from the book resting in her lap. She was beautiful, he thought. He’d never seen her on campus before. He would have remembered her. His foot landed across a stick, causing it to crack loudly. She looked up, startled. She smiled briefly at him, returning her attention to the book.

He stuttered, “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

She looked up at him and smiled. “That’s okay.”

He smiled and walked down the sidewalk a little further before turning around.

“I don’t mean to bother you, but I haven’t seen you on campus before.”

She smiled and closed the book. “It’s a big place.”

"Yeah. That was stupid of me." He noticed her brown eyes…big and beautiful. "So, what’s your major?" He kneeled down beside her.

She held up the book and smiled. “Sociology. Social work, really. That’s what I want to do.” She looked up at his strong, muscular arms. She knew he must play sports of some kind.

“Brave soul.”

“Glutton for punishment, maybe. What’s yours?”

He hesitated before answering, “Law. Second year.”

She smiled and tilted her head. “”Uh-huh. One of those.”

He laughed. “Come on, give me a break. I’m not like most of ‘em.”

The wind gusted sharply, causing her notebook pages to spontaneously scatter across the sidewalk and under a concrete bench. He snatched one out of the air and kneeled under the bench to retrieve the rest. She stood up, stuffing the remaining pages into a blue folder. She smiled as he handed them to her, straightening them with his palm.

“Thank you.”

His hand brushed her wrist. “Anytime.”

She zipped up her backpack and tossed it across her shoulders, grabbing her hair from beneath it. “I really need to get going. I’ve got this huge test tomorrow.”

He leaned against the oak tree. “My name’s Jackson, by the way. Jackson Ellington.”

She extended her hand. “Blake Adams. Nice to meet you.” She grasped his strong, tanned hand and looked into his brilliant green eyes bordered by wisps of thick, brown bangs. Handsome, she thought. “Nice meeting you.” She ducked under a sagging limb and made her way onto the sidewalk.

He smiled. “You, too, Blake Adams.”

She looked back at him and flashed a smile.

An impulse came over him. He called out, “You wouldn’t wanna go with me to this Sigma Chi thing tonight, would ya?”

She laughed. “No. Not really my scene. And like I said, I’ve got this test tomorrow.”

He caught up to her. “What about tomorrow night? Got any plans?”

“Are you asking me out, Jackson Ellington?”

“Yeah, I think I am.”

“I don’t really date. I mean — I’m too busy with work-study and keeping my grades up. I’m here on scholarship.” She shifted her backpack.

“One date. I promise I’ll have you home early.” He lifted the backpack from her shoulder and smiled. “Can I walk with you?”

She nodded and smiled. “Okay. I’m in Crosby. It’s a pretty good walk. I’m getting my own place after this semester. I’m sick of dorm life. I don’t know what’s worse, my roommate’s incessant snoring or having to share a bathroom with twelve girls.”

He smiled. “Ah, dorm life. Don’t miss it a bit.”

The moon had emerged from a large cloud, shining down on them as they walked. He’d glance at her, noticing how remarkable her face was…high cheekbones and full lips. She’d feel him looking at her and laugh embarrassedly.

As they made their way up the hill to her dorm, he said, “I’d really like to take you out. I’m not a bad guy, despite the whole law school thing.”

“Okay. I guess you’re harmless enough.”

He smiled. “Meet you here at seven?”

“Yeah.”

He watched her as she walked past a janitor sweeping the front walk. She waved at him and smiled. ” ‘

Night, Mack.” He smiled
and tipped his ball cap. “Have a good night, Blake.” There was something about her. He had to get to know her. She was different, he thought.

He made his way across the damp lawn; looking up at the clear sky and whispered, “Think I’ll call it a night.”

After dinner, they drove out to Puskus Lake. He’d glance at her from time to time as she looked out the window. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been nervous with a girl. It always came easy to him — saying all the right things. But he was speechless around her.

She straightened her white sweater. “You come here a lot?”

He smiled. “Sometimes.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I take my boat out here sometimes. This is the first time I’ve taken a girl here.”

She laughed. “Somehow I doubt that.”

“Hey, I’m serious. I never lie.”

She winked. “That’s why you’re a law major.”

He shook his head. “I’m a good guy. I’m gonna prove it to you.”

They parked, and he got out and opened the trunk. He pulled out a blue flannel blanket.

She looked out over the shadowy water rustling softly against the bank. “It’s beautiful out here.”

He glanced out at the water. “Not as beautiful as you.”

She smiled. “You’re sweet.”

They sat on the bank, watching crappie jump to the surface of the water, producing large, rippled circles. She began to shiver slightly. He took off his leather jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. She smiled, and he reached for her hand, holding it in her lap, rubbing her fingers gently.

“I’ve never met a girl like you.”

“You don’t know me.”

“I just know. You’re so different from all those sorority girls. You just seem so real.”

“I just don’t get the whole Greek thing. No offense. I just don’t. Maybe it’s because I know they’d never let me in one.”

He laughed. “Those girls would eat you up. You’re too pretty.”

She shook her head. “See, that’s what I don’t get. It’s all so shallow. There are plenty of girls that rush and don’t get in because they don’t wear the right clothes or their parents don’t make enough money. This girl on my floor said they actually asked her if her father made six figures. It’s ridiculous.”

He laughed. “Sounds about right.”

She looked up at the sky. “So, tell me about yourself.”

“What do you wanna know?

“Where’d you grow up?”

“Biloxi.”

“Your folks still there?”

“Yep.”

“What are your parents like?”

He smiled. “Might as well tell you now. You’re gonna find out sooner or later.”

“What?”

“My father’s in politics.”

“What? Mayor or something?”

“Senator.”

Her jaw dropped. “Wait a minute — Ben Ellington? Ben Ellington’s your father? The one that’s on C-Span griping about prison reform all the time?”

He nodded. “Yup.”

She shook her head. “That’s unbelievable. Here I am, sitting with Ben Ellington’s son.”

He smiled. “So what’s your story?”

“I’m afraid mine’s not as glamorous. I grew up in a little town in Alabama. My mama raised me after my father skipped town.”

He smiled. “And now you’re here.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m glad.”

By the end of the night, he’d inched his way closer to her, wrapping his arm around her. She rested her head on his strong chest and looked across the water. Her heart raced as he would smile down at her from time to time and pull her closer into him. A boat horn sounded and startled her, and she clutched onto his chest tightly. He grinned, his green eyes shining. He lifted her chin and kissed her softly.

By the end of the semester, they were seeing each other every day. He’d wait on her after her Psychology class and they’d grab a bite to eat at Ajax and then head out to the lake. Puskus had become their special place. By November, it had grown too cold to sit on the bank so they’d crank up the heat in his car and listen to the radio, talking and holding hands until midnight. Those nights were when they could reveal themselves to each other, telling each other their dreams and fears. She told him about her mama’s breast cancer and how she was afraid it would come back. He’d tell her about how he hated having to live up to his parents’ expectations. They grew to understand and love each other completely.

A week before Christmas break, she had worked late re-shelving books in the library. He waited for her, and they drove out to the lake at around ten. He held her hand on the way, looking at her from time to time, as she’d kiss his hand softly.

He managed to pile together some dry driftwood on the bank for a fire. After several minutes, the fire caught, emitting a comforting warmth. He pulled her into him and covered her with a quilt to keep her warm. She kissed him and rested her head on his shoulder, watching the wood crack, shooting hot, red streams into the cold air. He smiled and placed something in her hand as he closed her fingers around it. She looked down at the tiny white box and smiled. She opened it. A dazzling clear diamond ring lay inside, its facets reflecting the firelight in prisms. He placed his head to hers, looking into her eyes. “You are everything to me. Marry me, Blake.”

She smiled, taking the ring out of the box and sliding it onto her slender finger, looking at him, her eyes framed with tears. “I’ve waited all my life for you.”

That night, under the stars, warmed by the fire, she lost her virginity to him, sweetly and slowly. Everything was just as she’d dreamed it would be. Afterward, he kissed her bare neck and shoulders under the blanket as she stared out across the unhurried water, thinking she could die at that moment and be happy.