Location: New Haven, Connecticut
Date: November 14th, 1949
Name: Stephen Dale Curtis
Age: thirty-nine
"Eleanor! Stop running!" Dale yelled as he followed her out of the room. He wanted to talk to her about what just happened, but it seemed like she had other plans.
Eleanor whipped her head towards Dale and her face showed all of her emotions. "Why?" Her voice cracked as she spoke, tears clouding her vision. She wanted to stay and just be in Dale's arms again, but it wasn't that easy.
Dale walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Eleanor, don't run away from what just happened. Don't run away from me," He wanted her to stay. They didn't have to even talk, he just wanted to be with her.
The tears that formed in Eleanor's eyes had now fallen and she took a deep breath to calm her heart. "Dale, I-i have to think about this," She whispered. "I have to think about this alone," With those final words, Eleanor removed herself from Dale's arms.
Dale didn't chase her because he knew that she needed to think. She needed to clear her mind, and he wasn't upset about it. He knew that they would get nowhere if both of their minds and hearts weren't all in.
-
She didn't know what to think, she didn't know what to say. She only knew that everything she once knew was now scrambled.
"Eleanor, dear, would you like some hot cocoa?" Mildred asked when she heard the door open.
Eleanor didn't respond, her mind was too scrambled to even put words together.
"Eleanor? Are you alright?" Mildred walked out of the kitchen with two cups of cocoa and took a seat next to Eleanor.
Mildred started to panic at the lack of awareness from her daughter. "Honey," She said and shook her body a little.
"Oh," Eleanor murmured and took the mug from her mother's hand.
Mildred wrapped her arms around Eleanor and pressed a kiss onto her temple. "You want to tell me what's wrong?"
Eleanor sighed and tried to figure out where to start. "I feel like everything that I know is a lie," She whispered. "Michael lied to us. Dale told me what really happened, Michael called me freaky, and Dale punched him for saying that about me. He defended me," She bit her lip and shook her head.
Mildred hummed and pressed for more information. "That was very thoughtful of him. But why are your eyes red and your face is streaked with tears?"
"I told Dale about what Michael said about me, and it just hurt to relive that day. His words cut me to the core even if I don't believe it now, but when I do feel insecure, that's how I feel. Like no man will want to stick around long enough to truly know me, and truly love me." Eleanor admitted while trying to keep her tears at bay.
Mildred's heart hurt at Eleanor's honesty. She didn't know that Eleanor felt that way. "My sweet Hazie, there will be a man who will come along and be worthy of your heart. It takes a truly dedicated heart to search out a matter. Which means that your one can't just be any man, he has to be someone who has the endurance and patience to truly love you right," Mildred reassured her daughter. "What happened after you cried?" She pressed.
Eleanor's cheeks warmed up and she tried to decide if she would tell her mother what happened. "Dale hugged me and told me that Michael was just upset because he would be missing out on someone like me,"
Mildred smiled. "A change of heart at its finest, God is so good." She hummed and Eleanor nodded. "Did anything happen after that?" She asked simply wanting to know more.
Eleanor's eyes widened and she looked around the room to avoid making eye contact with her mother. "Uh, he called me beautiful and he kissed me," She blurted quickly and exhaled.
"Slow it down and say it once more," Mildred said with a stern look on her face.
Eleanor turned away from her mother and squeezed her eyes shut. "He called me beautiful and then he kissed me," She muttered and her mother gasped.
"Well, did you kiss him back?" Mildred asked curiously. The news of him kissing Eleanor came as a shock, but she saw it coming.
Eleanor nibbled on her lip and nodded. "What happened after that?"
Eleanor shot up from her seat and began pacing just as she did in Dale's classroom. "Something fell and I ran! I never expected to cry in his arms, I never expected him to kiss me. I-i didn't know what else to do, mama." She admitted and stopped her pacing. "I enjoyed every second of it, mama, that's what scared me. He made me feel alive," She laughed softly and a gentle smile rested on her face.
"My sweet, just keep your heart open to whatever may happen. Sometimes the best things come out of unexpected things, just ask God to show you." Mildred advised her daughter and walked out of the living. She wanted Eleanor to have time to think by herself.
Eleanor walked to her room and kneeled by her bed.
"I-i'm so confused, God. Please order my steps and show me what I need to do. Tell me what to do, and I will obey You." She prayed and sat in the silence of her room.
She wanted God to drop an instruction book on her lap. She needed His guidance more than ever. She had so many reservations and fears.
-
"Are you alright, Dale? You seem a little off," Pastor Kevin asked as he watched Dale work on the leaky ceiling in his office.
Dale turned away from his toolkit and shook his head. "I'm fine, Kevin." He answered with a sharp tone and went back to his tool kit.
Pastor Kevin sighed. He could tell that Dale had a lot on his mind. "What's wrong?" He asked once more.
Dale dropped his hammer and sat on the bottom of his ladder. "I kissed my colored student and she ran away from me," He blurted out and ran his hand across his face.
Pastor Kevin's eyes widened at Dale's confession. He never thought that Dale would kiss a student, better yet a colored.
"Did she kiss you back?" He asked after regaining his composure.
Dale nodded and his eyes narrowed at the memory of holding her close. "Yeah, she did."
"How old is she? I don't want you robbing no cradle,"
Dale laughed and shook his head. "I don't know, she looks twenty-one." He admitted and Pastor Kevin sighed.
"She's eighteen years younger than you? Dale, I'm gonna be honest. That's a big gap, does she like you as a person? Are you kind to her and have you shown her that you care?" Pastor Kevin wanted Dale to do things right with this young woman.
Dale nodded at Kevin's hesitation. "I understand how you feel, I know that she's young, but there's something about her. We both had problems with each other when we met, she hated white men and I let my pride get in the way of seeing her as a beautiful young woman. I realized after saving her from being raped that she is more than a sassy colored woman, she was vulnerable and I felt the urge to protect her and after that day, I'm not gonna lie, I still let my pride get in the way, but one day I couldn't. She was too precious for me to treat her wrong,"
Pastor Kevin didn't know much about coloreds, he only knew that his people had lots of problems with them. "This woman needs to know that you aren't playing with her, she has to know that you're serious about her. Are you?" His eyebrows rose as he waited for Dale's answer.
Dale smacked his thigh and looked at Pastor Kevin incredulously. "I think I've been serious about her from the day we met. I knocked her down in the hallway by mistake and when I looked down, she was so beautiful. She owned my thoughts from that day on," He muttered with a far-off look in his eyes. He regretted letting his pride get in the way, now he had to pay for it.
"Be be patient with her. Show her that you truly do care for her, be affirmative with her. She needs to know by your actions that you aren't just trying to cure some kind of jungle fever," He explained and Dale glared at him.
"Don't say bull like that. I ain't got no jungle fever, Eleanor ain't some kind of experiment or a test trial." Dale spat and clenched his fists to keep from knocking out his pastor.
Pastor Kevin threw his hands in surrender and took a step away from Dale. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I just meant that she needs to know without a doubt that you want to be with her, and that you'll protect her from the harsh world." He said with a cautious smile. He didn't want Dale to think he was being rude. Dale was a little dangerous.
Dale nodded and thought about what Pastor Kevin said. He would always protect Eleanor, even before he admitted his feelings for her, he wanted her safe no matter how sassy she was.
Without another word, Dale went back to working on the ceiling. He had a lot of planning to do in order to win Eleanor's heart. He wanted to court her right.
He knew that it wouldn't be easy though, Eleanor's reservations all came with truthful fears behind them. He wanted to show her that all white people weren't evil.
He was going to try and succeed.
Or he was going to die trying, literally.
-
Authors Note
Dale said he'd kill a man for Eleanor. Well....he didn't exactly say that, but still!
I loved this chapter💃🏽
Eleanor was not ready to deal with what happened. Her head is spinning and I completely understand. Just three months ago, she and Dale were basically enemies. Now they're kissing! It's crazy
How did y'all like how Mildred handled the news of the kiss?
How about Pastor Kevin and Dale's talk? Dale was going to bash Kevin's head in for saying it could be jungle fever👊🏻 as he should😌
As usual tell me your thoughts! What's do you think is going to happen now? Will they work things out? Will Dale visit Eleanor? Will Eleanor avoid Dale? Tell me!
Bye! 👋🏽