Boswell, LaVenia (18 page)

            Various women in his family took her aside and warned her, though lovingly, to ‘not let him have his way with her’ before the wedding.  She tried to assure them he was always a gentleman.  They kept insisting that men would be men and she would have to be extra vigilant in her refusals to him, as men once engaged felt it gives them license to start the honeymoon early.

            If they only knew!  She thought this more than once with a smirk.  It wasn’t her they needed to protect - it was their dear moral prone Jason.  Her handsome, masculine, virile saint of a fiancée was having a heck of a time keeping her at arms length.  He’d been resisting her pretty good so far, but she knew in her heated blood that simmered more and more when around him that the going was going to get tough for him, she just felt it in her bones.

            Jason was driving them both to school insisting he enjoyed picking her up each morning. 

            There was only a few months of school left to go, but these were full of tests and aggravations.

            They shared two classes together and
Salina
was in one of them.       “Hey, soon to be married lady,”
Salina
said by way of greeting Jennifer the first day back at school once the engagement was announced.

           
Salina
was a little miffed at Jenny for messing up all their university plans for apartment sharing.

            Marcus came bounding into the classroom right on
Salina
’s heels.  When he saw her talking to Jenny he gave her one of his biggest grins.

            “Yeah, boy, you just keep on grinning.  Huh, like some monkey!  It ain’t gonna get you anywhere,”
Salina
warned.  Rolling her eyes at Jennifer she said in a lower voice, “The crazy guy’s got it in his head that since you and me won’t be sharing an apartment together that he would like to take your place in the offer.  Fool ain’t got a lick of sense.”

            “Now,
Salina
,” Marcus said with an amused laugh, “tell the truth.  You need me baby - for protection.  I heard you talking and saying you were scared to live alone.  Well, I’m not a tadpole or a coward.  Besides, I thought we had a thing going, you and I.  I am now absolutely willing to let you have your way with me, completely, like you’ve been wanting so badly.”

           
Salina
looked like a she might begin tearing her hair out, so Jennifer said, “Marcus,
Salina
might enjoy your friendship, but that doesn’t give you permission to be so crude.”

            “Crude?!” Marcus exclaimed acting baffled and stretching his eyes.  “I’m offer up my
whole
body to her.  I’m willing to become her jubilant and ever lovin’ boy toy.  Her personal love slave.  What’s crude about that?”  His grin revealed he knew he was making the girls fume.  Even Jason snickered a little.

            “Really, though,” Marcus began in more seriousness, “I really would like to share the apartment.  I can’t afford going it alone and me thinks my folks have a renter for my room at home already.  Sis is moving back in after breaking up with her second hubby and is dragging her three screaming kids with her.  I can’t take the noise, honestly!  You got’ta help me.”

           
Salina
, stated, “Welllll, if you are actually serious . . . .  We’ll need to find another roommate too.  It’s a three bedroom apartment and dividing the utilities three ways will make it more affordable for each of us.”  She stared at Marcus for a moment before adding, “And . . . you have to promise to be on your best behavior.  No crudeness, grossness, rudeness, loud music, burping or other nasty body noises.  And . . . hands off my gorgeous bod.”

            Jason leaned across the isle to Jennifer and said, “Sweetheart, I have to leave a little early today after fifth period.  Do you mind taking the bus or catching a ride with
Salina
?” He had an appointment with a jeweler to pick out her wedding present from him.

            “No prob.  What up?” she asked surprised that he was cutting out early.

            “Oh, secrets, my love,” he answered with a mischievous smile.

            Why was he being so mysterious she wondered?  Then decided it must have something to do with their wedding.

            Marcus and
Salina
seemed to actually enjoy each other – most of the time, Jennifer realized, as she watched their eyes when they were talking or irritating one another.  Yes, there were sparks, and like she had been, poor
Salina
wasn’t even aware of it.  Before
Salina
actually lets Marcus be a housemate she needed to talk with her and give her a heads up.

            Many of her female classmates gathered around Jennifer to look at her engagement ring.  Most were envious. 

            Jason had seemed so oblivious to all their flirting over the years that some girls and maybe even a few guys thought he was just staying in the closet.  The flirting had come from the bravest of them, for Jason had a persona of being a bit of a stuffed shirt, in their eyes.  None of them had ever seen him smile so much or so easily as he was doing now.  Hearing him laugh even stunned a few speechless.  Their scuttlebutt included the fact that he came from money and was slumming at their school as a lark.  Jennifer was just so lucky.

12 – MARRIAGE LOOKS IMPOSSIBLE

As their pre-marriage counseling continued it finally came time for their Engagement Encounter weekend counseling session.  It was to be a whole Saturday and Sunday experience at one of the church’s special campuses for religious retreats.

            Jenny was a complete wreck, still feeling sure and certain they would kick her out for her lack of faith in their god.  Although, she had prayed every night, because a promise was a promise and now she intended to continue doing so until they were married, out of respect for her Jason.  It was a short prayer mostly but she did ask a lot of questions on other nights.  Still, Jason’s god wasn’t doing any answering, not that she was actually expecting any.

            Jason called this engagement encounter their first weekend retreat as a couple and had nervously assured her there would be others throughout their years of marriage.  He even sought her agreement to it before they arrived.

            Jenny said, “Sure.”  Whatever made Jason happy made Jennifer happy.  Her adoration of him was growing by the second.  He was unlike anyone she’d ever met and he was all hers.  She also knew if it ever began to bother her over much, attending retreats with him, then she would put the brakes on, and he would see her reasoning and not make her go.  He was thoughtful and generous to a fault.

            The idea of them heading off to a religious retreat didn’t sit well with her dad, not at all.  Jason tried to convince Jenny’s dad they were not sneaking out to be alone together over night as they all knew he thought.  Father Jose finally called and spoke with Mister Franks when it was evident he didn’t believe a church would require a weekend retreat for engagement counseling.  The women would be together and the men separated for the overnight stay.  Mister Franks still didn’t like it but he finally gave his permission for Jenny to go.

            When they arrived at the
Diocesan
Center
for Family Life Jennifer was almost shaking with nervousness.  No matter what Jason said or how he tried to reassure her she felt sure and certain they were gonna forbid him to marry her.  So, she began the retreat feeling tense and defensive.

            They were there with eleven other engaged couples, eight were young like them, an older couple, which surprised Jenny to no end and two couples were in their late thirties or early forties.            

            The counselors were a couple in their forties and seemed to be filled with genuine excitement over everyone’s arrival.

            Over the weekend they would help facilitate the couples to reflect and share an awful lot of information about themselves to their prospective spouses.  To help them share things that might have taken years to discover otherwise.  Jenny was surprised and happy by this idea.

            Jason explained to her that free of distractions of daily life and their usual pressures this gave them the opportunity to reflect upon their real relationship to one another single-mindedly.

            Jennifer ended up being as honest as she knew how in discussing her feelings about family, money, sex and children.  When they asked her what she saw her goal to be as a wife to Jason, she replied, “The most loving and supportive partner he could ever have.  A wife who seeks his happiness and well being at all times.”

            They discovered some of their individual weaknesses as well as those areas where they were strongly united.  Jenny’s greatest weakness, as far as a couple’s unity was concerned, was her lack of faith.  Yet, no one saw that as a total hindrance.  It was a serious stumbling stone for most marriages they admitted without hesitance, but it was certainly not insurmountable.  Especially with two people honestly willing to compromise with one another.  The other biggie for Jenny, as to her weaknesses, was her tendency to pinch a dollar, much more than most.  The term misery was mentioned a time or two with laughs. 

            Jason’s situations to deal with were his absolute immovability in matters of faith and morals, or so the report decided.  He simply knew you didn’t waver on either, not in his world. 

            Jenny actually defended him when it was mentioned, saying that he was a man of True faith and other than it making things a bit strained for them morally right now, well, that was just fine.

            Jason’s love look at her when she said that made her bones melt into a puddle at his side.   Yeah, morality sure could be a real stain, she muttered to herself, but was proud of her defense of him all the same.

            When it came to how they both felt about their roles in society and the church and how their lives were to be lived, Jennifer feared her answers would make her fall by the wayside. 

            Society she could manage, but she refused to claim she was a Christian.  She told them openly, with Jason’s encouragement for her to be forthright, that although she was an atheist, her mind was not totally and forever closed to the
slim
possibility of a Creator God.  For her to accept such a thing he or she would have to make them self known to her in a clear and irrevocable way.

            The group all suggested she was not a real atheist but was actually now agnostic, much to her surprise.

            When they asked if she would allow any children they may have to enter the church and to be brought up under Jason’s faith and teachings, she paused. 

            Jason was holding his breath for this was a vital aspect of their marriage. 

            Jenny looked intently into Jason’s eyes for a short while then turned toward the group and stated in all honesty, “My Jason is the most pious, religious, wonderful human being on this earth.  If he wants our children to share in his faith, and I know he will, then I will encourage them to go and listen to their father.  I wish I had his peace, but I don’t.  His faith brings him contentment and peace.  I’ve been watching that for years and been in awe of it.”

            When it was time for them to discuss family planning, and the lecture began, Jenny was taken aback at what she was hearing.  She actually heard Jason moan when he saw the look on her face.

            She had noted a couple of the other women snorting too when the topic began, and it seemed all the men were sitting in an ant bed.