Forbidden love

Their hands intertwined tightly.  She could feel the sweatiness of his palm rubbing against hers.  As he peered down at her she could see the questions in his eyes?  “Are you sure you’re ready for this, we both know this isn’t going to be easy!”  “Bobbie, when has anything ever been easy for us, our love will always be hard.  I love you and nothing is ever going to change that!”

When were people going to get it?  She felt the rage burn within her!  Hadn’t anyone learned anything from the sixties?  Times had been bad, extremely bad, especially with the Ku Klux Klan and their burning crosses, lynches and blowing up churches.  All of the race riots, so many people thrown in jail, maimed or killed, it had been a terrible time!

Living so far away all she could do was watch from afar. In her own small way she worked hard for change.  She had taken part in local marches, went to rallies and even published a few articles!  She had always been a rebel, fought for what she believed was right.  What the hell was wrong with the world?  Things had to change; Martin Luther King Jr. had died for the cause.

Times they are a changin, Bob Dylan’s anthem isn’t that what everyone had sang about back in sixty-four?  How fired up they all had been.  How full of hope that the world would come to its senses. But people are slow to change as she had found out.

And now looking down at their hands locked together so tightly, her skin so white, his so black, she was reminded again of what people hated about them. Well too dam bad, the cost was going to be heavy she was sure of that. She may never see her family again after this day. It was the price they would pay for their love!

No matter what, she would never let go. So many years had passed; she couldn’t believe it was already nineteen seventy-two.  They had loved each other for eight years! She wasn’t willing to deny it any longer.  She didn’t care what the world thought.  She was consumed with love for him and he for her. This was going to be a long hard journey, but it was one they would take together.

Her thoughts wandered back to the first time they had met. It was Nineteen-sixty-four.  Six foot four he had stood out in the crowd. Well maybe it hadn’t just been his height.  She was sure the huge Afro and that beautiful ebony skin had caught her attention as well.

She had purposely made her way over to where he was standing.  Even now looking down at her arms she could see the goose bumps just thinking about that moment.  He had looked down at her with those eyes, huge pools shimmering with every emotion he had ever felt.  She could almost see those emotions reaching out and touching her. She had never before or since experienced anything like it.

Cyan had grown up in Winnipeg, smack dab in the middle of the Canadian prairies, the center of Canada.  Winnipeg was considered the Gateway to the West.  Most Winnipeggers considered themselves typical mid-westerners, white and conservative!

But in reality it was a city full of different cultures, Ukrainians, polish, Jewish, Portuguese and Italians.  Winnipeg had the second largest community of French speaking people in Canada. Her own family had come from Quebec and had French roots.  You would think having experienced prejudice they would be more understanding.

After all, look what was happening out East. So many problems were occurring between the English and the French that separation could become a reality. No longer would Canada be one country stretching from the Pacific to the Atlantic Oceans.  Why the hell then couldn’t her parents see that being black or white was no different than being French or English!

Bobbie had been the first black person she had ever been involved with.  She remembers so well how excited she was for her parents to meet him.  They kept asking her what he was like, what he looked like.  She always had a good chuckle when she told them how tall dark and handsome he was.

She never for one moment thought they would not accept his color.  It had never come up in their home.  She had been shocked by their response.  Nice boy Cyan they had said but don’t ever think of marrying him.

What the hell was that supposed to mean?  Well it was too late for that! She had already fallen in love with him. And now so many years later, so many lies, so much hiding they were going to find out that this beautiful black man was going to be their son-in-law!