This Olde House; Part One

Maisy and Jared are forced to marry

This Olde House

By Stan Morris

Copyright 2013

 

“Daddy, please!  Don’t make me do this.”

The sky was grey as if it mirrored her unhappiness.

“You made your bed, girl.  Now you gotta sleep in it.”  Her father held Maisy’s arm firmly and walked her through the grass toward the old dock.

“But I didn’t know it was him.  I thought it was Emma Sue in the bed.”

A few raindrops fell on her face disguising the tears that were forming.

“It don’t matter.  You and him spent the whole night in that bed, and the whole family, his and yours, knows it.”

Her eyes were leaking tears.  She couldn’t believe her father was going to force her to do this.  Her tears changed to sobs, causing her body to shake.  Her father stopped and waited until she collected herself, and her tears eased to sniffles.

“This ain’t right.”

“Maisy.”

She raised her eyes to her father’s face.  Her cries ceased, and for a moment she forgot her own dilemma, startled to see just how old and worn her father appeared.  This wasn’t easy for him, she realized.

“Daddy, do I really have to do this?  I swear I thought Emma Sue was in the bed with me.  I don’t know how he even managed to be there.”

“Might be, he was a little dizzy from all the beer you kids drank.”

Maisy shifted her eyes guiltily away from her father’s face.  She and some of the other young adults at the party had gathered in her father’s barn where one of her cousin’s had brought a keg.  Some of the younger ones were not more than fifteen.  It wasn’t her first time to drink beer, but it was the first time she had drank so much.  She had barely made it up the stairs to the room she was sharing with another cousin before she passed out on the bed.

“We don’t even know each other.”

Her father lifted a hand and rubbed his thinning hair.  “Maisy, you’re twenty four, can’t seem to hold a job, and still living with your ma and me.  Maybe this is for the best.  He’s a good kid.  Now come on.”

He started forward, but this time he did not grab her arm.  Maisy hesitated only briefly, before a shutter of resignation passed through her, and she surrendered.  She followed her father down to the dock where Jared and his parents waited along with her mother and uncle.

The dock was old but still in good condition and a small boat containing both oars and a small motor sat in the water, tied to a post.  The river ran slowly at this point, filled with whiskered catfish and other varieties of fish.

Maisy’s father directed her to stand beside Jared.  She glowered at the boy, who gave her an apprehensive glance, and then turned his eyes forward to stare into the distance while her uncle moved to stand in front of them.  Her uncle opened his Bible and cleared his throat.

“Dearly beloved, we�'”

“No!”  Maisy’s voice was sharp.  “This is not a happy occasion.  Just say the words you have to say, and leave out the rest.”

Maisy’s mother wiped the corners of her eyes and nodded at her brother.  The rest of the words were said swiftly, and her uncle in his capacity as Justice of the Peace, pronounced Jared and Maisy husband and wife.  They filled out the marriage certificate on the hood of the old red pickup Jared’s father was giving them, shielding the paper from the drops that were falling from the low clouds.  Then with a few words of halfhearted congratulations, the families left, leaving Maisy and Jared to stare after them longingly, as if there might a last minute reprieve and everyone would come back and laugh about what a good joke this had been.

At her side, Maisy felt Jared turn.  She sighed and turned also to face the house.

“It’s a nice house,” Jared offered, staring at the old wood frame building.

Maisy scowled at him.  “It’s a wreck.  My grandmother’s house.  She was born there and died there.  Even she knew it was dilapidated.  She called it, ‘the Olde House,’ with an ‘e’ at the end, like ‘Olde Shoppe’ or some such.”

“I guess it’s ours now,” Jared stated.

“Not much of a dowry, I suppose.”

“Better than a beat up pickup.”

Maisy almost smiled.

“Hard to believe your pa gave you his old truck.  He loves that truck.”

“I think he felt guilty over this.”

“I can’t believe this.  One stupid mistake, and I’m married to a child.”

“I’m not a child,” Jared protested.

“How old are you anyway?”

“Twenty.”

Maisy felt a little better upon hearing that.  She had feared that Jared was still a teenager.  She had expected her friends to laugh themselves silly when they learned she had married a boy.

Raindrop began to fall in greater numbers.

“We better get inside,” Jared said.

Maisy was not anxious to enter the old house, but she followed Jared onto the big covered porch and through the mud room that had been added onto the original building.  In the living room, Jared flipped a light switch, and an old sixty watt incandescent bulb flickered once and then lit.  They heard a peal of thunder.  They hadn’t seen lightning, so they knew the storm was still far away.

The house was a two story frame house with wood slat siding.  Above the second story was an unfinished attic beneath a high pitched roof with two small dormers on the south side to let in light.  The fixtures in the two bathrooms were old, but the system had been upgraded during its lifetime, and it had a septic tank in place of the old cesspool.

Maisy and Jared stood in the living room and looked around.  The furniture was ancient, and few pieces were really serviceable.

“What are we going to do, Jared?”

 

 

 

Reviews

[Saifer]

I think you did an amazing job at displaying the negative effects of Social Pressure and the collective thought of the society as a whole. Many cultures in the world still suffer from a devolved way of thinking.
The area, history and religious beliefs of a culture all have a heavy controlling influence on its people. And you see this clearly in your work. Great Work.

[Stan]

Thanks. Your comments are right on the mark.

[Nevtry]

Interesting start to the story, just like your New Friends story. At first I was worried that Maisy was going to be stoned, drowned or something of that nature. But marriage doesn't seem like a much better option. Maisy is living in a time period/place where women can work in their twenties, so clearly she has some rights. But considering the fact that sleeping with a man (and simply sleeping, because I find it doubtful she did anything more) leads her to get married, I'm led to think that divorce isn't an option. Moving may be.

I look forward to seeing where you take this,

- N

[Stan]

I grew up in a suburban environment, but I am a product of very rural people. I once lived in a town of 150 people. Social pressure can be very difficult for young people growing up in that kind of situation, especially for those who are overly passive. What happens on TV, even real events, is often more like fantasy.

[Nevtry]

Yeah, that makes sense.

On another note, I'm sorry if I offended you by what I said, I meant nothing by it.

[Stan]

Not offended at all. Your comments are always well thought out.