The Long-awaited Proposal

 I quietly ascended the stairs that lead to my parent's bedroom, my heart skipping a beat with every squeaky step I took; the sound seemed to reverberate like a shotgun going off at close range. I know If I get caught that it would be my butt in a sling for sure! I was sweating bullets when I moved my dad's pants. His belt buckle hit the floor, in one swift motion, I grabbed the wallet from it's resting place. Running as fast as I could back to the bedroom door, I pulled the money out I pitched the purse onto the dresser, finally reaching the top of the staircase, I moved slowly and quietly down until I got out the front door just beyond the stairs.

 By the time I arrived at our meeting spot at the big oak tree in the woods down the road from my house, I was glad to see that Luke was already there.

  I pulled out the wad of money I retrieved from my dad's wallet and showed it to Luke. 

  He asked, "What are you doing with all of that money? Where did you get it?"

I got it from daddy's wallet if they don't want us to be together, I'll just leave! 

  Luke, not wanting to upset me yet at the same time not wanting me to run away, said carefully, "Jennifer, is this what you want to do?" 

  Of course, even at the age of thirteen, when I made my mind up to do something, I didn't take time to consider the consequences, I just did it!  

   Your daddy just got paid yesterday; this is over four hundred dollars, let me hold on to it for you. 

  Luke? Yeah? You're not upset with me for running away, are you? 

 I just don't want you to get into trouble, That's all. 

 We walked hand in hand along the road that seemed to go on for miles, in reality, was only two leading out of Retreat Village, a place I once called home.   

  The trees were towering over our heads, making it darker in the early morning hours, the sky was void of stars, and the moon seemed to have disappeared.

. We walked speedily to the Circle K, trying to make a quick escape, not knowing when or if my dad would wake up and find us walking down the street. 

We met a nice gentleman who was on his way to work; he offered us a ride to Highway forty-nine. 

 Luke stuck his left thumb out, and we hitched a ride to Saucier's Ms. Desoto National Park, we hung out there for a couple of hours, sitting on tree stumps talking as we glanced up at the tall pine trees that had a strong smell of the sap that oozed down the blacked trimmed gray bark.  

  Luck said, just a little too sternly for my taste. "If we're going to make it back to my house before it gets dark, we'd better get going."

Back on highway forty-nine, Luke once again threw his thumb up with no luck of getting us a ride. We wound up walking the majority of the way to his house. The uneven terrain on the shoulder of the Highway was rough; there were places where it was muddy or weedy. They were slapping us on our bare legs just below or short’s paint legs, causing them to itch and sting as we trampled along.

  I hid out in an abandoned building not far from Luke’s house, fearing for two days that I would get caught, I didn't know if my parents had the law looking for me or not. 

We ate sandwiches from Yagar's Meat Market and took walks down by Turkey Creek that ran along the backside of Luke's house. 

Before too long, as I always have, I got homesick. I called my dad but didn't say a word as he said in a questioning voice that I will never forget, Donna? Afraid, I quickly hung up the payphone and walked back to my hideout.

 Having had enough of the runaway game, I called my dad. Naturally, he came and got me.

 I sat in his car while he went inside Luk’s house. I never knew what they talked about. I just know I never heard from Luke again. 

 When I got home, my sister’s Cindy and Fay said they couldn’t believe I ran away without telling them, Cindy Four year’s older than me always tried to say our family was all the friends I needed for years she said to me that, and she didn’t like it much when I went to someone else house to hang out after school.

 It was through Luk’s brother and their friend Mitchell that we met for the first time. 

My sisters Cindy, Fay and I would tell our parents we were going somewhere else. They would have killed us had they known we were down at Three Rivers drinking beer and smoking pot. That is where I met Steven, whom Luke called little Stevie and their friend Mitchell. 

Steven had gone home and told Luke he had met us that caused Luke to be intrigued so, the next time we were at the river, Luke had come with them to meet us. I fell in love at first sight. Only now never knowing if I would ever see him again, I was heartbroken. 

About a year or two later, I found out through mutual friends; Little Stevie got an ear infection that had gone to his brain and killed him. Little Stevie was dead, and I couldn’t believe it! Just another among many more heartaches I would face throughout my life. 

I don’t believe I will ever see Luke again, and I didn’t get to until forty years later while he separated from his wife, I divorced from my fourth husband he contacted me. While I am using my maiden name, he found me on Facebook. 

 We chatted on messenger and exchanged phone numbers.  

 We talked every night that he didn’t have to work. During these conversations, I learned of the separation from his wife Debbie and that he was now living in Texas, making a pretty penny as a jailer in Lubbock County.

We finally agreed that I would go there to see him. 

 I was amazed at how the years had changed him, and he was no longer the long-haired fifteen-year-old I met forty years ago.  

I was excited and glad to see Luke again at long last and was sad to have to leave after visiting for only three days; however, I had to get back home.

A year later, he and Debbie were divorced, and that’s when he asked me to move in with him, now two years later, The Long-Awaited Proposal.

I’m proud to announce we will be getting married September sixteenth!