19 years ago, my mommy and daddy moved from their home to here because they weren’t allowed to be together.

The sun shone brightly in the sky, emanating the heated rays of summer. Amongst a vast grassland and crop fields was a road, not wide but not narrow. On it, a single car drove through, leaving a trail of dust behind as it went. In a vast no man’s land, the car almost seemed lonely, yet the people in it were nothing but happy for the road to be empty.

At the driver’s seat sat a young African American man. He was rather tall and dark skinned, with short curly hair and soft gentle eyes. He was rather slim, but not devoid of muscle. His sleeves were rolled to his elbows, his shirt slightly wet, and his forehead rolling with sweat from the head of the midday sun. He was a handsome young lad. 

Beside him sat a young white woman. She was beautiful and petite. Her short shoulder-length hair curled and stylized, but slightly messy from the heat and the long journey. Sweat trickled down her forehead, dripping down and drenching her long golden lashes above her azure eyes. Her face had a bright red blush from the heat.

On the woman’s hand was a small hand fan that she diligently waved in order to cool herself and the man down. She looked out the window; grass and corn crops stretched for as far as she could see. Everything was a bright green, with some starting their transition to gold for the approaching autumn.

“How much longer do you think till we arrive?” She nonchalantly asked.

“Should be soon. The mayor told me it was beside a forest.” He responded. He raised his hand to point at the distance.

“Look, I can see the forest now! We’ll be there in no time!” He exclaimed. She turned to look at where he pointed. In the distance, there was a faint outline of trees. It was the forest.

“We can finally settle down now, Cassy.” He turned to look at her with a loving smile.

Cassy returned the loving smile. We can finally settle down now. She repeated to herself. Finally, she could live in peace in a place far away from the watchful eyes of others with the man she loved, her husband, Joseph Wilson.

Cassandra Taylor was born in a large town in Nebraska, to the richest family in the town. Being rich and pretty, life was fairly easy for her. She had servants that tended to her every need, while she focused on being a sophisticated and educated young lady. She had many friends, and never had a lack of boys trying to pursue her. She was the star of the town.

When she was a teenager, the Second Great War started. On the year 1944, when she was only 14 years old, a soldier once tried to assault her on her way back home from school. Amidst the chaos and fear, the man was suddenly knocked from the back of his head by a thick schoolbook. It was a black boy who barely looked older than her. The boy fought the man, being overpowered due to their age and size difference. And yet, the boy always stood in front of her, shielding her from the man.

Her servants reached her in time, scaring the soldier away. Cassandra never thought much about the colored people. Why would she? They were servants for her and her family. Even those who were not her servants, she never paid attention to either way. They didn’t live in the vicinity of her house or school either, and they always made sure to keep their distance from her. Yet, looking at the tattered boy who fought bravely for the safety of a white girl he didn’t know, a spark ignited in her heart.

That was her first encounter with Joey.

They crossed paths a few more times since then, and as the years passed, a friendship started to develop between the two. It was kept a secret of course, as she knew the backlash she’d face from her friends, her family, and society as a whole if they were to be discovered. She was a rich, young, white girl after all, while he was young black boy from a modest background. 

From their friendship blossomed feelings of love. Cassy found herself enamored by by Joey’s kind and gentle nature; his willingness to help those in need at any cost. The two started dating in secret, even more wary than before when they were just friends. They both knew that Joey would be lynched if the town were to ever find out about their relationship.

It was hard to keep everything a secret though. Cassandra Taylor was the star of the town after all. She was under the scrutiny of everyone, especially now that she was at a marriageable age. People started to notice how close she was to a black man. Her good reputation started to crumble, rumors started to spread, and people’s eyes started turning to disgust. The once long line of boys trying to pursue her for her wealth and beauty started to become a line of perverted men waiting for the chance to buy her at cheap now that she was no longer the star, to ‘save’ her from the rumors of her being a ‘n****r-lover’. 

Circumstances were hard for both of them, but the couple’s love for each other stayed strong. Finally, one month ago, with Cassy being 20 and Joey being 22, the two decided to get married. They did so in secret, with only a priest that pitied them present. It was not ideal, but it was the happiest day of their lives for them both. 

Before the newly wedded couple could think of what to do next, Cassy’s parents discovered their secret. They were enraged, furious that their daughter had not only dated a black man for so many years, but even married to him. They wanted him executed. Cassy was able to save her husband in the end, with the compromise of both he and her be banished from the town. As a last show of pity for the daughter they’d raised for so many years, her parents left her a large sum of money and a car before permanently cutting ties with her. At dawn, away from the disgusted gazes of others, the two departed. 

They’d been traveling for almost three weeks, away from their home in Nebraska to their new home in Utah. The couple did not know where to go at first, they just blindly drove. Anywhere far from people was fine. It was when they’d entered the state of Utah that they’d managed to get the pity of a mayor from a small town. The man offered them a small ranch, far from people, yet close enough to his town. The only condition being to not drag him in the mess should their marriage ever be discovered by the townsfolk. Aside from this, the mayor expressed his willingness to help them in secret should they ever need it. They accepted the offer, ecstatic and feeling greatly indebted. 

With the forest in sight, Cassy and Joey soon arrived at the ranch, their new home. It was of modest size, not small but not big, with a porch at the front door and a small wooden cabin beside the house. Wild, unkempt grass grew everywhere. The house seemed to have been abandoned for many years, with dust and cobwebs everywhere. It didn’t matter to them, this was a gift of kindness they’d been offered, and that they might never receive again. Who cares if the house was rundown? It was nothing a bit of cleaning up wouldn’t solve.

Joey entered the house first while Cassy stayed at the porch, looking out at the beautiful scenery around her. The ranch was surrounded by wild, uninhabited grassland all around, with no sight of crop fields or sign of human activity anywhere. Around a mile from the ranch, at an ever so slightly downwards slope, was the forest, vast and dense, expanding for as far as she could see. At her left, a little more than a mile from her, was a large pond. It was surrounded half by the forest and half by the grassland.

“Cassy, dear, come in a second please.” Joey’s voice sounded from within the house. She turned from the porch and started walking to where Joey’s voice came from.

“What is it?” She asked, walking towards the living room. She stopped and looked at the room. It was a mess, there was dust and cobweb everywhere; the floor was full of dirt and animal dung, and the furniture was scratched and filthy.

She gasped at the sight. Cassy had lived with servants all her life, never having to worry about doing any sort of chore, as everything was tended to by her servants. She had mentally prepared herself for life where she had to take matters into her own hands, but looking at the mess before her, she couldn’t help but feel a little helpless.

Joey turned to look at her. He understood what Cassy was feeling. He was neither rich nor poor growing up, but he was accustomed to doing manual labor. He knew of Cassy’s upbringing, so it broke his heart thinking of how everything must be right now for his beloved. He stretched his arm around her shoulder and brought her in to him, giving a delicate kiss on her head as his thumb caressed her shoulders in comfort. She relaxed a little under his embrace.

“I briefly checked the house. Almost all the plates and kitchen utensils are broken, and the cushions and mattresses are all unusable. We’ll have to buy everything anew.” He gently spoke.

“Almost everything is unusable, huh? Guess we have a lot of grocery to do” She scoffed. Just then, a realization suddenly came to her mind.

“Wait, Joey.” She turned to face him, her face full of urgency and worry.

“What’s wrong?” He asked worriedly.

“All the stuff we need to buy is too much for one person to carry. But, we only have one car, and, and we can’t be seen together in public.” She mumbled. How could she only just notice this now?

Joey looked at her in surprise. Cassy was right, how did he not realize this problem sooner?

“What, what do we do?”

“It’ll be a lot of trouble but, it seems we’ll have to run multiple errands to town to fix this house.” Joey suggested, his gaze fixed on the tattered living room while his thumb caressed Cassy’s shoulder to comfort her.

Cassy looked out the window, the shadows were starting to lengthen, foretelling the arrival of sunset. “It’ll be night soon, guess we’ll have to sleep in the car today.” She sighed.

“We still have time. We can buy some cushions or a blanket.” Joey looked down and met her eyes, tightening his grip on her shoulder. “I can’t stand seeing you in discomfort. Let’s at least buy those today to sleep more comfortably.”

A loving smile formed on Cassy’s face. Joey was so sweet. The rumors, the banishment, and now the uncomfortable journey; because of her relationship with Joey, she had to endure numerous long periods of misfortune and suffering. But it was moments like these that reminded her why she never regretted staying with Joey despite all this. She loved him too much; how could she not love this gentle hearted man who cared so much about her?

She’d seen the pain and self-loathing on his face whenever he saw her in discomfort during the journey. It was evident that he blamed all of this on himself. She tried with all her might to hide her discomfort and lessen his worries, but they both knew each other too well. In the end, it was just an endless cycle.

“Then should one of us head out now?” She suggested.

“Yes, we should.”

“One of us will have to go alone.” He declared a stern expression. “It might take a while, but one of us will have to go back and forth alone to not raise suspicion.”

“Then I’ll go.” She offered.

“What? Cassy, you can’t!”

“Why? It’ll be safer if I—” Joey placed both his hands of Cassy’s shoulder and and bent down to look at her at eye level, interrupting her. His stern gaze surprised her.

“Listen to me, Cassy, you can’t go. It’s dangerous.”

“But I’m white! It’ll be much safer if a white person went alone than a black man!” She exclaimed. 

“But you’re a woman!” Cassy looked at him in surprise, clenching her teeth. Seeing her reaction, Joey let out a sigh and explained himself.

“I know it’s unfair. But it’s almost night now, it’ll be dangerous for a woman to walk alone in town, especial a beautiful white young white woman like you.” He explained.

“Remember how we first met? I’m worried something like that will happen again if you go alone, and I won’t be able to protect you this time.” He continued, his eyes pleading.

Cassy averted her eyes in anger, clenching her fists. She was angry that he was right. More so than that, she was worried that something might happen to him, and was angry that she’d be utterly powerless to help him should something happen.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine! I’m strong! I’ll be able to carry more than you too.” Joey added in a cheerful tone. He noticed Cassy’s expression and understood what she felt, so he tried to cheer her up.

“It’ll be over in no time, I’m sure of it.” He reassured her with a smile.

“You promise me you’ll be safe?” 

“Of course, honey.” He leaned down to gently kiss her forehead, then gently pressed his forehead against hers. Cassy sighed. 

“Then I’ll be off. It’s already quite late.” He stood up, starting to pace for the door. Cassy saw him off to the porch, where she waved goodbye at him as he entered the car and left.

She watched the car disappear into the distance, her heart filled with worry. She prayed that he’d be back safe.