Beneath the Apple Leaves(62)
CHAPTER 31
Andrew climbed onto the bench of the Muellers’ wagon. Fritz sat behind in a pile of straw, his back leaning against the men’s seat. Pieter threw a red cap and shirt at Andrew.
“Creekers?” Andrew laughed as he read the shirt. “I’m playing for a team called the Creekers?”
“Yeah,” Pieter agreed with a shiver. He plucked a piece of straw from the back and chewed on the tip. “On account we live closest to Pucketa Creek.”
“No wonder you haven’t won a game.”
“Hey,” Pieter defended. “Won one this season. Don’t take that away from us. Besides, we were almost called the Plums.” Pieter laughed. “ ‘Creekers’ don’t seem so bad compared to that.”
Fritz hummed disjointedly from behind, the singsong mixing with the clomping of the horse’s shoes and the rattling wood wheels. “Never said why you were in Pittsburgh the other day,” mentioned Pieter.
Andrew blew a long stream of air out of his mouth and took off the stiff baseball cap. “Wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
Pieter narrowed his eyes. “Try me.”
“Wilhelm brought me to a prostitute.”
The horse pulled back with the sudden jerk from Pieter’s reins. “A whore?” Pieter gasped. The young man leaned on his knees, disbelief peaking his eyebrows. Once composed, he gave a quick click, click to the horse, got her back moving again. “A whore?” he repeated.
Andrew gave a quick look to Fritz. Pieter followed his gaze. “Don’t worry about him. Fritz don’t know the difference between a whore and a crow.” He stared at Andrew, his eyes wide for news. “He really take you to a prostitute?”
Andrew nodded, punched the inside of the cap to break in the seams.
“Was she pretty?”
“Yes.”
“Well?” Pieter squirmed in his seat, waved his hands in prodding. “So, out with it. How was it?”
Andrew raised a boot to the sideboard. “Wouldn’t know.”
Pieter grimaced. “Stop toying with me, Houghton.”
“Seriously.” Andrew raised his hand in the air in oath. “I couldn’t do it.”
“Oh, man.” Pieter’s mouth fell and he grew remorseful. “’Cause of the accident?” he asked hesitantly. “Parts aren’t working down there?”
“No!” Andrew hit him with the baseball cap. “Parts are working just fine.” He shivered. “For Pete’s sake, man! Be a fate worse than death.”
“Amen.” Pieter prompted again with his open face. “So, what happened?”
“She was pretty and all. Nice lady, too. But it didn’t feel right. Kept thinking what my ma would think.”
“You’re standing next to a woman ready to have sex with you and you’re thinking about your ma?”
“Well,” he conceded, “I did until she took off her clothes. Couldn’t think much about anything after that.”
Pieter’s legs twitched. “She was naked?”
“Naked as a jaybird.”
“Oh, God.” Pieter wiped his forehead.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, but you better start talking,” he ordered. “Better not leave anything out, either.”
“Nothing to tell,” Andrew said. “Told her I couldn’t do it. Just didn’t feel right.”
“That’s it?” Pieter’s whole face contorted in revulsion. “Telling me you just sat there with a naked woman? What, you two just play a nice game of checkers and sip tea the whole time?”
“Gave me a lesson.” Andrew shoved the cap on his head and pulled down the visor. “Explained the proper way to please a woman.”
“Explained?” Pieter’s eyes grew wide and intense.
“Showed me, actually.”
“Said you didn’t touch her,” he accused.
“I didn’t.”
“Then how she show . . .” Pieter paused, his mouth suspended with the image materializing in his mind. “Oh.”
Andrew gave a slight tug to the forgotten reins in Pieter’s palm. “We’re here.”
“Go on ahead.” Pieter put his baseball mitt on top of his crotch. “I’m going to need a minute.”
*
Lily took her best dress off the line, pressed the fabric quickly under the hot iron, the lace around the sleeves and collar mended this morning. She bathed and brushed her hair, tied back the front sections in a pearl barrette. She didn’t have any rosewater so rubbed rosemary leaves across her skin and pinched her cheeks for rouge.
“Don’t you look pretty,” Claire said. “You meeting Andrew at the game?”
Lily nodded. She hadn’t seen Andrew since their last kiss and couldn’t think of anything else since she had felt his lips, the tenderness and eagerness of them, the softness that had melted the bones under her muscles. Her heart raced all night and all this morning and her hands still felt jittery as she climbed upon the buggy and headed to the ball field.
On the edge of Pucketa Creek, it seemed every young person in town had attended to watch the game. Lily climbed down from the buggy, evened out her dress. She rarely left home and the sight of the crowd intimidated her, nearly enough to make her turn back. But she thought of Andrew. A date. An actual date. As she walked toward the wooden rows of benches, she walked in a dream. For once she wasn’t an outcast; she was a young woman, dressed neat and proper, watching her beau play baseball. She was normal for once in her life.