Page 65 of Repentance and Absolution
Oscar laughed. “No, me neither.” He sighed. “I wish I could marry you, even though we’re both men. Seems unfair that I can’t.”
I walked o’er to him and took his hands, then kissed him sweetly and pulled back, gazing into his eyes that were as pretty and full of emotion as any girl’s. “I reckon we are married, Oscar. In the eyes of God, at least, and that’s what matters, ain’t it?”
Oscar’s lips parted and he nodded. “I reckon.”
Then Irene clapped her hands together. “I just had the most marvelous idea!”
“Oh no,” Clarence said.
Oscar and I held each other’s gazes and listened as Irene continued.
“Who’s to say we can’t have a wedding?”
Oscar and I turned to look at her.
“What?” I said.
“Woman,” Clarence began, “what are you saying?”
Irene walked o’er to Clarence and sat on the settee next to him, taking his hand. “I don’t see why we can’t have a little wedding, here in the house, for Oscar and Jimmy.” She looked o’er at us. “If they want one.”
We gazed at each other, Oscar and me, with shy smiles.
“What do you think?” I asked.
Oscar raised his chin. “I reckon you’ll need to ask me properly.”
I rolled my eyes. “I ain’t got a ring—”
“I don’t need a ring. But t’would be nice if you got down on one knee and asked me to marry you. Then Imightsay yes.” He gave Irene a conspiratorial look. “Or I might say no.”
“If I get down on one knee, you better not say no, Oscar Yates.”
“Well?”
I sighed. I glanced at Clarence and Irene, but they didn’t offer me any way out of this.
“Fine,” I said.
I got down on one knee and took Oscar’s hand in mine.
“Oscar Yates, will you make me the happiest man in Port Essington and marry me? Soon, mind you, because we been livin’ in sin for a long time, and I want God to be on our side.”
“I reckon God’s been on our side since I met you,” Oscar said. “And, yes, of course I’ll marry you, Jimmy Downing.”
He cupped my face, went down on both knees and kissed me full on the lips, slow and sensuous, with Irene and Clarence watching. I heard clapping, and I figured they must approve.
When he pulled back, he narrowed his eyes. “But I ain’t wearin’ a dress, though.”
* * * *
A couple of days later, while I was stoking the fire in Clarence and Irene’s sitting room after stacking more wood against the side of the house from a morning spent chopping, Clarence spoke up from his place on the settee.
“Jimmy.”
“Yeah?”
“I was just wonderin’. Does Oscar know how to shoot?”
