Page 448 of Hell Hath No Fury
“A hippie?” He laughed.
“What I mean is, are you on marijuana?” This made him laugh even louder, which garnered a snooty look from the clerk.
“We’re sorry,” I said to the clerk with a wave before turning my attention back to Duke. “I am not going to marry you. I haven’t even agreed to go on a date with you.”
“Let’s start there then,” Duke said matter-of-factly. “Miss Pearl, would you please accompany me on an outing on this fine Sunday afternoon?” Duke bowed like something straight out of a Dickens novel and I couldn’t help but laugh. This boy could charm the pitchfork off the Devil himself, and although I knew it, I wasn’t immune.
“An outing?” I asked, trying to appear disinterested.
“Have you ever seen the Georgia countryside from the back of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle?”
“I think we both know the answer to that question is no. I would also like to add that it’s not going to happen today.”
“Why not?” Duke asked.
I opened my mouth to answer him, but nothing came out. Try as I might to come up with a reason I shouldn’t join him for a ride, I was coming up blank. I heard my father’s voice loud and clear telling me not to go, but it was at odds with my inner voice, which was currently quiet and still. Lately all I’d been doing was fantasizing about busting out of Atlanta and going on some wild adventure, and here I was too scared to go on a measly motorcycle ride.
Before I knew it, I blurted out, “I’d love to join you for a ride.”
Duke shook his head in amazement. “You always change your mind so quickly?”
I thought about it for a moment and answered with a confident, “Yes.”
“I wouldn’t have pegged you as the easily swayed type.”
“I didn’t say I was a pushover. I simply have no qualms about changing my mind when presented with the appropriate argument.”
“Appropriate argument? I thought I was asking you out on a date. I didn’t realize I was building a legal case.”
I sighed. “Duke, do you read the Bible?”
“Forget changing your mind, let’s talk about how fast you change subjects,” Duke said.
“The Bible?” I asked again.
“I’ve been bored enough in a few hotel rooms to thumb through it, but wouldn’t go so far as to say I’vereadit.”
“Well, I have. All of it. And one of the Ten Commandments…” I paused. “You’ve heard of the Ten Commandments, haven’t you?”
“Saw the Chuck Heston movie,” Duke replied with his usual grin.
I ignored his comment but secretly found this playful banter to be utterly delicious. I’d never fought with a man like this before. I’d been at war with my father and my brothers all mylife, but this wasn’t fighting like that. I knew that secretly Duke and I were trying to get to the same place, and the tension of getting there without directly saying so was making me ache in ways I’d never felt. I suppose this was flirting, and it had never occurred to me that I’d never done it before.
I did my best to keep a poker face and continued, “One of the Ten Commandments, ‘Thou shalt not lie,’ is one I try very hard to keep. So, I want to be honest with you.”
“Please do.”
“I’m not sure if you’re an answer to prayer or an object of temptation, but something inside of me needs to find out.”
CHAPTER SIX
Duke
We’d been on the road for about three hours when we reached the town of Dublin. For someone who’d never been on the back of a bike before, Pearl was a natural. I checked in with her at every pit stop, but the more road we put between us and Atlanta, the more she wanted to ride on.
“How ’bout we stop here for the night and continue on in the morning?” I asked as an attendant gassed up my bike.
“I can’t do that. I have to be at work in the morning. Besides, where would we stay?”
