Jasmine
by
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Jasmine and I were getting to see each other more frequently
now. I often went by her house after I had finished teaching. One
afternoon, Jasmine’s father met me at my car when I pulled up. It
was very odd, because he had never done that before. It startled me
a little bit when I saw him approaching, because I still didn’t trust
him. But he wasn’t aggressive at all. He even had a slight grin on his
face when he said, “Jasmine wants to talk to you in private. She’s
downstairs in the den.”
I went into the house and then walked down the steps leading to
the den. Jasmine was standing with her back to me. When she turned
around, her eyes were red and swollen, and I could tell that she had
been crying. “What’s wrong?” I asked as I walked over to her.
Jasmine didn’t answer. She just stood there, looking down at the
floor.
I put my hand under her chin and raised her face to look at me, and
then I noticed a bruise under her eye. “Jasmine, what happened?”
She pulled away and said, “I fell down the stairs and hit my
eye. ”
She had her hand on her upper arm as if she was covering
something up. I pulled her hand away and saw another bruise.
“I hit my arm, too,” she quickly said.
“No, you didn’t. He did this to you, didn’t he?”
“No. I fell down the stairs,” Jasmine said, becoming agitated and
raising her voice.
I tried to take her in my arms, but she pulled away again.
“Chase, we’ve got to talk.”
“Okay.”
With a determined look on her face, Jasmine said, “Daddy’s
been talking to me, and he’s made me realize some things about our
relationship.”
“What?”
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About the Book
I sit in the swing on the front porch each night, look out across my moonlit farm, and experience a quiet solitude that brings me peace. I reminisce about days gone by, and a smile captures my soul. I have no regrets. I’ve had a wonderful life.
I saw Jasmine up close for the first time, and she took my breath away. I thought, “This is the most beautiful creature God has ever put on this earth.”
We met at church every chance we got. When the service was over, we’d walk out to the parking lot together and then talk for a while. Jasmine’s house was only a hundred yards away, and when she left to walk home, I watched her until I knew she was safely home. As I watched her leave, a sad and lonely feeling always came over me. That wasn’t the way it was supposed to be. We were supposed to be going home together.
“Chase, you and Jasmine are like oil and water. Two people couldn’t be more different. You’re educated, and she ain’t. You come from a rich, highfalutin family, and she comes from poor folks. She’ll never fit in. My daughter’s just gonna end up unhappy for the rest of her life, and I ain’t gonna allow that to happen.”
About the Author
The Knoxville News-Sentinel says, “William Allen Strunk has a talent and passion for telling his stories. As he was putting down roots in the soil of
William Allen Strunk is a retired schoolteacher. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the
Other novels by Strunk include Real and Forever Home, The Gardener’s Grandson, and Good