Chapter Forty-Four: Mia

Thursday during math tutoring, I asked Luke if he would like to go to the library to hang out on Saturday, and he gave me a really big smile and said that would be "fantastic." I said I would ask my mama if I could go and asked if he needed to ask his parents. He said they were going to a stock car race for the weekend and were leaving on Friday morning. All he had to do before they came back was wash two cars, and he could get that done Friday after school and Saturday morning before he rode his bike to meet me.

So I told him I would ask Mama Thursday after school and our "date" would be set. As soon as I said the word date, I was a little mad at myself because our getting together like that really wouldn't be a date, but I do so very much want to date him next year. I confess that I think about going out with him all the time next fall. He's so sweet to me and we can talk and talk about all kinds of things, and, oh, he's just the type of boy I could fall in love with one day. I know I'm too young to know what love is, and I'm way too young to even think that I definitely know what type of boy would be the right one for me.

But when I look at boys at school and see how they act in class, in the halls, and in the cafeteria, I think I can tell which boys have potential to be really good men one day. Allen is a really nice boy that would make a good husband, but nobody I know is sweeter than Luke. On the other hand, being married to Marcus would be the worst kind of nightmare, the way he is now. It would be like training a cat—impossible.

I want a man that will make me feel safe and secure and will always be faithful to me. I definitely know that much already. I want a guy who will look upon me as a partner and will help take care of the house and not leave all the work to me. Mama expects Poppa to help out around the house; she once told me that he wasn't very good about that when they first married, that she had to "train him." I don't think I would have to train Luke, he would want to help me.

I could see Luke and me coming home from work and him doing the laundry while I was fixing dinner. I really could see that. I know it's silly to think that far ahead in life, but I guess that's what we girls do—think about the future. I don't think most boys do, but I bet Luke does.

So after dinner Thursday evening, when Mama went off to sew in her bedroom and Poppa was watching TV, I knocked on the door and came in and asked if it would be alright if Luke and I met at the library Saturday morning and read and hung out until it closed at 1:00? She frowned and then I hurried on and said that I would ride my bike and she wouldn't have to drive me and waste gas. Mama then said, no, that she would take me and pick me up and that she wouldn't tell Poppa that I was meeting a boy and that she wanted to look this boy over a little when she dropped me off. And I thanked her and thanked her, and she smiled just a little and asked what made Luke so special, and I told her how sweet he was, and that he was smart and would be a success in life, I just knew it. I didn't add that he would do well in something as long as there was absolutely no math involved.

Mama was a little slow leaving the house Saturday morning. I think she was stalling around so that she could make sure that Luke would beat us to the library, so she could look him over really well. Sure enough, Luke was sitting outside the library on a bench when we pulled up and Mama, when she saw him, said, "Well he's cute, I'll give him that." And that made me so happy that she had something positive to say. Luke stood up when I got out of the car. I had told him Friday that Mama was going to drop me off and for him to be on his best behavior, but I didn't really have to worry about him, I knew he would be polite.

Mama called out to us after I got out of the car to "get some good studying done," and actually we were going to work a little on history homework, but I think Mama was just trying to say something. Luke called out "Yes, ma'am," and then Mama drove away. I told him, "Well, now you've met Mama," and he grinned. And I reached out my hand to him, and he smiled again and took it, and we walked up the steps hand-in-hand for just that brief time, and it was just the most wonderful feeling holding hands with him again.

We were at the library for four hours until it closed, and the time just raced by, it was like we were only there 20 minutes. We got the history homework out of the way first thing, then we read Grapes of Wrath for a while and talked about it, and the rest of the time we just talked about all kinds of things while we sat side by side at a computer. The most amazing thing that Luke told me was that he had saved almost a thousand dollars from three years of mowing lawns and not eating school lunches this year. That he figured once he had saved $15,000 dollars he would have enough money to buy four or five acres out in the country, that he was 1715^th there, and if he got a job after school next year and the rest of high school and continued to save his money and if he went to college and worked there, by the time he graduated he would have enough money. It was the first time Luke had ever talked about maybe definitely going to college and that made me really happy. Then my imagination really went wild, and I started thinking about living with Luke in a little house out in the country and how wonderful that would be.

It was just a perfect four hours, and Luke and I were outside the library when it was closing and Mama pulled up and Luke said, "Thank you for bringing Mia, ma'am," and waved and said goodbye.