GRIT (The Silver Nitrate Series Book 2) (26 page)

Her heart jumped and her throat grew dry.

“Silver, I’m not perfect, okay? You know that. I’ve got some hang-ups. I have trouble with trust, and fear the worst sometimes. I know now that’s why I never really fully committed to anyone before. Not that I was always cheating, that wasn’t typically my style and only happened with one person I was with, but I would not be there, you know? I wouldn’t be present. Sometimes that meant physically, sometimes it meant emotionally, but I’d just check out. Anything I’ve ever truly wanted though, I worked hard for…and it shouldn’t have surprised me when you were no exception.” Her face broke out into a smile. “You’ve helped me grow so much as a person.”

“You’ve helped me, too.”

He nodded, and went on.

“And, I think that’s what a soulmate is, you know? They’re a teacher that you love, they are your best friend… you can talk to them about anything and everything…and that’s what I have with you. I’m so damn in love with you, girl… At times, I can’t even believe how blessed I am. I must admit, you have power over me… and I hate that. You can crush me by simply not wanting me anymore.” He shrugged. “I’ve never been okay with this sort of thing, but of course, I’ve never met anyone like you before. You are, without a doubt, the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” He released her hand and reached into his jeans pocket.

Silver’s breaths came suddenly short, stunted. She tried to remain calm, but inside she was shrieking!

Zenith pulled out a black box and opened it. Inside sat a cube shaped diamond ring. The damn thing sparkled so bright, it was simply gorgeous. Not much into things like that, this surely made her change her damn mind in a flash.

“So, I need to know if you’d be my wife, Silver?”

She let out a silent scream. “Yeah. I’ll be your wife, Zenith.” Her eyes watered as she grabbed him into her arms and hugged him strong and tight.

“Let me put the ring on your finger,” he whispered. She slowly released him and held her breath as he slid it onto her finger. She embraced him again then, so damn tight he made a mock choking sound.

“She said ‘yes’! Y’all can come out now.”

She quickly freed the man and looked around. Clara, Javier, Flip, and the rest of the band emerged. Her mother came towards her, breaking through the crowd. The woman was bawling, her eyes glassy with tears as she opened her arms wide and gathered her daughter within them. Silver hugged the woman tight.

“That was just beautiful!” The woman rocked her. “I’m so happy for you, baby.” Mama kissed her forehead. “We were hiding in your bedroom. We could hear the whole thing.”

“Y’all some damn freaks, too!” Javier snapped. “Got tropical punch flavored lube on the damn nightstand, like the Kool-Aid man ’bout to bust through the wall yelling, ‘Oh Yeah!’ All kinds of shit, sex books galore with diagrams, and I’m not going to even ask what the white cords are for. I doubt y’all in there jumpin’ rope!”

“Shut up, man!” Zenith barked. “Her mama is standing right here!” He pointed over to the lady, as if Javier had forgotten who he was hiding out with.

“Who, me?” the woman quipped.

Silver buried her head into her mother’s chest, feeling silly, happy, and all sorts of things…

“Hey, baby,” Zenith called out. “There’s something I want to take care of. We need to leave before they close.”

“Before they close? What are you talking about?”

“The marriage license place.” Zenith approached her. “I’m going to give you what you want, what we both want, but I need to give my Paw something, okay? Do you trust me?”

She looked him in his eyes, stroked his cheek, and kissed his lips.

“Yeah, I do…”

Zenith stood with
Silver inside Paw’s hospital room while soft, slow music played in the background. The man sat up, his eyes barely open, but with an unmistakable grin on his face.

“Paw, this nice man standing beside me is a judge.” He pointed to a tall white man with glasses on and a black robe.

“Only…God can judge me.”

“That’s a 2-Pac song,” Flip said matter-of-factly, causing a few chuckles.

“Uh, yes, that’s right, Paw, but he’s not here for that. He is going to marry me and Silver in front of you today. Usually, we’d have to wait twenty-four hours but I explained the situation, and not only did he agree to marry us, he followed us over here to perform the ceremony.” Paw nodded in understanding, the joy never leaving his face. “So, okay.” Zenith moved about awkwardly as he and Silver stood side by side in the tight quarters. The judge began, while his soon-to-be mother in law, his best man Javier, and the rest of the band, along with Clara, stood close by and observed.

“Do you, Silver Renaissance Faye, take Zenith—”

“Renaissance? Her middle name is Renaissance?! What kind of name is that?!” Flip began again.

“Your name is fuckin’ Flip, son! Be quiet! Sorry man, I mean, judge. Continue on,” Javier stated.

Zenith prayed for patience at both of his idiotic friends’ behavior and glared at them, annoyed.

“Do you take Zenith Genessee Taylor to be your partner in life? Do you promise to walk by his side forever, and to love, help, and encourage him in all that he does? Do you promise to take time to talk with him, to listen to him, and to care for him? Will you share his laughter, and his tears, as his partner, lover, and best friend? Do you take him as your lawfully wedded husband for now and forevermore?”

“I do.”

Zenith slipped the wedding band onto her finger. He’d picked up hers and his in advance, trying to think ahead, save as much time as possible.

“Do you, Zenith Genessee Taylor, take Silver Renaissance Faye to be your partner for life? Do you promise to walk by her side forever, and to love, help, and encourage her in all she does? Do you promise to take time to talk with her, to listen to her, and to care for her? Will you share her laughter, and her tears, as her partner, lover, and best friend? Do you take her as your lawfully wedded wife for now and forevermore?

“I do.”

She slipped the wedding band on his finger. For a brief moment, he looked down at the thing. It looked so strange, felt so foreign yet so good, too.

I’m getting married… right here, right now.

He smiled.

I’m really getting married, and I can’t wait to officially call her my wife.

The short ceremony continued and as he looked at her, he wondered what she was thinking. Perhaps she was daydreaming about the honeymoon he’d promised her, or about the fact that her game was about to be sold in all major retail gaming stores. Maybe she was thinking about how he’d given his two-week notice to Eagle Metalcraft? More likely, she was contemplating how he was going to go through with his threat to fuck her so rough, raw, and right that night, she’d need plenty of aspirin and be bedridden for the remainder of the week.

Maybe she was wondering about how she’d just agreed to marry a crazy ass Indian drummer who loved the shit out of her… or maybe, she was simply imagining the wonderful life they’d planned together, and how he’d go to his grave trying to make sure she got all that she needed from him. She’d never have to question his love for her…

“I pronounce you husband and wife.”

“Wait.” Paw raised his hand. It shook in the air like an autumn leaf as the ceiling light glared down on the limb like a summer rays of light. His skin was pale, white as snow, and his eyes flushed with new life, like the blossoming berry buds of spring. “In old Iroquois tradition, the man moves into the wife’s home.” His voice was crystal clear, deep, and moving. “In our tradition, Silver, my grandson would move into your longhouse after the ceremony. You don’t have a longhouse.”

“No, Paw… I don’t.” She smiled at him. Moving closer, she took his grandfather’s hand into her own.

“In our tradition, the men are strong, but our mates are strong, too. We do not try to dominate our women. We have clear roles, but we do not try to break their spirit.” Silver nodded in understanding. “I will not be here to see Zen’s offspring come into the world. I will not be on this planet in this form anymore.” He wrapped his other hand around hers and gave it a good shake. Silver trembled visibly, obviously fighting back tears. “But I will see them from afar. Osha and I will watch you and Zen from afar. We will do all that we can, for our grandson is a precious jewel, and anyone he loves, we love, too. And any children he creates, we love them the same as we love him and you.”

“Thank you!” she whispered with quivering lips and glossed over eyes before leaning over and placing a kiss on his cheek.

“Your very nice breasts hit me in the face just now. Thank you.”

Everyone except Paw burst out laughing. He sat there quite serious, acting oblivious to what was so damn funny.

“Silver, how much do you know about our people?”

“Iroquois? Not as much as I should, Paw, but since I started dating your grandson, I’ve been studying and learning.”

“Sit; let me explain something to you.” Paw tapped a spot on the bed, beckoning her to sit next to him. “In Seneca language, which my parents spoke and I understand but rarely speak anymore, we are called,
O-non-dowa-gah
. This means, ‘Great Hill People.’ Central and Western New York has a large population of Seneca people. We are the largest nation, and have at least 8,000 enrolled members. Natives are not extinct; we are still here, thriving and alive. Since you have married my grandson, I encourage you to continue to learn and teach yourself, and Zen will help you, too. Zen.” He coughed violently. Zenith rushed to him with a glass of water. After Paw settled, he continued. “Hand me that bag over there.” He pointed across the room.

Zen went to pluck the bag from the hospital table and placed it on Paw’s lap. He rifled through it and removed a small, green satchel, then opened it up, and pulled out a thick, golden ring.

“This was Osha’s, my wife’s. Give me your right hand.” A tear streamed down Silver’s face as she extended her hand. The old man slid it up her right ring finger. It was a little large, but she was careful to not move her hand around too much. “I was going to bury her in it but decided to keep it, so that I could give it back to her when I see her in Heaven.” Zenith lowered his head, hearing Silver’s mother sniffle.

“I don’t think she needs it, though. What we will have, these things won’t matter… but she loved this ring while she was still on Earth. Even when I could afford to give her better, she cherished this old, plain gold ring. She cooked our meals in it; she bathed our children while wearing it. She held Zen as a little baby while wearing it… Her life with me was lived with that ring. I only saw her remove it a few times, and she was always anxious to get it back on. I’m giving you this ring, and I pray that you will guard it and take good care of it.”

“I will. I promise.”

“Zen…”

“Yes, Paw.”

“You know what I want,” he said wearily. “Tell your bride what we tell all outsiders we bring into the fold.”

Zenith nodded, took Silver’s hands and looked into her eyes.

“We are Iroquois. We are the six nations. We are Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, Tuscarora, and Mohawk. We give thanks for one mind…”

“
ska:d nëyögwa’ nigo’ dë:ök.
” Paw repeated the words, saying them in the native language of his people.

“People…”

“
ha’deyögwe’ dage:h.
”

“Earth…”

“
ethinö’ ëh yoë jahde.
”

“Water…”

“
gane gada: nyö.
”

“Fish…”

“
gënjöh shö’ öh.
”

“Grasses…”

“
ha’ deyo goc’ dza: ge:h.
”

“Medicines…”

“
ha’ deyo nöhgwa’ shä: ge:h.
”

…and so they continued until they’d reached, “Creator…”

“
sögwa jënök da’ öh.
”

“Silver, this language is very old. Very few Natives speak it, my grandfather is one of the last few who knows it,” Zenith explained. “My knowledge of it is limited, though I was taught a little of it as a child. I am going to relearn it, so I can do right by him and teach it to our children. At this point, it is important from a heritage standpoint. If a man loses his land, his home, his way to make a living, his customs and culture and his language, he is no longer in existence. I can’t let that happen.”

Silver smiled and nodded, so much emotion flowing out of her right then.

“What we just said was typical, giving thanks so to speak. The words would be stated quite often before, during, or right after marriages, special dinners, things of that nature.”

“Beautiful, thank you,” she said truthfully.

“Paw, is there anything else I can do for you?” Zenith questioned.

“Yes… take me home. It’s time…it’s time, grandson.”

Zenith wrapped his arms around the man, and placed his head against his own. They drew quiet. And he cried, and cried, uncaring who saw or heard.

“I am, Paw… You’re coming home, to the longhouse… I’ll take care of you until Osha comes and reclaims her groom…”