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Text Box: Chapter One The first time Eugene Thomas Carpenter made love he cried. It was June 27th, his wedding day. His bride was his childhood sweetheart Arlene Sutherland who was a virgin just like Eugene. No one found it difficult to believe that Eugene was a virgin. In fact, everyone from family to friends generally assumed that he had no experience in the art of lovemaking. Strangers who had occasion to glance his way didn't seem able to make the connection that Eugene and Arlene were a couple. Some people were even bold enough to laugh in his presence when he introduced Arlene as his beautiful fiancée. When they became aware that his deadpan expression wasn't meant for their amusement, they quickly apologized and always walked away confused. Eugene wasn't much to look at and he knew it. It wasn't that he was ugly, but that there wasn't anything specifically beautiful or appealing about him. When Eugene looked in the mirror he often wondered what Arlene saw in him that he didn't see in himself. His broad shovel like nose was too big for his face. If he inhaled hard enough he could lift his upper lip. He had eyes so big that from his earliest memory people in the neighborhood called him Froggy. Even at thirty-five, the nickname had stuck. He didn't mind so much anymore. You grow used to things as you get older, and its initial cruelty eventually wears off, and now when his nickname is spoken it's more with affection and endearment rather than malice. All the men in his family were trees, but somehow Eugene hadn't grown an inch since high school. At 5'4, he was four inches shorter than his wife, Arlene. But somehow, seemingly with everything against him, Eugene Thomas Carpenter, son of Mavis and George Carpenter had still been able to win the heart of the lovely Arlene Priscilla Sutherland the most beautiful girl in all of Gainesville. "Will you take this man to be your husband," Father John recited from memory. A perpetual smile of bemusement had etched itself on his face. He too, even though a man of God was still just a man and his faith in miracles was reaffirmed by this most unusual union. Upon meeting Eugene and Text Box: Arlene for the first time in his office, a feeling of desire overwhelmed the Father, and he momentarily had to excuse himself. She was by all accounts a goddess among mere mortals. She appeared to walk on air as she breezed into his office. A scent so intoxicatingly alluring seemed to put him in a trance. This is what lust must feel like the father thought to himself. He had heard her name mentioned on the lips of young boys and girls in his church, and just the mere conjuring up of her name cast a spell on whoever was around. She was the one all the schoolboys and their fathers held on to in their dreams. Mothers were puzzled as to why they were unable to keep clean linen in their homes. On Saturdays at the Laundromat around Gainesville women could be seen washing and folding sheets late into the evening. The summer days had been kind to the people of Gainesville. Life long residents had recounted tales of miserable summers past to Father John. Birds unable to glide through the humid air took to sleeping all day in shaded trees and telephone wires. Seeds lacking the necessary strength to break their way through the dry cracked earth died a slow death. Before going back to counsel the young couple, Father John inhaled a deep breath of fresh air, flowers and the treats mothers were baking for their families. That terrible business of the city seemed so faraway and long ago, but in fact had only been a year since the incident. It was during that time that Father John discovered the true meaning of faith. There was something the about the couple sitting across from him. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, so he chalked up their aloofness with each other to nervousness about their upcoming marriage. Father John settled back in his old friend, an old leather chair which had seen him through many counseling sessions, restless nights and sermons for Sunday mass. He gripped the arm of the chair like he would have held the arm of an old dear friend. Now he was ready. Chapter Two Ever since she was a little girl, Text Box: Arlene Sutherland knew she was special because everyone told her that she was. She hadn’t done anything of relevance to deserve being put on this pedestal, but all her life the people of Gainesville had gone out of their way to be kind to her. Her parents, Simon and Geraldine Sutherland were working class people, but would always make sure that Arlene had the best of everything. The "little princess" her older sister Nathalie had taken to calling her. Nathalie being the older of the two sisters, felt like a stepchild in her own home with all the adulation being showered on Arlene. The two sisters lived up to their roles and held that course into their adulthood. Arlene was always the most popular girl in school and won every beauty contest in Gainesville. She ran unopposed for many years because everyone wanted to be close to her as if by being in her company, some of her beauty would rub off on them. Nathalie was a bookworm and buried herself in her studies. But even being an honor student didn't elevate her in her parents’ eyes. In her eyes and also her parents, Arlene was the golden child. There’s nothing worse than when a golden child has been tarnished. At least with a black sheep or the forgotten child, there are no expectations of greatness. Arlene had heard many brides before her complain about the stress of planning a wedding, but unless she was doing something wrong; Arlene felt none of those jitters. Waiting for Father John to come back from clearing his mind, snapshots of Arlene's life ran through her mind. At eight years old she knew she would someday marry Eugene Thomas Carpenter. It was meant to be. Her mom had laughed at her and told her that Eugene was a nice neighborhood boy, but wasn't good enough to marry her. With your looks you can have anyone you want her mom had told her. But Arlene was undeterred by her mother's dismissive comments about Eugene. She believed that dreams were God's way of answering the secret prayers in our hearts. So every night she would confess all her secrets and God would bless her with beautiful heavenly dreams. In all of her dreams, Eugene was her hero. He would save her from evil forces and all who tried to do her harm. He would smile at her, a smile that reminded Arlene of warm sunshine when she lifted her face skyward. She never once Text Box: wondered why her dreams weren't filled with boys who were ten times more handsome than Eugene Carpenter. If being beautiful had taught Arlene anything it was that: when you judge someone solely on their physical beauty, you miss out knowing the whole person. No one in all of Gainesville knew who Arlene Sutherland really was. "So," Father John began, "you kids want to get married?" "Very much so, Father," Eugene replied for both of them. He immediately looked over at Arlene to confirm what he had said, but she was somewhere else faraway. Lately her mind had taken to wandering in search of itself. Mysterious places she never knew existed were now open to her. At first she resisted, but now she had taken to lingering like someone who was in search of something, but wasn't sure of what they were searching for. The intensity of Eugene's frog eyes boring into her soul jarred her back to the immediate reality surrounding her. The probing look living in Eugene's eyes told Arlene that he was waiting for an answer to a question. She assumed her answer correctly and flashed that smile that only she possessed. Eugene, as he usually did when Arlene blessed him with a smile, felt like the luckiest man in the entire world and he forgot that he should be upset. In all the years Eugene had known Arlene, he had never once raised his voice in anger or had a bad thought about her. She lived on a pedestal and could do no wrong in his eyes. If God himself said to Eugene that Arlene had done something wrong; he would’ve asked God for proof. That’s how utterly blind and in love he was with her. When a man loves that deeply he hands over his heart foolishly, and it’s on a prayer and a whisper that he hopes love will be kind to him. Little did Eugene know that his whisper was a silent one that no one could possibly hear except for him. (Chapter 3 forthcoming) Jéan-Pierre, Dean 10/15/05