The Eternal Engagement Read Free

all of Selma, Alabama. He had to make her his girlfriend before any of his teammates got to her. His breakup with Mona Lisa was fast and to the point. He respected Mona too much to use her or string her along. Besides, two years of dating one girl in high school was not only commendable, but highly remarkable for an athlete with his stats.
    Sitting on the sideline at the fifty-yard mark with Katherine brought tears to his eyes. Unlike being alone with Mona a half hour ago, Lincoln really felt like he and Katherine were the only two in the football stadium.
    â€œOkay, I promise. Now tell me,” she said.
    Lincoln removed a gold band from his pocket, held it in his hand. He knew she expected a proposal and she was right. But first he had to tell her the bad news for her, good news for him.
    â€œKatherine, I’ve joined the Marines.”
    Katherine hugged him tight. Her arms clamped around his shoulders as she cried uncontrollably. “Say it isn’t so, William Lincoln. When did you decide this? What happened to all your scholarship offers? What about your going to USF in Tampa and my going to UFL in Miami? I was excited about us being in Florida together. That’s all I’ve dreamt about since I got my acceptance letter. You know this.”
    That was one of the differences between Katherine and Mona that he really loved about Katherine. She always made him feel manly. As though he was the only guy in her world. Everything he did excited her. Nothing he’d done excited his parents. Not much of what he’d accomplished thrilled his grandparents until he agreed to enlist. His family’s apathy was the main reason he refused to sign a letter of intent.
    Lincoln stared over the field. He was trading a football field to fight in the field, as his sergeant called it. Truth be told, going into the military terrified him. The money he’d make excited him. He never had a steady income. His grandfather told him, “Football players come a dime a dozen, son. Only the few and proud can serve the greatest country on earth. What you gon’ do if one of the big ole linebackers break your leg? When I was your age, I fought in World War II.”
    Grandpa was right about the potential injury. Several of his teammates had had offers, but once they were injured, the colleges didn’t want them. Grandpa said, “The university will use you up, make money off of your talent, and not put a dime in your pocket for all your hard labor.” But if the decision were Lincoln’s alone, he’d take the full ride, go to college, and be the first in his family to graduate from a university.
    Since joining “the few” would make his grandfather proud, he’d sacrifice his dreams. He doubted his mother and father would keep in touch with him after he walked across the stage. It might appear selfish on his part, but having the two women who loved him the most wait for him was better than returning home to no one who cared. He’d given up on going pro.
    â€œI’m leaving today. Right after I get my diploma.”
    Tears drenched more tears as Katherine cried out loud. “What am I going to do without you?”
    He was Katherine’s first lover, first real boyfriend. With Mona, she said he was her first boyfriend, but it was hard to tell. He’d heard in the locker room that some loser named Steven Cunningham hit it first. Dude was a loner, a nerd, a weirdo.
    Right now, Lincoln’s priority was Katherine.
    Handing her his high school championship jersey, he said, “You’re going to go to UFL, major in journalism like you’ve always wanted to, and then you’ll get that job anchoring the news. That way if there’s cable TV where I’m stationed, hopefully I can see your beautiful face on the regular.”
    Katherine was ultrafeminine. Mona Lisa was a lady when she had to be, but mostly Mona was more of a mystery than the mysteries she loved solving. He