Free Fall Black In Love 1: When Henry Met Millie by D. Camille

in the sky. Millie held onto Henry’s strong hand as she watched the orange-red sky.
      “My Momma wants to meet you,” Millie told him.
      “Tonight?” he asked.
      “No, she won’t be home until really late. When you pick me up for our date, she’ll be here.” Millie explained.
    He agreed. “I’ll be here.”
      “Do you have lots of family back in Mississippi?” she asked.
      “I have a mother, a father and a grandmother. A few half siblings, distant cousins and so forth,” he informed her.
      “Are you planning to go back?”
    Henry lifted a brow. “Not to live. My life is here in Detroit now.”
    “What’s it like there?” Millie asked. “I’ve never been out of Detroit.”
    He looked straight ahead out of the windshield. “It’s different. There was Jim Crow laws down there.”
      “That’s the laws that make everything separate,” Millie commented.
      Henry nodded. “There’s colored this and colored that. You can’t do this and you can’t do that. There’s a law against everything a black person does and it seems they make up more every day.”
      “I’d still love to see where you grew up,” Millie said watching him.
      He turned to her and stared into her pretty face. “Maybe one day when Jim Crow is really abolished, we could go there.” He paused. “I wouldn’t want you to come now. It’s not a pretty sight in some places and I’d be worried about you.”
      “I understand,” she said sadly.
      They sat in a comfortable silence, both thinking about the events surrounding them and their people in this country.
    After a little while, Millie turned and smiled sweetly at him. “Do you want to come inside?”
    Henry checked his watch. “I should go home and let you get some rest.”
      “You made me work hard today,” she pointed out.
    He smiled. “I made Honey get better.”
    She laughed. “We’ll see in a few days.”
      “I won’t see you again until the game, Millie. I don’t want to interrupt your focus,” Henry told her and she pouted.
      “I won’t see you?” she asked.
      “You gotta be prepared,” he told her. “This is your championship and you worked hard to get here.”
      Millie sat back against the seat. The thought of not seeing Henry for the next three days didn’t sit well with her.
      “Don’t do that,” he admonished softly.
      “Do what?”
    He turned her face to him. “Break my heart.”
    “I want to see you Henry…”
    He placed a finger on her lips. “Why don’t we compromise? I’ll call you…every day.” He offered.
      “You don’t want to see me?” she asked confused.
      “Millie, if I had my way, I’d see your pretty face every single day.” He touched her cheek. “We both know you need to focus.”
      “I want you to have your dreams and I’m not going anywhere, I promise.” He moved to her jaw.
      She smiled at him in gratitude. It made her heart sing that Henry cared about what she wanted and supported her.
      “Do I have to wait three days for you to kiss me again?” she asked holding his eyes.
    Henry gathered her into his arms. “No ma’am.”   “Millie, if I had my way, I’d see your pretty face every single day.” Henry touched her temple. “I want you to have your dreams. I’m not going anywhere, I promise you.’

Chapter 8
    The day of the championship game, Millie was nervous as usual. She hadn’t seen Henry in the crowd at the start of the game while she’d played the infield. Now as she sat on the bench waiting for her turn to bat, she continued to search the crowd for him.
      “Calm down Honey. The game just started,” Irma told her.
    Millie turned to her. “He’s not here yet. He said he’d be here.”
      “It’s crowded. Maybe he’s finding a parking spot,” Irma offered.
    Millie searched the crowd again to no avail.
    Irma looked too. “Well your stalker made it on time,” she commented.
      “I see him Irma.” Millie frowned.
      “Well it’s