Free Under the Peach Tree by Charlay Marie

from touching the earth, but God still does things for us to notice. Look.” He pointed to the sky. “God gives us moments in each day to smile, thank, and acknowledge Him. When I see a sky that beautiful, I think . . . God is good. Go into a forest and just sit there and listen. You wouldn’t be able to come back and tell me that you didn’t feel the best sense of peace. The wind, do you ever listen to it?”
    I smiled. I had listened to it. I felt that I could almost hear someone talking to me.
    â€œOne day, sit outside for hours and listen to it, listen until you hear it. It’s God telling you something. He’s always trying to tell us something. We’ve just forgotten how to listen.” He walked around to face me. “Close your eyes.” I did as he said. “Breath in and out, slowly. Keep your feet planted on the ground, spread our arms, let all of your worries go, and feel the earth’s energy surge through you. Now listen to it, listen to what it has to tell you. Let God speak to you.”
    I tried to focus, but John was so close and so passionate, I couldn’t focus on anything but his soft voice. I opened my eyes. He was standing there with his arms spread out, eyes closed, face tilted up, listening to something I couldn’t and wouldn’t hear. I began to admire his beauty. He was only thirty years old, five years younger than Momma, but his eyes held the wisdom of a man twice his age. Momma was stupid to put this man down. If he’d been mine, I’d have cherished the ground he walked on. I would have done anything to please him. Momma didn’t deserve him. He didn’t deserve the unhappiness she caused him. Maybe I could make him happy. If I did, maybe he’d stay longer. Maybe he’d never leave.
    I stood up slowly, staring at his parted lips. I wanted to kiss those lips the way Momma couldn’t. Make him feel the way Momma refused to make him feel. We were the same. He understood me and I understood him.
    I quickly pressed my lips against his and stepped back, waiting for him to rage. John’s forehead furrowed as he opened his eyes and found mine. I knew what he’d say, that I shouldn’t have kissed him, but I didn’t want to hear it.
    â€œJohn, please don’t be mad at me. I just love you so much and I couldn’t contain it.”
    He sighed. “Hope, I love you too, both you and your sister, but you don’t kiss me. I’m a grown man. You should kiss boys your age.”
    â€œThem boys ain’t nothing but stupid,” I told him. “What’s wrong with me?”
    â€œYour age.”
    â€œBack in the day, men your age married young women like me, even younger. I’m sixteen. In two years I’ll be legal, and then we can run off together and leave Momma behind and be happy. Just you and me,” I told him, smiling as I said every word, smiling like it would work.
    â€œHope, you’re still a child and I love your momma.”
    â€œHow can you love her? She don’t even love you!” I yelled. I clenched my fist, trying to contain the anger I felt. How could he reject me? He said that he loved me and I had always been in love with him, I just didn’t know it until that moment. “No man ever loved me like you love me, John.”
    â€œYou’re confusing the love of a father with the love of some little boy.”
    â€œYou ain’t my daddy. You can’t love me like a father loves his daughter. Don’t lie to me, John. You want me too.” I walked up to him, rubbing my hands down his stomach. He gently moved them away. “John, let me make you feel good, like you make me feel. Let me touch you.” I reached for his manhood, but he pushed my hands away, backing up.
    â€œHope, stop.”
    â€œNo, John. Please, love me.”
    â€œNo, Hope, stop!”
    I stopped advancing toward him. My heart felt crushed into a million pieces. “You