"Mary's Song (Oh My My My)"

Growing up with the family I had was amazing. My mother was an only child, but she had a best friend, who I called my Aunt. For most of my childhood we all lived next door to each other, my mom, dad, and me, and then Aunt Emma, Uncle John, and their two sons Jay and Ved. It was the perfect childhood any girl could ask for.

She said, I was seven and you were nine
I looked at you like the stars that shined
In the sky, the pretty lights
And our daddies used to joke about the two of us
Growing up and falling in love and our mamas smiled
And rolled their eyes and said oh my my my

"Look at those two John, they're gonna grow up and fall in love." My father use to tease Jay and I whenever we would play house together. Ved was too young to rough house with Jay, so he treated me like a brother instead.

"I can picture their wedding day now." Uncle Tom would say in response as he laughed at how upset I would get about it. I hated it when they would say that I was going to marry Jay, he was my best friend, and I looked up to him. Plus at that age I was sure that boys had cooties, and that wasn't something I wanted.

"I will not marry him!" I shouted, I knew my face was turning bright red, it always did when they would tease me.

"I'm not gonna get married." Jay would protest as well. Although it didn't upset him as much as it did me.

"My, my, you two know the rules about shouting in the house." Aunt Emma said coming out of the kitchen. " Now leave those kids alone." She would tell her husband and my dad.

"We're just kidding around." Uncle Tom said looking up at his wife.

"Go check on Ved, make sure he's still asleep will you?" she asked her husband. Once he was up she took his seat.

"Mom I am not going to marry Ebony!" Jay said looking over at his mother.

She didn't say anything, she just smiled and waited for us to go back to playing.

"Let's go outside, it's getting hot in here." I said tossing the toys over towards the corner of the room.

"No wrestling out there." my mom shouted as we ran out the front screen door.

Once we were in the front yard we could see the other kids in the neighborhood. They were all closer to Jay's age than they were mine, I was only seven.

"Jay, come on." Ram shouted from his bike.

Jay and I both ran down the steps and to the side walk where Ram and a few other boys were.

"You're playing with a girl?" Ram asked.

"Nah," Jay said looking over at me.

"Hey!" I said stomping my foot.

"I'll go get my bike." Jay said before running towards the back side of the house. I followed him

"I bet I can beat you." I said picking up my bike. I stopped when Jay's hand was on the handle bars.

"Look Ebony, I like playing with you, but not with the guys. And don't tell the guys either, or I'll beat you up." Jay said looking at me and trying to act tough.

I think deep down I knew that he wouldn't do something like that, but his words did sting a little, I had never been told I couldn't hang out with him and the other boys.

Take me back to the house in the backyard tree
Said you'd beat me up, you were bigger than me
You never did, you never did
Take me back when our world was one block wide
I dared you to kiss me and ran when you tried
Just two kids, you and I...
Oh my my my my

The summer I turned 10 was the last full summer that I spent at home. I will never forget that summer. Tai-san had become my best friend, and we would play in my back yard all day long if we could. The boys would often come over to try and get us to play a game a football with them. We always ended up playing, in the rain, mud, and the hot summer sun. It was still nice to be considered one of the guys sometimes.

One day it was to hot to play football, or most other games. Ram, Jay, and I were sitting on the side walk in front of my house watching as a new family moved in across the street.

"Maybe there are some girls in this family." Ram said scrunching up his face before he sneezed.

"What's wrong with the girls that are already here?" Tai-san asked walking up to us.

"What girls?" Ram asked.

"We don't see you and Ebbz as girls, you guys are like some of the guys." Jay said looking over at me and then back towards the house.

"Well we are girls." Tai-san said standing in front of him.

"Hey, that girl is really pretty!" Ram said suddenly tugging on Jay's arm.

I looked over at the house, there was a girl standing in the front yard, she looked like she was the same age as me. But she ran inside quickly before any of us could say anything.

"Rats." Ram said with a sigh.

"Why does it matter if a pretty girl moves in?" I asked looking over at Jay and Ram.

"Because." Ram said looking at me like I was stupid. "How else do you get a girlfriend?"

"Me and Ebony aren't pretty enough?" Tai-san asked.

Both Ram and Jay looked at each other for the right words, either of them knew what to say to Tai-san's question..

"And don't use the excuse that we're just one of the guys." Tai-san said folding her arms in front of her chest.

"Well you are, kissing you would be like kissing Jay." Ram said with a huff.

"How do you know what its like to kiss Jay?" I asked leaning forward so I could rest my head on my knees.

"I don't, that's gross." Ram said.

"That's his point." Jay added.

"So now we're gross?" Tai-san asked.

"We didn't say that." Jay said quickly. He knew better than the hurt our feelings.

"I think you guys are too scared to kiss us." I said simply.

"Oh yeah?" Ram asked standing up, he never liked it when someone called him scared.

"Well if you're not then kiss me." Tai-san said looking at him.

"Fine!" Ram said before kissing her quickly and awkwardly on the lips.

"I dare you Jay." I said sitting up and looking at him.

As he stood up I did as well. As he started to learn in towards me I could feel my heart pounding in my ears. When I saw his eyes close I quickly took a step back and ran towards my house.

"Who's the scared one now?" Ram shouted after me.

That was the last time the four of us talked about kissing. But as the summer went on, things started to change more than the boys being interested in girls. The new girl, Amber, made some big changes to the way things had always been.

We were in the middle of a football game when she came to the dirt field. I had been gone for the last two weeks because I went on the yearly vacation trip with my parents. I hadn't had time to talk to everyone because I had just gotten back, and joined the game as it started.

Jay had gotten the ball and I went to go tackle him to try and stop him from running any farther down the field with it. The two of us tripped and I landed on top of him, we were both laughing, and had dirt smudges all over our faces and clothes.

"Get off my boyfriend." A voice came from above me.

I rolled over and grabbed the ball from Jay as I did so. I used the ball to block out the sun to see who was talking to me. It was Amber, I had only meet her once before. She was wearing a pink skirt and a white tank top, her hair was curled and I think she was even wearing make-up. Tai-san was standing next to her.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked me as Ram helped me up.

"Playing football." I replied once I was standing.

"Girls don't play football." She said in a matter of fact tone.

"I've always played football, I've always played with the guys." I said looking over at Jay and Ram unsure of what was going on.

"Well you've been gone. Things have changed." Amber said grabbing Jay's hand and pulling him over to her.

"No." I said as she started to walk away from me.

"Excuse me?" she asked turning around to look at me.

"Nothing has changed. I will play football if I want to. You're not the boss of me." I said looking at Amber. "I've lived here longer than you have, you can't just change things."

"I already have." Amber told me before she turned and walked way with my two best friends.

I was sixteen when suddenly
I wasn't that little girl you used to see
But your eyes still shined like pretty lights
And our daddies used to joke about the two of us
They never believed we'd really fall in love
And our mamas smiled and rolled their eyes
And said oh my my my...

After that summer I decided that summer camps would be a better way to spend my summers. The summer I turned sixteen I came home from camp early. My parents threw me a welcome home /sweet sixteen party and had invited what seemed like half the town.

"Look at you!" my mother said spinning me around that night. She had taken me shopping for my birthday and bought me a few new outfits to wear. I had started to become more of a girl, or at lest I started to look more like a girl.

"You're growing up." Aunt Emma said with a smile on her face. "Doesn't she look beautiful Tom?"

"You're growing into a pretty young woman." Uncle Tom told me with a smile and nod.

"Thank you." I said blushing a little, I wasn't very good at taking compliments. "Is Jay here yet? I feel like I haven't seen him since school got out." Although that summer had changed a lot of things, it didn't change my friendship with Jay, that was something that would never be able to change.

"I think him and the boys are outside." My mom said giving me a smile.

When I went outside my backyard was full of tables and people.

"Happy Birthday Ebony!" came from so many different directions I wasn't sure which way to look. But when I finally reached a table that was filled with the boys I had grown up with and Tai-san and Amber, I smiled.

"Well I hope you all didn't come to sit here all night." I said getting their attention. I smiled as they all turned to look at me.

"Happy Birthday Ebbz!" Ram said getting up and hugging me.

"You look amazing Ebony!" Tai-san said with a smile.

"Thanks, but I was serious when I said you all weren't gonna sit here all night." I said looking at them. "It's my party, and I want to have some fun!"

"Let's dance." Jack said standing up and leading me away from the table, I watched as everyone followed, and soon enough we were all on my patio dancing, laughing, and just having fun.

When a slow song came on, we all paused, somewhat, and waited to pair up. I smiled when Jay put his arms around me.

"Well hello there stranger." I said looking up at him.

"How was camp?" he asked with a smile.

"It was great, I was sad to leave, but excited to be back." I replied. "Although I can tell I wasn't missed much." I laughed as I looked around at our other friends, they all seemed to be paired off into couples, and not just because of the song.

"You were missed, a lot." Jay said getting me to look back up at him.

I smiled up at Jay, from that line I knew that he didn't see me as the seven year old girl that he use to run around with in bib overalls and pig tails with dirt all over her. "So you missed me?" I asked slowly, unsure of where this conversation would lead us.

Jay didn't respond to my question, instead he leaned down and kissed me on the lips. His lips were soft and warm. It was the perfect first kiss, the one I had ran away from years before.

Take me back to the creek beds we turned up
Two A.M. riding in your truck and all I need is you next to me
Take me back to the time we had our very first fight
The slamming of doors instead of kissing goodnight
You stayed outside til the morning light
Oh my my my my

Jay and I had started dating the night of my sixteenth birthday, and had never seen any reason to break up. It was almost as though we were meant for each other, it surprised our dads because neither of them really thought that we would fall in love, even though they use to joke about it.

We would spend all of our time together, either riding around town, hanging out with friends, or just being together. It didn't seem to matter where we were as long as we were together. But like my mom use to tell me, love is work, and being with Jay never seemed like work, or at lest until we fought.

"You didn't have to lie to me about it." I shouted throwing a stuffed animal at him.

"But if I told you, I knew you would get mad." Jay said dodging the things that were flying at his head.

"Well you pissed me off even more by lying to me!" I yelled.

"Well maybe if you weren't so dramatic I wouldn't have lied to you." Jay shot back at me.

I stopped throwing things and looked at him. "You really want to go there?" I asked him.

"I already did." He said before turning around and walking out of the room.

"Don't walk away from me." I said getting up and following him. Once we made it to the living room things just seemed to blow up even more.

"You are acting like a 16 year old!" he yelled at me.

"I am 16!" I screamed back at him. "So you're gonna have to learn to deal with that, or you can just leave." I yelled pointing at the door. I watched as he threw open the door and walked out of the house. The screen door shut so hard that it made me jump.

The next morning my mom came to my room still in her bathrobe, it was that early that my own mother wasn't dressed yet. I didn't realize the time, it was my first fight with Jay, and it felt like our last fight as well.

"Is there a reason Jay is sitting outside on the porch?" She asked me from the door way.

I shot up from my bed and didn't even look at her before I ran to the window, his truck was still parked in the same spot as it had been the day before.

"He's been out there all night." My mom said when I turned around and looked at her. "Ebony, that boy can't camp on our porch every time you two have a fight." She told me as I ran past her.

I looked out the living room window, and he was sitting on the step with his back to the house. I went over to the door and unlocked it. By the time I opened the door Jay was standing up on the stairs facing me.

"Hey." He said softly as I went outside.

It was a lot colder outside than I had thought it would have been and I shiver went through me. "What are you doing here?" I asked grabbing my arms hoping to warm myself up.

"You're shivering." He said taking his jacket off and draping it around my shoulders.

It was warm, and smelled like him. "What are you doing here Jay, it's five in the morning."

"I promised you something Ebony. I promised you that I would never leave this house without kissing you good bye." Jay said putting his hands on my arms and rubbing them.

As I stood there on my porch, looking up at him, I knew. I knew that this was the only guy out there for me. He was the guy I wanted to be with. "I love you." I said throwing my arms around his neck.

"I love you too." He replied holding me close to him.

A few years had gone and come around
We were sitting at our favorite spot in town
And you looked at me, got down on one knee

Jay and I were sitting on my front porch four years later. It was early in the summer and the sun was getting ready to set. It was one of our favorite things to do together, to watch the sun set on that porch. Our dad's joked that it was our favorite place in the whole world. They were true, sitting on that porch with him, was like sitting in a different world.

I looked over at him when I felt him let go of my hand. Both his hands where in his pockets, and he looked nervous. "Everything alright?" I asked before looking back towards the sky. I looked back at him when he didn't answer me. I watched as he slowly moved in front of me and was on one knee, there was a little square black ring box in his right hand. "Oh my god." I said in a whisper.

"Ebony, will you marry me?" he asked with a smile. He placed the ring carefully on my finger, as though he was scared to touch either one.

I could feel the tears in the corners of my eyes. I didn't even bother to look at the ring before I warped my arms around Jay's neck. He stood up, taking me with him and spun me around. When my feet were back on the ground I looked up at him.

"I love you Ebony and I don't want to be with anyone else ever, you are the only girl out there for me, and I want to start my life with you." He said as he wiped the tears away from my eyes.

"God, I love you." Was all I could say to him.

Take me back to the time when we walked down the aisle
Our whole town came and our mamas cried
You said I do and I did too
Take me home where we met so many years before
We'll rock our babies on that very front porch
After all this time, you and I

Our wedding was the perfect small town wedding, everyone was there, our mothers cried, our father's joked, and Ram made the speech.

"You two have known each other for longer than I even know. Jay, you proposed to her on her front porch, that porch you will raise your children on, the porch you first met on." He said looking at the two of us. "You two are the people that will make love work, forever. It's always been Jay and Ebony, since we were five, so forever and always, your love is true!"

I'll be eighty-seven; you'll be eighty-nine
I'll still look at you like the stars that shine
In the sky, oh my my my...