Queen (98 page)

    sophisticated than Queen, Alice had watched the

596 ALEX HALEY'S QUEEN

Southern whites close ranks upon themselves, vigorously and sometimes

violently excluding anyone who had even the tiniest drop of black blood or

was rumored to have it. Alice cleverly deflected all questions about her

past, and developed a vague and tragic story of parents lost in the war if

anyone persisted in asking. Which few people did. Some of her wiser

gentlemen friends had suspicions of her secret, but kept quiet about it so

that they might continue to enjoy her company. Wanted by men only for what

they could get from her and tactfully shunned by women, Alice was lonely.

    Like calls to like, and when Alice had seen the mirror image of herself in

    Queen, her need for a friend overcame her usual caution. There was only a

    small element of risk, for Queen could pass for white at least as well as

    Alice, and was an eager student, willing to learn the intricacies of

    behavior that their fragile position demanded. Alice had no desire to lead

    Queen astray, no designs for some career of immorality for Queen, and no

    expectation of Queen other than the return of friendship, and in this Alice

    was amply rewarded. Like sisters separated at birth who had suddenly found

    each other again, they had similar tastes and ambitions; yet as much as

    they were alike, they were also different, but these differences comple-

    mented each other. Or perhaps loneliness made them blind to how different

    they really were. Alice was teacher, Queen her pupil. Alice was

    sophisticated and Queen naive, yet Queen longed to be worldly-wise, and

    Alice was desperate to know less. Each wanted to be loved and settled in

    some stable domestic situation, and if Queen was more optimistic about the

    immediate prospect of this, her simple faith blunted Alice's cynicism. They

    were united in their determination to live as white, and if Queen was less

    acutely aware of the dangers of being thought black, it was only by degree.

    Alice listened soberly to the story of Queen's life, and smiled at her

    blind adoration of her Jass. Alice had never known her own pappy, and

    needed a father figure sorely, and while she distrusted men, she

    sympathized with Queen's irrational faith.

    It amused Alice, who had grown up among paints and powders, that Queen

    didn't even know how to put makeup on, and they spent a delightful evening

    subtly coloring Queen's face.

    QUEEN 597

When Queen looked at the results in the mirror, she gasped at her own

beauty. It intrigued Alice that Queen had no clothes, and she ransacked

her wardrobe for gowns that her friend might wear. It enchanted Alice that

Queen had never been to a dance, except to watch and serve as a slave, and

she wondered how Queen would respond to an evening of simple, uncluttered

fun. And it would be an excellent test of Queen's behavior in the midst

of the enemy.

Queen was triumphant. She looked lovely in a lilac gown of Alice's, her

hair in ringlets, and her face artfully painted. Alice, in blue, laughed

at Queen's nervous excitement. They walked into the church hall together

on a warm Saturday night, and were immediately cheered as the belles of

the ball. Some might have thought the dance a little hick, but to Queen

it was a glamorous occasion. The tables and chairs had been cleared to the

side, the hall was decorated with lanterns, and a small band played good

music badly on the stage.

    An older gentleman, George, her old friend, offered Alice his arm, and

    when they swept away to dance, Queen panicked at being left alone. She

    crept to her favorite comer, for this same hall was the soup kitchen at

    other times, and watched the dancers dance, just as she used to watch

    balls at The Forks, and swayed to the music, and prayed that someone

    would ask her to dance and thought she would sink to the floor in em-

    barrassment if anyone did. She saw a tall, moderately handsome man

    staring at her and glanced away, but as immediately glanced back, and the

    man winked at her. Queen blushed and looked to the floor, and saw a pair

    of feet walking toward her. She looked up into the eyes of the moderately

    handsome young man, who introduced himself as Morgan, and called her

    gorgeous.

    "Sir, I am a lady!" Queen gasped, because she couldn't think of anything

    else to say.

    Morgan grinned. "You're also the prettiest thing in the room," he

    laughed, and offered his an-n. "Shall we?"

    Queen saw Alice nodding encouragement to her, and took the plunge. She

    accepted Morgan's arm, and they moved onto the dance floor. She could

    hardly believe this was happening to her, when, not so very long ago, she

    had been destitute.

598 ALEX HALEY'S QUEEN

Now she was happy, dancing in a pretty dress with a moderately handsome

young man. It was the stuff of dreams.

    She was a good dancer and had been taught well, but excitement and

    nervousness made her clumsy. Morgan winced in pain.

    "You may be a lady, but you don't dance very well," he said, and Queen

    was mortified. She began to apologize, but Morgan was blithe.

    "It's all right," he said, laughing again. "I've got strong boots on. "

    His laughter was infectious, and Queen relaxed and remembered her

    lessons, and danced the night away, and even allowed Morgan to peck her

    on the cheek when they said good night.

    She danced round the room when she and Alice got home, and poured out her

    delight at the evening. She couldn't remember when she'd had such a good

    time, despite Morgan's wandering hands, which had added delightful spice

    to the evening.

    Alice was pleased. Queen had passed her first public test superbly, and

    all her friends, especially George, had commented on Queen's beauty and

    manners. Vibrant with youthful energy, they chatted till dawn about the

    evening and about men, and then climbed into bed and drifted to sleep in

    each other's arms, secure and happy.

Queen agreed to a date with Morgan and saw him a few times, but while he

was always laughing, his hands were always wandering, and one day, on the

riverbank, they wandered too far. Queen told him off, and wouldn't see him

again.

    This came on top of a scolding from Alice, who was beginning to wonder

    if her student was learning far too well. She had been with Queen earlier

    that day, shopping, and a poor black had approached them, begging for

    money. Queen had snapped at him not to bother her, and called him a

    nigger. Alice was appalled, gave the man a few coins, and called Queen

    a little minx. Only weeks ago, Queen had been in the same state as the

    beggar; now she was all airs and graces, putting labels on herself.

    "You'd better be careful," Alice said, "because pride usually comes

    before a very nasty fall."

    QUEEN 599

    Queen flushed, and pouted, but realized she was in the wrong and

    apologized. Her afternoon with Morgan, however, did nothing to improve

    her humor. Looking forward to sharing her misery with Alice, she came

    home to a cold supper waiting on the table, and a note saying that her

    friend would be out for the evening until late. Queen guessed that Alice

    was seeing George or one of her other admirers, and, upset by Morgan and

    this first real evidence of Alice's immorality, she sulked for the

    evening. She climbed into bed early, and lay waiting for Alice to come

    home.

    Alice had a fine evening. While she was fond of Queen, she had a deep

    need for the company of older men and the security they represented to

    her. She had curtailed many of her activities since Queen's arrival, but

    now it was reassuring to be in George's company, to be dined and wined

    in a private room at a small hotel, and to be made love to by a man of

    some experience. And she had some very good news.

    When she came home soon after midnight, Queen was waiting for her, tucked

    up in bed with the sheet pulled securely under her chin.

    Queen's eyes darted with anger. "Where you been?" she demanded. Alice was

    not surprised at her reaction. She knew that Queen had become dependent

    on her, perhaps overly so, and she was relieved that, if Queen behaved

    properly, that dependence would soon be reduced.

    "Out," she said, taking off her bonnet and checking her hair in the

    mirror.

    "You sleep with George?" Queen demanded again, and Alice shrugged.

    "You're nothing but a whore, despite your fancy words," Queen snapped,

    and Alice snapped back.

    "How I survive is my business, Queen," she said. "Don't call me names."

    "It bothers me," Queen replied, burying her face in the pillow. Alice

    came and sat on the edge of the bed.

    "That's a pity, because George is a very nice man, and very rich," she

    told Queen, enjoying the news that she had. "And he has a job for you,

    if you want it."

    Queen looked at her in horror. "I won't do that sort of work!

600 ALEX HALEY'S QUEEN

    "You won't work in a flower shop?" Alice murmured, a smile dancing at the

    corners of her mouth.

    The effect was all she could have desired. Queen stared at Alice, whose

    smile had broadened into a grin. Suddenly, Queen squealed in delight, and

    grabbed Alice. The two of them rolled on the bed together, laughing and

    making great plans.

It was just the job for Queen. Although few folk had much money to spare,

flowers were a cheap extravagance; a small bouquet did much to alleviate the

stress of reduced circumstances, and those who did still have money were

conscious of the social niceties. The small shop was in a building George

owned, and was open only three days a week. On the other days, Queen would

ride around the country in a cart, gathering abundant summer wildflowers, or

buying garden blooms from people who were happy to get a few pennies for

what had cost them nothing to grow. On the days when the shop was open,

Queen would arrive early in the morning and fashion her harvest into pretty

bunches and bouquets, and she soon learned how to make simple wreaths for

the dead. Surrounded by nature's artless beauty, she blossomed herself, and

was popular with her customers. The fragrance of the flowers and the simple

constancy of their perennial renewal seemed to attach itself to her, and she

relaxed and lost the edginess that insecurity had developed in her. She

didn't even care anymore about Alice's occasional nocturnal expeditions, but

was tolerant of all her friend's foibles.

    She looked after her customers well, and was sensitive to their requests,

    often scouring the countryside to fulfill their special orders. And she

    always made sure she had roses, for there was one customer, a tall, darkly

    handsome man, immaculately dressed, who came by almost every day, and

    always bought only a single rose. He had a slight limp in his right leg,

    and walked with a cane. Intrigued by him, attracted to him, she once asked

    him if the rose was for a special woman friend, and he turned to her with

    sad, sorrowful eyes.

"it is for the grave of my poor dear mother," he said.

    Queen's heart bounded. She expressed her sympathy, and the man went away

    with his rose, while Queen fell into a

    QUEEN 601

daydream. This melancholy man was her ideal of her prince. Every day she had

his rose ready for him, and every day he paid, thanked her, and left. He

never smiled, but sometimes he looked deep into her eyes, and made Queen's

legs turn to jelly.

    On a hot June day he came into the shop, and Queen apologized for her

    roses. He always bought white, but Queen had only red roses that day. He

    looked at the lovely flower, and then into the distance. He paid for the

    rose, but didn't leave.

    "Is something wrong?" Queen asked, and now, for the first time since she

    had known him, he smiled.

"No," he said. "But this one, I think, is for you."

    He gave Queen the red rose; he took her hand and kissed it gently, then

    left. Queen almost swooned with delight.

    Within a week he had asked her to accompany him on an evening stroll by

    the riverbank. Fireflies danced in the bushes beside the river, and the

    lamplighter was lighting lanterns on the levee. He introduced himself as

    Digby, and he was the complete Southern gentleman.

    "From the first moment I saw you, surrounded by roses, I haven't been

    able to get you out of my mind," he told her. "I trust you do not think

    me forward, ma'am?"

    Queen was trying to be the complete Southern gentlewoman.

    "Why, no, sir," she said, remembering Miss Lizzie at her simpering best.