The Road to Memphis (12 page)

Sissy laughed. “Won’t be for long. I got Clarence paying some attention now.”

I looked at her suspiciously. “Sissy, just what are you up to?”

“Getting my man.”

“Well, it seems like a mighty funny way to get him, you ask me.”

“Well, I’m not asking you, Cassie. I’m not asking anybody. I know what I’m doing.”

“You’re crazy.”

She rendered me a smart grin and turned away. I grabbed hold of her wrist. “Clarence is the daddy of that baby you’re carrying, and you know it!”

She jerked away, but the grin remained. She was pretty sure of herself. “You promise me you won’t tell Clarence what I tell ya?”

“That’s what you want.”

“Well, it couldn’t be nobody else’s baby but Clarence’s. Wouldn’t never let nobody else touch me.”

“Well, why didn’t you just tell Clarence that in the first place and be done with the thing?”

“And have him grumbling the rest of his life ’bout me hooking him into marrying me? When he gone off into that Army, he told me he wasn’t thinking ’bout no marrying, and I told him he couldn’t think ’bout marrying me, then what we fooling ’round for? Told him there was other boys got marrying on their minds could be courting me. Clarence wanna marry me now, he gonna just hafta decide that for himself. I want him to come to me on his own ’cause he wants to and do right by me and this baby. He don’t want me, I ain’t gonna force him into nothin’.”

I had to laugh. “Well, then, all I can say is I sure am glad I’m not in love. Makes a person stop thinking straight.”

She had to laugh herself. “I suppose so.” Then she walked on, and I walked with her.

When we reached Sissy’s house, we found Harris sitting in the battered Model T truck that for the most part was seldom out of the yard. Harris was forever tinkering with it, even
though he wasn’t allowed to drive it; there was no money to spare for gasoline. Today he wasn’t working on the truck. He was just sitting there behind the steering wheel, the door wide open, his bad leg, the one that had been so severely broken, hanging out. It was wrapped only from the knee down, allowing him to bend it. He was staring straight ahead. His crutch lay on the ground.

“’Ey, Harris,” I said.

“’Ey,” he muttered.

“What you doing sitting in that truck, boy?” snapped Sissy. “You been messin’ with it again?”

“Naw.”

“You know Ma said she ain’t wantin’ you messin’ with it!”

“Ain’t messin’, Sissy,” he said. “Just sitting here.”

“Doin’ what?”

“Just sittin’.”

“Well, that better be all you doing and not messing with that truck again. You know Ma said she don’t want that bit of gas in it gettin’ used up with you just startin’ and stoppin’ it in the yard.”

“Yeah, I know, I know,” he said sullenly. Then Harris got out of the truck, favoring his bad leg. Picking up his crutch, he said, “Guess I’ll be heading on back up to the church. You going back now, Cassie?”

“You go on. I got a few more words for Sissy.”

“You watch yourself, now, Harris,” instructed Sissy. “Don’t you get to talking too much to Clarence, you hear me? I’ll take care of him.”

Harris pushed his hands into his pockets. “I got nothin’ to tell Clarence.”

“Well, just see that you don’t. And stay off that leg so much!”

He looked at Sissy, at me, nodded, and limped on down the trail. Sissy sat on the porch steps. “Now, what you got to say to me?”

“I want you to go talk to Clarence and stop making a fool of yourself.”

Sissy was quiet a moment, then she said: “You just think you know it all, don’t you, Cassie? Well, one day you gonna fall in love yourself, and then you’ll see how it feels. You’ll see how it is to be a fool too.”

“Not me,” I said with utmost certainty. “Because if love makes you go around acting this way, I don’t much want anything to do with it. Besides, I don’t figure I could be as foolish about anybody the way you are about Clarence.”

“Oh, yeah, you could, Cassie. Right man come into your life, you will.”

“Right man like Clarence, huh?”

She shrugged. “Our love’s blessed, Cassie.”

“Well . . . I don’t know ’bout all that—”

“It is. I feel my love for that boy from the roots of my hair to the tips of my toenails. Been feeling that way ’bout my Clarence since I first laid eyes on him.” She laughed again, then placed her hands on her stomach with an unsuppressed joy. “Oh, Cassie, I’m so happy! Clarence and me and this here baby, we gonna be us a family. Some folks, they been talkin’ ’bout me ’cause I’m this way and I ain’t married, but it don’t bother me none. Clarence, he the best thing ever come my way, and he’s my man and I’m right proud to have his baby! Right proud! We gonna do just fine, soon’s he learn that.” She looked so firm in that conviction, I almost believed it too. She squeezed my hand with her joy. “Don’t worry, Cassie, me and Clarence, we’re gonna work out fine.”

“That is, if your grandma Batie doesn’t catch up with Clarence first and blast him with a shotgun.”

Sissy’s laughter rang across the yard like a bell. “Ah, Ma’s just talking! Ain’t nothin’ gonna spoil our happiness. Nothin’ at all.”

“Well, I sure hope not,” I said and got up. “Not as crazy as you are about that boy. Look here, you coming back up to church later?”

“What I got to come back up there for? Anybody wanna see me, they can just come down here. Don’t worry. He’ll come ’fore he leaves. He’ll come.”

“All right, you believe that,” I said. “S’pose I’ll be seeing you come Christmas. We’re going to be leaving after while.”

She patted her stomach. “Christmas already here for me.”

“Well, then, I guess I’ll be hoping Santa Claus’ll bring you one more present.”

“He will,” she said with assurance. “He will.”

I laughed, told her good-bye, and returned to the road. As I made my way back toward Great Faith a truck came barreling over the rise. I stepped to the side of the road to let it pass. The truck slowed. A few feet from me it stopped. Statler, Troy, and Leon Aames sat in the cab. Statler stepped from the driver’s side. “’Ey, Cassie,” he said as Leon and Troy also got out. “You’re looking mighty good there, Cassie Logan. Haven’t seen you in a while.”

I didn’t say anything. Statler came toward me. I tried to walk on. Grinning, Statler stepped in front of me and blocked my way. “Looking that good, you gotta know something good.”

I still didn’t say anything.

“’Ey, what? Cat got your tongue? Ain’t you hearing me talking to you, girl? I said, what you know good?”

I met his gray eyes, and against good sense my smart mouth got the better of me. “Whatever I know good, I won’t be sharing it with you.”

Statler’s smile was slow, then he let go a howl; so did Leon and Troy. When they finished with their laughing, Statler grinned down appreciatively. “You know, you’re something, Cassie.”

The smile made me nervous. I was a fool to use a smart mouth. These were young white men standing here. They could take offense to my words or be encouraged by them. Either way, I couldn’t win. It was obvious that Statler liked my sass, but that was doing me no good. I just wanted to get by and get back to church. Statler, though, was still standing in my way. “Would you move, please?” I said. “I need to get by.”

Again he laughed. “You ain’t scairt of nothin’, are you, girl?” He drew nearer and whispered, “Out here on this road all by yourself.”

He was wrong about that, about my not being scared. I was scared of him, all right, of all three of them. But the last thing I wanted was for them to know it. “What? You expecting me to go running like Harris that night on the Rosa Lee?”

Statler paled and pulled back. I walked past him. I got as far as the back end of the truck before he came after me. “Cassie, let me give you a ride.” He blocked my way again. “Got something here you might like.”

“You’ve got nothing I want—”

“Yeah . . . but you got something I want . . .”

Leon and Troy again howled. I stepped away, ready to flee back to Sissy’s. I didn’t know if I could make it, though. I glanced over at the forest looming tall on either side of the road and wondered if I could make the leap across the gully in my Sunday pumps and make a shortcut run up to the church.
But then I wondered, if it came to that, if I could outrun them. If I couldn’t, the woods was the last place I needed to be. If I headed for Sissy’s place, I figured they would just stop me again; however, they wouldn’t be expecting me to jump the gully. I knew every foot of this land, but right now I felt cornered, and I was uncertain how to escape.

“Well, Cassie, what you say?” Statler grinned and moved even closer. I made up my mind. I got set to jump.

Papa stopped me.

“Cassie,” he said in a voice as quiet as black night. “Cassie, come on, now, back to church.” He was standing at the top of the rise.

Startled, Statler turned. I quickly passed him and headed for the rise. As I walked away Statler called, “Don’t break it, now, Cassie!” He and Leon and Troy let out a contemptuous laugh. My eyes flashed, ready to retort; Papa shook his head. His eyes bore down on mine, and I said nothing. Then he looked past me, at Statler and Leon and Troy, and the laughter stopped. Nothing more was said. I reached the top of the rise. Papa placed his hand on my shoulder. “You all right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“They ain’t touched you none?”

“No, sir.”

He nodded. “Good” was all he said before turning and walking with me down the rise toward the church.

“Papa, how’d you know they were messing with me?”

“My business to know,” he said. Then he looked at me. “You know I don’t like you walking these roads by yourself.”

“Well, I wasn’t by myself at first. Just walked Sissy home—”

“Seen y’all go off. Been waiting for y’all to come back.”

“Wasn’t gone that long.”

“Long ’nough to be back. You s’pose to be at church, not walking the roads.”

“Yes, sir,” I said, deciding not to dispute with Papa. As always, his words were soft-spoken. As always, they were words meant to be heard. I didn’t figure now was the time to go arguing with him; I didn’t figure I could win anyway.

“Seen Statler’s truck go by and figured I best come on down this way and see what done happened to y’all. That Statler got himself one bad reputation ’bout forcing his attentions on colored girls. That done happened more’n one time ’round here, and ain’t been nothin’ them girls’ daddies could do ’bout it, you know that. Got no laws t’ protect our girls from the likes of him, but I ain’t gonna stand for him forcing his attentions on you. I ain’t gonna stand for it.”

I nodded, understanding.

The forest ended; the land opened up, and Great Faith stood before us. Papa stopped, looked up at the church, then back at me. “You know, sugar, being my only girl, I worry ’bout you, worry ’bout you a lot, maybe more’n I oughta—”

“Papa, I’m all right,” I assured him.

Papa smiled at my declaration. “Ever since you was a baby girl, I could most times feel when you was in trouble, when you was hurting, needing me. Always wanted to protect all my children. Figured, though, maybe you might be needing protecting most.”

“Because I’m a girl?”

He conceded that. “Fact is, guess I worry ’cause that’s what papas do. Worry ’bout you on these roads by yourself. Worry ’bout you up in Jackson, so far from your mama and me. Worry ’bout you getting in trouble like Sissy, making a bad start in life.”

“Oh, Papa, you’ve got no cause to worry about that. I’m not stupid like Sissy.”

Papa gave me a long look, and his voice grew even more quiet, compelling me to listen. “There’s a lotta things that can happen to you in this world, Cassie. That’s how come your mama and me, we taught you like we done. Sometimes things happen, and there ain’t no way to keep them from happening. Other times things happen ’cause we get to thinking we so smart nothing can go wrong. Don’t get so smart, Daughter, you don’t use your head.”

I met Papa’s eyes and promised him that. “No, sir, I won’t.”

He nodded, then we crossed the field to the church. He went in the deacon’s door at the back. I went around to the front of the church and there found Little Man and Christopher-John, along with two of Willie’s younger brothers, with their ears pressed against the door. Harris stood at the bottom of the steps leaning against his crutch. They didn’t hear me coming, and all of them jumped when I said: “What y’all doing?”

Little Man scowled at me for startling them. “Listening to Ma Batie and Miz Noble in there talking to Clarence and them.”

“Clarence is in there?” I said, surprised.

“Yeah, he—”

Little Man didn’t get a chance to say more, as the door shot open and Clarence exploded from the church, knocking Little Man down the steps to the ground below. Paying Little Man no attention Clarence slipped on his sliver of a soldier’s cap and stomped away. As Little Man got up and dusted himself off, Stacey and Willie came out. “What happened?” I asked them.

Little Willie grinned. “Nothing that should’ve gone on in church.”

“Well, what’s got Clarence so mad?”

“Fool mad ’cause he think Sissy done made a fool of him.”

“He doesn’t still think one of you—”

“Don’t know what that boy think, he gone so addle minded,” declared Willie. He turned and cast an accusing look on Harris. “Why don’t you go do something ’bout this, boy? She your sister!”

Harris looked as if he’d been wrongly accused of some crime. “What—what I’m gonna do? Y’all know Sissy—”

“Yeah, I know her, all right. Tell you one thing. She was my sister, I wouldn’t let her go ’round tellin’ tales like this! I’d put a stop to it!”

Harris shook his head weakly “I . . . I can’t stop Sissy. Can’t nobody stop Sissy. She . . . she too hardheaded.”

“Ah, Willie, leave him be,” ordered Stacey. “Your quarrel’s with Sissy, not Harris.”

“Quarrel’s with the whole darn family, Sissy keep messin’!” retorted Willie.

Stacey glanced across the field at Jeanette, still talking to one of those Smellings Creek boys. “Well, I’m finished with it. I’ve said my last word about the whole thing. I’m going to go talk to Jeanette before we head back.”

“Try to, you mean,” corrected Willie. Stacey just looked at him and went off. “Yeah, well, you gonna be brave ’bout the thing,” Willie called after him, “‘spect I’ll go ’head and try to talk to Peaches too!”