Three Days Before the Shooting ... (90 page)

“Officer,” he began, but again the cross-eyed woman was speaking:

“Now you lissen to me, Lonnie,” she screamed, “You stop referring to us as ‘Boots,’ you hear? Don’t do it! Don’t be giving that white man the immoral satisfaction of hearing you talking so common. You know that he’s the kind who likes to twist and turn everything a colored person does and says wrong-side out! He’s the kind who if he was to see one of us ladies being escorted along the streets a few times by different gentlemen friends he’d be calling us prostitutes! You
know
that. He’s the kind who has the low-rating kind of mind!”

“Now you’re talking!” Barnes said, nodding judiciously. “You’re correct—but it ain’t uncommon. And like I say, after he’s done low-rated and yeasted the situation to his own satisfaction, and after he has put the badmouth on you—” he paused, stabbing the air with a fat finger, “he will be trying to twist some Boot—” he made a twisting motion with his hand, “for some loot!”

“Lonnie!” the cross-eyed woman said, “LONNIE!”

“… Then the next thing you know, instead of arresting somebody for breaking the law, he’ll be breaking down the dam’ door demanding some free trade! Which
I
would describe as the compounding of a criminal misnaming of situations, plus the bearing of false and malicious witness
with
an act of
de facto
—I said
‘de facto’
—
bribery
! In other words—twisting the
Boot
!
”

“Lonnie,” the woman screamed, her eyes a-blazing crossfire as she gave her wig a violent tug, “I have told you now …”

“… But that,” the pop-eyed man said, “is just another way of upending a Boot for some loot …”

“Lonnie,” the woman screamed, “now don’t you interrupt me any more because
I’m
going to tell these gentlemen about this white man and I don’t want to hear another word out
of you.”

“Wilhite,” he whispered, “that detective had better watch himself, because if I know anything about our women this sister is working herself up to a point where she’ll be preaching his funeral and talking about his parents at one and the same time.”

“Yes,” Wilhite said, “and if I were superstitious and she was looking at me
the way she’s looking at
him
—I’d cross my fingers and spit in my hat. Because now that white man’s going to have to pay for all that agitation that fellow with the mush-mouthed legal mind is working up. That woman is getting as hot as a Charleston pistol … and I don’t want to be here when she explodes. Just look at her!”

“Lonnie,” the woman was saying as he looked back and saw her, wagging her finger at the pop-eyed man, “if you don’t hush I’m going to
read y
ou
!
I’m telling you now, I’m going to
read yo
u!
”

Barnes drew himself up, his head turning from side to side following her wagging finger.

“You’re going to do
what?”
he said, his voice vibrant with indignation. “Where do
you
get the right to threaten
me
like that? This is a free country and open to all
kinds
of opinion; therefore I have the right—”

“No! No! And you lissen to me, Lonnie Barnes! You lissen to
me!”

Frowning, Barnes stuck out his lips, his forehead wrinkling beneath his stocking cap. “Now how come I have to do that?” he said. “Tell me how come I have to lissen to
you
when I already know all about his kind? When I’ve seen them operate for over fifty—”

“… Because,” the woman screamed, “you’re so full of
bull
hockey and everybody knows it, that’s why! I want these two gentlemen who just came in to listen because I have a real problem….”

“Now you done said something,” Barnes said, “you really do have a problem.”

“… which maybe they can help me with….”

“… Yeah, but for that,” Barnes said, “you need to get organized. We need
organization!”

“Oh, organize my butt!” the cross-eyed woman screamed. “Go organize your mama!”

Suddenly Barnes spun as though shot, the topknot of his greasy stocking cap catching the light as he stared in outrage toward the stairs.

“Now look here, Maud,” he roared, “don’t you go dragging my mama into this discussion.”

“Me?” the woman screamed, “ME! You brought her into it yourself! The only reason
I’m
mentioning her is because she had the misfortune of bringing you into the world where you have got yourself in my way and made me
mad
—So now hush! And don’t you roll your bloodshot eyes at me—

“Gentlemen,” she said, “forgive me for talking like that. I’m sorry. But as you can plainly see, our neighbor, Lonnie Barnes there, he just has too much mouth! Now the point I’m trying to get across is that we’re all out here at this time of night because we have had some serious trouble here in our building—which is our home—understand? And that does something
awful to
a woman. It upsets her! It makes her
nervous
! Now that white man there won’t
tell you, but I will: Mr. Rockmore, who is our landlord, and Mr. McMillen, who you came here to see, are in some kind of trouble. That’s what this is all about. I don’t know what kind of trouble it is, but we know that it’s something serious. Because besides that rookie standing there next to you all, there’s some
big-time
detective and some other folks have been in there with Mr. Rockmore and Mr. McMillen. Not that we have been meddling; I don’t believe in that; but early this evening it sounded like there was a
party
going on in there, and can’t nobody here ever remember Mr. Rockmore ever doing any partying….”

“That’s right,” a woman said, “that sure is the truth.”

“Yes! and then there was some loud noises and a woman was laughing and all like that….”

“… And music,” a voice said.

“Yes, and some dance music and all like that,” the cross-eyed woman said. “So pretty soon the front door was slamming and folks was stumbling around out here in the hall and the next thing I know I’m wide awake and all
kinds
of rumors and questions is whirling around out here in the hall—understand? But in spite of all that nobody seems to know what the
truth
is. And that’s because that white policeman there won’t tell us anything, and neither will he let us go in and find out anything for ourselves.

“So now, that’s why I’m asking for your help. I’m in trouble, understand? I mean, when something like this happens I get to thinking I must be going out of my mind. That’s right, gentlemen. That’s the truth! Everything starts to getting so
unstable
—you know? I get the hot flashes and it’s like my
brain
gets to spinning so hard that I seem to be staggering on my feet. The
ground
starts to be trembling, and right now all this whiskey that’s in the air isn’t helping it one single bit! Understand? What I mean is, when something like this develops, a person like me doesn’t any longer know who she is or where she’s at!”

“All right now, lady,” the detective said, “I’ve let you speak your piece, so now—”

“… Man, you haven’t let me do nothing,” the woman said. “Gentlemen, as you can smell for yourself, there’s whiskey in the air, a heap of whiskey, and this ain’t no hangout for no bums or winos; this is a
respectable
building. But yet and still, there’s been some partying going on even though our landlord isn’t the kind of man who
parties
. And … and … well, I might as well tell it all ‘cause I know it’s what got that white man so upset: Some say that there was a
white
woman—”

“Now there you go,” Barnes exploded. “There you go! Putting all the man’s business in the street. You Negroes will do it
every time!”

“Oh, shut up, fool!” the woman snapped, waving her hand. “Gentlemen, listen to me: Like I was fixing to say, everybody knows that when it comes to
visiting
, Mr. Rockmore has even less for the whites to do than he has for the colored—which ain’t too much by any standard. So I have some serious doubts about the white-woman part. Especially since there’s plenty of us colored around. So now I’m asking you all: What does it mean? Our neighbors are in some kind of trouble, but we don’t know its
name
and we don’t know its
face
, and, if you know what I mean, we don’t even know its
race
. That’s why we’re so upset. We want to be helpful in the way good neighbors ought to be, but we don’t know how. Things have been messed up for most of the night and we have cried and we have prayed, but all we can get out of that rookie cop down there trying to play god, is some stupid talk about McMillen being some kind of bootlegger—which we
all
know to be a garbage-mouthed lie! So now, since you look like fine, intelligent gentlemen and I know you haven’t been around here long enough to breathe up too much of this here whiskey-polluted air, I’m asking you to please tell me something that I personally need to know….”

“… Organization is what
we
need,” Barnes broke in, “
Organization!
I’ve been telling black people that for years!”

The woman paused, looking down and over the banister at Barnes with a fierce expression. “Yes,” she said, “but you talk so loud and wrong that by now even the
dumb
white folks take you for a natural-born clown, you old micturating rascal, you! So now you hush while I finish—”

“Now
you
listen,” the detective broke in. “You’ve said enough, and if you continue I’m booking you for resisting an officer.”

“Resisting an officer!” the woman said. “Man, can’t you stand the truth? Is my telling the truth a transgression against you? Besides, how’re you going to arrest me, sprout wings and fly up here over my neighbors’ heads? Shucks, man!”

“Now you listen, I mean what I say,” the detective said.

“And I hear you,” the cross-eyed woman said, “and you still ain’t saying nothing!”

“Tell it to him, Maud,” a voice called from the rear.

“So now,” she said, focusing on Hickman and stabbing the air for emphasis, “before I’m interrupted again, I want you two gentlemen to answer me this: What I want to know is how
long
are our colored
men
going to
stand
for these here white police to always be coming around dragging their nasty, filthy minds into the places where we colored folks are
forced
against our own free wills to live? That’s what I want to know! How long are you men going to stand for it?”

“But, lady,” Wilhite said, “Why are you asking us? We just walked through the door….”

“I know that, mister, and that’s
exactly
why I’m asking you. Because being strangers and coming here at this time of night, and with all this trouble and all—you
must have
been sent here for
a purpose…
.”

Suddenly she paused, seeming to look over Hickman’s head and then at Deacon Wilhite, her eyes widening.

“Saaaay! Look here. What happened to the other one?”

“
Who?
”
Hickman said. “Who do you mean?”

“Your friend …”

“But nobody came here with us,” Wilhite said. “We’re alone; just the two of us …”

“Oh, no,” the woman said. “When you started out there must have been another one. There
has
to been. What happened, did he fall by the wayside to get him a beer? Did he get lost?”

“
Who?”
Wilhite said. “Miss, you must have us confused with some other fellows. Nobody came here with us….”

“That’s the truth,” Hickman said, seeing the woman frown and a bewildered expression pass across her face.

“Well, if you say so,” she said. “But somehow it seems to me that there ought to be
three
of you. Don’t you usually travel in threes?”

Hickman looked quickly at Wilhite, who was staring at the woman with an alert expression. “No, ma’am,” Wilhite said, “only two. It’s been a long time since we traveled with anybody else….”

“That’s correct,” Hickman said, “a long, long time….”

“Well,” the woman said, “I guess you gentlemen ought to know…. But anyway, even if there are only two of you, being strangers you ought to be able to tell us something intelligent about our situation that we can’t see for ourselves. We need some leaders and fresh thinkers, and you look like you can help us….”

“Hell, Maud,” Lonnie Barnes growled, “haven’t I already diagnosed the situation? So why are you bothering these strangers when we got leadership right here in the community? All we need to
do
is git … ourselves … together!”

“Fool,” the woman said, trembling as she drew her folded arms close to her body, “have you ever heard of the
change?
I don’t have no
time
to wait, that’s why I’m asking them. Whenever a situation like this comes up I get the feeling that I must be losing my righteous mind! I want these gentlemen to tell me if what’s going on around here is
normal
, and if it’s the same way where
they
come from. And if it
is
, I want them to tell me what I’m supposed to be doing while I’m
waiting
for us to get ourselves together!”