Catfish Alley (21 page)

"Yes, he was close to saving the money he needed
for that first year of college, and Andy Benton offered him forty dollars to
deliver a package to Ellen Davenport." Grace frowns and sighs. "Zero
never should have gotten himself mixed up in that mess."

Clarence and Grace are both silent. I sense there's
much more to this story than they're telling. Clarence reaches over and
squeezes Grace's hand. She sits up straighter and says, "Clarence, we
should tell Roxanne how Zero ended up at Alcorn State."

"That's right, Gracie," he says, and turns to
me. "I was right here on Catfish Alley the night Zero came looking for Dr.
Jackson. I'd finished up my work and stopped into Jones's for some supper.
That's when I saw Zero starting up the stairs to the rooms over the bank. He
told me the whole story...."

August 1931

Zero

Sweet Jesus, I got trouble now.
After I was feeling so good, too. Met up with Andy Benton yesterday morning.
Told him I made his delivery, how Miss Ellen acted all innocent like she didn't
know what was in that box. We laughed about that one. He paid me the other
twenty dollars and I was thinking that was a pretty easy way to make some money
after all. When lo and behold today if I don't meet up on the road with Ray
Tanner driving the Davenports' big old car and Miss Ellen sitting up in the
backseat, bawling her eyes out. I have to stop the mule, I'm so surprised. She
and Andy was supposed to be in Yalobusha County today getting hitched.

As soon as I can get that pile of
lumber unloaded I hightail it back to Clarksville, get the mule pastured and
the wagon put up, and then I head back to Riverview and sneak into the summer
kitchen to find Sarah Jane. It's hot as hell in there and Josephine is cooking
greens, standing over a big iron pot, stirring, the sweat dripping off her face
salting them more than the fatback. She says she can't be worrying about Sarah
Jane. Says that girl's been moping around looking like she swallowed something
rotten. Says she's not worth a damn and don't want to work. Josephine gives me
a glass of sweet tea and shoos me out of the kitchen.

Just as I'm heading for the river, I
see Sarah Jane coming round the back of the kitchen. I call to her real quiet
and she comes over behind that big old live oak. She must be feeling sassy
today 'cause she says, "You better not let your little bitch Adelle see
you talking to me, boy. She'll be jealous, might turn her little nose up at
you." Sarah Jane's been sweet on me for a long time, but she knows
Adelle's the only girl for me.

"Oh, come on now, Sarah
Jane," I say. "I just need to ask you a question."

"What you want?"

"Why is Miss Ellen bawling
today in the car? I met up with Tanner today on the road and she's in the
backseat crying like she's dying or something."

"Why you care what's wrong with
Miss Ellen?"

"No reason. I'm just
curious."

"Curious, my ass," she
says to me. "You done got yourself mixed up in that business between her
and Andy Benton, ain't you?"

"You don't know anything,"
I say, but she knows I'm lying.

"I hate Andy Benton. I hate Ray
Tanner. I hate all them white mens," she says, and she starts crying then,
tears rolling down her face making trails in her sweat. I feel bad then, like I
done something to hurt her, when all I want to know is what happened.

"Did something happen to you,
Sarah Jane? Did somebody do something to you?"

I reckon she softens up to me a
little bit then, 'cause she starts telling me how Mrs. Davenport came dragging
Ellen by her arm into her room, while Sarah Jane was in there cleaning. Ellen
was dragging a suitcase behind her screaming how her mama done ruined her life,
how she loved Andy Benton and how she was going to marry him no matter what
they did. And then later on, Sarah Jane tells me, she overheard Mr. and Mrs.
Davenport talking.

"He said to her, 'You know, I
really appreci
ate
Ray Tanner looking out for our Ellen,' and she said to him, 'Yes, I hate to
think what could have happened if Ray hadn't stopped them.' And then they
talked about how bad for the family and the business it would be if Ellen
married that low-class Andrew Benton."

"They didn't say
anything about me, did they?" I ask.

Sarah Jane looks down at
the ground, starts running her bare toes over one of the roots of the tree. I
grab her by the arms then and have to stop myself from shaking her. "What
did they say, Sarah Jane?"

"Zero, you got to
get out of here!" she says, looking real scared now.

"Why? What did he
say?"

"He said Ray Tanner
says you was mixed up in this somehow and Mr. Davenport thought he was probably
going to let you go."

I breathe a little
easier. I can find another job. But when I look at Sarah Jane, I know she's not
finished yet.

"That ain't all,
Zero. Then he says Ray fanner says let him take care of you." Sarah Jane's
voice has gotten all high and squeaky, and she's breathing real fast.
"Zero, Ray'll kill you if he has half a reason. He want Miss Ellen for
hisself. Thinks marrying her'll get him Mr. Davenport's business someday."

"What did Mr.
Davenport say?"
"He
said that's fine with him. He told Ray he don't want to hear no more about it.
Just do what he need to do."

I wait 'til it gets dark and I head
over to Catfish Alley. Tonight's the meeting and I know Dr. Jackson will be
there. I'm hoping he'll help me figure out what to do. I know he's not going to
be happy with me. He doesn't like it when I get mixed up in white folks'
business. He's always saying how we've got to make ourselves separate, make our
own way. Doesn't he know that's what I'm trying to do? Only this time it's
backfired on me. And I'm starting to believe Ray Tanner's just a mean enough
son-of-a-bitch, if he thinks I might get in his way at the sawmill, no telling
what he'll do.

I come from the alley, and just as
I'm starting up the stairs to their meeting room, Clarence hollers from across
the street. He's coming out of the cafe and he cuts across the street.

"Hey, Zero. What you up to
tonight, sneaking around like you hiding from somebody?"

I stop and tell Clarence what's
happened and how I've got to see Dr. Jackson. Clarence says he'll wait for me.

"But how're you going to get in
there?" he asks.

I tell him I hid under these stairs
as a kid and watched the members go in here so often I got their secret knock
memorized. I take a big deep breath and knock, two times real quick and two
times slow. The door opens sudden and old man Green is standing staring me dead
in the eye.

"What you want, boy? What you
mean coming up in here interrupting our meeting? Get on outta here." He
looks over my shoulder like he's afraid somebody's going to see him.

"I promise, Mr. Green, nobody
saw me come up here. I've got to talk to Dr. Jackson. It's urgent. Can you
please let me come in?"

"You just stand right there,
boy, and I'll have him come out here and talk to you."

"Please, Mr. Green," I
say. "It's real important nobody see me." He must have seen how
scared I was, because he let me come just inside the door and wait.

From where I stand, I can see into a
big room with ten or twelve colored men sitting around a big table, most of
them smoking and talking real serious. They don't have any liquor, so this is
not a drinking club. I can't figure out what they do in here. Green goes over
and whispers in Dr. Jackson's ear. He jerks his head up toward the door and,
directly, Dr. Jackson comes out and shuts the door behind him. He grabs my
shoulders and looks
d
own at me over his glasses.

"Zero
Clark, what are you doing here?"

I
try real hard not to sound like I'm as scared as I am. All of a sudden, my
mouth goes as dry as cotton and I can't think what to say. I just stand there
looking at him, trying to find some words.

He
gives me a little shake. "What's happened, son? Is somebody chasing you?
You look like you've seen a ghost."

I
finally find my voice. "Dr. Jackson, I did something that wasn't real
smart and now I think I might be in trouble...."

Roxanne

"Dr. Jackson knew the dean at Alcorn State,"
Grace says, picking up the story.

"They were both secret members of the N double A
CP," Clarence adds.

"I don't understand. Why would they be secret
members?" I ask. All this secrecy and hiding are so strange to me. It
seems to me that these men were probably being over-dramatic.

"Wasn't safe for a colored man to openly join an
organization like that if he lived in Mississippi," Clarence replies.
"Quickest way to get your house or business burned down by the Klan."

"The Klan?" I ask. Now this is a different
story. I know a little bit about the Klan and none of it's pleasant. My mama
used to tell me tales that made my toes curl. But Daddy always said she was
exaggerating.

"Yes, ma'am, the Ku Klux Klan," Clarence
says, looking over at Grace. "They was real active around here in the
twenties and thirties. Those white men were joining up like folks getting saved
at a tent revival. They wanted to be sure colored men didn't get to vote or
have property rights, legal rights, such as that."

Grace nods and continues. I notice how sad her eyes
look. "Dr. Jackson was always trying to work for change and he insisted on
doing it peacefully, but he had to be careful. And when Zero told him what he'd
done, Dr. Jackson knew that it wouldn't be long before Ray Tanner would be
coming after Zero. It wasn't clear how Ray would get him, but it was mighty
clear that he would.

"Dr. Jackson made special arrangements to get Zero
admitted to Alcorn State right away. When he brought Zero out to the house that
night to pack, Grandma made coffee and we all sat at the kitchen table and Zero
told her the whole story. He was so ashamed, mostly because he had to get Dr.
Jackson involved. He was so determined to make it on his own. But this time
he'd gone too far."

Grace sighs deeply. "Grandma just sat listening. I
could tell she was struggling, but she stayed calm. I know that my grandma
loved me, but Zero had a hold on her heart like no one else. When Zero finished
and Dr. Jackson told her the plan, Grandma nodded and sipped her coffee for a
few minutes. Then she got up and left the kitchen. None of us knew where she'd
gone or if she was coming back. Zero and Dr. Jackson and I sat there and looked
at each other, not knowing what to do next.

"Directly, she came back into the kitchen carrying
an old cigar box with a rubber band around it. She sat down and pushed it
across the table toward Zero. 'I reckon you'll be needing this now,' she said.
Zero looked at her and then at us. 'Go on, open it,' she said. So he took off
the rubber band and opened it up and there must have been a hundred dollar
bills stuffed into that box.

"I'll never forget it. She looked at Zero, who was
sitting there with his mouth open, and said, 'Zero, when you were ten years old
and we took the wagon down to the Penny Savings Bank so you could open a
savings account, you told me you was going to make something of yourself, maybe
even be a doctor like Dr. Jackson here. That day, I decided I would start a
little savings myself and I told the good Lord if he would let me live to see
you go to college, I would help you. So I been saving a dollar a month,
sometimes two if the Calhouns gave me a Christmas bonus, since you was ten
years old.' By now, we were all crying, even Dr. Jackson. Zero got up and
hugged Grandma real tight, kept thanking her over and over, saying he was sorry
he had to leave like this.

"And that's how he got to Alcorn State that
fall," Grace says, getting up and taking her coffee cup to the sink.
"Clarence, I surely do thank you for giving us coffee and showing us
around," she says. "Roxanne just might be able to add Catfish Alley to
this tour she's making. Isn't that right, Roxanne?"

I take this as my cue that we're done here. As usual, I
feel the disappointment of the window to Grace's past slamming shut on any
further questions. This story has taken hold of me and I want to know so much
more about Zero, but I say, "Yes, ma'am, I think this area would be a nice
addition to the tour." I shake Mr. Jones's hand, thank him for his
hospitality, and dutifully follow Grace to the car.