Esther folded her hands in her lap and continued, “There was a rumor that August had become involved with a young white girl. You know, back then it wasn’t good for a black man to be around a white woman. I recalled seeing a young blond-haired woman around August one evening after a game. I asked him about his friend, and even tried to gently warn him that he and the young woman should be getting along separately to their own homes.”
Esther stopped talking, she picked at the blanket around her. She finally continued, looking straight ahead. “A few days later, someone or maybe more than one person, had gotten hold of August. Whoever it was beat August senseless and left him for dead near the same baseball field where he broke records and hit home runs.”
As the reality of what Esther told us sank in, I blinked thinking this was worse than I thought. I asked, “Why would you think this was the same August? Louise didn’t give me a last name. I know you don’t forget faces, but suppose the girl you remembered wasn’t the same Louise. That was so long ago.”
Esther looked at me. “It was her eyes. That girl with August had the bluest eyes I had ever seen. Something about Louise’s eyes made me think I’d seen her before.” Esther leaned forward and asked, “This girl that came to see Louise on Sunday, did she appear to be mixed or what we called back in the day, mulatto?”
I nodded. “Yes, but her mother was married to an African American man.” I reached into my purse. “Here is the photo of Jocelyn’s mother.”
Esther took the photo. Cora scrambled off the couch to stand behind her sister to view the photo. Both Esther and Cora studied the photo for a long time. Finally, Esther handed the photo back to me.
“There is only one way to really know. You should ask your friend, but I can tell you I see August Manning in that woman’s face too. She could be his daughter. Cora, go in my room and bring me that black leather album that sits on the top of my dresser.”
Cora sped off like she was much younger than her sixty-two years. I twisted my hands and waited in silence to see what else Esther had for me.
Cora returned with a large black leather album. There were papers and photos sticking out. Esther took the album. She must have already pulled out what she wanted me to see, because she flipped it open and handed me a photo.
I looked at her and then Cora before reaching over to take the photo.
The photo was a black and white of a very handsome dark-skinned young man. He wore a baseball hat and appeared to be dressed in uniform. His smile was bright and teeth perfectly straight in the photo. I sensed the warmth and kindness in his eyes and that smile.
For a brief moment, I felt a deep sense of sadness pass over me even though I didn’t know the man or had ever seen him before. I cleared my throat. “This is August.”
Esther nodded.
I held the photo next to Jocelyn’s family photo. I wasn’t sure how to feel at that moment knowing how August had died. Suddenly, I started to understand why Jocelyn felt a need not to dig into the past. If she’d found out any of the information I had just found, or even if her mother knew, that had to be pretty devastating.
A thought popped into my mind. I wiped my eyes not realizing I had really been affected with a growing sense of anger. “This happened in 1964. So August’s murder has been unsolved for fifty years? No one had any idea who was involved.”
Esther looked down in her lap. She lifted her head. “There were at least two boys that people in the community suspected. Chuck Nelson and …”
I leaned forward. “And?”
Esther stared at me. “I believe the other one was Bill Hopkins.”
“Bill? Louise’s husband? Well, that would be crazy. Bill was a great guy and neighbor. She certainly wouldn’t have married him if she knew he had anything to do with something that horrendous.”
Lord, how could someone live with themselves?
Cora shook her head. “Maybe she didn’t know. It sounds like it was just a rumor. Right, Esther?”
“Those are the names I remember. They hung out together and played baseball too. Now that I think about it the one that August had a run-in with before his death was the Nelson fellow. He was average height, but a real muscular fellow. He and August were in competition for the most home runs.”
Chuck Nelson. For some reason that name was familiar to me, but it wasn’t coming to me. Why? I let out a deep sigh. I was tired and it wasn’t even noon yet. I wasn’t sure it was a good idea to get something heavy like this laid on your psyche in the morning. “Esther, did anyone question these boys?”
Esther shook her head. “Not that I know of. Those rumors were mainly in our community. August’s sisters still live in the same house. If they’re up to it, maybe they can talk to you more about their brother. They used to hold a memorial for him every year, but they haven’t done that in years now that they are both up in age.”
I might need to pay August’s sisters a visit. The pain of someone else’s life being taken away so ruthlessly and with no closure. That kind of guilt weighed heavily on a person’s soul. I wondered if Louise knew the boys responsible. Did she know her own husband could have been involved?
Who knew that Sugar Creek’s resident busybody had so much going on in her own life? Now I was starting to see why Louise never breathed a word of her past life to me all these years. Oh poor Louise.