Chapter 86
“What have I done?”
A few days later, Johnnie kept hearing Goode’s screams in her head. Day after day, the images of his beating would come to her from nowhere. This wasn’t the way justice was supposed to work, she thought. Justice was supposed to feel good. After all, he got what he deserved, didn’t he? Nevertheless, she regretted what she’d done. On top of that, Lucas was still hurt. He knew Johnnie enjoyed that one night with Napoleon, but she believed he’d get over it eventually.
Sitting at the kitchen table, Johnnie sipped her morning coffee and read the previous day’s Sentinel while she waited for Sadie to come over for their usual gossip session. The article was about Richard Goode’s brutal death, stating that his wounds and injuries were similar to Marguerite’s. She turned the page to the opinion section and saw an article by the paper’s editor. Her hand started to shake uncontrollably when she began reading it.
The circumstances and deaths of Richard Goode and Marguerite Wise are too similar to ignore. According to the autopsies, they both had almost identical wounds and bruises. Both victims had broken noses, a broken jaw, missing teeth, broken ribs, and a punctured lung. A police official confirms that both victims had sustained lacerations from the same weapon—a German Luger, found at the scene with Goode’s blood on it. The most shocking aspect of this whole episode is that the Luger belonged to Goode. The killer or killers must have taken it from him.
This bit of information leads one to think that Goode must have been involved in the death of Marguerite Wise. Did Goode kill Marguerite that night a couple of months back? If so, was his death a revenge killing? It’s no secret that Goode is the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. But if he killed Marguerite Wise, what was his motive? According to the police, Marguerite was a known Sable Parish prostitute. Was Goode seeing her secretly? If so, what happened? Did she threaten him in some way? All of these questions need answers. But the most troubling question is what will the Klan do now that their leader has been murdered?
It is conceivable that Goode killed Marguerite Wise. Marguerite’s killer was never brought to justice. As a matter of fact, no one was even arrested. Therefore, it’s possible that Goode’s death was an act of vengeance. If it was, the city has bigger problems. Vigilantism cannot be condoned for any reason. This is why we have laws and a court system. The untold numbers of victims who have been lynched because someone thought they were guilty are far too numerous. When a group of people decide to work in concert to kill another human being on suspicion alone, none of us are safe. With the death toll at two, will it stop here? In all likelihood, it will not.
Johnnie’s hand shook even more when she finished the article. She hadn’t counted on this happening. Napoleon was supposed to be an expert at this sort of thing. It was just a matter of time before the New Orleans police would come to talk to her, she thought.
What am I going to do now? It’s not going to matter what my reasons were. Goode is white and I’m black. They’re going to kill me for sure. I gotta get outta here.
Johnnie recoiled when she heard the rapid tapping on her back door. She looked up in horror, scared to death it was the police, forgetting that Sadie was coming over. When their eyes met, mutual fear could be felt as well as seen.
“Come on in,” Johnnie called out.
“Have you read Rahim Muhammad’s article in the Raven today?” Sadie asked, almost in a state of panic. “That nigga gon’ get us all killed.”
“No. Have you read yesterday’s Sentinel?” Johnnie queried with equal consternation.
“What did it say?” they asked in unison then exchanged papers.
“Oh no,” Johnnie mumbled as she read the article.
Shame on the Sentinel for publishing the work of totally irresponsible journalists, stirring up the white population with unsubstantiated theories about Richard Goode and Marguerite Wise. And for what reason? To outsell the Tribune and the Times, their chief competitors? Didn’t they know an article like that could cause a race riot? We haven’t had a race riot in New Orleans since the late 1800s. There hasn’t even been a Klan uprising in nearly fifteen years. Well, let me be the first to say that the Negro isn’t going to take it this time. We will not stand by idly and watch angry Whites destroy what we’ve built for no other reason than jealousy and blind rage over our prosperity. Just as the black Tulsans defended themselves and their property in 1921 against white rage and aggression, so shall we if it comes to that.
The Sentinel does, however, make a compelling argument for what happened to Marguerite Wise. And if they’re right in their supposition, justice has been done. The black people of New Orleans didn’t know who killed Marguerite Wise before yesterday’s article appeared. But as far as we’re concerned, this is divine justice. Whoever killed Goode did so with the same ferocity he himself meted out. As the article so vividly stated, his wounds were reminiscent of what the Sentinel presumes he did to his victim. As for the castration, we ask only this: Has he ever castrated anyone? The Ku Klux Klan is known for castrating Negro men. The question that begs to be asked is this: Were Richard Goode and Marguerite having relations?
According to the Sentinel, they were. Assuming their conjecture is correct, maybe Goode did kill her. Maybe she was going to reveal that a Klan leader, of all people, was frequenting black prostitutes on a regular basis. That information would have destroyed his standing with the Klan, would it not? And for that very reason, we say again that justice has been served in this city. Let us lay aside our anger and continue on, lest we destroy our city and ourselves along with it. Let there be no further bloodshed in this sordid matter. I appeal to the white community with sobriety of thought and sincere forbearance of spirit. But I also say this: If Whites will not lay aside their anger, neither will we lay aside ours.
They finished their respective articles at precisely the same time. Then Johnnie, with a heavy heart said, “What have I done?”