CHAPTER 24
Lightning sat at the kitchen table counting the pile of seeds in front of him. “We got well over a hundred and fifty, Junebug.”
I rubbed a few of them in my hand. “Every one going to make a plant?” They didn’t look like much.
“From what I understand, you lose a lot of them from bugs or bad weather, and some just won’t grow. The migrant man said you need plenty of extra.”
I didn’t believe everything Lightning said, but just enough that I was curious. The place in the woods lay fallow, so maybe it wouldn’t hurt to see what happened. “Toward dark we’ll slip over there.” I dropped the seeds back in the bag.
Lightning smiled like he knew I’d come around. “Your meeting go all right?” He had a new gold front tooth.
“It went fine. Is that tooth real or just covering the outside of an old one?”
He reached his finger to touch it. “The African did it, said it would make me look like a warrior.”
“That’s one man’s opinion.”
“So, what did the lawyer say?”
“Said the place is mine, except I couldn’t sell it until I turned eighteen.”
We sat around the rest of the afternoon, Lightning telling me how the migrant workers weren’t much more than slaves, that the boss would end up stealing most of their money by saying he “provided” for them. Lightning bragged he got familiar with most of the women on the bus, so there was some fun to go with the work.
“How come you didn’t light out once you figured what was going on?”
“Had no idea where in hell we were most of the time, all through the backcountry of South Carolina and Georgia. Plus I didn’t have any money, so how was I supposed to get home?”
I decided to test him one more time. “You sure you killed that white man because he tried to kill you, that you weren’t trying to rob him?”
He took an attitude. “Junebug, you’ve known me near ’bout all my life. You know I wouldn’t hurt somebody on purpose.” I noticed he didn’t correct me on the “killing” part.
I was dozing in a porch chair when the noise of Fancy leaning her bike against the side of the house woke me. Lightning was on the couch reading one of my comic books. “Go in the bedroom. Your sister’s here.”
He scrambled, grabbing his shoes.
Fancy came up the steps. “Hey, Junebug.” She wore cutoff jeans and a white T-shirt that was long enough to cover her behind.
“How was school?” I patted my legs.
She sat on my lap and gave me a peck on the lips. “It was good. We’re studying about the Civil War. A bunch of folks were killed in that thing. I learned there were even some colored soldiers in the fight.”
“Granddaddy told me all the menfolk in our family went, but not many came back.” I tickled her ribs. “Ain’t found a boyfriend at school, have you?”
She wiggled to move my hands. “Shut up.”
“Got something to show you.” I lifted her from my lap, reached in my back pocket, and pulled out the Trojans.
Her eyes flew wide. “Where’d you get these?”
“Gas station; a quarter apiece. Here, take one in case your momma wants to check.”
“Thanks, Junebug.” She sat back on my lap and started running her fingernails up and down my chest. “You want to go try one now?”
“What’s wrong with you, girl? Not even dark yet.”
She stuck out her bottom lip. “I might not be in the mood when it gets dark.”
“Then we’ll have to wait ’til you are. Got another surprise for you.” I led her to the living room. “Come on out.”
Lightning eased from the bedroom. Fancy stood frozen at the sight of him, then let out a yell and ran to grab him around the neck. “Where have you been? I can’t believe you’re home.” Tears ran down both their faces. She pulled Lightning to the couch, and reached up to rub the welt on his face. “How did you get that?”
The two of them still resembled each other enough to be family, but it would be hard for a person who didn’t know to see them as twins. Lightning choked up as he told her the story. “That son of a bitch ruined my face for life, Fancy.” He spent the next hour telling her pretty much the same story I’d already heard. So near the same it made me wonder.
“When are you going to let Momma and Daddy know you’re back?” She spread her hands over her face, looking through the fingers. “Do you think you killed that white man? What will happen if you did?” Fancy started to cry. “Damn it, Lightning, why couldn’t you have just stayed home?”
“Wish to hell I had. I’ll let them know when I’m sure the sheriff ain’t looking for me, when it’s safe for them to know.” He pulled Fancy’s hands from her face. “Everything will work out fine. You quit worrying.”
While Fancy cooked supper, Lightning and me sat at the table, rehashing old stories and laughing about stuff we did as kids, remembering how we used to scare Fancy with tales of haints in the woods at night. It started to feel like old times, joking and teasing each other. Lightning’s conversation got easy and comfortable. He sounded more like my old friend.
It was close to dark by the time we finished eating. “Lightning, let’s walk off supper while Fancy is doing the dishes.” I grabbed a flashlight from the cabinet. We found the wide wagon path that led from the cornfield behind the stable to the plant bed deep in the woods.
“I thought I remembered it this way.” Lightning knelt down and picked up a handful of dirt. “This would do fine, Junebug. If I recollect, a little creek runs below that tree line.”
“You remember right. Don’t have a lot of water, but it’s still there.”
“I bet if we dug it out, we’d have all the water we need.” Lightning studied the cleared field. “Take a harrow and run over the ground, and we could plant.” He waved his hand. “Got plenty of room for what we need.”
“I ain’t coming out here in the dark to work.” I hadn’t decided if I was coming at all.
“Don’t have to. Hook up the mule and come during the day. Nobody would question you.”
“So you want to leave me all the work?”
“Let’s pretend I’m the boss and you’re the nigger for a change.”
“You wish.”
We started toward the house. I put my hand on his arm to stop him. “Lightning, I need to talk to you.”
“About what?”
Things quieted, like all the night creatures wanted to listen. “I want you to know Fancy and me has come to being more than friends.”
The muscle down his jaw twitched. He lowered his voice, making it plain he was serious. “I sort of figured as much watching the two of you. The only thing I say, Junebug, is you remember she’s my sister. Don’t ever mistreat her. If you do, I ain’t going to take it well.”
“Wouldn’t expect nothing else.”
“So long as we understand each other.” He stuck out his hand. “You do realize that hell will come to visit if anybody finds out?”
“I know, and don’t think I’m not careful.”
Fancy was done cleaning up the kitchen by the time we got back. She picked up the paper bag. “Y’all going to plant flowers?”
Lightning grinned. “You could call it that. But they’re going to be some we can make a lot of money growing.”
Fancy looked at me. I nodded at Lightning to let him explain.
She kept glancing at me until he finished. “You okay with this? You willing to risk what you got?”
Until that moment I hadn’t decided. I rubbed my forehead. “Fancy, I’ve given this some thought and decided Lightning won’t ever be able to get on his feet unless he gets some money. He can’t live here if that old man died, because sooner or later, somebody will find out. Plus, what if the tobacco crop fails or I break my leg, how would I survive? But I want to listen to what you got to say.” I was making excuses to say yes, trying to maneuver her into the idea. The notion of the money had started working on me. Maybe I had some of my daddy in me after all.
Lightning stared. “Why’s she have any say?”
I considered Fancy and me to be on the same footing, she’d watch out for me and I’d watch out for her. “Because she does. We all lose if we decide to do this and something bad happens.” And maybe I wanted to test her.
Fancy studied our faces. “Okay. I’ll agree so Lightning can get on his feet and you can put some money back.” I could tell she was pleased to be a part of the decision, even if she wasn’t pleased with the decision. “But I tell both of you, I don’t have a good feeling.”