They did not wait until the wee hours of the morning to retaliate. The first fire broke out on Tuesday evening long before midnight, but we did not stand gazing into darkness as we had done before.These flames were visible, too high, and too close.
We joined a distressed throng on Canyon Street where hoses had been strung from the two closest houses.We raced back and forth with anything that would hold water, filling our vessels from a faucet in Walter Vanna’s yard.We did all we could in a futile attempt to save Logan’s store, then stood back and watched as the fire consumed it.
When there was nothing more to do, we began to disperse, then somebody yelled, “Oh, my God! Look!”
Fire illuminated the northern sky. It was far off, but so bright it seemed that all of Plymouth was burning.Walter Vanna, Glenn Henderson, and a few of the other men piled into cars and drove off toward Plymouth. Mama joined some of the women who stood on the wet pavement of Canyon Street to speculate about the distant fire.
Tarabelle grumbled angrily, and I understood why. We were tired, wet, and reeking of smoke, and it didn’t matter what was burning because we didn’t have the strength to fight it, anyway.We left Mama and Wallace on Canyon Street, but took the girls with us as we headed for home.
The following morning I left early for work, and because I could not go through town, it took me nearly thirty minutes longer to get to North Ridge. I arrived at the Whitmans’ house to find Miss Veatrice blocking my entrance.
“Hey, honey,” she said in a pleasant greeting. “I didn’t expect to see you today. I’m glad you came, but I can’t let you in. Bakker says you can’t work here anymore. He says he won’t stand for having niggers in his house, not with the way they’re acting around here. He says they burned down half the town.”
“I had nothing to do with that, Miss Veatrice,” I said.
“That’s what I told Bakker, but he said it didn’t matter. You’re one of them, honey, and I can’t let you in here. Bakker says if I see you coming, I’m to lock the door, but I didn’t think you’d want to do anything to me.”
“What could I do to you?”
She giggled.“Why, you could burn my house down.That’s what you could do. Only it ain’t my house. Did I tell you I’m getting married?”
“That’s nice, Miss Veatrice,” I said, backing down from the porch.
“Where’re you going?” she asked.
“I’m going to school. If I’m not going to work today, then I should be in school.”
“They burned it down, you know. Last night they went and burned it down. It’s gone, honey. Bakker says they hit all the nig-ger towns last night.You may as well stay and visit with me because your school is gone.”
“I don’t believe you, Miss Veatrice. My school is still standing,” I said, as my feet touched the ground.“How could anybody burn the school down?”
“Well, they didn’t bother your church. Bakker says . . .”
I began to run. I ran away from Miss Veatrice and her little white house with green shutters, then taking a detour around town, I ran along the shoulder of the four-lane highway and kept running until I reached Motten Street and Skeeter’s house. I was breathless and bending over when Velman opened the door.
“Hey.Who’s chasing you?” he asked.
“Nobody. I came to see my niece.”
Holding a finger to his lips to keep me quiet, he led me through the house toward his bedroom. “They’re sleeping,” he whispered. “Catch yo’ breath, and I’ll let you peek in on ’em.”
Martha Jean’s body formed a half circle around the baby, and they both slept peacefully, undisturbed by the world outside. I leaned over the bed, raised the blanket covering the baby, then touched her tiny hand just for the warmth of it.
“I’m an aunt,” I whispered.
Velman nodded.“And I’m a daddy,” he said proudly.“Her name is Mary Ann.”
We tipped from the room, and I took a seat on the couch. “Where’s Skeeter?” I asked.
“Up the street with Miss Shirley. They’ll be back shortly,” Velman said, as he sat beside me. “Miss Shirley’s helping out with the baby. Kinda hard when you can’t get into town to get things, but we got just about everything we need. Still, I’ll be glad when they take them barricades down. The way I hear it, didn’t that much burn in town no way—just the furniture store and the Western Auto that’s next to it, and that’s about all.”
“I heard it was more than that,” I said.“I don’t know what we’re gonna do. Half the people can’t get to work, and now there’s no school.”
“You can go to school,” he said. “It was the new one they burned down, the one they were building.”
“Miss Veatrice told me they burned the school down, and I just assumed she meant the old one. She let me go this morning, said her brother didn’t want Negroes in his house.”
“Yeah, well, when it rains it pours, ”Velman said, taking my hand and squeezing it.
“I can’t understand why anybody would want to destroy something they’ve worked so hard at building,” I said.
“If Hambone was telling the truth, they didn’t put much work into it. Remember? He said they were just throwing it together.”
I nodded.
His eyes met mine and he sighed.“Little sister, are things getting any better for you? I wrote a letter to Mushy and asked her to come.”
I eased my hand from his and stood up from the couch. “She won’t come. And if she does, what can she do?”
“I don’t know, but we’ll think of something.” He stood, too, and wrapped his arms around me.“We’ll think of something, little sister.”
I pulled away from him.“I have to go.”
“Trust me,” he said.
“I do,” I answered.“That’s what’s keeping me alive.” I winked to let him know that I was teasing when I wasn’t teasing at all.