by D L Lane
I wasn’t wholly dependent on Mr. King. I had a brain and two good legs. I could make my way into town tomorrow, not sure how I’d do it without someone realizing I had gone, but for argument’s sake, let’s say I did. Let's say I went to Baton Rouge without anyone the wiser and cleaned out my bank account, handing it over to my brother the next day at Muller’s Crossing. What then? I knew it wouldn’t be the end.
If you give him one red-cent, it will only make him worse. He’ll come up with scarier threats, greedily wanting more and more.
“Is there an answer to fix this?” I muttered to myself.
But maybe the real question was, what did I have to lose?
You could try, Sippi. And if it works, at least you’re giving Danny Joe something to back down for a while.
Though, he’d mentioned jewels, so he was expecting to get more than what money I had.
“Think!”
Down on my hands and knees, I swiped my rag under the claw-footed tub, and like a bolt of lightning from above, I’d been struck.
There were only three things I owned; my mama’s perfume, the tatty dictionary hidden alongside it, and my grandmama’s wedding ring—the one Mama gave to me on her deathbed.
Glancing up, I smiled.
Tomorrow, I’d do what I had to, clear out my money, get the ring, and wait to hand them over to Danny Joe. It might not be a fortune, but it would give me more time.
It’s better than nothing.
“Ms. Singleton,” Ms. Bauman called, making me glance over my shoulder.
“Yeah?” Taking her in, I frowned. “Why you look upset?”
“I need you to come with me, please.”
“Alright, I’m almost done here.”
“Leave it, Mississippi.”
Dropping my rag, I got to my feet, running my dry hand over my apron to straighten it. “Is everything okay?”
“Just come.” She spun on her heel, shoulders stiff.
Concerned something bad had happened, I followed behind her until we made it into the formal parlor, heads turning the moment we walked in.
Mr. King stood by Ms. Bonny, and his mama and Catherine Carrington were seated, all of them with grim lines on their brows.
“What’s wrong?” I whispered, wondering if someone had died.
“As if you don’t know,” Ms. Carrington said sarcastically, wiping her palms over her lap.
Mr. King’s hand went up, but his blue gaze came to me. “No more, Catherine.”
She crossed her arms and sniffed.
“Ms. Singleton,” he said, speaking to me just as sternly, “we have a problem.”
“Alright, what is it?”
“Ms. Carrington’s heirloom diamond necklace has come up missing.”
All the blood drained from my face. “Missing?”
“You know it is,” Ms. Carrington hissed.
My tummy twisted, and all the moisture in my mouth dried up. She was saying I took her jewels, and this couldn’t be a coincidence.
Mr. King’s cold eyes shifted to her. “Be quiet.”
“But—”
“Not another word, Catherine.”
Mr. King’s mama patted her soon-to-be-daughter-in-law’s hand. “Shh... I know this is distressing, but you will soon enough speak. Be patient.”
“Now.” Returning his attention to me, Mr. King tugged at the cuff of his sleeve. “I was informed you had a visitor today. Is that true, Ms. Singleton?”
I briefly glanced at the evil woman, her distraught face turning shiny and bright. “Is that what your fiancée told you?”
“Ms. Carrington did, yes.”
“Well, she’s telling the truth.” I looked at Mr. King. “Are my visitors not allowed?”
“There are no stipulations that say you are not allowed visitors,” he said.
“Then what’s the problem?” I asked, though I already suspected.
“The problem would be what Ms. Carrington overheard.”
“Let me guess.” I placed a hand on my hip. “She heard what Danny Joe wanted me to do.”
“I would like to hear just what that was, Ms. Singleton.”
“My brother showed up, and I was surprised to see him. He asked to come inside, and I said no. Then he told me he was starving and asked for something to eat.”
“Did you get him some food?”
I nodded. “I did, then he told me Daddy had been tossed into jail. Wasn’t any shocking news there, he’s been in jail before, but Danny Joe had other things to talk about.” I shifted my weight. “He told me I owed him and wanted me to steal some jewelry.”
I slipped my gaze to the happy Ms. Carrington and stabbed an accusatory finger in her direction. “I’m sure that’s what she told you since it so happens something of hers went missing on the same day as what she overheard.”
Looking at his mama, Ms. Bonny, Ms. Bauman, then back at Mr. King, I lifted my chin. “Thing is, I don’t have no necklace. I ain’t no thief.”
Something flickered in his eyes—there and gone. “Catherine, what do you have to say?”
“I know she took my antique necklace,” she said, assuredness in her tone.
The two of us glowered at each other.
“What proof do you have?” Mr. King asked.
She gracefully stood, then walked over to Ms. Bonny. “Show them.”
Cheeks red, the woman I thought to be a friend, brought her hands from behind her back, Catherine’s necklace glittering as she picked it up. “This is mine.” Her green eyes shifted to Ms. Bonny. “Tell them where you found this.”
“Ms. Bauman and Ms. Carrington came to me this afternoon and said we needed to search my bedroom for something that had been taken,” she said in a quavering voice, eyes downcast. “So, we all went inside and started looking around.”
With a pause, she licked her lips.
“And what happened next?” Catherine asked, a smarmy smile on her face.
“I’m the one who found Ms. Carrington’s necklace,” Ms. Bonny said.
“No,” I muttered, my heart dropping to my feet.
Looking at me, with tears in her eyes, she said, “It was under Ms. Singleton’s mattress.”
I swayed. Why is she lying?
“Ms. Bauman,” I pushed her name past numb lips. “You were there? You saw Ms. Bonny find that necklace?”
“I’m afraid I did, Ms. Singleton.”
I shook my head. “But I didn’t take it.”
“How do you explain it then?” Ms. Carrington asked, smirking.
“All of you are lying!”
Mr. King’s mama gasped, hand to throat. “How dare you suggest everyone here is lying, Ms. Singleton.”
“But they have to be, ’cause I didn’t do it!”
She stood and looked at her son. “I have had enough of this, Thayer. Do what needs to be done.”
His eyes came to me. “Ms. Singleton. Will you please wait for me in my office?”
“You’re not going to fire her on the spot?” his fiancée asked, red heat overtaking her cheeks as she shook the necklace fisted in her hand.
“I need a moment to gather my thoughts,” he said. “All of you, please, go on with your afternoon.”
“But—”
“That includes you, Catherine,” he said.
Person after person passed me, their faces differing shades of pink.
“Thayer,” I said.
“Go to my office, Mississippi.” He turned his back on me, walking to the fireplace. “I’ll speak to you in a little while.”
Heart thumping, I left, doing what he asked me to and waited in his office for the ax to fall.
Chapter Twenty
Thank you for everything
Twisting my hands together as the clock ticked the time away, I sat in my usual chair in Mr. King’s office, staring at the door. But the longer it took for him to arrive, the more and more I felt the need to do something. Regardless if he booted me out or not, I still had the problem of Danny Joe to dea
l with, so I made a snap decision.
Hopping up from my seat, I went to the desk, opened the top drawer, and pulled my bank book out. Mr. King was holding on to it for safekeeping after our last math lesson. Then, I grabbed his suit-coat off the back of his chair and put it on. It was too large, of course, and hung on me like a dress, but it was too cold out to be running around in my uniform, and I didn’t have time to try to grab my coat from my room.
Wildly glancing around, I found his pen, snagged it, and a piece of paper, scribbling a quick note.
Mr. King;
By the time you read this, I’ll be gone. I’m not leaving over what happened. I didn’t take Catherine’s necklace. I can’t explain how it was found in my room, but there’s no reason to go on about that now. I hope you know I would never steal from you or anyone! But what I didn’t say when I was talking to you in the parlor is Danny Joe made threats if I didn’t get him some money. Threats to you and your home. I can’t allow him to do anything to hurt you or anyone else living here, so I have a plan to stop him. I’m sorry my family problems showed up at your doorstep, but I’m going to take them with me. Once I’m gone, Danny Joe will leave you be.
Thank you for everything,
Mississippi
After placing a kiss to the paper, I left it behind, doing what I’d done many times while living with Daddy Bruce—I snuck out the window and ran.
***
It was a bit of a jog, but one good thing came from it. I wasn’t cold when I slowed my pace, rounding the corner of Harlow’s, chest heaving. Resting my palm on the wall, I glanced at the Closed sign. At least I wouldn’t be stumbling into him.
Breath returning, I straightened; I still had a ways to go, but when Danny Joe came staggering out the doors of Jumping Jacks bar, then started down the alleyway, my curious nature took hold, so I followed him.
Understanding struck before he made it to his final destination, and when that scantily clad woman with the cherry-red lips answered the door, I knew he’d be spending some time at Madame Eugenia’s. And if he was going inside, no one was home.
Going back the way I came, my mind was working overtime; the location of my brother sickened me and made me smile. His debauchery would give me what I needed. Time to sneak home without anybody bothering me, allowing me to get the only things of worth I’d unwillingly left behind when Mr. King took me—Mama’s perfume, my dictionary, and grandmama’s ring. Once I had them, I’d head over to Fawna-Leigh’s. I knew she’d been tasked with raising her niece and three nephews, so her house was full, but she’d make some sort of spot for me, and I’d be just fine.
***
The sun was settin’ as I made my way up the drive, the hazy shades of orange casting a glow on the old house at the end, and all was quiet as quiet could be, until I heard, “Mississippi!” turning at the sound of Dudley McCoy’s voice, seeing Alistair at his side.
The look on their faces told me I needed to run. So, I did. I ran.
“Get her!” Dudley screamed, and a few rapid heartbeats later, a big arm wrapped around my waist, hoisting me under a nasty armpit like I was a squealing pig.
Kicking and flailing, I yelled, “You put me down now, Alistair Blevins!”
“I don’t think so, Sippi, we’ve all got something to discuss.”
***
After discarding me in a kitchen chair, none too gently, Alistair stepped aside, and Dudley took his place—snarling. “I’m telling you what, Mississippi Singleton, you dare move a finger, and I’m tying you down!”
“You’d have to catch me first,” I smarted off, smirking up at him.
“Don’t think I won’t go a-gaggin’ you either.”
“I thought we had something to discuss.” I hurled daggers at him with my eyes. “How we gonna talk if I’m gagged?”
“See there,” Alistair said, “I told you she had a sassy mouth.”
Dudley grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked, bringing tears to my eyes as he got in my face—cruelty in his light brown gaze. “Now listen here. You’re gonna shut up while I’m talking—not a word, or I’ll pop you in that pretty mouth. Do you understand?”
When I didn’t answer, he pulled my hair until I cried, “Yes!”
“Good. See, this is how it works. When I’m done asking a question, you will answer me without the sass.”
Letting loose of me to tug up another chair, Dudley placed it in front of mine, only facing the wrong way. Tossing a big leg over, he straddled it, glaring at me. “Tell me how it is your daddy ended up in jail just days after you were gone?”
“I don’t know, Dudley, why don’t you tell me?”
SMACK!
The blow of his palm across my cheek jerked my head to the side.
“That’s what you get for being smart with me, Sippi.”
Alistair lifted my chin. “Looks like that’s gonna leave a mark.”
If there was ever a time to keep my mouth shut, it was then, but all that anger I tried to keep buried rose from the grave. “You two are really big men, hitting a lady!”
Dudley snorted. “So you’re a lady now, huh?”
WHACK!
His next blow busted my lip, the taste of copper filled my mouth, but I didn’t shed a tear.
“You learned your lesson yet?”
With blazing eyes, I met his gaze. “What lesson would that be?”
There I went again.
POW!
Dudley hauled off and punched me in the eye, making my head swim as an explosion of pain burst from my lips in a scream.
“Go on and keep testin’ me,” Dudley sneered, “won’t bother me nun, I’ve got plenty more to give you, Sippi.”
***
Not wearing a stitch of clothing, hands secured above my head, tied to the bedpost by Alistair’s belt, it felt as if I’d swallowed a thousand shards of glass, being strangled half to death. Every bone I possessed ached, my fingers were numb, my head throbbed, and my right eye was swollen shut. I had no idea how long I’d been there, or how many times I’d been violated, all I did know for sure—the weight of Dudley’s big body crushed me when he rolled back on mine.
Somewhere in the distance, I recognized the rhythmic banging of the headboard hitting the wall and guttural male grunts, but I wasn’t there. Not mentally anyway, until a horrible gurgling sound from Dudley pulled me into reality.
Dark-red blood spewed all over—limp body being jerked from me and tossed to the floor with a thump.
Turning as best I could, I tried to see what was happening, but with only one blurry eye, it was all a jumble of shifting movement, the sounds of a tussle, then something silver glinted.
Focusing, the knife came into view, followed by James Henry, a blade poised at Alistair Blevins' throat, both of them by the half-open window where daylight came in. The snapshot of that, as my brother whispered something I couldn’t hear into Alistair’s ear, burned into my brain.
“No, no, no,” Alistair pleaded, shaking like a leaf caught in a windstorm. “Don’t.”
“It’s up to her,” my brother said.
Alistair’s terrified green gaze shifted to me. “Please, Sippi, please,” he said—lips trembling. “Tell him to let me go.”
I looked away, the whimpers of one of my tormenters becoming louder before returning my attention to my older brother, who met my battered gaze—blue eyes locking with mine.
“Sippi, tell him,” Alistair cried. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
“To-too late fo-for those,” I croaked, watching James Henry slowly cut a gash into that nude boy’s neck.
Dropping the bloody knife on the floor with a clang, James Henry came to me, untying my hands, tossin’ a sheet over my exposed body, then scooped me up in his arms—me moaning in excruciating pain.
“Oh, Sippi,” he said, voice trembling, “you’re hurt bad.”
“Mr. King,” I whispered past puffy lips.
“What?”
“Tha-Thayer,” I managed. “He”—my one goo
d eye closed—“will...”
“Will what?”
“Da-doctor.”
“I know you need a doctor.” When he hugged me tight to his chest, I whimpered. “I’m sorry if I’m hurting you, but I don’t know what to do.”
“Mr. Kin-King.”
“Mr. King isn’t a doctor,” my brother said.
“Will”—everything tilted—“help.”
Those shades of gray went black, and Mississippi Singleton was gone.
Chapter Twenty-One
As still as the dead
October 13, 1936
Thayer
Standing at the end of the drive, Mr. LaCroix and I were discussing the need to remove a few fallen trees while I waited for Charles to bring the car down. A rusty Plymouth sedan stopped at the gate, catching my attention. Though I wasn’t expecting him, I wasn’t surprised when the eldest of the Singleton siblings came out from behind the wheel, instead, taken aback over his condition. Blood covered him from head to toe.
“James Henry?” I opened the gates and stepped out. “Haven’t you been”—running from the law, but I opted for—“away? Why are—”
Everything came to a dead stop, even my heart, after he went to the rear driver’s side door, bent, and then straightened up—Mississippi cradled in his arms covered in a sheet just as bloody as he was, as still as the dead.
“No,” I muttered, wasting no more time to get to them. “What happened?”
“She’s hurt, Mr. King. Real bad.”
“How?” I reached for her face, so battered, she looked as though she’d been in the ring with a prizefighter. Dried blood under her nose and swollen, busted lip...a knot twisting so tight in my gut it almost took me to my knees. I shouldn’t have allowed my mother to delay me from looking for Mississippi after I found her note lying on my desk the day before. “Tell me what happened.”
“Dudley McCoy and Blevins,” he said.
“They did this to her?”
“Had her tied up and were doing things.” He locked his eyes with mine. “Abusing her in ways beyond their fists.”
Bile rose in my throat. If I’d gone to find her when I wanted to, Mississippi wouldn’t have suffered such atrocities, but on the heels of overwhelming guilt, balls of white-hot anger zipped up my spine and exploded from my mouth. “Rene, run to the house and have Ms. Bauman call the authorities now!”
