by Vicky Jones
"Yeah, with Chloe. She invited me."
"That's nice…real nice, being able to go out, not have to look over your shoulder!"
If only he knew that it wasn't so easy for me either, she thought.
Where the Copperpot welcomed a more sophisticated clientele, Red's was the perfect example of its antithesis. The seats were torn, the floor sticky and the less the waitresses wore the higher the tip tended to be, stuck sleazily under the strap of their sequined bras. The rooms upstairs were always available for the more exclusive of parties. Later that same evening, a well-dressed young executive was sitting up at the bar drinking alone.
"Can I get you anything else, sir?"
The sexy bartender, dressed in a red leather miniskirt and black crop top, was blatantly preying on her customer, the glint of his gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual catching in the bar's low lights as he raised his glass. Her eyelashes fluttered as she put his next drink down on a napkin and lazily draped herself in front of him.
"How much for you…for an hour?" Kyle drawled, unfolding a huge wad of dollar bills from his poker win a few nights ago.
"Well, I'm sure we can come to some arrangement," she replied, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the money.
Chapter 45
The following Friday afternoon, a massive sense of relief resonated around the site. A huge order for cotton bales had come in that week and the workers had just finished loading up the last of the delivery trucks. All that remained was for the order to be signed off and the workers could get to their celebrations.
After she had rinsed herself off under the faucet and picked up her satchel, ready to go home, Shona bumped into Ted, the foreman, who wearily thrust a clipboard into her hand.
"You got young legs, Jackson. Go sprint up to Miss Chloe, will ya? It just needs a signature. Then we can all go home, so hustle, will ya!"
Shona sighed, took the clipboard and headed up to the balcony.
"Excuse me, ma'am," Shona peeked around Chloe's open office door.
"Hi." Chloe's strained eyes softened at the sight of her.
"Oooh, tough week?" Shona screwed her face up at Chloe's paperwork-strewn desk.
"I feel like I'm constantly drowning in this stuff! You?" she replied.
"I'm just heading home. The foreman asked me to bring this up. He needs you to sign off the order, then they can go off to the bar." Shona walked over to Chloe's desk and handed her the clipboard.
"You going with them?" Chloe asked as she looked down to sign the document.
"Nah. I'll leave them to drink and gamble away their cash. I got better ideas for mine." She tapped her top pocket which held her week's wages snugly inside. "You?"
"No. I got too much to do here still. They won't want their boring heel of a boss around anyways."
"Oh, OK, I'll leave you to it, then. Bye."
"Oh…OK, bye Shona." Chloe twiddled her pen through her fingers.
Shona stopped after walking three steps and turned around.
"Say, you don't wan' go ridin', do you? By the Weaver? It's lovely this time of year. The flowers are all in full bloom and they smell amazing. I understand if you're too busy, though." She gestured towards Chloe's desk.
Chloe breathed out as if that was just what she needed.
"I'd really like that, Shona, very much. You free tomorrow?"
"What did your folks say about you comin’ out to see me?"
Shona and Chloe were riding their horses at walking pace along the bank of the Weaver that balmy Saturday morning. There was just enough of a breeze to keep the sun from sweltering them, the flowers and trees smelling as sweetly as Shona had described.
"I didn't tell them. I got changed in the car. You know what my father’s like," Chloe replied.
"Here." Shona halted Storm, climbed off, then grabbed the reins of Chloe's horse to help her dismount. She took out a blanket and laid it on the ground next to the rippling river for them to sit and enjoy the picnic that Ruby had made for them. It was total isolation, hardly a sound in the air other than the lapping of the water, rustle of leaves on the bushes and the birds chirping in the trees.
Chloe sat down and stretched out, arching her back and groaning as if all her little aches and pains were starting to melt away in this little oasis of calm.
"Like it?" Shona knew it was a rhetorical question.
"Like it? I love it. I can totally understand why you come here."
"It's my secret place," Shona said, lobbing a pebble into the river.
Chloe turned to Shona, who stared into the distance.
"I'm sorry for the way you’re being treated at work. I am trying to change things for the better for you all, believe me."
"I know you are. It can’t be easy for you either. To be honest, though, it has got a little better recently. Cuban’s had a bit less heat on him since those six wallets turned up out of the blue the other day. He ain't had another locker check since then, can you believe that? I reckon someone musta put in a good word for him!" Shona smiled sideways at her.
Chloe felt her cheeks redden.
"I liked what you said about the conditions at Wreckers. I'm gon’ take those ideas and see if I can put them into practice. Would that make things better for you?" Chloe asked.
"Well, it'd help the guys, I'm sure," Shona replied, tossing another stone in the water.
"What about you?"
"Me? I probably won't be there much longer anyway."
Chloe felt her heart flip.
"Why? Where you goin'?"
"I'm headin' to the West Coast as soon as I can. Saving every cent I can spare," Shona said.
"When?" Chloe's face was still frozen from Shona's sudden revelation.
"Cuban and I will probably leave in a month or two. He'll head north to New York and me west to California."
"Can't say I blame you with how you've been treated, but I'm not gon' lie, it'll be a real shame." Chloe looked down.
"Look at this!" Shona drew Chloe's eyes to a stunning-looking pebble on the ground in front of them, its surface glistening with bright shades of rose quartz. She handed it to Chloe.
"That's beautiful."
"It matches your scarf," Shona observed, pointing towards the pastel pink chiffon draped around Chloe's neck. Shona took back the pebble and discreetly put it in her top pocket, hoping Chloe wouldn't insist on keeping it.
Talking for another two hours, they lost themselves in conversation about everything from politics to the weather. Chloe noticed she was the one doing most of the talking. Shona was an expert listener but when she did have something to say, Chloe hung on every word.
Slowly but surely, black clouds started to appear above them, hanging low in the darkening sky.
"We better get goin’, there's gon' be a storm!" Shona sprang up from the riverbank to pack away the blanket and picnic basket, then quickly untied both horses just as the dull roar of thunder rumbled in the distance.
"What a shame. I was having a lovely time," Chloe huffed.
"We can do it again sometime…if you want?"
"I'd like that."
As Chloe spoke, an almighty bolt of lightning crashed directly over their heads. The heavens opened, with the rain taking moments to drench the parched earth around their feet.
"Damn it, we won't make it back in time," Shona cried, swinging her agile body over the back of her horse, with Chloe following suit just as nimbly. They both rocked their bodies to get their steeds to gallop quicker but the downpour had already made the ground too slippery for their hooves to grip.
"Well…we ain't gon' outrun it, so we may as well enjoy it!" Chloe shrieked, holding out a hand to catch the raindrops. Knowing they were still fifteen minutes' ride from the barn, they both climbed off their horses and walked them back to the farm.
"Easy, girl." Shona tied Storm to the post by the barn door, then helped Chloe do the same with her mare. They were both completely soaked through to the skin, their hair matted to their heads.
&
nbsp; "Well. That was an adventure!" Chloe laughed, wiping the raindrops from her face.
"I'm sorry, I—" Shona began, noticing Chloe’s smudged makeup.
"Don't apologize. It's the most fun I've had in…well, a long time. Thank you!"
"You're welcome."
As she ran a hand through her wet hair, Shona’s smiling face darkened when she realized Chloe had begun to shiver in her thin cotton shirt.
"We need to find you something dry to put on, you’ll catch your death…"
"It’s OK, I got changed in the car, remember? I can just change back," Chloe replied.
After escorting her back to her car, Shona headed straight to the barn to get dry herself, almost bumping into Cuban who was standing just inside the doorway.
"You have a nice ride out with Miss Chloe?" he asked evenly.
"Yeah, why? Thought you were her biggest fan?" Shona replied, frowning.
"I am, you know that. The only thing I got against her is her father."
"You and me both…but–"
"I don't want you to go through anything like I do. It's dangerous for you to spend so much time with his daughter!" Cuban interrupted her.
"We hang out sometimes like friends are allowed to do. What's wrong with that?" Shona raised her arms in the air, not registering how short her tone had become.
He stepped back in surprise.
"What's going on, Shona? Really?" Cuban's voice penetrated the awkward silence that had fallen between the two friends.
"Can we just drop it, Cuban? Please!"
Shona pulled her arms across her stomach as the groaning ache pounded through her gut. Her cheeks twitched as she tried to gulp down the bile fizzing up in her throat.
"I'm sorry, I'll stop. I just want you to be on your guard, that's all. You're dealin' with dangerous people."
Shona knew how dangerous meeting up with Chloe Bruce was to her. But, like a refreshing drink on a scorching hot day, she was finding it impossible to resist.
Chapter 46
"Good mornin', ma’am! How are you today?"
Rushing to get into work that morning, Chloe had forgotten to make lunch, so she popped in to the local convenience store in town to pick up a sandwich. As she browsed, her eyes lingered on a small postcard with a photograph of a rocket ship on it.
"I’m fine, thank you, Patty. How are you?"
"Well, it's Monday mornin' and my knight in shining armor hasn't arrived to whisk me off yet so, what can I say? But you, on the other hand, I bet you had a great weekend–you know?"
"No, I don't know." Chloe looked blankly at her.
"Kyle Chambers, of course. Now, I'm not one to gossip as you know, but I heard that you and he have a bit of a thing goin' on?" Patty wrinkled up her nose like a hamster.
"Did you now? From who?"
"Well, from your mother initially when she bought a dress for you over at Stella's and the news just kinda spread. Then Kyle came in a couple of days ago and I sort of…asked him." Patty sensed Chloe tensing up and shrank back behind her counter.
"And what did he say?" Chloe could feel her blood pressure rising.
"He said that things were slow but moving in the right…direction."
"Did he? Well, I'll tell you this and I hope you repeat it like you do everything else in this town. There is nothing, and I mean nothing, going on between Kyle Chambers and me."
Patty nodded her understanding, firmly put in her place by a fuming Chloe, who dropped a dollar bill onto the counter for the sandwich and postcard, then marched out of the store.
"10 o'clock! The best part of the morning!" Shona cheered as she took a seat in the canteen next to Cuban and opposite Elbie.
"You're damn right it is," Elbie agreed.
"Shona, do you have a moment?" Chloe passed their table and cocked her head for Shona to follow her.
"Yeah, sure." Shona rose from her seat and followed her into a side room.
"Here. I went to the store to get a sandwich and I saw this."
Chloe handed over the postcard. Seeing Shona's blank expression, Chloe began to explain.
"What you said the other day? You told me you wished you could be blasted up in one of those funny little rocket ship contraptions? Well, I can't make that happen, but I saw this and…thought of you." He eyes were fixed on Shona's reactions as she stood silently staring at the picture on the postcard. "I do draw the line at callin' you Sputnik Shona though, alright?"
Chloe grinned as she attempted the joke, biting her lip as she waited what felt like an eternity for Shona to say something.
"I love it. Thank you," Shona whispered finally as she held the postcard and lightly traced her finger across the embossed gold edging and textured picture. With tears pricking the corners of her eyes, she slid the precious postcard in the top pocket of her denim shirt, smiled and headed back into the canteen, with Chloe watching her all the way.
Carefully fixing the postcard to the wall space beside her bed was the first thing Shona did when she got home that evening. She lay back and stared at it, wondering what it would feel like to be that free, to travel beyond the stars.
She couldn't stop thinking about Chloe.
What did it mean? The question rolled around her head repeatedly.
"Hey." Cuban knocked on the dividing wall between their bunk spaces.
"Hey."
"Nice picture. Where'd you get that?"
"Chloe gave it to me. I mentioned to her a while ago how I wanted to go up in one of those stupid rocket ships…just like when you told her about wanting to read more and she gave you those books," she added, looking Cuban in the eye, trying to deflect any other possible reason for Chloe's generosity that might have crossed his mind.
"Uh-huh," he nodded, holding back. "Well, what'say we go out tonight? C'mon, we ain't hung out together in a while. I know a safe route we can take and I won't take no for an answer, y'hear?"
"Yessir!" Shona mock-saluted as she got up off her bunk and grabbed her jacket.
Chapter 47
The Cell Block was the safe place for black people in Daynes to enjoy a night out, attracting the best musicians who played the sweetest-sounding jazz and blues for miles around. For safety, it moved between all the near-derelict, forgotten buildings in town, never in the same one twice in a row. The regulars were responsible for the transportation of the barrels of liquor and letting the black townsfolk know of the next location.
Monday evening's address was on the corner of a dimly lit, rarely visited street on the edge of town. The revelers inside prayed that the Klan wouldn't consider that the old, leaky storage house may have been converted for the night.
Cuban and Shona took a table to the left of the jazz band that was playing. Tapping her toe as the beat thumped through her, Shona smiled every time the trumpeter faced towards her, emphasizing every note he played with a tilt of his head. The conversation didn't flow as well as it usually did between the two friends. It was more Cuban making an effort and Shona giving one- or two-word answers.
Cuban's eye was drawn to a commotion by the main door. A middle-aged lady looked inconsolable, tears streaming down her face as she was guided by a crowd of anxious-looking friends to a table on the other side of the bar.
"Who’s that?" Shona asked, leaning into Cuban.
"That’s Maria. Her son Woody’s been missing two days straight now and it ain’t looking good. The poor son'bitch can't exactly run fast either with half his right foot missing from last time the Klan caught up with him."
"Jesus Christ," Shona exhaled.
"Yep, he's the only one who can help that poor bastard now. Can you see the sheriff being interested?" Cuban asked rhetorically.
Shona sipped her drink, unable to take her eyes off the devastated Maria.
"Hey, maybe you could ask Miss Chloe? I've seen how you two get along. You got an understanding. She seems like she wan' help all the time. Maybe she can talk to the sheriff?" Cuban looked at his friend hopefully.
S
hona took another sip of her drink.
"I suppose I could try. I mean, if I see her I can ask." Shona shrugged.
Cuban smiled and nodded his thanks.
Early Tuesday morning, Shona sprinted up the balcony steps and knocked with a rat-a-tat-tat on Chloe's door.
"Come in!"
She opened the door and half-stepped inside. "Sorry, didn't mean to disturb–"
"Shona, hi!" Chloe's face brightened instantly. "That's OK, we're finished here." She raised her eyebrows to Kyle, who huffed as he collected his files and eyeballed Shona as he left, deliberately leaving the door ajar. Chloe rolled her eyes at his belligerence.
"Shut the door if you want," she said. "Sit down. Would you like some coffee? I got some nice cookies in here if you'd care to join me?" Walking over to her hot plate, she poured two cups, smiling as she did so.
"No, thank you, ma'am, I can’t stay for long. I gotta get back to work."
Chloe bit the inside of her cheeks as she put her coffee jug down and snapped the lid back on her little red tin of Pepperidge Farm cookies she’d brought in specially that morning.
"Um, ma'am … I’m not sure if I should even ask, but you're kinda the only hope for these people–" Shona picked at the nail on her left index finger.
Chloe turned around and sat in her office chair, nodding gently for Shona to continue.
"There's this boy, a black boy called Woody…He's been missing for a coupla days now, but the sheriff won't listen to Maria, his mother. She just wants to know what's happened to her only child, especially as she lost her husband to the Klan too!" Shona's eyes filled up with emotion as she spoke. "Will you talk to the sheriff? Please? He'll listen to you."
Chloe sat back in her chair. "Shona, I can't, and I won't, promise anything. I don't want anybody getting their hopes up, but I will go and speak to the sheriff if you think it will help."
