Catfish Alley

by Lynne Bryant

  "Well, let me see now," Mr. Jones says, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Right here next to the barbershop, there used to be a cafe. It was called Jones's Cafe. Miss Mabel fried the best catfish and hush puppies in town. You could smell it all the way over to Main Street. Even white folks come over here to get Miss Mabel's catfish." He laughs. "They come in the front door, too. Not like we had to do if we went to some white restaurant." At this last statement, Clarence reaches over and nudges Grace gently, and she shakes her head, laughing softly. He pauses to sip his coffee, frowns, and reaches for the sugar bowl in the middle of the table. "I got the sugar diabetes, you know. Ernestine never would let me put sugar in my coffee, but I'm telling y'all, I do love me some sweet coffee.

  "Now, 'cross the street here was the Penny Savings Bank, and then there was the lodge for the Knights of Pythias upstairs over the bank." He pauses. "Oh, and Green's Grocery was on the other side of Jones's," he says, looking at me and motioning right and left.

  "The Knights of Pythias?" I have no idea what that is.

  Grace pitches in. "In the twenties, black businessmen and clergy established several secret societies. They were similar to some of the white organizations, but since black people couldn't join the white societies, they formed their own. Adelle's daddy, Dr. Jackson, set up the Knights of Pythias."

  "What kinds of things did they do?" I ask, thinking this might be a good way to highlight the philanthropy of early-twentieth- century African-Americans.

  Grace and Clarence give each other an odd look. It's as if they aren't sure how to answer me. I get the impression that they're trying to decide if they should make up something or tell me the truth.

  "I reckon Gracie better tell you about the lodge, Mrs. Reeves," says Clarence. "I never did have much patience for trying to work on things peaceably like Dr. Jackson did. Especially after what happened."

  I look at Grace. Her mouth has tightened into a thin line as she shakes her head. She looks down at her coffee cup. "This is not one of the good stories, Roxanne," she says. "Zero was bound and determined to get to Alcorn State College one way or another.

  He took a job at the sawmill that summer—"

  "Were y'all still living out on the Calhoun property?" I interrupt. I'm still curious about how she came to own Pecan Cottage, but I don't have the nerve to ask that yet.

  "Oh, yes. The Calhouns deeded our little house on the back of the property over to Grandma when she and Mama were still working for the family. Said they wanted Grandma to feel secure that she had a place to live in her old age. Grandma was the Calhouns' cook and Mama was a housemaid and helped take care of the Calhouns' twin daughters. My mama loved those little girls like she did Zero and me. She used to love to dress them up in those beautiful little dresses Mr. Calhoun ordered all the way from New York. We were all sad when we lost those little girls to polio. They were only three years old. That near about broke Mrs. Calhoun's heart. Grandma said she was never the same after that. She never had any other children.

  "Our mama died when we were young. I was only twelve and Zero was fourteen. My grandma raised us after that."

  I think of my own mama then, ignoring symptoms I can't even imagine for all those years. I make a mental note to talk to Grace more about our mamas — when we're alone. "What about your father?" I ask this tentatively, not knowing, for some reason, if this is too personal.

  "Sugar," she says, looking at me over her glasses, "that's another story for another day."

  I know Grace well enough by now to know when to stop asking questions. This is one of those times. However, she has just made me more curious than ever. Anyway, we've gotten off subject. "So you were telling about Zero and the sawmill?" Is this the same sawmill mentioned in Ellen Davenport's diary?

  "Oh, yes, I knew I got off track somewhere. So Zero goes to work at that sawmill because he says the money's good and it's only for one summer. I told him then that he shouldn't get mixed up with any place where Ray Tanner was, but he wouldn't listen. Always was hardheaded about Ray Tanner. Said he was all talk.

  "That was August 1931. I remember it like it was yesterday. Everything started to Change after that summer. Zero was working two jobs — Green's store and hauling lumber for Davenport Timber. Those Davenports were the richest folks in town, and rumor was, Ray Tanner was trying his best to work his way up in that company. Ray's daddy, Rufus Tanner, had worked there since he was a boy, but he didn't make much of himself. He drank up his whole paycheck. Junior and Zero used to tell us stories about old Rufus Tanner and his brawling. But Ray was different. Had a mean streak and he didn't care what it took to get what he wanted. He'd already made it to supervisor by the time Davenport hired Zero.

  "Do you remember me telling you about the Louis Armstrong show over at the Queen City?" Grace asks me. I nod, waiting for her to go on.

  "That night after we got home I tried to sleep, but I was still too wound up. So, I was in the kitchen getting some cold buttermilk out of the icebox when Zero came tiptoeing in through the back door. I was surprised because I thought he had gone to bed the same time I did. We had church the next morning. I remember looking at the clock on the kitchen wall, and it said two o'clock in the morning. I knew he wouldn't be seeing Adelle that late at night. He was trying to be real quiet, took his shoes off at the door... Grace pauses and chuckles to herself. "I liked to scared him to death when I said, 'What do you think you're doing?' I thought he would jump out of his skin, he was so twitchy and nervous."

  "What was he so jumpy about?" I ask.

  Grace shakes her head and exchanges glances with Clarence. "He was still a ball of nerves from what he'd just done. When he told me, I thought right then about waking up Grandma and telling her the whole story. Because if she'd ever known that Zero was up in the middle of the night delivering packages for a white boy to his rich sweetheart, she would have tanned his hide right then and there, even if he was almost twenty years old!"

  "Package?" I ask, thinking to myself that it is true. It was Zero who delivered the ring to Ellen Davenport that night.

  "Yes, he was close to saving the money he needed for that first year of college, and Andy Benton offered him forty dollars to deliver a package to Ellen Davenport." Grace frowns and sighs. "Zero never should have gotten himself mixed up in that mess."

  Clarence and Grace are both silent. I sense there's much more to this story than they're telling. Clarence reaches over and squeezes Grace's hand. She sits up straighter and says, "Clarence, we should tell Roxanne how Zero ended up at Alcorn State."

  "That's right, Gracie," he says, and turns to me. "I was right here on Catfish Alley the night Zero came looking for Dr. Jackson. I'd finished up my work and stopped into Jones's for some supper. That's when I saw Zero starting up the stairs to the rooms over the bank. He told me the whole story...."

  August 1931

  Zero

  Sweet Jesus, I got trouble now. After I was feeling so good, too. Met up with Andy Benton yesterday morning. Told him I made his delivery, how Miss Ellen acted all innocent like she didn't know what was in that box. We laughed about that one. He paid me the other twenty dollars and I was thinking that was a pretty easy way to make some money after all. When lo and behold today if I don't meet up on the road with Ray Tanner driving the Davenports' big old car and Miss Ellen sitting up in the backseat, bawling her eyes out. I have to stop the mule, I'm so surprised. She and Andy was supposed to be in Yalobusha County today getting hitched.

  As soon as I can get that pile of lumber unloaded I hightail it back to Clarksville, get the mule pastured and the wagon put up, and then I head back to Riverview and sneak into the summer kitchen to find Sarah Jane. It's hot as hell in there and Josephine is cooking greens, standing over a big iron pot, stirring, the sweat dripping off her face salting them more than the fatback. She says she can't be worrying about Sarah Jane. Says that girl's been moping around looking like she swallowed something rotten. Says she's not worth a damn and don't want to work. Josephin
e gives me a glass of sweet tea and shoos me out of the kitchen.

  Just as I'm heading for the river, I see Sarah Jane coming round the back of the kitchen. I call to her real quiet and she comes over behind that big old live oak. She must be feeling sassy today 'cause she says, "You better not let your little bitch Adelle see you talking to me, boy. She'll be jealous, might turn her little nose up at you." Sarah Jane's been sweet on me for a long time, but she knows Adelle's the only girl for me.

  "Oh, come on now, Sarah Jane," I say. "I just need to ask you a question."

  "What you want?"

  "Why is Miss Ellen bawling today in the car? I met up with Tanner today on the road and she's in the backseat crying like she's dying or something."

  "Why you care what's wrong with Miss Ellen?"

  "No reason. I'm just curious."

  "Curious, my ass," she says to me. "You done got yourself mixed up in that business between her and Andy Benton, ain't you?"

  "You don't know anything," I say, but she knows I'm lying.

  "I hate Andy Benton. I hate Ray Tanner. I hate all them white mens," she says, and she starts crying then, tears rolling down her face making trails in her sweat. I feel bad then, like I done something to hurt her, when all I want to know is what happened.

  "Did something happen to you, Sarah Jane? Did somebody do something to you?"

  I reckon she softens up to me a little bit then, 'cause she starts telling me how Mrs. Davenport came dragging Ellen by her arm into her room, while Sarah Jane was in there cleaning. Ellen was dragging a suitcase behind her screaming how her mama done ruined her life, how she loved Andy Benton and how she was going to marry him no matter what they did. And then later on, Sarah Jane tells me, she overheard Mr. and Mrs. Davenport talking.

  "He said to her, 'You know, I really appreciate Ray Tanner looking out for our Ellen,' and she said to him, 'Yes, I hate to think what could have happened if Ray hadn't stopped them.' And then they talked about how bad for the family and the business it would be if Ellen married that low-class Andrew Benton."

  "They didn't say anything about me, did they?" I ask.

  Sarah Jane looks down at the ground, starts running her bare toes over one of the roots of the tree. I grab her by the arms then and have to stop myself from shaking her. "What did they say, Sarah Jane?"

  "Zero, you got to get out of here!" she says, looking real scared now.

  "Why? What did he say?"

  "He said Ray Tanner says you was mixed up in this somehow and Mr. Davenport thought he was probably going to let you go."

  I breathe a little easier. I can find another job. But when I look at Sarah Jane, I know she's not finished yet.

  "That ain't all, Zero. Then he says Ray fanner says let him take care of you." Sarah Jane's voice has gotten all high and squeaky, and she's breathing real fast. "Zero, Ray'll kill you if he has half a reason. He want Miss Ellen for hisself. Thinks marrying her'll get him Mr. Davenport's business someday."

  "What did Mr. Davenport say?""He said that's fine with him. He told Ray he don't want to hear no more about it. Just do what he need to do."

  I wait 'til it gets dark and I head over to Catfish Alley. Tonight's the meeting and I know Dr. Jackson will be there. I'm hoping he'll help me figure out what to do. I know he's not going to be happy with me. He doesn't like it when I get mixed up in white folks' business. He's always saying how we've got to make ourselves separate, make our own way. Doesn't he know that's what I'm trying to do? Only this time it's backfired on me. And I'm starting to believe Ray Tanner's just a mean enough son-of-a-bitch, if he thinks I might get in his way at the sawmill, no telling what he'll do.

  I come from the alley, and just as I'm starting up the stairs to their meeting room, Clarence hollers from across the street. He's coming out of the cafe and he cuts across the street.

  "Hey, Zero. What you up to tonight, sneaking around like you hiding from somebody?"

  I stop and tell Clarence what's happened and how I've got to see Dr. Jackson. Clarence says he'll wait for me.

  "But how're you going to get in there?" he asks.

  I tell him I hid under these stairs as a kid and watched the members go in here so often I got their secret knock memorized. I take a big deep breath and knock, two times real quick and two times slow. The door opens sudden and old man Green is standing staring me dead in the eye.

  "What you want, boy? What you mean coming up in here interrupting our meeting? Get on outta here." He looks over my shoulder like he's afraid somebody's going to see him.

  "I promise, Mr. Green, nobody saw me come up here. I've got to talk to Dr. Jackson. It's urgent. Can you please let me come in?"

  "You just stand right there, boy, and I'll have him come out here and talk to you."

  "Please, Mr. Green," I say. "It's real important nobody see me." He must have seen how scared I was, because he let me come just inside the door and wait.

  From where I stand, I can see into a big room with ten or twelve colored men sitting around a big table, most of them smoking and talking real serious. They don't have any liquor, so this is not a drinking club. I can't figure out what they do in here. Green goes over and whispers in Dr. Jackson's ear. He jerks his head up toward the door and, directly, Dr. Jackson comes out and shuts the door behind him. He grabs my shoulders and looks down at me over his glasses.

  "Zero Clark, what are you doing here?"

  I try real hard not to sound like I'm as scared as I am. All of a sudden, my mouth goes as dry as cotton and I can't think what to say. I just stand there looking at him, trying to find some words.

  He gives me a little shake. "What's happened, son? Is somebody chasing you? You look like you've seen a ghost."

  I finally find my voice. "Dr. Jackson, I did something that wasn't real smart and now I think I might be in trouble...."

  Roxanne

  "Dr. Jackson knew the dean at Alcorn State," Grace says, picking up the story.

  "They were both secret members of the N double A CP," Clarence adds.

  "I don't understand. Why would they be secret members?" I ask. All this secrecy and hiding are so strange to me. It seems to me that these men were probably being over-dramatic.

  "Wasn't safe for a colored man to openly join an organization like that if he lived in Mississippi," Clarence replies. "Quickest way to get your house or business burned down by the Klan."

  "The Klan?" I ask. Now this is a different story. I know a little bit about the Klan and none of it's pleasant. My mama used to tell me tales that made my toes curl. But Daddy always said she was exaggerating.

  "Yes, ma'am, the Ku Klux Klan," Clarence says, looking over at Grace. "They was real active around here in the twenties and thirties. Those white men were joining up like folks getting saved at a tent revival. They wanted to be sure colored men didn't get to vote or have property rights, legal rights, such as that."

  Grace nods and continues. I notice how sad her eyes look. "Dr. Jackson was always trying to work for change and he insisted on doing it peacefully, but he had to be careful. And when Zero told him what he'd done, Dr. Jackson knew that it wouldn't be long before Ray Tanner would be coming after Zero. It wasn't clear how Ray would get him, but it was mighty clear that he would.

  "Dr. Jackson made special arrangements to get Zero admitted to Alcorn State right away. When he brought Zero out to the house that night to pack, Grandma made coffee and we all sat at the kitchen table and Zero told her the whole story. He was so ashamed, mostly because he had to get Dr. Jackson involved. He was so determined to make it on his own. But this time he'd gone too far."

  Grace sighs deeply. "Grandma just sat listening. I could tell she was struggling, but she stayed calm. I know that my grandma loved me, but Zero had a hold on her heart like no one else. When Zero finished and Dr. Jackson told her the plan, Grandma nodded and sipped her coffee for a few minutes. Then she got up and left the kitchen. None of us knew where she'd gone or if she was coming back. Zero and Dr. Jackson and I sa
t there and looked at each other, not knowing what to do next.

  "Directly, she came back into the kitchen carrying an old cigar box with a rubber band around it. She sat down and pushed it across the table toward Zero. 'I reckon you'll be needing this now,' she said. Zero looked at her and then at us. 'Go on, open it,' she said. So he took off the rubber band and opened it up and there must have been a hundred dollar bills stuffed into that box.

  "I'll never forget it. She looked at Zero, who was sitting there with his mouth open, and said, 'Zero, when you were ten years old and we took the wagon down to the Penny Savings Bank so you could open a savings account, you told me you was going to make something of yourself, maybe even be a doctor like Dr. Jackson here. That day, I decided I would start a little savings myself and I told the good Lord if he would let me live to see you go to college, I would help you. So I been saving a dollar a month, sometimes two if the Calhouns gave me a Christmas bonus, since you was ten years old.' By now, we were all crying, even Dr. Jackson. Zero got up and hugged Grandma real tight, kept thanking her over and over, saying he was sorry he had to leave like this.

  "And that's how he got to Alcorn State that fall," Grace says, getting up and taking her coffee cup to the sink. "Clarence, I surely do thank you for giving us coffee and showing us around," she says. "Roxanne just might be able to add Catfish Alley to this tour she's making. Isn't that right, Roxanne?"

  I take this as my cue that we're done here. As usual, I feel the disappointment of the window to Grace's past slamming shut on any further questions. This story has taken hold of me and I want to know so much more about Zero, but I say, "Yes, ma'am, I think this area would be a nice addition to the tour." I shake Mr. Jones's hand, thank him for his hospitality, and dutifully follow Grace to the car.