“Why didn’t you put on your suit and tie?” Cliff asked with a hint of laughter.
Jesse ignored his friend, having spotted Cherokee-One-Leg sitting on the tailgate of his old Ford across the street from the domino hall. Jesse elbowed Cliff, who was too fixated on the happenings at the carnival ahead to notice the old black man. The two boys glanced at each other, and then Cliff began crossing the street.
“Mom, we’re goin’ to go talk to Cherokee a minute. We’ll catch up to y’all.”
“You two shouldn’t bother that old man,” Susie Tidwell argued, knowing that there was no stopping Cliff once he had made up his mind to talk to someone.
“It’s okay, mom. He’s our friend,” Cliff assured her as he and Jesse headed across the street.
“It’s really okay, Mrs. Tidwell. Cherokee’s our friend,” Jesse added.
Ned, not saying a word, which was his way, glanced across at the one-legged old man sitting next to a bushel of tomatoes with his peg on the tailgate and the other leg swinging. Ned then nodded his head at Cherokee who nodded in return in what was a mutually respectful way of not only acknowledging one another but also showing that the old Indian fighter welcomed a visit from the two boys.
Susie was watching the boys with concern when her husband took her by the arm and said, “It’s okay. Cherokee doesn’t mind.”
“Hi, Cherokee,” Cliff said as the boys approached the old man.
“There’s a good crowd in town tonight.”
“You think that you’re gonna sell a lot of tomatoes?” Cliff asked, knowing the real reason the old man was in town.
“Most folks in these parts grow their own tomatoes, but I might get rid of a few,” the old man replied.
“You think there’s goin’ to be some trouble tonight?” Jesse asked.
The old man never glanced down at the boy, but instead he had his focus fixed across the street. “Don’t know, but the night’s sure got the potential for it.”
Jesse looked across in the direction Cherokee was looking. Peterson and Anna-Ruth Crawford were walking toward the carnival from the dress shop with their two daughters and a man Jesse didn’t recognize behind them. At the same time, Irwin Stoker pulled his pickup to a stop in front of the domino hall and he, Sarah, and Jewel started climbing out.
Cliff replied jovially, “How could anything go wrong on a night like this, Cherokee?”
Jesse nudged his friend, who looked across at the Crawfords, who were walking toward the Stoker family. As Sarah stepped out of the truck, she looked up at the Crawfords and immediately looked away.
“Is that the Stoker woman?” Cherokee asked.
“Yeah,” Jesse replied.
“She knows those two men, and she doesn’t want her husband to know it.”
“How can you tell that, Cherokee?” Cliff asked.
“She won’t look directly at the men, but both are looking at her.”
Jesse and Cliff watched as Anna-Ruth Crawford went to Sarah Stoker and hugged her. Sarah was obviously uncomfortable and was trying to keep from making eye contact with the men. The two women exchanged some words and then, smiling, Mrs. Crawford rejoined her family and went into the carnival.
“Wow, you’re right,” Jesse added.
As the Crawford family walked into the carnival, Peterson looked back over his shoulder at Sarah. When she glanced in his direction, she again quickly looked away.
Irwin Stoker saw the exchange, and he made some comments that upset her, even though she tried to conceal her emotions. Jewel was standing between her parents, obviously embarrassed by their behavior. She looked at the boys and Cherokee but immediately looked down as if not to notice them.
“Those two fight a lot,” Cherokee observed. “Your friend is accustomed to it, but it still makes her uncomfortable.”
The two boys nodded in agreement but were saddened as well. Jewel was no longer an outsider or a tag-along. The three had become their own little family. When one felt pain, the other two couldn’t help but feel it.
“I know the feeling,” Jesse confessed.
Cliff looked at him with surprise. “Your parents fight?”
“Not in public,” he answered softly and with emotion.
“Did you fight with your wife, Cherokee?” Cliff asked.
The old man looked down at Cliff. “It happened some. Marriage is not easy. But what you just saw was not a normal fight. The husband knows that there is some connection between her and Crawford. What he said to her was for the purpose of hurting her. He’s not interested in knowing why she knows Crawford, and he has no interest in protecting her. Whatever he said was intended to hurt her. He’s not a good husband.” The old warrior paused and then added, “He’s not a good man. That woman is tortured, by Crawford and by her husband.”
#
As Jesse and Cliff walked into the carnival they forgot all about Jewel’s parents. They were two young boys filled with excitement from all the sights and sounds. They started the night with a ride on the Tilt-a-Whirl. They actually rode it twice and still had a roller coaster and Ferris wheel to look forward to.
Almost everyone in Elza could be found on the midway. Even Able McCormack was there, though not particularly happy, having had to shut down the Palace for the night. There were even a lot of people from the neighboring towns, with the notable exceptions of the folks from the shantytown and Pleasant Grove.
Jesse, to Cliff’s dismay, had yet to really enjoy himself. He was way too occupied with finding Gemma Crawford, but because of the crowd he’d lost sight of her early on.
As the boys were walking through the midway, Jewel and her parents came off the Ferris wheel. Jewel saw the boys and said to her mother, “I’m gonna go talk to the guys for a minute. I’ll catch up with y’all.”
“Okay, honey,” Sarah replied.
Irwin was still in an obviously unpleasant mood and grumbled as the girl walked away.
“She’ll be fine,” Sarah assured him.
Looking along the games, Jesse spotted Gemma. He then got his first good look at the man with her father. It was then that he recognized that man. He had been with Crawford at the lynching.
“Look,” Jesse said, motioning toward the Crawford family.
Cliff looked down along the games, spotted Gemma, and shrugged. “So what? You’re too chicken to talk to her.”
“Not her. The guy next to her dad.”
“What about him?”
“He was there when they lynched Bucky.”
Cliff looked closely at the man and recognized him. “He was standing with Mr. Crawford, wasn’t he?”
“Yeah,” Jesse said as he watched the two men playing a game, with Gemma, Jettie, and Anna-Ruth behind, watching them.
Just past the games, Cliff spotted Jefferson, looking angry and leaning against a light post while munching from a bag of popcorn. Cliff and Jesse immediately headed his direction.
“What’s the matter, Jefferson?” Cliff asked jovially. “You don’t look like you’re havin’ any fun at all.”
Jewel walked up between the two boys and nudged Jesse with her shoulder.
“This ain’t a lot of fun for me. I gotta stand here all night and keep an eye on the carnies runnin’ the games. I already had to shut down the duck shoot,” the Chief explained.
Jesse, Jewel, and Cliff looked at the row of games. “What’d they do?” Jesse asked.
“Toad and Hunker were over there, and after missing two shots Hunker pulled that Swiss knife out of his pocket and fixed the sights on the rifle they gave ‘im. The next thing you know he was cleanin’ them out. The carnie runnin’ it came close to punchin’ Hunker out and wanted me to arrest him. We settled it by shuttin’ down the game. Other-wise Hunker would have gone home with everything they’ve got.”
As the chief was talking, Jesse spotted th
e Crawfords at one of the games where Peterson and the other man were tossing baseballs at the milk-bottles. Jewel also saw them.
“Have you caught the girlie show yet?” Cliff asked.
“No. And I better not find out the two of you’ve been in there. I already had to send a couple of Reklaw boys home,” Jefferson told them. “Their parents were none too happy about it neither.”
“Oh, Jefferson,” Cliff replied. “You know we wouldn’t try somethin’ like that.”
The chief glared down at Cliff.
“Well, we wouldn’t try it here. Everybody knows us. If we got seen, somebody would tell my pa and we’d end up hoein’ fields ‘til school starts.”
“Don’t worry, Chief,” Jewel interjected. “If they try to get in that tent, I’ll let you know.”
Cliff glared at her, but Jewel just smiled.
Jesse no longer heard anything of the conversation. His focus was on Gemma as her family.
“Don’t waste your money on the snake man, either,” Jefferson added. I saw him while they were settin’ up. He’s a fellow with no arms or legs.”
“No arms or legs?” Cliff asked. “How’s he get around?”
“When I saw ‘im, he was in a wagon being pulled around by the bearded lady,” Jefferson replied, realizing that he had just encouraged the boys rather than deterred them.
“Did she really have a beard?” Cliff asked excitedly.
Jewel, who was standing between the two boys, noticed Jesse’s attention was on Gemma.
Jewel gave Jesse a shove with her shoulder. “Go,” she whispered.
Jesse just looked at her, and she said, “Go over there and ask her to ride the Ferris-wheel or I’m gonna do it for ya.”
He hesitantly walked over to where Gemma was standing with her parents, all the while glancing over his shoulder at Jewel.
Gemma’s father and the other man had begun to play another game where they tossed little rubber rings onto Dr Pepper and RC Cola bottles. Jesse and Cliff had tried that one earlier in the evening and come to the conclusion that the rings were too little to fit on a soda-pop bottle.
Jesse walked up to Gemma who had her back to him, watching her father play the game. “Hi Gemma.”
She turned to look at him and replied, “Hi,” with almost a hint of a smile.
Jettie giggled, causing Gemma to elbow her in the ribs. If Jesse noticed the exchange between the sisters there was no evidence of it on his face.
“Enjoyin’ the carnival?”
She looked at him and nodded.
“Have you seen the bearded lady?”
Gemma looked at him and shook her head.
“We were just talkin’ about her. Cliff wants to go in there.”
For several moments Jesse just stood there looking around trying to think of something to say. Finally he noticed the Ferris wheel over his shoulder.
“Have you ridden the Ferris wheel yet?”
Gemma shook her head.
“Are you goin’ to?”
Gemma looked directly at him. “Jesse, are you trying to ask me if I want to ride the Ferris wheel with you?”
Jesse’s eyes widened, and he froze at the bluntness of her question. He searched his mind for an answer but could find nothing. Finally he just nodded and uttered, “Uh-huh.”
Gemma stepped up to her mother, who was standing next to Peterson, who was now tossing softballs. “Mom, is it okay if I go ride the Ferris wheel with Jesse?”
Jesse was white as a sheet as he nervously watched Anna-Ruth look at him and then back at Gemma. “Okay, but come back here when you’re done.”
Gemma turned and joined Jesse, who was smiling in relief. As the two walked together toward the Ferris wheel ticket line, Peterson looked back at Jesse.
“It’s okay,” Anna-Ruth assured him, sensing her husband’s disapproval.
As the kids were walking away, Irwin and Sarah Stoker were casually walking down the midway to where Jewel and Cliff and Chief Hightower were standing. The tension from earlier in the evening had subsided and Sarah, though not necessarily enjoying herself, did look less troubled.
Over at the softball toss, Richard Crawford glanced over his shoulder and spotted Sarah. He gave her a big smile, but she turned and tried to ignore him. Richard then motioned with his head for Peterson to look over. When Peterson looked over, Sarah was purposely looking away, but Irwin noticed.
On the Ferris wheel Jesse and Gemma sat without either saying a word. Jesse was nervously searching his mind for something to say. Gemma just sat there enjoying the ride. Finally, Jesse broke the silence. “Are you having fun?”
Gemma giggled and wrapped her arm around his. “You don’t have to be afraid, Jesse.”
Jesse looked at her, obviously not understanding.
“I like you too,” she said softly.
Jesse, still not knowing how to respond, just sat there as the ride turned. Finally after a long pause he thought of something. “Do you like RC Cola?”
She smiled. “Yeah.”
“Sometimes we take an RC break on the curb across the street from your mom’s store.”
“You mean every afternoon between one and two?”
Jesse looked at her in surprise that she had seen them, but Gemma just giggled at him.
He sat there for a few seconds in thought and finally said, “I can bring you an RC sometime, you know, if you want to come out and join us.”
Below, Cliff was standing next to Jewel as Richard kept glancing over at Sarah. Jewel didn’t seem to notice, but Sarah was becoming visibly uncomfortable as she made every effort to ignore the two brothers. Regardless of her efforts to not look, the man kept smiling and looking over at her, trying to make eye contact. Irwin occasionally glanced back at the Crawford brothers and then at his wife, becoming more and more agitated. Finally Irwin lost control.
From above on the Ferris wheel, Jesse and Gemma watched as Irwin roughly grabbed his wife by the arm and pulled her away. Jewel left Cliff and followed her parents without saying a word.
When Irwin grabbed his wife, Cliff looked at the Chief as if he should do something.
“It’s not our business, Cliff.”
“It’s okay for a man to shove his wife like that?”
“Legally, yeah. Unless she wants to press charges.”
Jewel followed as Irwin took Sarah behind the tents. With all the noise of the carnival, Jesse and Gemma couldn’t hear a thing, but from their perch they could see Irwin yelling at his wife.
Behind the tents Irwin still had Sarah by the arm. “Who was that, one of the guys you’ve been whorin’ with? We can’t go anywhere without runnin’ into one of your friends.”
“Let’s talk about this at home,” Sarah pleaded.
“I want an answer now. Did you whore with those two? ‘Cause it sure looks like it.”
Sarah looked over at Jewel. “Irwin, watch your mouth.”
“Answer me.”
“Irwin, let’s go home.”
“Not ‘til you tell me the truth. You whored for those two, didn’t ya?
“No, I’ve never done that.”
“Then who were those two? ‘Cause they know you!”
Sarah yanked her arm free. “I’m not going to do this here. Come on, Jewel,” she said as she began to walk away.
Irwin grabbed her as she began to go and hit her hard on the side of the head. Sarah fell to the ground.
On the Ferris wheel, Jesse and Gemma froze as they watched. The ride began to turn just as they saw Jewel run away from her parents, but as they got to the bottom of the wheel they lost sight of her.
The two kids got off the ride without saying a word and walked back into the crowd.
“I’ve got to go back to my parents now,” Gemma explained.
“Yeah, okay. I’ll se
e you Monday?”
Gemma smiled and said, “Okay.”
“I’ll bring you an RC.”
“I like Dr Pepper better,” she said with a smile as she walked back to her family.
Jesse watched Gemma walk away, then headed back to where Cliff and the chief were standing. He motioned for Cliff to come with him.
“I’ll see ya later, Jefferson,” Cliff said as he joined Jesse.
The Chief looked down at the boy and smiled. As long as he could recall he had never heard Cliff Tidwell call him by his title like everyone else in town. “I’ll see ya later, Cliff.”
Cliff began walking alongside Jesse and asked, “What’s up?”
“We got to find Jewel,” Jesse answered as he looked everywhere for the girl.
“Something wrong?”
“Her folks had a fight. It was really bad. It was like that day we saw Mr. Crawford and Mrs. Stoker in the alley. Jewel went runnin’ off.”
“That guy with her dad.”
“What about him?”
“We were all standing by Jefferson and that guy kept lookin’ over at Mrs. Stoker. Jewel’s pa was getting’ really mad.”
“She’s got to be here somewhere. Let’s split up,” Jesse said as he looked through the crowd.
Gemma’s father and uncle were playing another game. She went directly to her mother. “Mom, I’m gonna go to the bathroom.”
Anna-Ruth looked at her daughter. “Take your sister with you.”
Gemma looked at Jettie and imperceptibly shook her head.
Anna-Ruth didn’t catch the nonverbal exchange. The two girls had been perfecting it all of their lives. They were to the point that much of their communication was done more with the eyes than anything else.
“I don’t need to go, Mama. I want to stay and watch Daddy and Uncle Rick,” Jettie argued.
“Okay. Hurry, and be careful,” Anna-Ruth said to Gemma as the girl was already leaving.
She immediately saw Jesse and Cliff looking through the crowd for Jewel.
That Night at the Palace Page 27
