Dark Town Redemption

by Gary Hardwick

  Such thoughts were dangerous, he knew. A married man was best left to his sexual confinement, where he was safe. Thinking was always the beginning of trouble, he reasoned. So he made it a point to always have someone else around when he saw Linda.

  That didn’t stop other men from trying to get next to Linda, though. They all seemed to want her but as far as he knew, none of them had any success. Secretly, this made Robert happy.

  Yusef encouraged relationships between the members. He himself was sleeping with two of the women as well as a white girl across town.

  That was another of Yusef’s laws. He told the men that it was their duty to have sex with as many white girls as they could. He knew the white girls all wanted what their fathers told them they could not have and this was an opportunity for the cause.

  The men were encouraged to sleep with the white girls and then get them to give them money which found its way into funding operations against their race. It was the sweetest revenge he knew.

  Of course, this was a secret between all the brothers. The women were not to ever know about it, Yusef reasoned. Women could be possessive and no one needed that shit. And any woman caught sleeping with a white man would be dealt with severely. They could hustle and scam them but that’s all. In Yusef’s view, white men had taken all the Black women they were ever going to get.

  Robert read the sports page this day in The Vanguard’s safehouse that was located in the heart of the inner city. The neighborhood was bad but the people were loyal to the cause. Yusef played Robin Hood amongst the locals and in return they kept quiet.

  Linda came in with Bohan, carrying bags of groceries. The safehouse was fully functional and there was always food. Robert missed his mother’s meals but lately the home cooking wasn’t worth the conversation that went along with it.

  Linda smiled at him and immediately put down the bags and walked over. She was wearing a light summer dress and Robert thought that it had been unseasonably warm. It was a sheer burgundy number and it hugged her hips. Her hair was curly today and it crowned her nicely. She wore no bra and her breasts swayed gently beneath the fabric of her top.

  Robert fought the swell in his pants. He could not do what he was thinking. Linda was, in a way, his brother’s widow.

  “Hey,” said Linda sitting next to him on a chair.

  “Hey yourself,” said Robert.

  “Hear Yusef’s cooking up something big this summer,” said Linda.

  “Hasn’t told me about it yet,” said Robert.

  “He will. He’s got his way about being dramatic.”

  “Yeah,” said Robert not knowing how to respond.

  “How come you never asked?” said Linda. “About your brother, I mean.”

  “Ask about what?” said Robert.

  “He was with me that day, you know.”

  “I didn’t know that. He got killed at night.”

  “Yeah, but, there’s more to it,” said Linda. “It’s kinda personal.”

  Robert put down the newspaper and turned to her. She was so beautiful that he blinked when he looked directly at her. She smelled of Ivory soap and hair grease. He smiled a little. All the Black girls had the same endearing smells, soap, cocoa butter, Vaseline or Royal Crown and the like.

  “Me and Marcus was together that day,” she said and she smiled a little. “We always did it in the basement of the house. No one ever goes down there much. He said he was working on something for Yusef but wouldn’t tell me what it was. Said it was a secret. I thought maybe that’s what he was doing in that white neighborhood that night.”

  Robert was a little surprised by this. Yusef had been very candid with him about Marcus’ activities, but there was never any mention of a special assignment.

  “Anyway,” Linda continued, “Mrs. Kilmer came back early and Marcus had to hide for about an hour. Then he left.”

  “What time was it?” asked Robert.

  “That was four or so.”

  “In the summer, there was still four hours of light left,” said Robert. “What the hell did he do for four hours?”

  “I don’t know,” said Linda and now her voice sounded sad. Maybe Yusef can tell you.”

  “I’ll be sure to ask,” said Robert.

  Silence enveloped them for a moment and Robert could tell that the attraction he was feeling was mutual. Linda looked at him and he could see it in her eyes, the desire to be approached.

  He thought about Denise and being cut off from sex. He grew ever so slightly angry about it. That was some bullshit, to be denied sex in a relationship where you couldn’t get it anywhere else without going to hell.

  “I don’t want you to feel funny around me,” said Linda as if sensing his thoughts. “Me and Marcus we liked each other and all, but we wasn’t married or nothing.”

  Robert looked into her eyes and now they both acknowledged it openly, what they felt and what they wanted.

  “I don’t.” He lied.

  “We’re all family, you know and it’s dangerous to go outside the group when you need to be with somebody.”

  “I don’t know what to say,” said Robert. “I ‘m married, you know—-“

  “You ain’t listening Robert,” said Linda smiling beautifully. “I ain’t trying to take you from her.”

  “I heard you,” said Robert. “But it’s not that simple. I have to live with it, with her if I... if we do something.”

  “You’re saying a lot of things, but I ain’t heard “no” yet,” said Linda.

  “Linda, you know I want to,” said Robert, “I dig you and all but I got too much to lose. Too much,” he added.

  “Can’t say it, can you?” asked Linda. “Okay, then let’s call it a maybe. Things change, people change, you know.”

  She patted his hand and squeezed it a little. She got up and walked across the room and Robert sighed a little watching her ass toss the dress around.

  “Shit,” he muttered to himself.

  Yusef came in and began talking to Vince about something. Robert waited until Yusef was finished and then he asked to speak to him privately.

  They moved away from the others and Robert told Yusef what Linda told him about Marcus then waited for the leader to speak.

  “Damn,” said Yusef, “I told Marcus not to tell anyone. Look Robert, your brother was on a special assignment for me and I guess you got a right to know. In fact, come on with me.”

  Yusef got up and walked outside. Robert went with him. It was nice out, a bright and sunny day. Some kids played a game of stickball on a rundown playground.

  “We might have a rat in the group,” said Yusef flatly. “The feds may have planted him. I got a friend, a sister in the government who told me. Your brother was helping me out, trying to find out who it was.”

  Robert was a little angry but remained calm. He didn’t want to blame Yusef for anything yet.

  “What did he find out?” asked Robert.

  “We had a suspect.”

  “Who?”

  Yusef didn’t answer right away. He stopped walking and Robert followed suit.

  “I guess I have to trust you,” said Yusef. “I mean, you just got in and we had the problem from before. It was Vince we were looking at. My government contact told me she saw him at the federal building once. Vince ain’t from Detroit. He’s from Philly but we had him checked out. But you know the cops, they can make a cover for you.”

  “But you guys haven’t been busted,” said Robert so maybe he’s cool.”

  Yeah, I thought of that. But I keep my activities fragmented. There’s never any one big thing, you know. The feds, they need a murder or something big to get us all. They like to do things big. They won’t blow their cover for a little thing.”

  “So maybe Marcus got burned by Vince?”

  “Could be,” said Yusef and he seemed to be saddened and angered by the notion.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” asked Robert and now there was anger in his voice.

  “I was goi
ng to,” said Yusef soothingly. “I didn’t want you to go off half-cocked and hurt the man. I wanted you to get acclimated first. Besides, I’m not a hundred percent sure, you know and the group is more important than any one soldier.”

  Robert knew this was wisdom. He would have gone after Vince when he’d first joined and he knew from the Marines that when you put one man above the platoon, you were fucked.

  “I want to take up where Marcus left off,” said Robert. “Put me on it.”

  “You’re too close,” said Yusef. “I don’t know what you might do.”

  “Then give it to me and another man. He can watch me.”

  Yusef thought for a long time and then, “Okay, fine. You’ll be with Linda.”

  “Cool,” Robert said too quickly. He knew this was potentially trouble but he didn’t want to draw attention to it.

  “Cool,” said Yusef. “Just stick close to him for a while and let me know what you see.”

  They headed back to the safehouse and for the first time, Robert thought that the murder of his brother might be more complicated than he first believed.

  He had no doubt that the cops killed him but now he wondered if the traitor among them had led Marcus to his doom.

  It was not difficult to see scenarios under which an informant could have gotten Marcus killed. And what about Yusef, he thought? What if Yusef himself had suspected Marcus or worse sent him into danger knowing what might happen.

  Robert tried not to look at Yusef too much. He was a smart man and Robert didn’t want him to know what he was thinking on this subject. If he had to take action, he didn’t want him to know what was coming.

  **********

  In Memphis, at 6:01 pm, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot dead by an assassin.

  20

  RECKONING

  There was reaction all over the nation after King’s death was announced. Blacks took to the streets in peaceful protest or violent uprising. It was clear that the ethnic minority was still divided on the best course of action.

  There were skirmishes and violence in just about every major urban city in the country. The nightmare of a Black revolution, a defacto civil war was being felt in every community. The country, already burdened by Vietnam and the rising power of Communism had another terrible problem on its hands.

  Thomas was again called into the streets to keep the peace and again he answered the call, only this time he did so fueled in part by alcohol.

  Ned was still out sick and Thomas was starting to worry. He called but got only a busy signal. During this time, he had taken on another temporary partner; another old vet named Clark Pierson.

  Two days after King’s death, Thomas and his temp partner were called to a disturbance at a local pawnshop. They found a group of Black suspects looting the place. Pierson, a balding man with a bushy moustache called in the incident and asked for back up.

  They pursued the fleeing men on foot. They ran in several different directions. Pierson and Thomas split up after individuals.

  Thomas tracked his man who could not move fast due to the small TV set he carried. Thomas caught up to him in an alley. It was a dead end with a high wall. Thomas drew his service revolver.

  The suspect, who could not have been more than eighteen, was caught cold. He placed the TV set on a trashcan and raised his hands in surrender.

  “I’m cool,” said the suspect. “I’m cool.”

  “Lock your hands behind your head,” said Thomas.

  The suspect did and Thomas moved toward the man, taking out his handcuffs.

  As he approached, he saw the man change. The skinny dark boy’s face turned into those of all the death and loss in his life.

  Thomas stopped walking. His legs felt heavy and his stomach lurched. He looked at the frightened man before him who had blessedly turned back into himself. Thomas straightened up and focused on the man. He lowered the cuffs and the gun.

  “Run,” Thomas said.

  “What?” asked the man who looked scared and confused.

  “Go,” said Thomas. “Get out of here, just leave the TV.”

  “Uh uh,” said the man. “I run and you shoot me in the back. Naw naw, my mama didn’t raise no fool. You take me in. If you gonna beat me, go on and do it, but I ain’t runnin’, not tonight.”

  For some reason the man’s response enraged Thomas. This man had no idea that he was being given a gift. “You stupid--” said Thomas. Then he holstered his gun and snapped in it in. “There. Now get out of here or I will shoot you.”

  The suspect lowered his hands. He backed away, testing the promise and then he turned and ran off, jumping the high wall.

  Thomas grabbed the TV set and turned around. When he did, he saw Pierson standing there looking at him with accusing eyes. Thomas was sure his own eyes were filled with guilt.

  Before Thomas could say anything, Pierson turned and walked off.

  **********

  Robert watched the news in his parents’ house with heat in his belly. Even though he felt that Dr. King was misguided in his approach, he knew what he meant to Black people. He may have been a fool, but he was our fool, he thought.

  Abraham watched in silence, his eyes were red from holding back tears. Denise and Theresa were still sniffling, dabbing handkerchief’s in their eyes. Robert just watched TV with a cold expression on his face.

  The depth of White arrogance always surprised Robert. Dr. King’s death was like losing a loved one for every Black American and yet White people only seemed to care about how it affected them. They worried not about the loss of a legend but about the imminence of retaliation. Robert wrung his hands hard as he watched the images on the news.

  “I’m going out,” Robert said standing up. Later, he would realize that he announced it on purpose, wanting to stir up his family.

  “No,” said Abraham. “We’re going to church and you’re coming with us. I’ve had all I can take of you and this nonsense.”

  “What I do ain’t nonsense,” said Robert.

  Theresa and Denise watched wanting to comment but knowing that if they did, the argument would only escalate. In a way, they each had been waiting for this for different reasons. There had to be an end to it and the assassination was as good a reason as any.

  “You think I don’t know what you do out there?” said Abraham. “I’m not blind, Bobby. You quit your job, abandon your wife and give yourself to a worthless cause. Dr. King is dead and now is the time for us to choose.”

  “What me and my wife do is our business,” said Robert.

  “Not when it’s in my house,” said Abraham.

  “I am so damned sick of you and your house,” said Robert. “You been holdin’ that up over me all my life.”

  “Then get a house of your own,” said Abraham. “Go back to work, support Denise and stop acting like a fool.”

  “I’m not a fool, daddy,” said Robert. “If it’s time to choose anything, it’s time to choose our own destiny.”

  “If we do what they do, then we’re all lost,” said Abraham.

  “I ain’t lost,” said Robert. “I'm making a difference.”

  “How? Doing violence? Following that White cop?” asked Abraham.

  Robert looked at Denise accusingly. “So she told you about it, so what?”

  “You’re playing with fire,” said Abraham.

  “No good can come of it, Bobby,” said Theresa finally. “You’ve got to find some peace. The church is the way. It’s always been there for us.”

  “I’m going to find out who killed my brother.”

  “Your brother, your brother,” said Abraham scornfully. “You act like none of us loved him. He was my son! And we're all angry about it, too. But anger will not undo what God has done. Only forgiveness will.”

  “I ain't got no forgiveness!” Robert screamed and the statement cut through the moment like a revelation. Robert’s eyes were wide and seemed to burn with the truth of his confession.

  “Then you have to leave,
” said Abraham. My house is God's house and there is always forgiveness here.”

  “Fine,” said Robert and he turned away.

  “No!” said Theresa grabbing Robert by the arm and moving between father and son. “No. I'm not losing another son, Abraham. I'm not!”

  Abraham looked at her and the fact that she said his name and not Robert’s told him where she stood. He looked at his wife and all that they were passed between them. Abraham threw up a disgusted hand and he walked out on heavy feet.

  “Thank you, mama,” said Robert.

  The slap that followed was loud and cold in the silence of the room. Robert was stunned. He could remember every time his mother had raised her hand to him. It was not her way and he knew that her intention was not to hurt him but to show how hurt she was inside. He hung his head a little and touched the stinging side of his face.

  “Your father is right and you know it,” she said. “And even if he wasn’t, he’s still your father. Some things are bigger than we can know, Bobby. All this hate between Black and White is gonna end as soon as the Lord gets tired of it. You can believe in Him or not but I know in my faith that He is God.”

  Robert was about to speak but Theresa cut him off. “I’m not the one to argue with tonight about the Lord, Bobby,” she said. “You do what you want, but just remember what I said. Then, to Denise, she added. “Sorry you had to see this, baby.”

  Theresa walked out. The side of Robert’s cheek was still burning when he turned to the angry face of his wife.

  “What? You gonna yell at me, too?” asked Robert. “Want me to turn the other cheek? I can’t believe you told them our business.”

  “We’re all worried about you, Bobby,” said Denise. “I’m not going to apologize for what I did.”

  “I can take care of myself,” he said in a frustrated tone. Y’all just need to leave me alone-—”

  “I’m pregnant,” said Denise.