As Alex Moss                                          As Danny Burns

PISTACHIO FOR PAULIE

By Atonia Walpole

This story is set in 1956 in Marietta, Ga. This is a work of fiction. The town exists but has been fictionalized for this story’s purpose. The backdrop is the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement.

“What are you lookin’ at, girl? Come away.”

“What’s wrong with looking? Besides, I know most of them.”

Cora Hamilton closed the screened door, and stood behind her fifteen year old granddaughter, folding and refolding her dishcloth. “There’s Danny. I thought he was taller than that.”

“I guess he’s tall enough. I think I like a man in uniform,” she grinned and looked up at her grandma.

“Hrmph! Danny Burns, is it?”

“I dunno. I’ve known him since we were born, practically. He’s just always been there like a comfortable chair. I can always go with him if nothing else comes up.”

“Shame on you, Pauline Denise Eldridge!”

“He’s really just a friend, always has been.”

“Wrong side of the tracks, Paulie. You don’t want to get involved with that crowd.” She found a seat on the porch swing and watched the high school ROTC drilling down the middle of the street.
 

“Now what crowd is that? I know people from over there. They’re good friends.”

“He’s not white, Paulie, leastways not all. His grandma was a Cherokee.”

“I’m probably not either. Who knows where our people came from…maybe Africa.”She caught a tap on her head for that.

“Come inside and ice the cake.”

“Is it banana?”

“Yep.”

“How long do you reckon Mama and Daddy will be gone?”

“Long enough for the old man to die. I don’t think he’ll be lingering much longer.”

“I don’t know why I couldn’t go. I’ve never been inside a plane. Do you know that, never set foot inside, and there goes Mama and Daddy like it was nothing, dragging squalling Mickey with them. They should have left him and taken me.”

“I’m glad they didn’t take you.” Cora set the cake icing before her on the kitchen table. “Do it up nice.”

“Yeah, who’d want to look after squalling Mickey?” Paulie sliced up the bananas and made designs over the cake layer, mashing them down into the sweet sugar icing on the warm cake. “Nothing exciting ever happens to me.  Whoop de doo, a trip to Atlanta a whole ten miles away! I know that was just to try and make up for what was to come or not to come….”

“You got a pretty dress outta it, so what are you complaining about, and you said you had a date.”

“Yeah, I gotta date.”

“Not Danny?”

“Yep…Danny.” She licked the knife.

“Go and get another knife! What’s wrong with you, Paulie?”

“I’m B- O- R- E- D. Danny’s okay, Gramma. He’s going to law school. Gonna be an attorney and defend the innocent.”

“I’m sure he’ll get plenty of clients in his own back yard.” Cora started filling the sink with soapy water.

“I love banana cake. Nobody makes it like you do. Can I have a piece while it’s still warm?”

“Go ahead. Ain’t nobody gonna see it but us anyway.”

“I guess Daddy’s praying over Papa Eldridge. I don’t see why. It ain’t going to do him any good now. He’s already going to hell.”

“Pauline, watch your mouth!”

“I heard Mama say he drank himself into this condition, whatever his dying condition is, and it was all over that red-headed woman down at S-Mart.”

“You’d do well to tend to your own business and let other people's alone. You don’t know the truth of the thing. You don’t know nothing, so don’t go about repeating what you’ve heard as fact, cause it ain’t so.”

“I heard they had a passionate affair.”

“Do you know what passion is?”

“When you want something real bad.”

“That and more. I hope you find it one day when you meet Mr. Right. I hope it’s there.”

“Did you find it?”

“Yes, I did. Your grandpa was a passionate man, a real man and a gentleman.”

“You think Mama found it?”

Cora twisted her mouth around. “I don’t know. Some likes vanilla ice cream.”

“Ice cream…I see what you mean. Daddy’s kinda vanilla ice cream. Me, I want pistachio, something different…no vanilla for me.”

“I got some peach in the freezer if you want it.”

“Peach ice cream and banana cake?” Paulie made a face.

Paulie sat on her porch, hers now, and watched the men walk up the street. Some she recognized but most she didn’t know. They weren’t from here and they were all headed for the court house. She looked down at her sandaled feet. Maybe she should go, too, just to see him, to hear him.

“Paulie!” He came running from the back yard around the house.

“Danny! What are you doing?  I thought you were in court.”

“I’m tryin’ to get there. I parked in your alley. Hope you don’t mind. There’s newspaper reporters and photographers all over the place. I couldn’t stop anywhere near the courthouse.”

“They’re waiting for you.”

“I know.” His lips made a little half grin but his dark brown eyes were intense. “I got these up at Porter’s Pharmacy.” He pulled out a pair of sun glasses.

“Oh, that will disguise you for certain. Pull your hat down over, yeah, like that. You look good, Danny, very professional. She admired his new dark blue suit. “Better get rid of the gum, though.”

“Oh, yeah! ” He tossed it in the azalea bushes. “You comin?”

“I don’t think so, too many people. You can tell me about it later.”

“Yeah, the parking lot down at the high school is full. Where did all these people come from anyhow?”

“They’ve been coming for a few days. Dad said they were part of a group that goes around stirring up trouble. Professional rioters, he called them.”

“This ain’t no riot, Paulie. The law of the land is on my side, on my client’s side. We got it in the bag.”

“Good luck, Danny. I got a banana cake baked if you want to come by later.”

“We’ll see how it goes.” He had a little thing he did with his nose, wiggled it and sniffed, lifting his chin. “See ya!” He gave her a kiss on the cheek, pulled his hat down and joined the men on the sidewalk. With any luck he’d make it all the way to the courthouse in their company.

Paulie drained her iced tea glass and went back inside. She hadn’t changed much in the house except her bedroom. New wallpaper her mother helped her put up and some new curtains. She had her grandmother’s room now with new maple furniture. She turned on the fan to get some air moving in the front room before tuning in the TV. Had to get the rabbit ears just right. She still didn’t have an antenna on the roof. It was the news she wanted to hear, news about the trial, but instead the weather report was on.

“I really do need somebody to tell me it’s hot.”

He pulled off Highway One onto a little side road, following a sign that promised gas and cold drinks. He was feeling the heat as he stood in front of a fan at the counter, waiting for the man to finish filling his gas tank. He took a coke out of the drink chest and took the cap off.

‘That’ll be $4.00 with the oil. You musta been glidin’ in here on empty.”

“Yeah, I was beginning to worry. Good to see your sign on the highway.”

“Ah, twenty five cents for the coke.”

“Oh, sorry!” He reached in his pocket and pulled out a quarter. “How far is it to Marietta?”

“Oh, ‘bout sixteen miles, I reckon. Been a lot o’folks lookin’ for Marietta.”

“Big trial going on, but I guess you know that already.” He smiled and tilted his hat back.

“Must be interestin’ for ya’ll to come all the way from Chicago.”

“I’m a newspaper reporter for the Chicago Sun.”

“Do tell! All the way down here to write about them black young’uns goin’ to white schools.”

“Yeah, we don’t have that problem at home. There are no white schools. Thanks.”  He left the gas station with his coke.

Alex Moss looked at his watch and stretched again before downing the coke in a few swallows. He took the bottle back over to the metal rack outside the door of the gas station. He certainly knew he was in the south now. It was hotter than hell. He tilted his head a moment, pulled out a little spiral notebook and wrote, “The air so warm it was hard to breathe and I had the feeling it had been breathed a million times already, stale and used up, like a closed room in an empty house.”

He’d been discarding items of his attire for hours. His hat he kept on but his tie had gone, his jacket lay in a heap on the back seat of his convertible, his shirt was now unbuttoned half way down and he proceeded to roll up his sleeves before getting behind the wheel.

Just outside of Atlanta he had to stop and put the top up. The afternoon thunderstorms had rolled in and a big splat on his nose sent him to the side of the road. He sat there in the heat of his car with the windows rolled up waiting for the sky to break open and spill out. He pulled out his cigarettes and lit one and had a look at the road map. It was an old atlas and probably new roads had been built, but at least he was close.

He liked to get to the story sideways, find out all he could before actually talking to the star of the story. Who is he or her, what makes ‘em tick, why did they do what they did? Yeah, that was his meat and potatoes, a little human interest, but right now this human was hungry. Meat and potatoes sounded pretty good.

What he really wanted to do was write a book. He had odd notebooks crammed full of lines or descriptions he thought of…just waiting, waiting until he could afford to write, waiting until he didn’t have to worry about rent money for awhile.

By the time he got through Atlanta and headed for Marietta the rain had stopped. Down came the rag top and now the heat had an extra added bonus, humidity. He found a diner and sat down to country fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy and a helping of green beans with peach pie for desert. He decided to ride into the town, have a look around, find the court house and a place to sleep.

Paulie made him a plate, fried chicken, potato salad and cole slaw she'd made herself. “You don’t have to heat nothing up. I’ll eat it cold.”

“You sure? Baked beans are better warm.”

“I’m sure. I’m so hungry it don’t matter.”
 

“Bet you didn’t eat all day, did you? Did you get a lunch break?”

“I couldn’t eat. My stomach was full of butterflies. Yeah, we got a break but mine was taken up with meetings. I know these guys mean well but I’m gonna have to tell ‘em to back off. I know what I’m doin’.”

“Want some more tea?”

“Yeah, just cover the ice.”

“I watched the news at five o’clock. Saw you leave the court house and I thought, boy, that’s just down the street, but it seemed like a long way away.”

“It was…took me till now to get here. This is good, Paulie. You fry chicken just like your Grandma.”

“She’s the one taught me to cook. Want a piece of banana cake?”

“Whoa…yeah, little piece. How’s school?”

“Summer school's almost over. Another week and we’re done till fall. You think it’s gonna happen this year? Am I going to have them in my class?”

“Them? You’ll have students like you always do. There is no them and us anymore.”

“You know what I mean, Danny. We were in the seventh grade before we ever went to a black school and then it was just a choir assembly. Don’t you remember walking down the hall with me like you had to protect me from something jumping out of a locker?”

“Hey, lockers can be scary places!” he grinned around a forkful of banana cake. “I don’t know about your classroom, Paulie. It depends and a lot depends on what happens here in Marietta. I want to win this case in the worst way 'cause if I lose it, I’m done for here in this state. Nobody will hire me to defend anything.”

“You won’t lose. I know the news was bad but you haven’t had your say yet.”

“No, but I will have it in a few days. We just gotta listen to all the shit first. Oh…sorry.”

“That’s okay. My second graders use worse language.”

“Thanks for dinner. You didn‘t have to do this, you know.”

“I know I didn’t but I had to eat. You got the leftovers.”

He rose from the table, drained his iced tea glass, and looked around for his hat. “Guess I’ll see if my car's still there undiscovered.”

Paulie smiled a little and touched his shoulder. He kissed her forehead and put his hat on. “See ya tomorrow.”

Walking back to his car, he noticed he’d blocked someone’s drive. He winced and hoped they hadn’t needed to get out or in. He looked around the street, clapboard houses, mostly one story cottages, some two story and even a few Victorian houses mixed in. Quiet neighborhood, a block off the town center, a few children at the end of the street all neat and orderly. He lit a cigarette and leaned on his car, listening to the voices in the neighborhood, somewhere a woman laughing. A man had pulled up in his drive, calling, "Hey, how ya’ll doin’?" to his neighbor watering his yard. "Heh, you know we don’t get no rain here. Spits it all out in ‘lanta." Alex smiled a little and looked up at the house where he’d parked his car. He almost didn’t see her at first, hidden in the hanging ferns she was watering.

“Hey, uh, sorry I blocked your drive. I didn’t realize how far forward I was,” he called out to her.

“It’s okay today. I didn’t need to go anywhere. Just don’t block me in tomorrow.”

“No, I won’t…nice house.”

Paulie looked at him between the ferns, light curling hair worn unfashionably long like a schoolboy’s, white shirt, tan slacks. “Where are you from?” She knew he wasn’t from Georgia.

“Chicago recently.”

“Are you here to see the circus?” She finished watering her ferns and leaned on the porch railing, talking over an azalea bush.

“Circus…? Oh, you mean the court case. I guess it does seem like a circus. Don’t suppose you have this many people in town on a regular basis.”

“You think we’re just a little lazy southern town where nothing ever happens?”

“I…I wouldn’t know, ma’am.”

“Well, you’d be right…if you thought that.”

“Lazy towns intrigue me. There’s always something.…”

“You came all the way from Chicago to see a court case?”

“I’m a reporter. It’s my job.”

She made a face. “I saw it on TV, all the reporters and photographers pushing each other to get at the district attorney. Were you in that mob?”

“Nope, missed it.” He tried to get a look at her. She was too far away to see her features but he noticed the mass of hair, unusual in that it was long. Most girls had theirs cut short now. Hers fell over her shoulders like a blond curtain, framing her face. “My name’s Alex Moss.”

“I’m Paulie Eldridge. You can um come up on the porch if you’d like.”

He cocked his head a little. “I’d like.”

He stepped up on the porch and she smiled shyly at him, bluest eyes he’d ever seen in a heart- shaped face. She pulled her hair back and caught it with a clasp, all the while trying not to seem so obvious. He was handsome and big, tall and built, his eyes more green than blue. Now that he was on her porch she didn’t quite know what to do with him.

“Would you like a glass of iced tea?”

“That would be nice.” He played with his hat brim in his hands and tossed it over on the porch swing.

“Well, um, just have a seat any ol’ where and I’ll get it. It’s sweet tea.” She looked at him questioningly.

Alex smiled, “I can drink it.”

“I know you northerners don’t drink it like we do.” She disappeared into the house.

Alex walked the length of the porch and back and sat in a wicker rocker. He gazed over the porch railing at his car, wondering what she had seen in him standing there by it that caused her to ask him up on the porch. They were strangers.

Paulie took down her grandmother’s ‘good company glasses’, the ones with no chips and the ones that matched. She thought about the banana cake…maybe…later.

“Here we are.” She handed him the old-fashioned cut glass tumbler.

“Thanks. It’s cooler up here on the porch.”

She sat down in a matching rocker with her tea. “We don’t get the afternoon sun on this side of the street.”

“You get morning sun?”

“Yes, on the front of the house but the trees out back block the afternoon sun so it’s not so bad. Gets hot upstairs sometimes if we forget to close the blinds.”

“Who’s we?” He sipped his tea, savoring the sweetness on his tongue.

“Oh…well, it’s just me and the cat. This was my grandmother’s house until two years ago. Now it’s mine.”

“Sorry.”

“I’m sorry?”

“No, I said I’m sorry she’s, uh, no longer here.”

“So am I. She passed on in her sleep. I was very close to her.”

“Did you live here?”

“No, with my parents at the church. Oh, I don’t mean we lived in the church,” she laughed a little. “My father is a preacher and we lived in the parsonage out by the graveyard.”

“So you lived in a graveyard, so to speak.” His eyes teased her.

“So to speak. They still live there with my little brother. He’s ten years younger than me and still in school.”

“And your grandmother left you the house?”

“I was very grateful to her. It allowed me to leave home.”

“What do you do, Miss Eldridge? Do you work?”

“Yes, I teach second grade just down the street at Dodd Street School.”

“Married?”

“No.”

“Engaged or spoken for?”

She hesitated a moment. “No.”

“But there’s someone.…”

“No, not really. Why so many questions? I may have to charge you for the tea.”

“I’ll pay,” he grinned and took a drink. “It’s a habit of mine, maybe it’s the job…I like to know who I’m talking to.”

“That makes sense. So who are you besides a newspaper man?”

“That’s about all I am right now, working to pay my bills, working to …maybe someday write something besides a newspaper column.”

“Where were you born?”

“California. That’s always important down here, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know. I think that would be important anywhere. We all come from somewhere but it’s where we go, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…where we go.”

“I haven’t been anywhere. I went to Mississippi with my family. I went to Florida to Jacksonville Beach when I was fourteen. I went to school in Atlanta. Where did you go to school?”

“In California until the war broke out. I finished up my education in the Marines.  Fooled around in Mexico for awhile, sobered up and got a line on a job with the Chicago Sun.”

“Mexico…I always wanted to go to Mexico.”

“No, you don’t.”

“How do you know what I want?”

“It’s not a place for you. I know that much,” he smiled and fished for a cigarette.

“You think I belong in a lazy little southern town like this for the rest of my life?”

He blew out smoke and narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know you that well.”

“You don’t know me at all.”

“What if I wanted to get to know you better?”

“Why? You’ll stay until the circus is over and go back to Chicago. Why bother?”

“Why speak to the person in line at the bank or the grocery? Why ever speak to anyone?  People need other people. It’s how we’re made.”

“Are you married?”

“No, unattached. I can’t afford a girl.”

“Does it cost money to have a girl, to care for someone?”

“Sure it does. You gotta take ‘em out to eat, take ‘em to the movies, take ‘em dancing. Someday I will.” He picked up his glass again.

“That’s all news to me. I don’t remember the last time I did all that.”

“You do have someone, don’t you?”

“I have a friend.”

“Ah, a friend. Cheapskate won’t take ya out eh?”

“He’s had his money problems, too, but he’s got a chance now, a chance to make it big.”

“I hope he does…for your sake.”

“Mr. Moss, would you like a piece of banana cake?”

“Banana cake? Don’t think I’ve ever….”

“I’m sure you haven’t, not like this anyway. It was my grandmother’s special recipe.”

“Yeah, sure I’ll try it.”

She'd brought him a big slice. “You’re right, I’ve never had cake like this. It’s good. What’s so special about it?”

“An extra ingredient and I can’t tell.” She grinned and cut herself a small piece.

“Aw, come on, tell! What did you put in it?”

She couldn’t tell him. It was silly. Her grandmother put love in her cake and only gave it to people she wanted to love her back. It didn’t work anyway. She’d been putting love in it, too, and it hadn’t worked. “I can’t tell you.”

He smirked a little, “Whatever it is, it works.” He finished off his slice of cake and drank his tea. “I should be going. I gotta find a place for tonight.”

“There’s Mrs. Parson’s across the town center, the blue Victorian house. She takes borders. I could call and see if she has a room.”

“Hey, now that would be nice, if you don’t mind.”

Pauline went into the hallway to the phone table and called Mrs. Parsons. She’d known her since she was a child in her Sunday school class. She was back in the kitchen in a moment. “She wants to know how long you would be staying?”

“Oh, not sure. Um, week maybe?”

She was back again. “It's thirty dollars…in advance.”

“Thirty dollars…jeeze…okay, I’ll take it.” Alex looked in his wallet. He had ninety dollars left, gas to buy to get him home and he had to eat while he was there. He may or may not collect on some of his expenses when he got back to Chicago. Depended on what kind of story he had.

“I know that’s a little expensive but she said she can get it with all the reporters in town. I didn’t tell her you were a reporter.”

“Thanks, Miss Eldridge, I appreciate that.” Alex rose from the table and picked up his hat. “I enjoyed the conversation, the tea and the cake. I wonder, um, if I might see you again?”

“Mr. Moss…if you were an ice cream, what flavor would you be?”

He laughed a little. “Something definitely with nuts, because I’m a little nuts. Um, I don’t know. You’d be, um, buttered pecan I think.”

“Really,” she smiled, “try again. What would you be?”

“Oh,” he looked up at the ceiling, “something odd like pistachio.”

Paulie grinned, “I get home from school at 11:30 and make a light lunch. I have dinner between five and six. I’m telling you this because I’d like to see you again, too, and it’s no fun cooking for one.”

“You don’t have to feed me. I could….”

“No, you can’t afford a girl, remember, and besides, it’s only southern hospitality.”

He stopped at the door and turned. “What about your friend…what kind of ice cream is he?”

“Chocolate, and do you know he’s been eating banana cake for at least fifteen years and never asked why it was special. It doesn’t work on him.”

Alex frowned, “You aren’t a witch by any chance, are ya, trying to put a spell on me?”

“No, I’m the daughter of a Baptist preacher who knows how to make my Grandma’s cake. You’ve nothing to worry about.”

He grinned, “I was just kidding. Good evening, Miss Eldridge.”

“Mr. Moss.” She saw him to the door and slipped over to the curtains to watch him do a u- turn in the street and head back for the square. “Alex Moss is pistachio.” She hugged herself.

“Just so you know,” Paulie slathered mayonnaise on two slices of bread, “I’ve sort of asked someone to dinner tonight.”

Danny was absently eating potato chips. “Yeah.”

“Just so you know.…”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“I’ve asked a man to dinner tonight.”

“Who?”

“You don’t know him. He’s from Chicago.”

“You haven’t gone and met one those guys, have you?”

“As a matter of fact, I have. He’s very nice.”

“I gotta work tonight anyway.”

“So it’s okay with you, then?”

“You wanna have dinner with a guy?” he shrugged.

“I’d like to know just where we stand. I know we’re friends, Danny, but.…”

“What do you want to know? Do you want to know if I think of you as more than a friend?”

“Yes, that’s what I want to know. Is it ever going to be anything else?”

“I can’t answer that because I don’t know right now. We’ve been together forever.”

“We haven’t been together, just side by side.”

Danny stopped munching his potato chips, not taking his eyes off her as she put the ham and cheese sandwich in front of him. “Are you suggesting we…I wouldn’t ever make that move on you.”

“Why…why not? Don’t you ever think about it, what it would be like?”

“I’ve thought about it.” He took a bite of his sandwich. “Used to think about it a lot when we were in high school.”

“When did you stop thinking?”

“Oh Lord, Paulie, I can’t believe we’re having this conversation.”

“I can. Why didn’t you ever try?”

“You were too good and your Daddy was the preacher. You don’t mess with girls like that.”

“Even now…?”

“What’s got into you? Is it the Yankee? Is that what it is?”

“Nothing’s got into me. I just want to know six months from now, two years from now, what’s it going to be like between us?  I’ve kind of been waiting on you all these years because there wasn’t anybody else I liked as much as you.”

“Paulie, I like you better than anybody but you’re talking serious stuff now and I’m, I’m still struggling to make a go of it. If I can win this case then I’m set…I think. Of course if I win there will be a backlash. I see that coming. They’re writing some nasty stuff about me. Did you see the Atlanta paper this morning?”

“I started to read it and threw it away. I won’t read such garbage about the man I know. I’m hearing from you that we’re friends and probably always will be.”

“That’s right we are and will be. Did you bake this ham?”

“Yes, I baked it Sunday. I’m going to cook for someone else tonight. I just wanted you to know that.”

“Well, don’t worry. I won’t show up and ruin your date.”

“It’s not a date. I’ve just asked him to dinner.”

“Make sure he…keep him downstairs, Paulie.”

“You have offended me.”

“I’m sorry but you know what I mean.”

“Have you ever known me to…?”

“No, can’t say as I have. You haven’t, have you?”

“No, I was saving myself…”

“For your husband.” Danny finished his sandwich and reached for his tea glass.

“Yes, that’s right. I was saving myself for you but I see now that’s not in your future plans.”

“I didn’t say that, just not right away. I’ve got too much on me right now. Why are you bringing all this up?”

“Because…you will never be pistachio.”

 “I looked for you on the news. I didn’t see you on camera.”

“Nah, and you won’t either. I’m looking for a different angle. I talked to some of the defendant’s family today. Hung around the court house watched the DA do his song and dance for the press. I hear he’s up for re-election.”

“Oh, yes, he is. His name is plastered on every tree in the county.”

“I’ll tell ya who I’d really like to interview and that’s the defense attorney, Burns.”

“Why?” She turned from the stove with a spoon in her hand.

“Eh ,what I’ve been able to gather on him, he sounds like a good story. Young man from the wrong side of town, brilliant from what I’ve been told, made it through school without ever dropping below an A. Full scholarship to UGA. Good looking, unmarried. He’s prime story material.”

“Danny? You make him sound like somebody else.”

“You know him?”

“Like the back of my hand. He’s all the things you just said. He really is. I noticed some are trying to bring up his heritage, trying to smear him before he even stands up in court.”

“Yeah, the way I see it he’s f... um, he’s gonna get it either way if he wins or loses. He’s done and that’s a shame, a real shame. Mmm, pot roast?”

“I see you’ve eaten before.” She set a platter on the table.

“Long time since I had anything like this.”

“It’s been awhile since I made it. Like I said, cooking for one…of course I never know when I might have a visitor at mealtime. I always make extra.

“I thought if he won this case he’d be set up for life, his name will go down in history books, clients beating his door down and I know he thought the same thing.”

“He’ll be famous. No doubt about that. I just don’t see him getting work in this state if he wins. You see what the state house is doing with the flag? They’re gonna fight the civil war over again.”

“It’s embarrassing, I know. Couldn’t he go to another state and work?”

“He might. I think you have to pass a test or something. Each state is different. Of course he’d have no problem joining any of the civil rights groups. If he wins they’ll welcome him in.”

“That’s not what he wanted to do. He’s working out of an office no bigger than my kitchen. He’s had his eye on the Conner building as long as I can remember, that round corner office. He used to say one day that would be his.”
 

“Could still happen. What I’d like to do is a piece on him, a sympathetic piece about a young man and how the decision he made to stand up to the whole state of Georgia affected his life. Well…that’s my angle.” Alex was really enjoying his meal.

Paulie was torn between talking about Danny to Alex Moss the reporter and just talking about him in general as the trial was the talk of the town, not much else was going on. “I’m afraid anything else I say on the matter will end up in print.”

“I won’t say it won’t.” He looked up before spearing another chunk of carrot. “Sorry, I am what I am. You seem to know him quite well.”

“I refuse to answer on the grounds that…”

“Okay, okay,” he laughed, “I quit! You’re a good cook, Miss Eldridge.”

“Thank you. Mr. Moss. Why don’t you call me Paulie? My name is Pauline but I’ve always been Paulie.”

“Okay, Paulie, and I’m Alex, short for Alexander.”

She smiled, “I do believe you’re the first reporter I’ve ever known.”

“Nothing special about a reporter. Hey, what was that thing about ice cream yesterday?”

“Oh…just something I said once. It came back to me when you were here. Pistachio.”

“Not that I particularly like pistachio ice cream. I think it’s an acquired taste.” Alex mopped up the last of the gravy with his biscuit.

“It might be but once you acquire that taste then how could you ever go back to something like, say, chocolate?”

“Now chocolate I can get into. Ice cream shouldn’t be green.”

“It’s different, certainly different. Maybe that’s the attraction.”

“Have you had it before?”

“No, nobody would ever buy it at home and I hadn’t the courage to buy it myself, afraid they might be right and I wouldn’t like it.”

“It’s only ice cream. Toss it if it’s not…to your liking. Are we talking about ice cream?”

“Yes, of course. Whatever else would it be?” She picked up her tea glass. He was just too smart to play games with.

“I’ll tell you what. There’s soda shop off the square with all kinds of ice cream. I’ll bet they have pistachio. How about we walk down there and if they do, I’ll buy you a cone of it.”

After their meal they strolled down the street to the town center and, sure enough, the soda shop had the ice cream.

She took her time savoring it, getting the taste on her tongue.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“It’s different.…”

“Better than chocolate or vanilla?”

“Oh, better than vanilla. I never liked vanilla. It’s different.”

“Sometimes different is not always better than what you know.”

“Do you like buttered pecan or did you just say that?”

“It came to mind. I do actually like it, though”

“Danny and I have been best friends since the fifth grade.”

“He’s the friend?”

“Yes, but only that, just a friend. I know how many chicken pox scars he has, I know the year his voice changed, dropped down and he dropped out of chorus. I know he won honors in everything he ever did. I know he’s never considered me as anything but a friend and I will never be any more than that to him.”

“It bothers you to say that.”

“I had hoped for more. You see, he was the best of the lot. There wasn’t anyone else I cared for. I had hopes up until lunch time today when I asked him point blank. He couldn’t give me a straight answer. I think he’s bound for glory, Alex, and he doesn’t need me to help him get there.”

“Maybe you’ve already helped him get there. All the years you’ve been friends must have helped in some way to make him who he is today, for him to find the courage to do what he’s doing.”

“I think his courage comes from some deep well within him. It’s nothing I’ve contributed to. He doesn’t quit and when his back is against the wall that’s when he reaches a little deeper into that well.”

“I may quote you, if that’s okay.”

“I don’t care if you use my words but I have to teach in this town. I don’t have Danny’s courage.”

“Is it that bad here?”

“Sometimes. Right now it is when everybody is lining up on one side or the other, families torn apart, people don’t trust their neighbors.”

“Why don’t you leave?”

“And go where? Where would I go on my own?”

“Anywhere. Go to New York or out west.”

“This ice cream, it’s really pretty good once you get used to it.”

“Why can’t you go somewhere on your own? This is 1956.”

“Not here; nothing changes here. My parents are still alive.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-five.”

“By the time I was twenty-five I’d fought in a war, killed people and written about it. It about killed me. That’s why I ended up in Mexico working as a stringer for a US paper, but mostly I was a drunk. It took a woman to straighten me out and once she did I left her and went to Chicago. Haven’t seen her or talked to her since 1952.”

“I haven’t…I haven’t lived, Alex. I’m my mother and my grandmother all over again. I’ll stay in this town until I die. Why? Because I’m afraid to step out of it. I’ve never said that out loud before. I never wanted a vanilla life but that’s what I’ve had. I couldn’t step out of line and embarrass my parents. I’ve had vanilla and I longed for something a little more exotic, like pistachio. I want to play my music out loud but do you know I keep my records hidden because Daddy wouldn’t approve of the music I like.”

“What do your friends do with their lives?”

“The ones that are still around are married now and starting their families. I see them at church or shopping but we don’t socialize any more because I’m still single. I put all my eggs in one basket and it sits by the door where he left it.”

“Burns…you think I might talk to him? Does he come around your house regularly?”

“He comes when it suits him or when he gets hungry enough. There’s no set time. We’re pretty casual about that. He said he was working tonight so I don’t expect to see him.”

Alex looked away for a moment, trying to figure out how to ask the question. “He has his own place then, doesn’t stay at your house?”

“No, he certainly does not…stay. He’s never stayed. I don’t think it’s ever occurred to him to ask.”

“Where does he live? You don’t have to tell me. I can find out from somebody else.”

“He lives in a trailer on his grandfather’s land. It’s his. He bought and paid for it with the money he got when his grandfather passed on.”

“Family, does he have family around here?”

“His daddy is still alive but he doesn’t see him, hasn’t seen him since he got out of high school and went off to college. He’s got a sister, married with three kids and lives over in Augusta. His mama died when he was fourteen.”

Alex watched her face as she talked about him. “You didn’t become his mama, did you?”

“I was his friend, somebody he could talk to. I understood him the way nobody else did.”

“How long have you been in love with him?”

“I don’t know and that’s the truth.” She’d eaten all the ice cream and wrapped what was left of the cone up in a napkin and tossed it away. “Maybe I’m not. I’m beginning to think I was just used to him.”

“Well, what did you think of it? Will you be buying a carton of pistachio all by yourself now?”

“You’re making fun of me.”

“No, I’m not. I’ve listened to you, Paulie. If you want something bad enough you‘ll make it happen. There’s nothing keeping you here in this town. You could move to Atlanta, ten miles down the road, but a whole different world than the one you’ve grown up in. You could play your music out loud in Atlanta. If Burns is gonna come to his senses about you, he’ll find you there.”

“I’m twenty-five and I’m not going to wait on him any longer. He won’t stay around here after this trial no matter which way it goes. His life is going to change and it’s going to change him, too. I don’t think he realizes what is coming down the road for him. No, it’s time for Danny and me to part ways.”

“Can you do it, leave him behind?”

“I don’t have any choice. He’s already leaving me behind. He just hasn’t thought about it yet. He’s too caught up in this trial to think of anything else right now.”

“I think you should give him a little more time.”

“I think you’re wrong, Alex Moss. I’ve waited around for it long enough. It’s not there. He doesn’t have it, at least not for me. I realize now what was missing between us all the years we’ve known each other. There wasn’t any passion between us.” She looked down at the sidewalk and blushed. “I’m sorry. That wasn’t…I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Never…ever you never…?”

“No…never more than a kiss in eleven years, a very friendly sort of kiss at that. Not like you see in the movies. I kept waiting for it to happen.”

Alex thought about this a minute, holding her arm as they crossed the street. “Passion is either there or it ain’t. You can’t make it up. Hey, um, have you got any of that cake left?”

He finally ran him to ground on Thursday evening, standing in line at a burger joint. He might have felt a little guilty having left Paulie’s table not forty-five minutes ago but it wasn’t in him to feel guilty over a good meal.  Alex bought a coke and leaned against his car, keeping an eye on Danny until he’d finished his meal and taken his paper wrappings to the trash can.

“Hey, ah, Mr. Burns, wonder if you might have a few minutes?”

“No, I don’t.” Danny glanced over as he opened his car door.

“Yeah, I know what you’re thinking and I don’t blame ya. Probably been hounded to death this week.”

“I can’t talk about the trial, so you might as well back off.”

“Don’t want to talk about the trial. That’s secondary; everybody’s talking about the trial. I want to talk about you.”

Danny gave him a look, slid into his car seat and slammed the door. Alex leaned into his window.

“We have a mutual friend. She’s told me some interesting things about you. Paulie.”

Danny stopped his hand half way to the ignition. So this was Chicago, who was parking his loafers under her table every night. “I know Paulie and I know she ain’t told you nothing about me.”

“Well, you’re wrong there. Half an hour. What do ya say?”

“Git in.” Danny reached over and opened the passenger door then drove to the lake and parked in the picnic area. It was deserted except for a kid on a bike.

“Cigarette?” Alex offered.

“No, I don’t.”

“You don’t’ do much of anything, do ya? Don’t drink, don’t smoke, and don’t hang out in the usual places you find lawyers. Name’s Alex Moss. I’m with the Chicago Sun.”

“What do you want, Alex Moss?” Danny opened the door and walked over to a picnic table and sat on the table with his feet on the seat, looking out toward the lake.

“I want to know what drove a young man just out of law school to take on a case like this at this particular time. Trying to make a name for yourself?”

“No, I did it for James Slater. He come to me last fall after he tried to enroll his boys in school. I’ve known James since second grade. I told him I had to pass the bar exam first, I couldn’t help him. So he went ahead and enrolled his boys over at Carver. After I got my certification I called him to see if he still wanted to pursue it and he did, so that’s how I got here. It took it this long to come to court.”

“You had to be aware of the Supreme Court’s decision, Brown vs. The Board of Education.”

“Yeah, I knew…still had nothing to do with James and his problem. You don’t see it much around here ,white boys marrying black girls. It ain’t even legal. He couldn’t even find a place to live, had to rent out her daddy’s old place that’s fallin’ down. He don’t have many friends but I’m one of them. His boys deserve better.”

“You gonna be a torch bearer for civil rights? Is that what you’re thinking about?”

“No, I’m thinking about winning this case for James so he can send his boys to the same school he attended.”

“What if you do win? Got another in the pipeline?”

“No, nothing special.”

“Lost a few potential clients?”

“Yeah, but I don’t care. There’ll be others,” he sighed.

“You feel real strongly about race relations here in the south?”

“Tell you the truth, I never thought about them when I was growin’ up. We didn’t mix, you know, but it’s different now,. It just is. I can’t explain it.”

“Do you plan on staying here in this town after the trial?”

“I don’t know. It depends on the outcome.”

Alex pushed his hat back. “Thought about taking Paulie with you if you leave town?”

Danny turned and gave him a sharp look. “When did Paulie become your business? Maybe I should ask you the same thing?”

“Hey, I didn’t say she was my business. Just askin’”

“She’s a good girl. Don’t mess around with her.”

“She’s a good cook. Thought you might show up for dinner one night this week. She said you usually do.”

“I’ve been busy.” Danny slipped off the table, walked over and picked up a rock and threw it in the lake. The boy on the bike packed up his fishing tackle and pedaled off down the path.

“Maybe you ought to make a little time for her.” Alex walked up beside him.

“Maybe you ought to mind your own business. I’m done talking to you anyway.” He headed back toward the car.

“Why do you get angry when I mention Paulie?”

“I’m not angry.” He opened the car door. “You riding back or walkin’?”

“Ridin’,” Alex grinned. “If she's more than a friend to you…I mean, I’d like to know for myself, not for print.”

Danny started the car before Alex had his door shut, backed around with his arm on the back of the seat and looked at Alex. “She’s never been more than a friend. That’s the way it is between us.”

“That’s the way you want it or the way she wants it?”

Due to the heat and the atmosphere in the court house the judge called it off until Monday. Alex jumped in his car and drove the block to Paulie’s house and waited. She should be coming home in about a half hour. It was Friday and he had an idea.

Paulie was glad summer school was over. It meant a little extra pay for her but she had to wonder if it was worth it. She’d had fourth graders this summer and mostly boys who tried her patience. She was looking forward to an afternoon in her garden. Tomatoes needed to be picked, she’d noticed that morning as she hung out her laundry. However tomatoes were forgotten when she pulled into her drive and saw Alex’s car parked out front. He was on her front porch.

“Well, hello. I didn’t expect to see you here. Did you get a break for lunch?”

“Got a break until Monday. Judge called it today. I was wondering what you had planned for the rest of the day?”

“Nothing important, a little gardening. Why?”

“Thought I’d take you to Atlanta.”

“Atlanta?” Her eyes rounded.

“Yeah, we could have dinner tonight and maybe see a movie. I’ll have you home by midnight.”

“You’re just full of surprises…Atlanta.”

“What do you say and we can pick up some lunch somewhere. After all, look at all the money you saved me this week by feeding me dinner each night. At least I can return the favor.”

“I say yes, why not.” She smiled broadly and went inside to freshen up and change her clothes.

Alex waited on the front porch for her, tapping his foot on the floorboards to a silent tune. He’d sent in his story that morning and talked to his boss, reading him part of it over the phone. They were going to advance him a little money and pay half his room and board if he sent them a paid chit for it.

He whistled when she came out dressed in a dark blue fitted skirt, sleeveless white blouse with dark blue trim in the collar and a wide red belt. She’d put her hair up in a twist and set a little hat on her head. “Wow, knock my socks off will ya!”

Her cheeks dimpled. “Do you think this will be all right for Atlanta?”

“It’s all right for me, Paulie. I’m impressed.”

He whistled again when he stopped at the traffic light on the other side of the square, giving her a smile and a wink that caused her to blush.

Danny stood beside his car next to the court house, staring at the convertible at the stop light, the one with Paulie sitting in the middle of the seat heading somewhere with Alex Moss. He’d thought about stopping by to see her. It had been days…but he was busy, busy with his case. Anyway it looked like he was too late. He wrinkled his nose and sniffed, too late.

Paulie was finding it hard to concentrate on the movie. It had been the most wonderful day she had ever spent. First there was lunch at the drive in and then Atlanta. They shopped, stopped for drinks and then dinner. She found Alex such fun company and he encouraged her along the day to have fun. That’s what it was all about…fun. He’d been the perfect gentleman and it seemed right for him to take her hand after finishing off the popcorn there in the darkened theater. She turned to find him looking at her and he smiled and looked back toward the screen giving her hand a little squeeze.

He’d started out this day to show her a good time, show her what she was missing, but she had shown him what he was missing. He was not immune to the feminine charms she’d been practicing on him all day and it wasn’t lost on him that she was totally unaware of the effect she had on him. There was none of the practiced batting of eyelashes, the parting of lips before a smile that some girls practiced, probably in front of a mirror. He’d had it all. She was genuine…the real thing and he was hooked.

He walked her to her front door, afraid to speak, afraid of what might come out and afraid he would make a fool of himself.

“Alex, thank you for today. I’ve never had a day that I enjoyed more and you’ve been so…you’re such…” she looked into his eyes. He was going to kiss her. She felt a nervous fluttering in her breast, moving down, down…she placed her hands on his chest when his arms circled her. It began softly, tentatively. She’d never been kissed like this before. His tongue passed the barrier of her teeth and gently touched hers. The tips of her breasts tingled and warmth spread between her thighs. Too soon it was over. He pulled back, his eyes dark and unreadable in the porch light.

“You’d better go in,” he said softly, hitching her sweater around her shoulders. “It’s midnight, hear the bells…I turn into a rat at midnight.” He kissed her forehead and backed away. “It was a great day, Paulie.”

“Oh…Alex.” Her fingers went to her lips. He’d left them bruised and wanting. “Good night.”

“Night, Paulie.” He stepped off the porch and walked to his car, taking a few deep breaths along the way.

She leaned against the door after she’d locked it behind her. This was it. This was passion. She hadn’t wanted him to stop kissing her. “Oh…if you’d only asked I would have…what am I saying? Alex, what have you done to me?”

Paulie heard him whistling and sat up in bed. It was eight o’clock on Sunday morning. She’d spent a restless night hugging her pillow and dreaming of Alex. She heard a tap on her window and rolled out of bed, pulling the curtains back. Danny was standing under her window throwing crab apples at it to get her attention.

“Stop that!” she called out.

“Are you up?”

“I’m coming down.”

“You’re not sick or something, are ya?” Danny asked, giving the kitchen a quick look.

“No, I was sleeping.”

“If you don’t want to do breakfast this morning that’s okay. Want me to come back and take you to church?”

“Breakfast…?” She looked at him dumbly then remembered it was Sunday morning. She always did breakfast for him on Sunday. They would read the papers and then go to church together. “Okay, breakfast, but I need a cup of coffee first.”

“Take your time. I’m not too early am I? Have a late night?”

“No, not too late. I was in bed a little after midnight.”

“That’s late for you. What were you doing up so late?”

“I went to Atlanta with Alex and we went to a movie.”

“Oh…” He watched her put the coffee pot on and take the bacon out of the fridge to warm up a little before frying.  His nose twitched and sniffed. “Gonna be a hot one today. I thought if you didn’t have anything else planned we might go to the lake and take a boat out, do a little swimming around.”

“Um…” Should she say no? What if Alex came by?

“I finally got some time. It’s been real busy this week but I’m taking today off so if you don’t have a date for today….”

“I don’t have a date.” She felt a little guilty wishing she did and wondered why. Danny wasn’t her boyfriend or anything…just a friend.

He took off his blazer and hung it over the back of a chair. Paulie went to the front door and picked up the paper off the front porch.

“Its all about you and the flag, of course.” She handed it over to him.

“I met your Chicago reporter.”

“You met Alex…when?”

“Thursday evening. I guess he’s okay as far as reporters go. Asks a lot of questions that are none of his business, though.”

“That’s his job.”

“Did you really talk to him about me?”

“Um, a little…nothing too personal for you.”

“Good.” He looked up, meeting her eyes for a moment before turning the page. “I told him I knew you hadn’t talked about me.”

“It was more about me than you.”

“Watch out what you say to him. He’ll write it up for some northern newspaper’s readers to laugh at.”

“He’s not like that, Danny.”

“You don’t know him well enough to know what he’s like. A week don’t tell all about a person.”

“Neither does a lifetime. I thought I knew you.”

“You do know me, everything I ever done.…”

“Even Marlena Rawlins.”

“Even that,” he grinned around his coffee cup. “We don’t have secrets. At least we didn’t have. I’m thinking you’re about to move out of my league. This, ah, reporter asked me about you, wanted to know what our relationship was.”

“What did you tell him, that we were friends?”

“Yep, that’s pretty much what I told him.”

Paulie peeled off the thin sliced bacon and set it to frying in the iron pan. “I like him. I think I like him a lot…he kissed me.”

“I don’t want to hear this. I really don’t, Paulie.” He flattened out the funny papers on the table.

She glanced at him and turned her back, setting the bacon press down just so over the strips.

Though the church was crowded as usual, Paulie and Danny had most of a pew to themselves, only old Mr. Perkins at the end with his wife Mabel. Paulie sensed the atmosphere around them. Even in church people were whispering and casting cold glances in Danny’s direction. Her mother even missed a note on the organ and her father’s sermon seemed directed right at Danny. It made Paulie angry and once church was over she led Danny quickly to her car, not stopping to speak to any of her family.

“You don’t have to do this, Paulie. Maybe it’s better not so see each other for awhile until this trial is over.”

“How can people be so narrow minded? These are the same people that helped your mama out time and time again. Same people that took you in and gave you a place to sleep when I couldn’t. They’re two-faced hypocrites. I hate them.”

“Don’t get so worked up. It don’t matter to me what they think 'cause I know I’m doing the right thing by James Slater. Hold your head up and look down at them. They’ll be running back to you soon enough when I’m out of the way.”

“What do you mean when you’re out of the way?”

“I don’t see me staying here…after. I got no future here, Paulie.”

“Where are you planning on going?”

“I don’t know yet, maybe Memphis or Birmingham. Watch where you’re going! Want me to drive?”

Paulie looked back toward the road and drove the rest of the way in silence.

“You coming in to dinner? I got a pork roast in the crock pot.”

“No, Paulie, I think I’m gonna ride out and see Daddy. Haven’t been out there in awhile.”

“Be careful….” She looked at him with her face about to come apart. There would be no swimming in the lake with Danny, not today, not tomorrow.

Danny hugged her and kissed her cheek. “I’ll call ya later.” He turned and went to his car, leaving her standing in her driveway.

A little later she had a call from her mother telling her if she came back to church with that boy she wouldn’t be allowed in the door. Paulie hung up on her. She'd already had made up her mind she wasn’t going back to her daddy’s church.

She made barbeque out of the pork roast and Alex came by to help her eat it.

“S’good sandwich. Don’t know when I ever had barbeque.”

“I’m glad you like it. There’s lemon meringue pie for desert.”

“You cook all the time for yourself?”

“Not just for myself, I usually share it with you or Danny sometimes. This is the only home cooking he gets.”

“Only home cooking I get, too. How’s he doing?”

“He’s doing okay. I got a taste of what he’s going through today at church, everybody whispering and talking about him and me, too, cause I was with him. Hateful people. He says it doesn’t bother him but I know it does. It has to. He’s known these people all his life. His daddy is an alcoholic trying to drink himself to death. He’s gone out there today to see him. I don’t know why. He hasn’t wanted to see him since he left for college.”

“Did he tell you there have been threats on his life?”

“WHAT!” She dropped her barbeque sandwich in her plate. “No, he didn’t. When, who was it?”

“Don’t know who it was. Somebody sent him a letter and wrote some stuff on his car. Said he took a bucket of water and washed it off right there on the courthouse square. He stands up on Tuesday. That’s when the defense presents its case.”

“How dare they…!”

“He’s being escorted back and forth into the court house. He was Friday.”

“My God, Alex!”

“Did you see my piece? The Atlanta Journal picked it up.”

She looked blankly at him. “I can’t believe people would do that to one of their own.”

“I’m going to keep it up. Maybe some people will read it and see how ridiculous this whole thing is.”

“I’d like to read it.”

Later she turned to him over pie and iced tea. “This is very good. I can’t believe you wrote this about Danny. It’s like you know him and you don’t really, do you?”

“I know you and you know him well but I did meet with him for a little while.”

“You’re very talented, Alex.”

Each day brought different faces into the courtroom. Danny presented his case and quietly presented his witnesses. Nothing he said or did evoked any emotion in the courtroom, however the men who sat on the back row and watched his progress nodded their heads and looked pleased. Civil rights leaders, emerging names in the news, had come to watch the circus.

Alex took note of the newcomers. He took note of the people who surrounded Danny when he went anywhere outside of the courthouse.

The third day his trailer burnt to the ground and the fire department took a while to get there. Danny found himself in a tiny room in Miss Parker’s boarding house with the clothes on his back. Alex bought him a razor and some shaving cream. He’d become his champion and his daily press reports became more eloquent in his praises of the young man’s courage.

Paulie had been cautioned to stay away from the courthouse but on the summing up day she appeared and took a seat two rows back from the defense table. Alex was in the back row corner seat where he had a good view of the proceedings and who came and went.

Danny turned and saw her, their eyes locking for a moment before he stood up and addressed the jury. Never before had a more impassioned speech been heard within the walls of that court house. He spoke without notes and he spoke to the jury, each and every one of them he knew personally, had gone to school with them, played ball with them and they in turn knew James Slater, his only crime to marry out of his race and have two sons, two black sons. When he finished he went back to his seat and sat down. James reached over and put his hand on Danny’s for a moment. Paulie was in tears, fishing in her purse for a handkerchief.

The jury left the court room and some people began filing out of the court house, reporters to a phone, locals to the coffee houses and bars. The trim black men on the back row approached Danny. Paulie could see him in the middle of a crowd but she couldn’t get to him. She turned around in her seat and saw Alex watching the same crowd around Danny.

“Alex…”

His attention moved to Paulie and he walked over and sat by her. “Had to come, didn’t you?” he smiled.

“I’m so glad I did. Wasn’t he wonderful…I wanted to tell him …”

“I don’t think you’re going to be able to get to him for awhile. Want to go get a coke or something?”

“Yes, I would. Alex, who are those people around him?”

“NAACP, at least some of them are. Your boy is on his way up, Paulie.”

“I’m glad for him…I think.” She took one last look in his direction and walked out with Alex. Enterprising locals had set up drink and hot dog stands out on the sidewalk.

“All that’s missing is cotton candy,” Alex remarked

“It’s all so…so unnecessary.”

“I agree but the spotlight is on Marietta right now and on Georgia with this trial and the flag issue.”

“It won’t ever stop, not until these old politicians die out. I wonder how many white hoods are hidden in the recesses of their closets.”

“Don’t know.” Alex pulled out some coins and took two cups of coke.

“This is about over here, when the jury comes back…Alex, you’ll be going back to Chicago, won’t you?”

He tilted his hat back. “Yeah, likely I will.”

“Danny said he might go to Memphis or Birmingham.”

“I figure that’s where his work is going to take him. When you get to Chicago.…”

“Now I never said I was going to Chicago!” She looked up at him and grinned. “Did I?”

‘No, but you will. You’re gonna miss me, Paulie.” But not half as bad as he was going to miss her, he thought.

“You are so sure of yourself ! You’re almost cocky.”

“Who, me? Nah.”

He’d been talking to her about it for three days. He’d help her get set up, get a place to stay, see about a job. He didn’t’ want to lose her, the only real honest-to-gosh thing he’d ever found. The only thing that would stop her from coming would be Danny Burns but that was looking good, the boy was paving his way to greatness. Alex wished him well and may the paving continue on to Birmingham.

“I feel so bad for Danny. Everything he had was in that trailer. He’s lost everything, Alex.”

“Not quite. He’s still got his self respect. He’s doing okay at the boarding house. People have brought him clothes, all kinds of stuff. He’s got friends here.”

“But they’re silent; nobody is speaking out for him. It’s like they’re all afraid to say a good word about him.”

“They probably are right now, Paulie. I don’t guess you read the papers.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t mention it. You’re speaking out for him and doing a good job of it, too.”

“He doesn’t need my help.”

“How long do you think it will take?”

“The jury? Gosh, I don’t know. Could be days, could be hours. If you wait here I’ll go have a look around and see what I can pick up on the progress.”

“Okay,” she smiled and sipped on her coke, chewing the ice in the cup. Chicago…it was a dream.  She couldn’t see herself pulling up stakes and heading north. She wouldn’t know anybody and maybe they did things differently up there. They might not want her teaching their children with her southern accent. Alex…oh, Alex, the feelings he could stir up inside of her. How could she let that go?

He was a while coming back. She’d wandered over to a bench and sat down. “I talked to the bailiff. Looks like it's going to be awhile. They’re talking about sequestering the jury overnight for their own safety. Some members have expressed fear. We might as well leave, go get some dinner.”

“Did you see Danny?”

“No, he and the DA have left the court house.”

“I didn’t see them come out.”

“They went out a side door. Danny’s got protection. Don’t worry about him…about dinner?”

“I’ve got some of that ham left.”

“No, ma’am, I’m asking you to dinner. Where would you like to go?”

“Oh, well, I…there’s Swain’s Steak House.”

“Now you’re talking!” He took her arm and walked to his car.

“Alex," she began over dinner, “how soon will you leave after the verdict?”

“Pretty soon. If they come back tomorrow then it will be Saturday probably. Give me a couple of days to get home.”

“That soon…?”

“I can’t stay, Paulie. That rooming house is eating up my bank account.”

“I wish I had thought of that. You could have stayed with me. There’s another bedroom.…”

“No, I couldn’t,” he smiled. “That other bedroom might as well not exist. Let’s just say I’m tame but I’m not house trained.”

She blushed a little at what had not been said out loud.

“Have you thought about what you’re going to do with your Grandma’s house and your car?”

“Well…I could park the car down at Ray’s garage and he’d sell it for me. The house I…I don’t know…I don’t know how to go about these things. I’m not sure I….”

“You’re wavering. You don’t really have to do anything with it, just lock the door. Later on if you want to sell it, you can or rent it out.”

“Alex, I don’t….”

“Don’t what? Want to come to Chicago?”

“It’s just that…I’m afraid.”

“Don’t be, honey. I’ll be there for you.”

“Mama and Daddy will have a fit.”

What she had to look at was getting uglier. The next day there was a group of people gathered on the court house lawn and she was embarrassed to see the speaker was her father firing up the crowd. She hurried past them into the court house and looked for Danny but he wasn’t in the courtroom. Alex soon joined her.

“Have you heard anything?”

“Yeah, within the hour. Seems they wanted to wait until after breakfast since it’s being provided free of charge.”

The courtroom was packed when the jury filed back in. When the verdict was read Danny didn’t move but all around him exploded with cheers and back slapping and hand shaking. He stood up slowly and shook James’s hand. Photographs were taken. Paulie thought he looked like he was in shock. He had won. Alex cheered, too, and made his way forward to shake his hand.

The word soon spread outside the courtroom and Danny walked outside with James at his side to talk to the reporters.

Paulie was in the crush of people still trying to get out of the courtroom door. Alex was somewhere behind her.

A shot rang out and she saw him go down and screamed, pushing and shoving her way out of the door. He was kneeling on the courthouse steps with James.

“Danny!” she screamed, running toward him.

He rose to his feet then, the blood on his white shirt not his. James had been shot. Somewhere in the distance she was vaguely aware of the police wrestling someone to the ground but it was Danny she was trying to get to.

“Paulie, stop!” he called out to her. “Don’t come any closer to me!” He turned to face the crowd.

Alex reached Paulie and folded her into his arms. “He wasn’t hit! He’s okay…”

The crowd had gone silent. Danny was speaking to them but she couldn’t hear what he was saying over the sirens and she could no longer see him. He was surrounded by the men who had been with him for the last week.

Alex’s only thought was to get Paulie out of there. She was near hysterics. He’d moved her to a column, still holding her while she wept. He looked up to see Danny walking back up the steps with his entourage.

He stopped and their eyes met for a moment. A slight nod from Danny and he disappeared back in the court house.

Alex got her to his car and not knowing where else to take her, he took her to the lake where he and Danny had talked that day.

“Paulie, Paulie, honey.” He pulled her across the seat and held her. She’d stopped crying except for a hiccup now and again.

“I thought it was him.”

“I know. I did, too, at first but he’s okay and Slater is still alive. He won…he won, Paulie!”

“I’ve lost him. I know he wasn’t shot but I’ve lost him all the same. I can’t go where he’s going now.”

“We’ll be hearing his name again and again. This is only the beginning.”

“Alex, I can’t stay here now. Will you take me with you?”

“I can but I thought you wanted to…there’s your house and all.”

“I’ll just pack some things. I got a letter in the mail this morning. I won’t be returning to Dodd School in the fall. My contract was not renewed.”

“I’m sorry, honey.”

“It’s because of my association with Danny. I don’t want to live in a place like this. I don’t know anything about Chicago except you.”

“That’s all you need to know.” He rubbed his thumb under her eyes, drying her tears. I’m checking out tomorrow or else she’s gonna charge me for another week. Tough old lady, your Miss Parsons.”

“You know, I’ve loved Danny since we were in our early teens. I always thought that someday he would ask me to marry him. He…he never had that same idea.”

“I think he did love you but somewhere inside of him he knew it wasn’t gonna happen. He was just destined for something else. Maybe he felt it.”

“Well, I’m destined for something else, too, but I didn’t know it until two weeks ago when I met you. I hope you aren’t sorry you ate my banana cake.”

“Sorry? Oh, no, I was scared to death it was gonna be Danny who claimed you. Are you gonna tell me what you put in that cake?”

“Love. I put love in it and you are only supposed to give it to someone that you want to love you in return.”

“Oh, boy, banana cake and pistachio ice cream! What a combination we make.”

Paulie parked her car at Ray’s garage with a for sale sign in the window. Her bags were already in the back seat of Alex’s convertible. They crossed the border into South Carolina, stopped in Augusta and got a marriage license and were married in Columbia by a justice of the peace.

She’d left her house key with Miss Parsons for Danny to use while he was still in town. He moved out of the boarding house into Paulie’s house and stayed there until the trial was settled and all his legal work was done for James Slater. James came home from the hospital with a scar to show off to his children. Six weeks later Danny cleaned out the refrigerator and locked up the house. He mailed the key to Paulie Moss in Chicago and left for Birmingham, Alabama.

He was active in the coming civil rights movement until 1964 when he died from complications resulting from a lung infection in Memphis. He never married.

Paulie and Alex moved from his one-room apartment into a house one year later. She got a job teaching in an inner city kindergarten. Alex began writing his book and after three years of starts and stops due to their increasing family he was finally published. He dedicated his book to Banana Cake.

The End

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