HomeComing

"I would but I got two left feet!" I yelled back.

"It ain't cause your white and don't want to dance with a black girl, is it?" She yelled with a grin on her face.

"No, it isn't! You're one of the prettiest girls I've seen in a long time!" I yelled back, "So if you don't mind me stepping on your feet from time to time, I'll try it!"

Her grin widened as she grabbed my hand and pulled me to the dance floor.

The next thing I knew she was gyrating against me in a wild dance. I figured she had got me out there so I'd try it. I began to copy what she was doing. Soon we got into a rhythm and through the whole song we went wild. When it ended the band took a break. I walked the girl back to her table and as I did, she told me her name was Latisha.

As she sat, I heard a deep voice behind me say, "I think you need to leave my sister be white boy."

I turned to find a very large guy with a scowl on his face standing behind me.

"In fact," He said, "I think I ought to beat your ass for even dancing with her."

A knot appeared in my gut as I realized the guy was between me and the door. I didn't want trouble and from the size of him I knew he was going to beat me to a pulp if anything started.

He stood staring at me for a long moment then said, "Yea, I think I will." And he took a step forward.

A second later Charlie was standing between me and him.

"Leave it be Clarence." Charlie said, "He didn't know nor did he mean anything."

Clarence glared at me and spat, "I think I ought to smash his pasty white face in!"

"I can't let you do that." Charlie replied, "He's a friend."

"Then I think he ought to go home or both of you is going to be mush on the floor!" Clarence snarled.

I slipped by them while Charlie had him distracted and made my way to the door. Charlie followed a minute or so later.

When we were outside, I asked, "What the hell was that all about?"

"Clarence hates anyone flirting with his sister. And he hates white people. Come to think of it there isn't much Clarence doesn't hate. The problem is he is big, strong and he's dangerous if you get on his wrong side. Apparently, you have."

"I tell you what," I said, "I'll just go on back to the farm. Can I call a cab out here?"

"No cabs out here. Why don't you take the pickup. Carl and I will get a ride with a friend."

I took the keys he held out and headed home. It was 11:00 PM and I hoped everyone would be in bed so there wouldn't be any stir over what happened. When I got there, I parked the pickup close to the barn hoping I wouldn't wake anyone, then went to my room, stripped off my clothes and climbed into bed. I was laying there contemplating what had happened when a knock sounded on the door.

"Yes?" I called as I pulled the sheet over me, wondering who it could be.

Ida opened the door and stepped in as she said, "You're back early. Didn't have fun?"

"I aw...no Charlie and Carl were engaged with some friends and I didn't want to be a dead weight tag along."

"That's good, very good, but a big damned lie! Didn't Charlie tell you I can spot a lie from half a mile? And besides, the boys never get home before 3 AM when they go out so I knew something wasn't right. What the hell happened?" Ida asked.

I knew it wouldn't do any good to tell her another lie, or to try not to tell her, she'd worm it out of me, so I told her the whole story.

When I was done Ida said, "You got to realize there are those black folks who are just as prejudice against white folks as some of them white folks is against us. That don't make it right, it just is."

"But it sounds like that girl was having fun with you. Are you going back again?" She asked.

"Probably not." I replied, "With this Clarence around, I don't think that's a good place for me."

"I don't know about that, but you need to go find a girl. You are a young man. I remember what young men want and need."

"You talk like you're old," I said.

"Hell baby, I am old! I have four children!"

"You may have four children, but you're a long way from old." I said, "And you are very, attractive."

Ida stared at me, then said, "Damn. It's been a long time since anyone has said such things to me. You trying to talk your way into my panties?"

That took me by surprise. I was attracted to her and I would have "talked my way into her panties" in an instant if I knew I could, but I never considered for a moment I might have a chance to do that.

"I...aw...I didn't mean...I don't want to offend...." I stammered unsure of what to say.

She grinned and said, "It won't get you there but I like what your sayin'!"

Again, she had stunned me with her frankness. I was finally starting to understand that Ida was a very sweet, plain-spoken person. She just said what she thought, or wanted. I decided the best way to respond was in the same vein.

"I'd be a very, very happy man if I were lucky enough to...aw...to...aw...to what you said," I finished lamely.

"You are sweet!" She said with a smile, "You wouldn't mind being with an old woman?"

"You aren't old. I don't know how you have kids as old as yours. Hell, you must have had them when you were like 10!"

Ida stared at me for several long moments, then a thoughtful look filled her face as she said, "Honey, you are younger than my oldest son. I shouldn't be thinking what I'm thinking."

"What's that?" I asked, both hopeful and scared of what she might say.

"I'm thinkin' I probably should get out of here. I like you, I purely do. You're a nice, honorable boy, well man actually. I ain't had a man in a very long time and your words have touched something in me, something that I've tried to keep buried. That somethin' that's stirring, if I let it, it's going to take control and I'll do somethin' I shouldn't. You ain't had a woman for a while either, which just adds to that stirrin' inside me."

"So I should go before anything happens." She said as she stood, then added, "Damn baby, you are special! Some woman is going to get a fine husband when you decide to marry."

With that she slipped out the door. I listened and finally heard the front door close as she entered the house. Despite everything that had happened that evening, I was asleep in the next few seconds. A skill learned from a year living and having to sleep in a war zone. I woke the next morning to someone pounding on my door.

"Yeh." I yelled, "I'm awake!"

Shondra's voice said from the other side of the door, "Breakfast is in 15 minutes."

"Thanks." I called back, "I'll be right there."

I got up and got dressed, then walked to the house. There was only one bathroom in the house; luckily it was unoccupied. I took my morning piss, washed my face and hands and went to the kitchen for breakfast. Charlie and Carl were already at the table and looked like the cat had dragged them in.

"How long did you two stay last night?" I asked.

"To long." Carl grumbled, "Till closing."

Ida walked over and put her hand on my shoulder as she set a full plate in front of me, gave me a small secret smile and said, "Eat up."

We ate in silence the only sounds were the click and clank of forks on dishes.

As everyone sated their hunger Carl took a sip of coffee and said, "It's a good thing you left last night. Clarence was going to make mush out of you if you stayed."

"Yea he's a bigun' and looks like nobody to fool with." I replied.

"You shouldn't have been dancing with his sister. He don't like no one messing with his sister, specially a white boy. Fact is you probably shouldn't have been there at all," Carl interjected.

Ida was in the kitchen and didn't hear what Carl had said, but Charlie and his two sisters did.

"Carl god damn it!" Charlie snarled, "Trent has done nothing to you! Other then him being white, what the hell is your problem?"

"Other than being white? That's enough right there." Carl grunted as he stood to leave.

As Carl walked off Shondra and Charleen both frowned after him and Charlie said, "Trent, I'm really sorry. Carl is being a total ass."

"Yeh, ignore him." Charleen added.

Shondra nodded her agreement.

That's Ok." I replied, "I think tomorrow I'll be leaving. I've decided I need to go see my father, see if we can't work things out."

From behind me I heard Ida's voice, "You're sure that's why? It ain't because my son is being an ass?"

I turned to see her standing in the kitchen doorway staring at me.

"No, no it isn't." I lied, "You and your family have been wonderful to me, but I really need to see if I can make amends with the one family member I have left."

"Ok." She said with a sigh as she turned and stepped back into the kitchen.

Charlie and I went out and mucked the barn, then spent the rest of the morning fixing a tractor. At noon Shondra yelled to us to come and eat.

After lunch Ida said, "You've done enough work. Charlie, fix him up with a fishing pole and take him to the river. He needs to relax a bit before he leaves."

Charlie led me to the barn and after rummaging around handed me a fishing pole and an old tackle box.

He then grabbed a shovel and said as I followed him out behind the barn to a spot on the edge of a small swampy area, "the best catfish bait is Shad gut's, but we don't have any on hand so worms are gunna' have to do."

He dug around and after a few minutes had half a dozen worms, which he dropped into a rusty old Prince Albert tobacco can. He motioned me to follow him and we hiked off through the pasture.

We got to the fence at the edge of the pasture, slipped through it and I followed Charlie down a well-worn trail. Ten minutes later we stopped on the banks of a slow-moving tobacco colored stream.

"We have never seen a gator around here, but keep an eye out for one," He said with a grin, "and Cottonmouths too. There's some big catfish in here. If you get one, we can have it for supper. Now, like mom said, relax and enjoy the peace and quiet."

As he turned to leave he stopped, turned back and said, "Trent, I know why you're leaving. I hate that you've been treated that way."

I grinned at him and said, "Charlie you and your mom and sisters have been fabulous to me, but I really don't want to drive a wedge between you and your brother, so I'll just move along."

Charlie looked sad, but nodded his understanding as he left. I baited my hook, cast the line out and settled back against the huge Pecan tree I was under. The day was warm and before long I was nodding off.

I have no idea how long I sat there, nodding off, waking to check my bobber, then nodding off again. I jerked awake and quickly checked my bobber to find it gone. It took me a moment to realize a fish was on my line. When I landed it a few minutes later I discovered I had a nice 10 lb. catfish. I decided that one that size was enough so I packed up and headed back to the farm.

As I got close to the barn, I could hear voices and they sounded loud. As I got closer, I realized two of the voices was female and it sounded like Charleen and Shondra. I stopped outside the barn door and strained to hear what was being said.

"No!" Charleen yelled, "Stop! Please! I don't want to!" Then I heard Shondra scream, her voice full of fear, "Go away! We do not want to do anything with you!"

A male voice answered and I instantly recognized it as Clarence's, "I know you two been fuckin' that white boy and you are damn sure gunna' give me some of that pussy too, so don't fight it."

"God Damn it!" Charleen screamed, "Let me go! I am not going to have sex with you!"

Followed by Shondra's yell of, "Let her go!"

"Hush girl." I heard Clarence say, the he laughed as he added, "When I'm through with your sister I'll get back to you."

I stepped closer to the door and peaked around the corner. The first thing I saw was Shondra with her wrists tied to a stall railing with some hay bale twine. A few feet from her Clarence held Charleen by her arm with one of his ham-sized hands and was pulling her pants down with the other as she struggled. As he pulled at her pants, she swung her arm and slapped him. He grunted then slapped her hard. I could see her head snap back as his blow landed, then she went limp. He grunted and returned pulling her pants off. I knew I was about to get into a situation where I was probably going to get hurt, maybe even worse but I couldn't let him do what he was aiming to do.

I stepped around the corner and yelled, "Hey asshole! Let her go!"

Clarence looked up startled, then as he recognized me, an evil grin spread across his face.

He let go of Charleen and said, "So it's the white boy! You lookin' to get hurt white bread? I can do that!"

When he charged toward me, I waited until the last moment, then dodge to the side and manage to trip him. As he went down, he caught me with a blow to the left side of my face. Even being a glancing blow, I was stunned by the power of it and could feel the side of my face start to swell.

He got up spitting dirt and growled, "That just signed your death warrant white boy!"

I got my senses back and realizing if he caught me, I was going to be dead. I desperately glanced around for anything I could use to fend him off. I spotted a square nosed shovel we had used to muck out the stalls earlier that day leaning against the wall. As Clarence charged me the second time I dodge aside and grabbed at the shovel but missed. This time he kept his feet, turned and again connected with a brutally hard blow to my jaw.

Everything wavered and faded as I staggered back from the hit. He grinned and prepared to charge me for the third time. I knew I couldn't take another hit like the last one and knew he might get it in because the previous blows had taken their toll and had slowed me down. As Clarence started to charge I heard a thump as Charleen hit him in the back with a bucket.

He turned and said, "As soon as I'm through with this white boy I'm gunna get me some of your pussy and your sister's too. If you want it hard just keep throwing stuff."

Charleen's face showed her fear as she shrank back against the stall. The bucket distracted Clarence long enough it gave me a chance to get my hands on the shovel. Clarence turned and charged toward me. I stepped to the side and swung the shovel as hard as I could at his head. I felt more then heard it connect and he went straight down onto his hands and knees.

He shook his head and began to stand up. I swung the shovel again and heard it clang as it landed on the side of his head. This time he fell on his face and didn't move. He lay there with blood oozing from a gash in his scalp where I'd hit him. I stepped over and checked for a pulse. To my relief he was alive. I dropped the shovel and turned to Charleen who was standing against a stall divider staring at me.

"You ok?" I asked as I walked over to Shondra and untied her.

Charleen stared at me for a moment then her eyes filled with tears as she said in a scared quavering voice, "He was going to...going to..."

"I know," I replied as I untied Shondra and she helped her sister pull her pants back up.

I took hold of an arm of each and gently led them toward the house. As we stepped out of the barn, I heard a groan and when I looked back Clarence was trying to get to his hands and knees but each time he got partway up, he fell back to the ground.

"Where's your mom?" I asked as I hurried them both in the door.

"She and the boys went to town for livestock feed." Shondra said.

"Ok. Call the sheriff. Tell them it's an emergency. I'm going back into the barn. Lock the door and do not open it until they get here. You hear me?"

"But....what are you going to do?" She asked as I stepped out the door.

I didn't answer. I wanted to get back to Clarence before he recuperated and got his senses back. When I got to the barn he was sitting up. Blood was running down the side of his head from the large lump and gash on his head. I started to pick up the shovel. As I did my eyes landed on a pitchfork inside one of the stalls.

I reached in, grabbed it and stood in front of him, holding it with both hands pointed at his chest as I said in a tight voice, "You have two choices: sit right there until the sheriff arrives, or try to get up and come at me. Do the first and everything will be fine. Try the second," my voice dropped as I added, "and I will kill you."

He looked up at me, pain and hate filling his eyes, but he stayed where he was and didn't try to get up. Time seemed to slow to a crawl and it felt like hours before I heard the sound of a car engine and the crunch of tires on the gravel of the driveway. A few moments later a deputy walked into the barn.

As soon as he saw me he pulled his gun and said, "Sir! Put down the pitchfork."

I glanced at him, then dropped the pitchfork and stood still staring at Clarence.

The deputy was still standing with his gun pointed at me as he called out, "Harry! In here!"

A few moments later a second deputy entered with his gun drawn.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"Don't know yet." The first deputy answered, "I haven't had time to question them. Take that one," he pointed at me, "and see if you can find out what his story is. I'll talk to this one."

Harry looked at me and said, "Put your hands behind your back, spread your legs and don't move."

I felt him grab my wrists and a second later I felt him snap on cuffs. I was shocked at being cuffed, but knew it wouldn't do me any good to complain. Harry held on to the cuffs, put his other hand on my shoulder and guided me out the barn door. As we stepped out Shondra was standing on the porch.

"Why you got Trent in cuffs?" She asked the deputy.

"We're trying to sort out what's going on here." Harry replied, "Do you know?"

"Yes. That other guy in the barn tried to rape me and my sister. Trent stopped him." Shondra replied.

"Can I speak to your sister?" The deputy asked.

Shondra nodded and stepped back into the house. A second later Charleen appeared. She moved slowly, a large bruise showing on the side of her face and she was visibly shaken.

As she saw me in cuffs she gasped and cried out, "Trent didn't do nothing! He saved us!"

Over the next 45 minutes the deputies interviewed each of us. When they were done they released me and put Clarence in the back of the patrol car for transport to the jail.

"Do you want to file a criminal complaint?" Harry asked the girls.

"Yes! We want him in jail!" Charleen cried.

Shondra nodded agreement.

"Come to the station tomorrow and fill out the paper work." Harry told her as he got into his car.

As they left Charleen ran to me and threw her arms around my neck.

She held on to me tight, crying as she said, "Thank you Trent! I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't come along!"

"It's ok now." I said hugging her tighter, "It's over. He'll be in jail and you won't have to worry."

Shondra had been standing close.

She too stepped over and put her arms around me as she said, "You are our hero."

"Nope," I said embarrassed by their adulation, "I did what any guy would have."

"Maybe," Charleen whispered, "but you were the one that did it."

They held on to me for a few more minutes, then Shondra said, "Come on, I'll clean and bandage that smack on your head."

I had forgotten all about the whack Clarence had given me, but when she mentioned it, it immediately began to throb. I let her lead me into the house and sit me down in a chair. Both girls bustled about getting hot water, antiseptic and wash clothes. Shondra gently washed the bruise on my jaw as Charleen held my hand. When Shondra was done washing the blood off me, she applied a bit of salve to the bruise.

As she stepped back Charleen reached over and again wrapped her arms around my neck, hugging me tight. The first time she had hugged me in the yard I hadn't been aware of her body against me. This time however I could feel her firm, young breasts mashed against my chest as she held on to me.