Read Bury Me When I'm Dead Online
Authors: Cheryl A Head
Bury Me When I'm Dead (32 page)
“Your Birmingham case is finally over? You don't have to go there anymore?” Ernestine asked.
“We closed the case a week ago.”
Ernestine studied her daughter. “You don't seem satisfied about this one. Something's bothering you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, when you finish a case you usually want to celebrate. You come and take me out to dinner, or buy me a gift. Didn't you get paid?”
Charlie laughed. “Yes, I got paid but this case came with a lot of wear and tear on a lot of peoples' lives.”
“Did any good come from it?”
Charlie looked at her very wise mother. A great deal of good had come from this case. Secrets that had been buried for decades were brought to light. Ruth and Grant Freeman III might still be suffering from the truth, but others, like Grace and Jennifer Meadows, could now move on with their lives.
James had assured Charlie that Paul wouldn't go to jail. “He didn't understand the scope of his actions,” James had said. Joyce would remain in protective custody for a while, but would then be free to return to Birmingham to be with her mother and brother or come back to Detroit where Abrams had a job waiting for her.
And, if not for this case, Charlie might have repeated the old patterns of fear and let Mandy slip away.
“Yes, Mom, there was some good.”
“Like what?”
“Well, two very nice people I know are getting married. They have some challenges ahead, but I think they'll be okay.”
“Weddings are always happy events,” Ernestine said. “What else?”
Charlie hesitated. She wasn't sure she was ready to have a conversation with her mother about her sexual orientation.
“I met a woman, her name is Mandy Porter, and I want you to meet her sometime soon.”
Ernestine nodded. “Good. You need some friends, you're too isolated. Although I hope I'll always be your best friend.”
Charlie put both arms around her mother. “I promise you will.”
“I met some new friends, too. Remember Eddie and Reginald?”
“I do. You were going to invite them to dinner.”
“Well, I've thought better of that. I think, maybe, I can take them to McDonalds, they're not pretentious people.”
“I'd like to go along and thank them for what they did for you.”
The shadows in Ernestine's apartment were deepening so Charlie turned on one of the table lamps.
“Should we go get something to eat, Mom, or do you want me to cook?”
“Why don't you cook? Will you make that eggs and potatoes dish I like?”
“Sure. I'll put in some of that chorizo we bought.”
“We've had a good day haven't we, honey?”
“Yes, Mom. That's another thing the Birmingham case taught me. We should never take any of the good days for granted.”
A Detroit native, Cheryl A. Head now lives on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, where she navigated a successful career as a writer, television producer, filmmaker, broadcast executive, and media funder. Her debut novel,
Long Way Home: A World War II Novel,
was a 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Award finalist in both the African American Literature and Historical Fiction categories. When not writing fiction, she's a passionate blogger, and she regularly consults on a wide range of diversity issues.
At Bywater Books we love good books about lesbians just like you do, and we're committed to bringing the best of contemporary lesbian writing to our avid readers. Our editorial team is dedicated to finding and developing outstanding writers who create books you won't want to put down.
We sponsor the Bywater Prize for Fiction to help with this quest. Each prize winner receives $1,000 and publication of their novel. We have already discovered amazing writers like Jill Malone, Sally Bellerose, and Hilary Sloin through the Bywater Prize. Which exciting new writer will we find next?
For more information about Bywater Books and the annual Bywater Prize for Fiction, please visit our website.