Catfish Alley (7 page)

My
family tree might be invented, but everyone around here believes it. And I've
learned the hard way: Associating with black people, like my mama did, will get
you nowhere. I remind myself I've got to stay clear on why I'm here. The people
I know in this town think the way I do, so, I wonder: Who will want to take
this tour? Will it be
black
people in the South? Will it be Yankees who come to Mississippi because they
think we're backward and don't wear shoes? I'm not sure.

While we're having our cake, Adelle and Grace take
turns telling me about the Meharry Medical College, where Albert Jackson took
his training. I have to admit it's an interesting story. A white man whose salt
wagon gets stuck in the middle of the night in 1876 in the Kentucky hills. A
family of freed slaves who take him in and help him.

"...
and then that man, Samuel Meharry, said that someday he would do something to
help the black race," Adelle says.

Grace finishes the story. "So, he and his brothers
made the donation that started the medical school."

I'm wondering if I could get them to write this stuff
down for me — I'll never remember it all — when Adelle gets up, takes Grace's
arm, and says, "Grade, let's show our guest Papa's offices."

I walk behind them through the high-ceilinged hall and
Grace and I wait while Adelle fishes in her apron pocket. She pulls out a large
brass key and, after a couple of tries and adjustments to her glasses, gets it
into the lock on a door I hadn't noticed when we came in. A small brass plate
on
the
door reads
Dr. Albert Jackson
.

"How long did your father practice medicine in
Clarksville?" I ask.

"Papa treated patients for fifty-three
years," Adelle says proudly as she pushes open the door and stands against
it. "Come on in."

I feel myself stepping back in time as I enter the
small waiting room furnished with four small wooden chairs. Beyond is an
examination room; both rooms are painted a sterile white and I can almost smell
antiseptic. Sunlight streams in through the open curtains of the
floor-to-ceiling windows and reflects off the glint of steel instruments and
glass syringes. Shelves contain neat rows of pill bottles with yellowed peeling
labels, and a worn black leather bag sits on top of a small wooden desk in the
corner of the room. Adelle has kept her father's office as if he might walk in
the door any minute and say, "Bring in the next patient."

"When Papa was not much more than a boy, he
apprenticed with an old white doctor over on College Street who helped him
learn how to mix medicines and treat wounds and such," Adelle says.
"White people didn't like seeing coloreds around the doctor's office, so
he had my papa treat them out behind his house. Papa saved
every dime he could
to go to medical school. On the day Papa was headed for the train station to
leave for Nashville, Dr. Smith handed him an envelope with two hundred dollars
in it. Every time Papa told that story he said it was the most money he had
ever seen in one place at one time before or since!"

As
Adelle and Grace stand in the middle of the room, they suddenly become quiet.
Grace walks over and picks up a tattered book with a frayed leather binding.
"Addie, do you remember the time Junior and Clarence Jones brought Zero to
see your daddy? We must have been about eight years old."

Adelle
smiles. "Of course I remember. I always thought of that as the day you and
I became the best of friends." Adelle turns to me and says, "Mama and
Papa had just started letting me go to the Union School that year. Grace and I
were both in second grade. My brother, Junior, and Grace's brother, Zero, were
in fourth grade."

"Zero
was ten years old," Grace adds. "I remember now because it was his
birthday. Grandma baked him a chocolate cake and his birthday present was a
whole nickel. He was so proud of that nickel. As we were walking to school that
day he was telling me
what
he planned to do with that money."

September 1921

Zero and I walk down the dusty road
toward Clarksville. The sun is just coming up. As we turn to take the path
through the woods, Zero stops to check his pocket once again.

"Come on, Zero. We're going to
be late for school. You better not let Mama know you brought that money with
you to school. If she finds out, she's going to tan your hide. What if you lose
it?"

"I ain't going to lose
it."

"Don't say 'ain't.' Grandma
says it makes coloreds look ignorant."

"Then I know a lot of ignorant
white folks, too."

"Grandma says that doesn't
matter. What matters is that we take pride in ourselves."

Zero sighs. "I've got big plans
for this money."

"What are you going to do with
it?"

"I'm going to start a savings
account."

"A savings account? What's
that?" I switch my dinner bucket to the other arm and pull my sweater
closer around me. The air has a little nip of fall in it.

"Over at the Penny Savings
Bank, you can open up an account in your own name and put money in it. And when
you keep it there
for
a long time, they start paying you for it. Teacher said it's called
interest."

"What are you going to do with
all of that money?"

"I'm going to college. I turned
ten years old today. I figure it's time I started thinking about my future. I'm
going to be a doctor, like Dr. Jackson."

"Adelle's daddy?"

"Yep. Look what a nice house
and nice things they have. Adelle always wears shoes. She even had a new winter
coat last year. I want to have a house of my own someday. And I want to be a
professional man, with an education."

"How come you picked doctoring?
You can't even stand to skin squirrels. Mama always does it for you."

"That's different. Besides,
I'll get used to it when I leave and go take my training."

I don't like the thought of Zero
going away. I can't imagine life without my brother.

"Are you going to come back to
Clarksville and do your doctoring?"

"I don't know. Sometimes I
think I'll leave town. Maybe go someplace where people treat coloreds better.
I've heard of such places. They're mostly up north. Teacher even told me of a
place where whites and coloreds go to the same school." "I don't
believe you. You're just making that up."

"No, I'm not. That's what
teacher said."

Miss Bessie Wilson is never wrong.

"I'm going to be a teacher when
I grow up." I try to sound as sure of myself as Zero.

"Teaching is a fine job for a
girl. At least until you get married."

"What makes you think I'm going
to get married?"

"I don't know. I just thought
you probably would. Most girls want to."

"Miss Wilson's not
married."

"Yeah, that's true. Wonder why
she never got married. She's pretty enough."

I ponder this as we walk the last
mile through the woods and work our way across the tracks and down the street
to the school. We can see from a block away that everyone is gathered outside.
As we get closer, we smell burned wood. All the schoolkids are gathered in
small clumps, whispering and talking quietly. Miss Wilson is speaking to a
short round white man with a big gold star on the coat of his crumpled black
suit. I've never seen him before, but I think he's the sheriff. You don't see
whites around this area of town much, not even the sheriff.

I scoot in beside a group of girls
my age and find Adelle Jackson. Adelle and I are getting to be friends since
Adelle started coming to the Union School this year. We both love to read, and
Adelle even offered to share some of her books with me. I've never known anyone
who actually owned books before.

"What happened?" I
whisper.

"Somebody tried to burn down
the school last night. We got that rainstorm and I guess it must have put out
the fire before it could burn the whole school. When Miss Wilson saw what
happened, she sent Elroy Davis over to get the sheriff. He's been here talking
to her for about twenty minutes. He and that other man have been walking around
and around the school like they are looking for something."

The other man is near where the fire
started to burn around the front door. The sheriff watches him while he takes
his handkerchief out of his pocket and wipes his face. It's cool today, but the
sheriff looks agitated and hot. The man near the door of the schoolhouse walks
over to where Miss Wilson and the sheriff are standing. He's holding something
small wrapped in a handkerchief, but I can't see what it is. The sheriff and
the other man and Miss Wilson talk for a few more minutes; then the men get in
a big black car and leave.

Miss Wilson turns toward us. Her
face is pale and ashy-looking and she has a black smudge down the front of her
dress. One small strand of hair has come loose from her bun and she reaches
back to tuck it in. I realize this is the only time I've ever seen her look
afraid. She takes a deep breath and looks down at the ground like she is
gathering herself; then she calls to us to come inside. School is in session.

What a strange day it is, with the
smell of burned wood and the breeze blowing in from the open door. Even though
it's scary to think someone tried to burn down the school, I can't help but be
excited for the end of the school day. Mama has given me permission to visit Adelle
at her house over on Fifth Avenue. Adelle is going to loan me a book by Mr.
Charles Dickens called
Great Expectations.
Miss Wilson says I will love it.
Zero and I agree that while he goes to the bank to talk to Mr. Morris about a
savings account, I will go over to Adelle's house. Zero promises he'll be by in
an hour to pick me up for our walk home.

The Jacksons' house is so beautiful
I have to be careful not to walk around with my mouth open. I didn't know
coloreds could live in a house like this. It's made of brick, has a staircase
and big windows, and a real library. Adelle takes me into a room where one
whole wall is filled with books. Adelle says her daddy is especially fond of
books. He's been collecting them for more than thirty years. Adelle's mama
brings us tea cakes and milk, and I decide I could just stay here forever. I
get so caught up in the house, and the cookies, and the books that I don't
realize how late it's gotten until Adelle's mama comes back to ask if I'll be
staying for supper.

"Oh, no, ma'am," I say.
"My brother is going to be back here to get me by four o'clock."

"Honey, it's already five
fifteen. Do you think he meant five o'clock?" Mrs. Jackson sounds worried.

I am shocked. First of all, because
all that time slipped away without me noticing, and second, because Zero is
never late. He prides himself on being on time. Plus, he knows Mama will be
madder than a wet hen if we're late. As it stands, we won't be home in time for
him to milk the cow before supper.

"Grace, where did your brother
go this afternoon?" Mrs. Jackson asks me.

"He said he was going over to
the Penny Savings Bank. He was going to see Mr. Morris about opening a savings
account. He got a whole nickel for his birthday. I don't know why he's not here
yet." I twist a braid in the back of my hair, trying to think what I
should do.

"Mrs. Jackson, can you tell me
the way to the Penny Savings Bank? I'd better go check on my brother."

I try my hardest to sound brave,
even though the thought of walking the streets of Clarksville alone to look for
Zero scares me to death. Mama told me to never go out on the streets by myself.
Just last week, a colored girl from down by the river cut through the yard of
the white Baptist church on Main Street on her way to work at the Riverview House.
A white woman saw her and told her boss lady. That colored girl almost lost her
job.

Mrs. Jackson gets a stern look on
her face. "Adelle, go knock on your father's office door. Tell him that I
need to see him. Tell him it's urgent."

Something in her voice frightens me
even more. I hope I haven't gotten Zero in trouble. What if these nice people
go look for him and he's goofing off somewhere, maybe meeting his friend for a
Coca-Cola over at Mr. Green's store? What if I'm not allowed to see Adelle anymore?