Legend of Buddy Bush (9781439131824) (15 page)

For two days, he hid in the swamps, until he
finally made his way back to Rich Square, where he found W. S. Creecy, the local principal, and minister P. A. Bishop to help him. Those two brave African American men drove him to Norfolk, Virginia, for safekeeping. While they were hiding Buddy, the local sheriff and half of the white people in Rich Square were hunting him down like an animal. The newspapers began to write about the incident, and within a few weeks the newspapers were printing articles about an attempted lynching in Rich Square. This publicity forced Sheriff Frank Outland to arrest the seven white men involved, which outraged the white community.

With Buddy still a wanted man, Creecy and Bishop brought him back to the Jackson Jail, after working out a plan for protection with the sheriff. Buddy was then transferred to Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina, for safekeeping. This incident was so far out of the sheriff's control now that North Carolina Governor R. Gregg Cherry and FBI director J. Edgar Hoover became involved and sent in the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) and the FBI to Rich Square to investigate. The
story had become an international one, making the London
Times
.

After a very short trial, all seven white men were acquitted, and so was Buddy Bush.

Embarrassed by the injustice of the trial, Governor Cherry called for a retrial, and two of the seven men were arrested again. After a second acquittal, knowing justice would never be served, Buddy Bush left Rich Square for good.

Somehow, the fact that Buddy Bush came back for two trials and the fact that this was an international case was secondary to the black folks in Rich Square. It didn't matter then and, to those who remember, it doesn't matter now. They have one story, and the only one that matters to them: “Buddy got away.”

M
others are our earthly gods. This book is possible only because of God's grace and the prayers of my mother, Maless Moses. I thank her and my nine siblings—Barbara, Daniel, Johnny, Scarlett, Larry, Leon, Loraine, Gayle, and Jackie—for all the joy they have given me.

I am grateful to my extended family: April Russell; Deborah Rogers; the Abnatha family; Sonia Sanchez; Karen Tangora; Pat and Jack Shea; Lennie and Felicia Joyner; Morgan Freeman; Trenise Pots; Darryl, Elliott, Eric, and Trelita Goins; Michael and Chloe Rowell; Xernona Clayton;
Jeffery Baurmind; Wanda and Lauren Linden; Dick Gregory; Shelia Frazier; Barbara Austin; Paul Benjamin; Bill Duke; Randy Glover; Kim Miller; Sharian Williamson; Mr. and Mrs. William Creecy; and Pastor William Sheals.

There are no words in the dictionary to express my gratitude to my attorney and friend, Darryl Miller, and the entire staff at Miller and Pliakas. Special, special thanks to Eric Goins, who read this book over and over to help get it right. The wind beneath the wings of this novel is my editor, Emma Dryden. I am forever grateful to her and to everyone at Simon & Schuster for understanding the voices of my ancestors. Thanks so much to Laquita Green, Pauline Delotach, and Maggie Taylor, who works at the Jackson County Courthouse, where the Buddy Bush trial took place more than fifty years ago.

Thank you, Janice Bubb, who gave me access to the Northampton County Museum and the original articles about Buddy Bush.

Last but not least, I am grateful to my ancestors for giving me this story to tell, and to my beloved
friend and mentor, Willie Stargell, who told me fourteen years ago to write this novel. It is written in your memory.

God Bless you all. . . .

Margaret K. McElderry Books

An imprint of Simon & Schuster

Children's Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas

New York, New York 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2004 by Shelia P. Moses

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

Book design by O'Lanso Gabbidon

The text for this book is set in Bembo.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Moses, Shelia P.

The legend of Buddy Bush / Shelia P. Moses.—1st ed.

p. cm.

Summary: In 1947, twelve-year-old Pattie Mae is sustained by her dreams of escaping Rich Square, North Carolina, and moving to Harlem when her Uncle Buddy is arrest for attempted rape of a white woman and her grandfather is diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor.

ISBN-13: 978-0-689-85839-0

ISBN-13: 978-1-4391-3182-4 (eBook)

[1. Race relations—Fiction. 2. African Americans—North Carolina—Rich Square—Fiction. 3. Family life—North Carolina—Fiction. 4. Sick—Fiction. 5. Grandparents—Fiction. 6. Rich Square (N.C.)—Race relations-Fiction. 7. North Carolina—History—20th century-Fiction.]

I. Title.

PZ7.M8475Le 2004

[Fic]—dc21

2003008024