Read Ms. Etta's Fast House Online
Authors: Victor McGlothin
Ms. Etta's Fast House (11 page)
Baltimore marched across the street with long strides. He didn't even blink when the big officer glared at him with cold menacing eyes. Strapped with a .45 caliber charmer in the shoulder holster beneath his suit coat, Baltimore wasn't afraid to gun the man down if he tried to keep him away. Determined to see if Henry was involved in the event that probably had the entire hospital personnel hopping, he pushed his way through the mob of people.
Just inside the emergency room entrance, Baltimore approached the registration desk. “Miss, I know you're busy but I need something,” he said to the frumpy duty nurse behind the waist high counter. Then, he noted the check-in area was littered with injured patients moaning, bleeding and carrying on about being innocent and getting clubbed half to death. She glanced up at him, expecting to see another victim of the brutal incident. When her assumption proved incorrect, she frowned and quickly went back to her paperwork.
“Yes, sir, you're right about that. I am very busy and everybody here needs something,” she answered. “Now unless you're standing there with an injury that I can't see, please step aside.”
Baltimore grimaced and checked his watch. “Okay, okay, I don't have time to fuss. Is Dinah Leonard still on duty?”
“Don't rightly know, but if she is, she's just as busy as me, that I'm sure of,” she told him matter-of-factly. “Since you can't seem to take a hint and I'm weary from giving them, why'ont you go on up to the second floor and look for Nurse Leonard there?”
“Thank you, miss,” offered Baltimore as he stepped past her.
“And you're welcome, sir,” she replied before yelling “Next!” above the noise.
After he'd taken the stairs up to the second floor, the woman he'd met at Ms. Etta's Fast House exited a patient's room while reading a chart. Her uniform was spic and span although her anxiety shone through. “Baltimore, what are you doing here?” Dinah asked, more surprised than excited to see him. “I wasn't supposed to see you until dinner tonight. I'll be needin' some special attention myself by then.”
“I'll bet. I was on my way to a meeting when I ran up on a passel of people looking like they been to war and didn't win.”
“Yeah, we've been spilling over since that fight broke out at the courthouse,” she said, as if it was common knowledge.
“So that's where it went down,” Baltimore sighed, with a faraway gaze in his eyes. “When are Negroes gon' learn that white folk don't want us sharing in what they got a lock on?”
“Don't ask me, but it appears we're trying to get it unlocked but fast. I've heard that four or five colored men passed that police test.”
“Seems like that lock just got busted clean off,” he replied, glancing at his watch again. “Look, Dinah, I need to know where to find M.K ... uh, Dr. Phipps.”
“I could tell you, but you can't get up to see him. Dr. Phipps is knee-deep in broken bones, scrapes and stitches right about now, likely will be for the rest of the day too. Baltimore, I'd love to talk some more but I got to go.”
“I understand, Dinah, I understand. I was just wonderin'â” he said, before realizing she had disappeared down the hall. He wandered out of the building reluctantly, without knowing if Henry was badly hurt or worse, dead.
Already on his way to a funeral as it was, Baltimore couldn't see going to another one in the same week.
Henry had better be all right,
he thought to himself as he climbed back inside his convertible. But his attitude was severely distorted when Jinx asked what all of the commotion was about. “Nothing, Jinx,” he answered, through clenched teeth. “Some of your friends wanting to be cops got a lot of people's heads broke is all.” There was nothing else to be said about that. Baltimore's intense scowl made that crystal clear to Jinx.
Henry had better be all right,
he thought to himself as he climbed back inside his convertible. But his attitude was severely distorted when Jinx asked what all of the commotion was about. “Nothing, Jinx,” he answered, through clenched teeth. “Some of your friends wanting to be cops got a lot of people's heads broke is all.” There was nothing else to be said about that. Baltimore's intense scowl made that crystal clear to Jinx.
12
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n his way to honor a man he couldn't stand, Baltimore pulled his car over on the shoulder of the street a half-mile before taking the dusty unpaved farm road leading to Jinx's property. “Latch the rag top on your side for me,” was all he managed to say before subjecting his slick automobile to red clay and pebbles. There was no way he'd let farm living get inside his prized coupe. It was bad enough that he'd have to get it washed and waxed after the dirt settled on his paint job. Penny's safety and well-being meant that much to him and more.
n his way to honor a man he couldn't stand, Baltimore pulled his car over on the shoulder of the street a half-mile before taking the dusty unpaved farm road leading to Jinx's property. “Latch the rag top on your side for me,” was all he managed to say before subjecting his slick automobile to red clay and pebbles. There was no way he'd let farm living get inside his prized coupe. It was bad enough that he'd have to get it washed and waxed after the dirt settled on his paint job. Penny's safety and well-being meant that much to him and more.
After he guided his car down a long narrow path and over a wooden bridge, Baltimore steered inside a barbed wire fence. Drawing near to Jinx's house, which was a rickety old two bedroom shack sitting atop concrete blocks, he saw an old woman sitting in a brand new rocking chair with two large mutts resting at her feet. Jinx's mother, wearing a long faded duster and a wrinkled bonnet tied under her sagging chin, rolled back and forth with the calm breeze sweeping across the porch. She didn't have words for him as she cradled a large corncob pipe with her right hand and just nodded hello as Baltimore killed the engine. He was a stranger, one she didn't trust. One she saw bringing trouble to her front door and a world of change to her son.
“Afternoon, ma'am,” Baltimore greeted the woman, who didn't bother to look his way. She acted as if he didn't even exist, although pretending wouldn't make it so.
“Hey, Muh'dear, we came to finish up back yonder,” said Jinx, as if she'd questioned him about being home in the middle of the day.
“Jinxy,” she answered softly, before climbing off the rocker and disappearing inside the dingy colored house. Whatever he and that fancy stranger were up to, she didn't want to watch them going about it.
Baltimore lifted his Stetson hat to allow the cool wind to blow through his thick curly hair. “Man, it sho' is getting warm. Etta and them need to hurry up so we can get this over with.” No sooner than he said it, a dark-colored four-door sedan came storming up the road.
“That appears to be them now,” said Jinx, craning his neck to see over the horizon. “Looks like Reverend Foxmore's car. He wouldn't be coming out here 'less Ms. Etta was bringing him.”
“All right then, this is how we'll handle it. I'll stall them, talk to the preacher and slip him a few bills so's he'll say something respectful, while you hurry on back there and smooth out the mound. Make sure it looks nice and kept, like somebody actually gave a damn.”
Jinx agreed to do it for Penny and then made himself scarce. “Gimme five minutes, if you can,” he requested, jogging briskly in the opposite direction.
When three car doors slammed, Baltimore grunted with a manufactured smile on his face. “Hey, y'all,” he hailed, waving to Penny, Etta and a middle-aged man with a limp, dressed in a well-worn black suit.
“Hi ya, Baltimore. I didn't know Jinx's people lived way out here,” answered Etta with Penny following closely behind her. As her head hung low, Baltimore was reminded how young and simple she was, regardless of how much polishing Etta had done.
“Hey, Mistah Baltimore,” the young girl said, her eyes still cast toward the ground.
“Come over here. I brought along Reverend Foxmore,” Etta said, her voice as shaky as the old house. “He's going to preside over the services. Reverend, meet a dear friend of mine, Baltimore Floyd.” When the man of God extended his hand, Baltimore threw his arm around the thick brown-skinned fellow's shoulder instead.
“I want to take a minute and talk to you. See, look here. The man you's about to preside over was the nastiest rabble-rouser there ever was, including the peoples in that bible you carrying, but his daughter is two wings shy of an angel. I care about her and if you know what's good for you, you'd better say something comforting so she can get on with her life.” Baltimore pushed a twenty dollar bill into the man's coat pocket to seal the deal. “I figure it all oughtta take about fifteen to twenty minutes altogether. But whatever you doâ”
“Sorry, Rev'n. Baltimo' we's got a problem,” Jinx interrupted abruptly. He'd kept his voice low so the ladies wouldn't be alarmed at what he had to say next. “The body's gone.”
The Reverend stepped back on his good leg and pulled a white handkerchief from his trouser pocket. “What, grave robbers?” he asked, in the same hushed tone.
“Not exactly,” Jinx told them. “See, Muh'dear keeps these pooches around and they don't do too much of nothing but eat and flop on the porch to keep her company. Well, they must've thought Halstead was barbeque 'cause they dug him up and ...”
“Don't say it, son,” ordered the minister. “That's blasphemy.”
“It's no such thing, Rev,” argued Baltimore. “That's a buffet. The devil got his due and the dogs got dinner. Now that's a square deal any which way you count it.” Baltimore nearly laughed out loud but held it in as best he could. “Jinx, ain't no skulls or nothing cropped up out of the dirt now is it?”
“Naw, I couldn't find hide nor hair of that old man nowhere.”
“Good, 'cause that would mess up the whole proceeding. Were you able to make the spot we put him in fit to be seen?” Baltimore asked, eying the preacher turning greasy.
“Baltimo', I did the best I could and raked the dirt over it nice ân' even. You can't even tell the dogs done ate him.”
Upon hearing that, the preacher tried to hobble away, but Baltimore grabbed him by his sweaty collar. “Where you going? Get back over here, preacher. I believe we's ready for you to earn that twenty now. Make it good and proper or else you'll be sorry.”
“Yea, zah, I'll do it justice. You can count on me.”
“Good, let's get moving then,” Baltimore said, in a manner befitting the occasion. “Ladies, shall we proceed?”
Behind the nervous minister, Etta placed her arm in Baltimore's. Penny followed suit with Jinx. The procession ventured into the back of the house as Jinx directed them to the fake burial site. When the preacher saw the patch of disturbed ground, he headed toward it slowly, watching his step like a man in a mine field. Baltimore noticed his gingerly pace and frowned at him. That shifty country minister had more to fear from the living than he did from the dead, dug up and devoured.
Penny dragged her feet when they approached the makeshift grave. She tugged at Jinx's arm, signaling for him to stop. The bouquet of flowers she'd purchased at a roadside cart trembled in her hands. Halstead was a fleeting memory to everyone in attendance but the girl was just as terrified as when he terrorized her continuously. Baltimore shot a stinging glare at the reverend who had stood too long near the plot without commencing. “Get it started and get it right, preacher!” he whispered angrily.
On cue and frightened, he began with a hardy moan. “Whoaaa, Lawd, we's here to say goodbye to a man You saw fit to bring Your way.” Baltimore wasn't the only one thinking how improbable that was, but the preacher had gotten into his patented shtick so he didn't see any reason to go correcting the man. “It's not for us to ask why,” he continued, “because we don't have it in us to understand Your ways. This man,” he said, looking down at the piece of paper Etta provided, “this man, Halstead King, lived a life we can not judge nor bear ill will to. He's in Your bosom now, Lawd, and we'll miss him. Oh, Heaven and Glory is his new home.”
“Stop, preacher!” Penny shouted. “Stop this foolishness right now. Even in death he don't deserve people to lie about all the wrong he done.” Tears fell from her eyes effortlessly. She didn't attempt to wipe them from her stained cheeks. “He beat my mama, and he beat me. Hell, he even killed the man whose ground he's laying in. He couldn't do right if he tried and I know good and well he didn't, so let's stop this sham and say what needs being said. Halstead King, you was nothing but a miserable mess of cow crap. The only thing decent you did was make me, and you did that for yourself. You had a slave but now I's free. Too bad you had to go get yourself burned alive first. You ain't never gone get to see me 'come a woman, fall in love with a man or wish you did better by me when I make something of myself. For that, I'm sorry and for that only. I should have shot you when I had the chance but I always hoped you'd change.”
Etta left her place and joined Penny to console her when she saw what was coming next. “Why couldn't you be a good man like Baltimore?” she screamed. “Or love me like Jinx's papa cared for him?” Penny dropped to her knees, clawing at the dirt and wailing uncontrollably, while finally letting all her emotions out. Jinx kneeled down and held her close, and he wept as well. Only his tears were meant for the beloved father he'd lost to Halstead's greed and spite. Etta dabbed at her eyes with an embroidered scarf, Baltimore cleared his throat several times to choke back unresolved feelings he'd harbored about his own estranged father, and the preacher looked on thinking that the whole charade was the damnedest thing he ever saw.
One by one, they sauntered away from the plot of land where nothing was buried but their goodbyes. Penny stayed behind to reconcile her own peace. When she was done, she had just what she needed. The ties that bind were tighter than she imagined. The daughter, the slave, the captive, and the woman had to let go in their own way. It might have seemed strange to some, that it was humanly possible to love a man like Halstead with all of his terrible ways, but Penny proved how it could be more than possible for the love of a child to conquer all.
After the funeral, the preacher tore out of the driveway without looking back or passing any parting salutations to speak of. Baltimore didn't blame him for making tracks, considering how he'd forced the poor man to facilitate a farce. Etta knew there was something up but didn't press it. Penny had the opportunity to purge her emotions and put her feelings to rest, and that was worth enduring the ceremony. Now she wouldn't have to be concerned with Penny blurting out something she'd be sorry for later. A forged death certificate from the county examiner's office made it all legal, or close enough to it that no one would be the wiser.
Etta reached inside her handbag and pulled out a small silver-plated case. Baltimore held a lit match to the skinny Chesterfield cigarette and then blew it out. “I wasn't going to bring it up, but have you heard about that big mess went down in the square this morning?” Etta asked, frowning at the thin layer of dust on her black high heels.
Baltimore leaned against the front fender of his car. His eyes dimmed at the thought of what caused the brawl in the center of downtown. “Yeah, I heard. Lots of innocent people got hurt over it too.”
After taking an abbreviated drag from the cigarette, Etta lowered her head. “That's why me and Penny was running late. We stopped over at the hospital ... to see about Henry.” Baltimore's eyes filled with alarm. Etta took note and calmed his fears. “Naw, they said Henry wasn't no part of that. Willie B. Bernard was the only one of the boys ignorant enough to mix in. You know he's hotheaded, got that head thumped good too. Say he might lose his job before getting to work a single day on it.”
“If you ask me, they's a sack 'a fools for thinking white men are gonna let anything change just because they write it in the daily paper. Putting it down on the front page don't make it so. Too many rednecks around to let it,” Baltimore added to prove his point. Suddenly he laid his head to the side and chuckled. Etta looked at him like he had lost his mind. “You know, I went to the hospital myself before driving out here. I didn't see Henry and figured he was too smart to mess up his chances of passing the test to get any of that scuffle on him and louse it up.”
“Well, here's something you might not have heard. It's official,” Etta said in a subdued tone. “Henry made the score.” When he didn't fly off the handle, she wasn't sure he'd been listening. “Baltimore?”
“Yeah, Etta, I was just thinking how much fun we used to have, us three, you know, you, me and Henry. It's a shame it can't be that way no more. Now, it's you, me and Penny, I guess. And by the looks of it, maybe Jinx too.”
Penny had caught her breath and didn't mince words when asking Jinx if he wouldn't mind coming back into town for supper. “I owe you so much, Jinx. Let me do something nice for you, treat you to a big ole steak at Mabel's or something. Anything you want,” she said, with her eyes sparkling brightly. “Whaddaya say?”
Jinx blushed due to her forward offer, but he declined. “I'm sorry, Penny, but I done already promised to take Chozelle to the picture show this evening.”
“Chozelle? I didn't know you's sweet on her, Jinxy.”
“Yeah, we's been going steady near a year now,” he answered softly.
“I hope she know what she got 'cause I sho' do,” she told him, remembering how Chozelle was cozying up to another man just before they had it out in the store. “If you find out different, you know where I'll be. 'Bye, Jinxy.”
Baltimore and Etta witnessed Penny take another broad step toward adulthood and independence. They shared a warm smile over the occasion and felt proud to be a part of it. What Penny inspired in Jinx was something altogether different.
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