The Boxcar Blues (25 page)

“
I plan on doing a lot of
fishing and reading.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Curly had been home for two years when he
decided he’d had enough of the farm. His Dad had passed away two
months after he’d returned. As soon as they buried him, Theresa
didn’t need to be told she wasn’t welcome. She left on her own to
go live with a sister in Detroit.

Curly landed a job giving flying lessons at
the local airport. Even though the money was meager, it was enough
to keep the farm from foreclosure until the market for crops picked
up. With his brothers running the farm, Curly went to New York City
to apply for a job with Colonial Air Transport. Colonial flew the
Boeing Two-Forty-Seven, an all metal twin-engine monoplane that was
similar to the Boeing Model 80.

The personnel manager at Colonial, said,
“Mr. Levitz, I’m impressed with your experience in Model Eighties,
but there aren’t any openings right now. I’ll keep you in mind if
anything opens up. Have you tried American Airlines or
Eastern?”

“
Not yet, but I probably
will. Thanks for your time.”

After the interview, Curly hung around the
airport to watch the planes. While watching the activity, he
realized how much he missed flying. Life on the farm held nothing
for him and if he never milked another cow that would be just fine.
He thought about returning to Rocky Mountain and wondered if
leaving with a short notice would be a move he regretted.
Undoubtedly, any airline that considered hiring him would call
Rocky Mountain for references. He hoped they talked to Catwalk, or
someone at the airline who didn’t know him. With this in mind, he
decided he’d call Catwalk as soon as he returned to the farm.

He spent an extra day in the city to take in
a Broadway show. When he returned to the farm it was late in the
afternoon so he decided to wait for the morning to call
Catwalk.

On his first day home, Catwalk took Petey
and Georgie fishing. That night, over a dinner of fresh catfish, he
told his Mom about the recent advances in the airline industry. She
didn’t understand most of the technical terms, but she was
immensely proud of him and pleased that he was so successful and
enthusiastic about his job.

After dinner, she asked him, “Do you think
we’ll be going

to war, Luke?”

“
Yes, Momma I’m afraid our
involvement is inevitable.”

“
That means the military
will be looking for pilots, doesn’t it?”

“
Yes, I’m sure they will
be.” He added, “I don’t know if they’ll take black pilots though.
There’s talk of integrating the military services, but no one is
doing anything about it. Secretary Simpson is against it, so they
won’t take me in the military now, and this might not
change.”

His Momma sounded exceptionally grim, more
so than he’d ever heard her. “Well, it shouldn’t change. Any
country that doesn’t treat black people as equal citizens, doesn’t
have any business sending their sons to war. If they want to give
us equality, then it’s fine, but right now, there’s no reason you
should go to war.”

Catwalk took a deep breath. She wouldn’t
like what he was about to say, but he had to stand up for his
beliefs, even if it meant opposing his Mother. “Momma, if we’re in
a war, and they’ll take me, I’m going to serve.”

“
Why, Luke? Why on earth
should you go get shot at?”

“
Regardless of how we’ve
been treated, I’m still an American, and I have to serve my
country. I don’t want anyone saying that we weaseled out of our
responsibility by taking advantage of the military
segregation.”

“
I don’t see why we
shouldn’t take advantage of it. This country hasn’t given us
much.”

Catwalk didn’t want to argue with his Momma.
To change the subject he said, “I’ve got some good news, Momma. I’m
going to ask Mr. Slade to help me look for a house for you.”

His Momma beamed a smile and hugged him with
tears running down her cheek. The rest of the kids started buzzing
amongst themselves about their new home. Cecil said, “There’s only
a few areas where they’ll let blacks live, Luke. You buy a house
anywhere else and the Klan will burn it down.”

Determined, Catwalk said, “I know and I’m
not going buy anywhere that anyone will have a problem with our
presence. I’ll look for a home in one of the safe areas.” As he
said this, Catwalk knew there was nowhere in the south that was
completely safe from the ravages of the Klan. But he wasn’t about
to let them keep him from buying his Momma’s dream house.

The next morning Catwalk went to the Slade
farm. He found Earl looking over a field of soybeans. “Good
morning, Mr. Slade.”

“
Hello, Luke. You must be
home visiting your family. How is the airline business?”

“
Oh, it’s getting better
all the time. We’ve got a lot of new equipment and we’re growing by
leaps and bounds.”

“
Well, you knew this
economy had to pick up sooner or later. We’ve even had some buyers
for our soybeans.”

“
I’m glad to hear that.
You always had the best crop of beans around.”

Both men looked over the field, then Catwalk
said, “Say, Mr. Slade, I’m thinking about buying my Momma a house.
Only thing is, I don’t know anything about buying real estate
property. I was wondering if you could help me.”

“
Luke, I’d be glad to.”
They walked toward the house and sat down on a veranda where Slade
told a plump, black housekeeper with a wide smile to bring them
some lemonade. The woman said, “Hello, Mr. Luke. I seen your Momma
at Sunday meeting last week and she sure is looking fine. Looks
just like she never was sick a day in her life.”

“
Thank you, Florence.
She’s feeling well, too.”

The woman left and Slade said, “Luke, the
first thing is, you’ve got to decide is how you’re going to pay for
the place. If you can put cash on the table that means you don’t
have to deal with the banks. They’re not loaning much money right
now, even to white folks.”

“
Yes, sir. Barney said
he’d get the loan if I needed one, but I’d pay cash if I
could.”

“
Personally, I’d buy a lot
and build a place. Most of the houses for sale around here have
been vacant for some time so no one has taken care of them and
they’re in pretty bad shape. I would think you can pick up land
pretty cheap right now.”

Florence served their lemonade as the men
discussed the size and details of the house Luke wanted. Finally
Slade said, Come on, I’ll take you for a drive and show you what I
mean about the houses around here.”

Slade drove out a muddy Highway Eighty past
Key Field where Catwalk saw a Lockheed Vega departing. Earl said,
“That’s a guy who just started serving this area. He flies to
Montgomery and down to Mobile. I guess he’s doing pretty well, for
only having one plane.”

“
If he can keep the seats
filled, that’s all he needs.”

“
How many airplanes does
your airline have?”

“
We’ve got 16 DC-3s and
six Boeing Model 80s.”

“
That’s a big outfit.
Here’s one of the houses that’s for sale.” Earl pointed to a run
down two bedroom house that looked as if it had been vacant for
many months. Luke walked around the house, then said, “I see what
you mean. I agree we’d be better off building a new
house.”

Earl scratched his head and said, “Of
course, you might consider buying this place because the lot is big
enough to build a second house. Then, if you want to you can fix up
this one later on and rent it out. Let’s go to the bank and see
what the asking price is.”

Catwalk thought about the place on the way
to the bank. The location was good because the only neighbors were
other black folk that lived a quarter mile up the road. There were
no white folks in the area that he knew of. He and Cecil could
frame a new house in a few days and once the old place was fixed up
his Mom could rent it out and possibly get enough income where she
wouldn’t have to work.

The banker told them the house and lot were
selling for two hundred dollars. He added that although the house
was run down, the lot had a good well and this was one of the few
houses in the area that had electric lines connected to the
house.

Catwalk stepped outside so he and Earl could
talk this over. He was excited about the house, but didn’t want his
exuberance to push him into a transaction that he’d regret
later.

Earl said, “I think it’s a good investment,
just for the land, which should increase in value. It’ll take some
work, but that’s the case with any house you’re going to buy in
that area.”

“
That’s good enough for
me. Let’s close the deal.”

Catwalk went back inside and laid down ten
twenty dollar bills. The banker said he’d draw up a bill of sale
and deed for the title transfer.

When he left the bank Cat felt like he’d
accomplished one of his life’s goals by purchasing a house and land
for his mother.

That night his family celebrated and began
making plans to move to their new home. Dee told Catwalk, “Son,
you’ve given me the one thing I’ve wanted for my entire life, and
you’ve made me the proudest Mother on earth.”

Catwalk had never felt better. The next
morning he and Cecil borrowed a truck from Mr. Slade and brought
the first load of lumber to the new house. By the time he had to
leave, they had poured the foundation and framed the house. Cecil
said by working evenings and weekends, and with help from some of
the farm hands, he’d be able to finish it in a couple months.

Catwalk wished he could stay and help, but
he knew how much work was piling up at the airline. He left the
next morning feeling like he was on top of the world. The trip home
had done wonders for him and he felt like he could take on any
challenge thrown at him.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Over the next year, due to deaths and
retirement, the board of directors for Rocky Mountain Airways
changed. It was expanded to seven directors, with four of them
being new members. In spite of Barney’s best efforts, they weren’t
as liberal as the previous board members. They were hardened
executives who placed little value in longevity or familiarity.
Their method of operation was to install managers whom they could
manipulate, and reward people of their choice with the best jobs,
regardless of ability or experience.

Their move to replace Catwalk started with a
clandestine board meeting that had been scheduled with short notice
so Barney wouldn’t be able to attend. John Sullivan, an original
board member, and the president of Fred Harvey Hotels, had seen the
writing on the wall. He knew the new members were after Catwalk’s
job.

In an effort to forego Catwalk’s ouster,
Sullivan was arguing his point.“The man has done an incredible job
while he’s been president of this airline. Our passenger revenues
have increased every quarter and our cargo revenues have doubled,
while maintaining the best safety record in the business. Our
stockholders have seen the value of their stock quadruple. You
can’t ask for much more than that out of your president.”

Franklin Davis, an oil company executive and
new member, countered, “We’re not questioning his ability, John.
It’s his image that we have a problem with. Here it is, almost 1940
and we’re still hung up with Jackson because he was one of the
founding pilots of this airline. It’s time we move him aside and
bring in a business man who will present a more progressive image
to the corporate world.”

Sullivan fired back, “You mean you want a
white man to be president of Rocky Mountain Airways.”

Davis said, “Now, that’s not what I said and
I resent you putting word in my mouth.”

Anthony Fielding, another new member and a
cohort of Davis’, piped up, “John, you have a problem that has been
plaguing this airline for some time now; you’re not thinking in the
future. This airline will be going international before long and
we’ll need working agreements with foreign carriers. We’re going to
be moving into countries where a black president would be a serious
liability. He’s the first impression many people will have of this
airline and he might send many of them scurrying for the
doors.”

Joseph Oates, another original board member,
had been quiet. He tried to look as if he was considering the
points of view, but his mind had been made up prior to the meeting.
To Sullivan’s surprise, he spoke up, aligned with the newer
members. “John, perhaps we can find a place for Jackson where he
can continue to exert his management expertise, but where he
wouldn’t be as visible. Then, a more suitable president can
represent the airline in business matters.”

Sullivan sat down, knowing if Oates
capitulated, the fight was over. Catwalk would be reassigned to
another position and a new president would be voted in. He glared
at the man and said, “What was it, Joe? Did they buy you a new car,
or a couple nights with an expensive whore? What swayed you?”

Oates stared out the window and said
nothing. Actually, his price had been both; a new Chrysler
convertible and two nights in a Los Angeles hotel with a knockout
redhead.

A motion was carried to remove Catwalk as
president of Rocky Mountain Airways and assign him the position of
Director of Personnel and Training. Sullivan asked, “How are you
going to notify Mr. Jackson? Do any of you have the guts to tell
him to his face, or were you planning on sending him a memo?”

When he didn’t get an answer, Sullivan stood
and said, “I’ll notify him.” And he walked out. The remaining board
members voted in the new president, Franklin Davis’ son, who had no
airline background and little business experience.