Love Thy Neighbor ~ Part 1

Remember Black Elvis?

We all got a text message from Jade, so we took off running to M'Dear's room.
Ami: "Everything ok?!"
Shaka: "Clear airways STAT!"
Y/n: "Why are y'all just standing there?! We gotta go!"
M'Dear: "What did you tell them?"
Jade: " 'M'Dear's room, 9-1-1.' "
Mazzi: "I didn't get a text but when I see black folks running, I don't ask questions."
M'Dear: "Kids sit down. I am going to tell you about your great-great-great-grandparents—Solomon and Fannie Joe Williams."
She says closing the door.
Y/n: "Their not mine,......but I wanna hear about it."
Mazzi: "Is this gonna be a long story?"
M'Dear: "Oh time has no bounds when you're talking about your family history."
She sits on the bed.
Shaka: "Yes! I love long stories."
Mazzi: "What are you talking about?"
Shaka: "Shhh."
Y/n: "By the time she finishes, it'll be too dark for y'all to cut the grass."
Mazzi: "You're an evil genius."
Shaka: "You know I am!"
They do their handshake. I laugh a little and look down. They sit on the little bench and I sit on the bed behind them.
M'Dear: "Oh, kids. Now, it was 1852, nine long years before the start of the Civil War. The sugar peach plantation was a hundred acres of fertile land that stretched all the way to the Chattahoochee River. The master,  Randall T. Williams, owned 60 slaves, and they built his farm into a thriving business."
Fannie: "I promise to love and to care for you, too, Solomon Williams."
Solomon: "You forget to say 'obey', Fannie Joe."
Fannie: "No, sir, I did not."
Everyone laughs.
M'Dear: "Slaves weren't allowed to get married so they created their own ceremonies, including jumping the broom."
Ami: "So they were happy?"
Jade: "How happy could they be? They were still slaves."
M'Dear: "Right. Then the master decided to sell Solomon to a plantation all the way over in Mississippi."
Shaka: "Wow. That's real deep."
Mazzi: "Sure is. Well, that was a great story."
M'Dear: "Sit."
Mazzi: "But I'm thirsty."
M'Dear: "Swallow your spit."
He slowly sits back down.
Y/n: "Yeah....that's nasty."
M'Dear: "Girl hush."
Fannie: "I'm scared, Solomon."
Solomon: "Me too. I can't live without you, Fannie Joe."
Fannie: "And we can't live without you, either."
She says rubbing her pregnancy bump.
M'Dear: "They decided to run north. It was a very dangerous journey, but Solomon was determined his child would be born free."
Mazzi: "How did they stay safe?"
M'Dear: "They got help from the Underground Railroad. Did you know folks would sew directions into the design of quilts?"
Solomon: "Ooh, thank God."
M'Dear: "They'd even leave out food along the way."
Solomon: "I'm so hungry. Are those raisins in the potato salad?"
Fannie: "Oh, bless the abolitionist cause."
They laugh.
M'Dear: "It took them over two months, but they finally made it to Pennsylvania. And praise God. Their daughter Alice was born free. Solomon gave Fannie Joe the locket and explained the compass inside would allow them to always find their way together."
Jade holds the locket up. We all crowd around her.
M'Dear: "This has been in our family for 166 years."
Jade: "It's so beautiful."
Mazzi: "And old. Just like you......r sister."
Ami: "Nice save."
Shaka: "Yeah. How much is it worth?"
M'Dear: "Oh, it's priceless."
Shaka: "Like vibranium."
M'Dear: "Whatever that is, yes."
We go back to sit down.
Jade: "M'Dear, who got the locket next?"
M'Dear: "Well, Fannie Joe gave it to her daughter Alice, and then Alice passed it on to her daughter, my great-aunt Francine. Now, Francine worked at The Cotton Club."
Jade, Mazzi: "Oooooh!"
Y/n: "That's so cool!"
Shaka: "Guys, the Cotton Club doesn't sound like a place descendants of slaves should 'ooh' over."
I hit his head.
Y/n: "Slow, once again."
Jade: "It was the hot spot during the Harlem Renaissance."
Mazzi: "All the best Jazz musicians played there. Did Aunt Francine know Duke Ellington?"
M'Dear: "Oh yeah, they were very close friends. You know, she had the voice of an angel. Like Lena Horne."
Shaka,Y/n: "Who's that?"
M'Dear: "Like Diana Ross before Diana Ross."
Y/n: "Ohhhhh!"
Ami: "Who's that?"
I roll my eyes.
M'Dear: "Oh, are you kids trying to kill me? Beyoncé before Beyoncé."
Kids: "Ohhhh!"
M'Dear: "Let's turn the clock back to 1928, just two years before the Great Depression. It was the age of jazz, flappers, and prohibition. Your great-great-aunt was 22 and beautiful."
Francine: "🎶Moonlight walking, Feel romance stalking me, The stars are talking about, And they're telling me That this could be love, The night is falling, And I come crawling, Into your arms, I've fallen in love...🎶"
M'Dear: "All the men had eyes for Francine, but she only had eyes for the club manager—Tommy O'Sullivan."
Francine: "🎶Cause I know you know We were meant to be🎶"
The song ends. Tommy and Francine walk to each other.
Tommy: "I could listen to you sing all night doll."
Francine: "Heh. Thanks, Tommy."
Their hands brush each other as they walk away."
??: "You and Tommy need to be careful. You know folks don't like the races mixing."
Francine: "You're right. I just wish the whole world could know how much I love that man."
The men burst through the doors.
??: "This is a stick-up."
Two men start collecting valuables. Tommy motions for Francine and her friend to leave, but another guy pushes them back in at gun point.