The Boy She Illegally Brought To The Lavender Field (bwwm)

Chapter 12: When Mourning

Annie spent the next couple of days watching people enter her house with gifts and desserts or dinners. Hearing their apologies that just brought more tears to her eyes.
She'd try to go to sleep and the moment her eyes closed she'd just see her brother's swollen face and his missing eye that they'd parted from its socket.

Daniel walked through the streets of the black parts of town. Receiving stares but zero violence or slurs, just confused negroes that were on edge wondering what the white boy was plotting.

He walked into a black owned record shop.
The owner sat at the counter while reading the morning newspaper.

"Excuse me..." Daniel called.
The colored man lifted his eyes to glance over his glasses. His face showed judgment.
"I uhh...I had a question to ask you."
"Alright?" The man sat up straight.
"Do you attend the protests?"
The man ignored the question and looked back at his paper.
"No! No, I don't mean that as a threat. I just...I wanted to go to the next one."
The man looked up at him. "This some kinda sick joke?"
Daniel rolled his eyes.
"Get outta my store."
"Can you just listen to me for a second? Please?" Daniel begged.

The use of the word please grabbed the shop owner's attention.
He slapped his newspaper onto the counter. "Go on."

Daniel took a deep breath then looked out of the doorway.
The door was wide open and he walked over to it and shut it. Then flipped the sign to read 'closed'.

He flinched when he turned around and saw a rifle pointed in his direction.
"What the hell do you think you're doin'?" asked the shop owner, weapon cocked.
Daniel put his hands in the air. "I'm not here to hurt you. I swear on my life. I'm here to ask you questions."
"Well, go on and ask! But I ain't puttin' this down."
Daniel accepted that and kept his arms up.

"I'm in love with a colored woman." he began.
The shop owner was so caught off guard that he'd lowered his gun slightly.
Daniel kept his hands up. "I wanna love her publicly. I closed your door because I can't yet and I don't need anybody listening to what I'm sayin' besides you."

The colored man placed his rifle on the counter. Daniel's hands stayed in the air, just to prove he meant no harm.

"I just wanted to know if you knew when the next protest was. They don't hang signs up, 'cause it would just warn people like me and make it even more dangerous. I wanna know because I promised that woman I'd walk with her. She asked me and I know she did it as a test. I don't want her doubtin' me anymore even though I gave her plenty of reason to in the past. I wanna go. I wanna help y'all. I mean it. This isn't a joke."
The man stripped his glasses off of his face and took a deep breath.
"You know what kinda trouble you could get in for helpin' us like you say?" asked the shop owner.
"Doesn't matter to me. Me and my girl found her brother hangin' in a tree. Her screams were the last step to wake me up. It was the worst thing I've ever seen and my heart shattered for her. I don't like this. And I know y'all are even more tired than I am. I'd do whatever it takes to never see her cry like that again. It was horrible and I have nightmares about it."

The colored man stared at the white man in front of him.

"Put your hands down, boy." the old man stated.
Daniel lowered his arms.
"Wednesday at 2:30. They got one walkin' down Main Street all the way to Country Creek. I suggest you bring runnin' shoes."
"Thank you." Daniel nodded and turned to leave the store.

"White man." the owner called.
Daniel looked at him.
"I got a mother. I got aunts. I got a wife. And I got two daughters." he began. "I don't like you bein' with that woman one bit but if you ain't gon' leave her alone...you put your life on protectin' her. The world don't stop at hangin' men."
Daniel nodded.
"And flip my sign back, motherfucker." the shop owner commanded and put his rifle away.

Daniel walked to the entrance, flipped the sign to 'open', and put the stopper back in front of the door before he walked out.

He continued to feel the stares of the negroes he walked past.
He felt a bit uneasy by them but knew why they did it. They were just as on edge as he was. He grinned at most, trying to convince them he wasn't there for evil, and he either received a slight head nod or nothing in return.

Daniel climbed into his truck and took a deep breath.

He flinched when somebody knocked on his window.

There was a tall dark man outside his door. He rolled down his window to answer.

"You lost?" the man asked.
"Uh...No. I was just visitin'." Daniel answered.
"Alright then." The man nodded then walked away.

Daniel watched him.

He started his truck then drove off back towards his home to get ready for work.