Me and Kennedy James became the best of friends. It turns out that I was right though! He is the same age as me. One day Kennedy James invited me to watch the Negro World Series at his house. He ain't got a colored tv, but we were friends, so I went. His Ma gave us chips with guacamole and soda pop. We watched the negro league pitch and bat almost better than the white league. We cheered as our team, the Birmingham Black Barons, were batting. We were mighty mad when we lost 4 games out of 5 to the Washington Homestead Grays. I wish we would've won.
I ain't really a baseball fan, but Kennedy James sure is! After the game Kennedy James showed me all of his baseball cards. He had Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson. He had lots of others, too, including Jackie Robinson. When I had to go, Kennedy James's Ma came over and gave me a big hug and a cookie. I was the biggest chocolate chip cookie I ever saw.
I was walking home from Kennedy James's house eating my cookie in silence. I saw something that scared me, two men in white. They wore a white cloak and white hoods, the hoods had two eyeholes but other than that they were completely white. They looked sorta like ghosts, and they were just as scary. That's when I noticed the wooden cross in one of their hands, the other one had matches and gasoline. I watched them for a moment before I realised that one saw me, I then turned to go.
"Hold up, girl. Where do you think your going?" asked a voice that came from under one of the hoods. The voice sounded like a Ford truck driving over gravel.
"I'm going home." I replied.
"Where is home?" he asked me.
"Sorry, I have to go. Plus I ain't s'pposed to talk to strangers." I said as I scurried off.
When I got home I asked Daddy who the people were that looked like ghosts. He told me that they were the Ku Klux Klan.
"Why do they carry crosses?" I asked. "Are they from the church?"
"No Eliza they're not from the church. They sure are a gift from God Almighty, though." he replied.
"Why? What do they do?" I wondered
"They are in charge of taking care of those niggers that seem to think they rule this state."
"Daddy... Why are the coloreds so bad?"
"Cause they ruined us. We had a perfect life. Slavery was making the economy boom, but those damn niggers think they ain't s'pposed to work for us!"
"Why did they have to work for us in the first place?"
"Because they are black!"
I thought it'd be best to stop talking then. Daddy hates the coloreds with a real strong passion, stronger than most folks in town. Sure people don't want 'em around, but Daddy hates 'em! I wonder how he gets along with them at the grocery store. He doesn't own the store, so it ain't whites only. He works there and he's always complaining about the coloreds buying up all the food.
I should've told Daddy about Kennedy James, but I was scared. Daddy hates the coloreds, what would he do if he found out my best friend was one? When I left I told him that I was going over to a friend's house, he didn't ask which one. I guess that's a good thing. He can't know about Kennedy James yet. What if he would send the Ku Klux Klan after him?
The rest of second grade began to blur by. Kennedy James and I were always playing outside. A few days before the end of the school year we went to the park. As we were walking around , a white woman glared at us and pushed her baby's stroller farther away from Kennedy James. We stopped for a minute to sit on a bench. A boy about our age shouted from across the park at us.
"Hey you nigger! You can't sit there!" he shouted.
"Why not?" I asked.
"It's for whites only!" he replied.
"Well is there a bench for coloreds?" I asked.
"Ya. It's right there!" he said pointing to the ground next to the trash can. Anger bubbled inside me and Kennedy James knew it.
"It's okay Eliza, I'll move." he whispered.
"Yes Kennedy James!" I shouted in a dramatic way, "We will move!" Kennedy James looked at me in shock. I stood up and walked over to the ground next to the trash can. Then I sat down and patted the ground next to me. "Come on Kennedy James!" I said, "The ground sure is more fun than that smelly old bench!" Kennedy James came and sat next to me.
"You're right Eliza!" he said. "It's much nicer over here."
The boy, infuriated that his cruelty didn't make Kennedy James cry, stormed off in the direction of some other boys playing baseball. Me and Kennedy James eventually got up and finished our walk. We raced the last part of the path and Kennedy James beat me, he sure is fast!
Before we knew it we was out of school for the summer. On the last day of second grade we had a picnic down by the river. It ain't much of a river to most people, but to us it was huge. We had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and we sang songs. We had lots of fun.
Kennedy James said that his class went to the church and played in the parking lot. Then they went in and had a church lesson. We both were excited to be going into the third grade. I was a little upset that Miss Jones was moving up with our grade. The hot summer was calling our names as the teachers set us loose for the summer. Kennedy James and I were ready to go get some lemonade and play in the hose at his house. Finally it was summer...
