Mardi Gras 1969

Chapter 3

Ebony took out her key and opened the door quietly. Walking in, the living room was illuminated by a tv and some dimly lit candles. Ebony started taking off her socks and shoes and signaled to Lincoln to do so as well. Untying his military boots, he looked around and saw someone sit up from the couch. "Who's your friend?" A redbone woman with shoulder length curls and freckles was looking straight at them. Wow, what a beauty. Ebony patted Lincoln's shoulder, "Mama, this is Lincoln." "Lincoln," she said in a familiar tone, "Oh you must be Sammy's boy. My, you're all grown up now." Lincoln looked at her puzzled, "How you know Sammy?" "I'm from the Hollow, born and raised. Used to spend a lot of time at Sammy's." "Pitit fi! Vini la!" Lincoln heard someone shouting from an adjacent room. Ebony rolled her eyes, "Coming! I'll be right back Lincoln," Ebony walked into the kitchen and he turned to her mother. Now that I think about it, she does look a little familiar. "So I guess you know about what happened, about a year ago..." Ebony's mother sighed shaking her head, "Oh yes cher, I heard about Sammy's passing...and the fire... it's a shame what happened." Lincoln looked down and ran his fingers over his scar. Can't believe it's been a year. "What's your name Miss?" Ebony's mother placed her hand on her chest, "Eloise, pleased to meet you again."

Ebony walked back in the living room with an elderly woman trailing behind her. Must be her grandmother. The elderly woman walked past him, stopping to give him a cursory glance, "Ebony! Ki moun ki sa a nigger gwo?" She looked at him suspiciously and Eloise burst out laughing. Ebony just shook her head "Grandmother, this is Lincoln. He's a friend." "Oh," her grandmother looked at him and nodded, then continued yelling at Ebony in Haitian Creole. I wonder what she said about me? Lincoln's train of thought was interrupted by Ebony's grandmother putting a plate in his hands. It was stuffed with black rice, yucca, plantains, and curried shrimp. Damn this looks good, mmm smells good too. Next she was shooing the two of them out the door hastily. Ebony muttered, "Sorry about this." Lincoln just smiled, "No it's fine." Ebony turned to shut the door, but wasn't able to get it closed before her mother yelled out, "Don't have too much fun!" Lincoln watched Ebony's cheeks flush as she pulled the door closed fully. "Just ignore them..." She said as she started walking towards some wooden planks and Lincoln followed. He looked around at the wooded swamp, taking in the fireflies zooming about the cypress trees and crickets chirping. They walked for a couple minutes until coming to a tree house, decorated with Christmas lights and the Haitian flag. "This is it! Come on up!" Ebony climbed up using the ladder she had tacked on the tree. Once she made it to the top Lincoln started on his way up and handed the plate of food up to her. Ebony took it and went inside.

Lincoln opened the door to Ebony's tree top room and was taken aback by her creativity. She had Christmas lights and colored fabrics hanging from the ceiling. He looked over to her desk which was messily covered with books and papers. Polaroid pictures hung from clothespins strung across the room. "Some place you've got here. You put your foot in this girl," he said as he pulled down one of the polaroid pictures from the hanging string. It read Summer '67 and had a picture of Ebony lighting a joint while giving the finger to the cameraman. He chuckled to himself. Girl's got spunk. Ebony set down the food on her desk and started eating the plantains, "Sorry about the mess, feel free to take a look around." Lincoln walked towards her, "You not gonna give me some?" he asked playfully. Ebony scoffed, "No!" she laughed, "I'm just playin," she handed him the plate and he took some plantains and shrimp. He gave it back to her and decided to take a look around.

Passing by her bed, he made his way to a decorated bookcase and table. She had a record collection that he skimmed through, before coming across a white polaroid camera. He picked it up and turned to Ebony, "Give me a smile babe" She smiled wide, black rice sticking to her teeth. SNAP! He pulled the picture out, fanning it, then showed it to her. Ebony grinned, "Ah this one's a keeper." He made his way back to her bookcase, pulling a random book from the shelf. It read The Autobiography of Malcolm X. "It's a classic!" Ebony yelled from the other side of the room, food in her mouth. He flipped through it, reading a few pages before setting it down. He had always admired Brother Malcolm and was deeply saddened by his passing.