So Many Agoes

Chapter 10

December 1967

Trigger Warning: This chapter has elements of sexual assault.

Thanksgiving came and went, midterms hurdled towards us at the speed of light. I was driving absolutely everywhere even if it was to the car repair shop which was less than a half a mile away. I was truly in love with my car. My parents loved to watch me from their window with amused looks as I would cover up my car with a special protective tarp every time I arrived at home.

     In my world, everything was as it should be; the proud owner of a car, the happy boyfriend of a fine girl and part of the basketball team that won county championships for the second year in a row, we were preparing to go on to state championships. Life was good, once again.

However, as we all know all good things must come to an end. And so be it another grievance would be bestowed upon my otherwise beautiful relationship with Emilienne.

I had become very protective of her, I had to make sure she was warm enough and in a safe place at all times. If she wasn't at the library with her friends after school, or at home, she was more than likely with me: on a date; with me, Francis, and Eddie; or with me at work.

We were attached at the hip; so the moment she disappeared, I panicked. She wasn't there to greet me after basketball practice, I assumed she went on to Jimmy's to settle her likely very hungry stomach so I went there and upon entry, saw that she was not. Dread filled my chest. I tried to keep myself positive, but I couldn't prevent my mind from wandering to horrifying place.

Frantically, I sped home and called Eddie,

"Yeah Eddie, is Emilienne there?"

"No, I thought she was with you,"

"Why she may not be okay, what do I do? How do I find her?"

"Man, don't have a cow over it. Just ring her old lady and see if she went home. She's probably there"

I sighed heavily and hung up with Eddie. Emilienne's mother didn't have a phone so I had to drive over there and let me tell you I was bookin it, the worry that something bad had happened to her was set deep into my bones. I made it to her house in record time and pounded on the door,

"Hello ma'am, is Emilienne here?"

"Well no, I thought she was with you Eddie and Francis Jr.  Why,"

"I don't know ma'am, I can't find her,"

A worried look took over her mother's face. I quickly assured her that I'd find Emilienne and drove off towards Hudson street.  A million thoughts a second were entering my mind as I raced towards the town center, hoping that she'd maybe gone to the store or to Cathy's pastry shop to get her favorite scones.

I searched uptown high and low, but didn't find her. I didn't have a coat on, or my gloves or my hat, and I had forgotten all about my car. I was a running icicle. I saw Roger and his buddies leaving Harvey's Grocery, without Gregory Houndblood.

Now I avoided mentioning him much earlier in this piece because he was and is someone who should be mentioned very little; he doesn't deserve the attention. Throughout my childhood and early teen years Gregory Houndblood was a mixture of hatred, anger and bad breath. Much like A Christmas Story's Scott Farkus, he had green eyes and rotten yellow teeth. Only Ralphie's description was a hyperbole, mine is true.

Gregory Houndblood was a class A sociopath, later becoming a cold blooded killer; everybody feared him. Except Emilienne of course, and this ticked him off, making her his number one target that year.

I got that feeling in my lower gut as I watched Roger and his buddies walk towards Jackson Park where high school students smoked, the feeling that Emilienne's life was in extreme danger. I followed Roger and eventually found him sitting at the back of the park on a bench smoking, the smell of weed prevalent in the air. He looked up at me lazily,

"What do you want?"

"I want to know where Emilienne is."

He grinned devilishly, causing my blood to boil. I took a threatening step closer, my body towering over his,

"Now listen to me pal, you've been a real flake to my buddies and my girl but I know you stopped them guys from killing me. You got a good heart now please, only you would know where Emilienne is."

He sighed, slumped down on the bench for an agonizingly long two minutes and then stood up. He walked sluggishly over to my car and climbed in the passenger seat.

"Gregory wouldn't tell me what was gonna happen to her, he kept saying that it was gonna be a bitchin' prank.'

He directed me to pull into a gravelly driveway on the edge of town where Gregory's jacked up car sat at an angle, one of the doors left opened. I crept towards the dilapidated shed to the right of us, Roger slowly trailing behind me. The door was slightly ajar and when I pushed it opened the sight in front of me nearly made me gag.

I felt the blood drain out of my face as I looked down at a hunched over, bruised and naked Emilienne. Gregory sat in the far corner, smoking. Upon seeing Emilienne's state, Roger's high faded instantly and he out to my car and brought back the jacket that I hadn't bothered to put on. The two of us wrapped her up in it and helped her stand. I was ready to hand her to Roger so I could go after Gregory, but Roger stopped me,

"She needs you right now. Hurting him is only gonna get you in trouble too. And I'm high, I can't drive. Let me deal with the skuzz. Get to a hospital, then ring the fuzz tell them what Gregory did."

I glanced at Emilienne, spaced out and shivering then quickly picked her up bridal style. I sped to the hospital, constantly checking on Emilienne. When I was able to contact police, I lucked out that time; sometimes the police wouldn't respond to violence against black people but the universe heard my pleas' and that time they did, it always depended on who picked up the phone.

That whole evening went by in a blur and to this day, there are times when I don't know what is true and what is a figment of my imagination. All I remember is sitting in the hospital with my family and Emilienne's mother and her second oldest child, and hearing the doctor tell us about her broken rib, her fractured arm and the evidence of rape.

I was seeing red; and for the first time I truly understood what it felt like to be Emilienne-the strong urge to hurt the people who would taunt and sneer and spit at her and me, but without the power or authority to do anything about it.

And I cried; it was my first time crying as an adult about an adult reason, a good reason nonetheless. I cried when I held her unconscious hand and I cried when she woke up. No one deserves to have that kind of power taken away from them.

Looking back, I grimace at the vile attempts of others to break us up but the closest we ever came to breaking up was on our own accords. Other people who tried only made us stronger; stronger as a couple, stronger as individuals. Either way, the more people tried to break us apart, the more we resisted it. It was human right after all.