Black to the Past

Chapter 43

"We've got to get back," Jalen said.
    "Okay, but shouldn't we wait for Meredith and Michael?" Halle wanted to know.
    "I don't think so. We know they got the telegram off. There's no need to wait. At least if we get back to the house we can text them and maybe they can sneak off somewhere to respond," Wilson advised.
    "We're not supposed to text. We have to use the locator if they're not there when we get back," Jalen reminded them as he pushed through the crowds that were still milling about wondering where Dr. King was headed next.
    People were milling around confused at the abruptness with which Dr. King had left but they assumed that he was headed to his next stop. Jalen overheard a couple standing questioning if they should go to Cory Church which was where Dr. King was headed next.
   
    "Hey, did you hear that?"
    "What," Halle asked as she looked around wondering what she was supposed to be listening out for.
    "Dr. King is headed to Cory Church next. I don't know where that is but it's got to be close. Then we should go there and try to talk to him," Jalen asked.
    "Naw, man. We've got to get back," Wilson reminded him. "I don't want to be in this time period longer than necessary."

    They walked to the bus stop that was on the other side of the road so they could head back up Cedar road toward the solarium house. Hopping back on the bus they looked around, they still felt out of place even though they looked like normal teens. Ironically enough the same bus driver was driving. They sat close behind him this time.
    "What do you guys think about what the reporter said," Halle asked them.
    "I don't know what to think. He didn't seem pleased with the threat," Jalen recalled.
"What do you kids know," the bus driver asked. "Rumors are swirling that Dr. King's car left the church you just left and is headed out of town."
"We don't know anything," Wilson responded quickly.
    "Why would he do that?" Jalen asked.
    "I don't know," the driver said in a confused voice. He was certain he'd just heard the kids talking about a threat to Dr. King.
    Wilson leaned past Halle and started whispering with Jalen.
    "Why would he all of a sudden believe this threat enough to make him stop preaching now?" Halle whispered, wanting to know.
    "Maybe because telling someone that they won't be there for their kids puts things in a different perspective," Jalen said with a faraway look in his eyes. He knew that his father would have done anything to make sure that he could always be there for his kids.
    The driver overheard every word they uttered and now wondered what was really going on.