Part 3

Turn your face towards the sun

Let the shadows fall behind you

Don't look back, just carry on

And the shadows will never find you

The next day, I stayed close to the house and looked through old recipes Miss Hattie gave me of cake recipes and many other recipes she got from her kin long passed. I was on the front porch looking through the old note book recipe right now. Daddy was out looking over my car to make sure it was running right.

"Now I don't want that cake to be too sweet now!" he said from beneath the truck. I was already nodding.

"I know, Daddy!" I called out. We heard some honking coming from down the road and Daddy moved from under the truck with his tools and a cloth in his hand. He wiped his hands as the old truck neared. It was Elliot Dolphine, a farmer my daddy does business with. His eyes were wild with fear.

"Ya'lls best to stay in the house, them white folks from the other side of towns been drinking all day now, on account of the liquor smuggled in. They sho gone be driving through here soon, looking for someone to string up!" he said. Daddy's eyes darkened some and I stood up slowly in fear. Our people don't cause any trouble to nobody in town, but that sure doesn't stop some of them from getting crazy when they get too drunk.

"You tell Sheriff Hodges?" Daddy asked and Elliot nodded.

"Yeah, he gone try and talk him down from coming this way, I been driving through trying to tell everyone I can before the sun goes down in case they don't listen!" he said. We weren't really able to vote, but we voted for Hodges. Even though we knew he bought alcohol from the bootleggers, he did his best to keep the peace, but white folks don't want peace when it comes to us.

Daddy turned and pointed to me.

"Velvet go on in the house now!" he said moving to Elliot's truck. I knew what he was going to do. He was going to ride along and warn the others and leave me here by myself? I was shaking now.

"But Daddy!" I cried out.

"You do what I say now! Lock them doors and have my guns ready! I WILL be back!" he said firmly as the truck took off. My lips quivered as I hurried inside the house. I prayed to the almighty God my Daddy returned. I ran down the hall to my father's room and moved to his small closet grabbing his Winchester guns. I hurried back into the living room and got down on my knees making sure to load them properly like I was taught. Oh I hated guns. I lied them all across the ground making sure they were accounted for. Suddenly, a knock made me freeze and snap my head up. I looked at the front door and grabbed one of the Winchester's and held it firmly in my hand. The knock came from behind me and I turned me head. The back porch, was it locked? I moved to the back of the house, the gun up and ready to fire. The screen door was mesh and my eyes widened as I saw who it was. I hurried to the door and looked around cautiously at the large man.

"Howard Bondurant!" I said opening the door and noticing him jump with his hands raised.

"Woah easy girl!" he said and I shook my head keeping the door closed with my body close to it.

"You should not be here." I said quickly. He looked like he just got done farming. Immediately he frowned.

"You in some kind of trouble?" he asked and I shook my head.

"Some boys from the other side of town are getting drunk. They're gone ride through here pretty soon looking for some colored folks to swing from a tree." I said. His eyes darkened now.

"Where's your pa?" he asked. I winced in fear for my father.

"Out warning the others." I said, and he stepped so close I had to look right up at his giant form.

"Invite me in so I can protect you." he said. My eyes widened.

"You can't come in here, if my daddy sees you-"

"He'll thank me for protecting his only daughter. Any mob who comes 'round here and sees you alone will do far worst to you before they kill ya!" he said.

"Yeah and if they find you here they'll let you walk right out that door safe before they do lord knows what to me." I argued, and he leaned down, eyes dark and serious as the night.

"Any of them step foot on this land and I'll blow em away." he said. I stared up at his eyes looking for any traces of lies, but at this moment I knew a Bondurant would run and hide. What choice did I have? I didn't want to be alone.

"Are you parked close?" I asked. He shook his head.

"I walked here." he said. I looked him over. Why would he walk all the way here?

"Fine. But the second he comes, you gotta go." I said and he nodded and I opened the door wider for him to enter. He's just like us, I had to remind myself. No I had to convince myself in order to justify letting him in here. Even though there were poor white folks and poor black folks…only of the two groups are important.

He suddenly pulled out his Webley .455 Mk VI. He held his hand out for my gun and I was hesitant at first, but he then held up his gun as if to trade. We swapped guns and I noticed the weight to it. I locked the back door and followed him back into the living room. I closed the curtains all over the house, but not before looking out the window into the trees to make sure no mob was out there. I returned to the living room and saw Howard glancing out the window. I never saw a man look so calm before. I approached beside him glancing as well for any signs of my daddy.

That's when I remembered he was here in the first place. I glanced up at him.

"Howard… why did you come here?" I asked. He looked down at me for a second before looking out at the street.

"Came to say sorry for my behavior yesterday. The way your friend looked at me when she saw us… she looked afraid and I ain't want you to look at me that way." he said eyes sweeping the road. I just looked down for a second before looking out the window again.

"Apology accepted… and thank you for being here." I said.

"Does this sort of stuff happen often?" he asked. I shook my head.

"Sheriff Hodges sometimes talks them down, but we don't assume it will work." I said before looking down with clouded eyes. "Two months ago, some men drove through here and broke into one of our kin's houses. They raped and beat Ida Johnson… lynched her husband and two teenage boys. She killed herself four days later." They were a nice quiet family like all of us mostly who just wanted to have the dream of what America could offer us. Howard's eyes remained dark and cold almost.

"Bastards." he muttered.

There was a brief silence now and I didn't like it. All of the world seemed silent and it made me even more fearful as I looked around more. The sky was starting to turn a deep blue.

"Where is he?" I whimpered.

"Hey, don't worry he's gonna come back." Howard said with a hint of soothing in his tone. I just nodded needing to believe him. There was silence again and I figured Howard was used to this, being silence when needed. "I'm sorry I never spoke to you when I came back from the war." I glanced up at him to see his deep blue eyes focused on the window. I shook my head.

"You don't owe me no explanation. You weren't courtin' me or nothing." I said, but he just shook his head.

"No, but I do… I mean you taught me to read and no matter how frustrated I got with myself, you didn't give up on me. So yeah I do." he said. For once my focus was drawn from outside and back up to his face. He sighed and looked me in my face. "I wasn't a man when I came back- wasn't the same man you saw when I left. I couldn't face you and after what I saw, what I did, all I wanted to face was a bottle, hell I still do." My eyes softened on his hardened face as he shook his head.

"It hurts me to fight for a country that still fights itself. I came back angry and bitter and when I saw you a while back, I just felt I couldn't face you how I was." he said. I looked down taking in his words. It would make sense, he definitely looked possessed by something dark as if something had a hold on him. But something did have a hold on him, war. I looked up at him now curiously.

"So how are you now?" I asked. He closed his eyes at my question.

"Still the same…" he said before opening his eyes and looking at me with a gaze I had never seen before. "But not with you." I looked him over some unsure of how to feel about his words. We heard the motor of a truck and immediately looked out the window. It was Elliot Dolphine's truck and getting out from the other side was my father. My eyes brightened and I smiled, but then I remembered Howard. With my free hand, I grabbed his hand and hurried to the back of the house. He could not be seen. I opened the door and quickly, we swapped weapons.

"Can I court you?" he suddenly blurted. My eyes widened now at his words. What did he just ask? I heard banging from the front fo the house and Howard quickly turned and ran out the door. I closed it and hurried back to the front door. I opened it letting my dad in.

"You alright?" I asked. Elliot's truck had already sped off.

"Yeah. You close the windows?" he asked taking the gun from me. I nodded.

"And loaded the guns." I said and he nodded.

"Good girl. You go to you room now and keep away from the window." he said and I nodded. I hurried to my room and closed the door and immediately moved to the corner and slid down quietly. We've done this before, we had to. I stayed in my room and daddy sat on the front porch with his gun ready. Gunshots would tell me my next move. If anything were to ever happen to my dad I was to do my best to run and hide in the swamp. That's the plan with all of us if something were to happen. We hide out in the swamp and do our best to make it to our kin. If the threat involves the entire community then we leave Franklin County to our family in other counties. I stared at the window watching the sun go down. I've done this so many times. But today was different.

Howard Bondurant came. Why did he come, why did he care so much about last night to actually walk here? Was he crazy asking to court me? Besides he'd have to ask my pa and there was no way he would ever let him court me. The town would never let us live long. But then again, who would really try and do something to a Bondurant? I shook my head. That did not matter! What matters is a white man asked a colored woman to courting. I guess I should be happy the races weren't reversed. They'd burn the entire town down if anyone found out that.

No one really slept tonight. It was a waiting game really. The sounds of the forest still made me nervous. But when the sun was starting to come up and the sky was a light blue, I got up from my spot and moved out into the living room. I quietly peaked out the front door and Daddy was still sitting in the chair looking from left to right, his grip on his gun firm. But I could tell he was tired. I moved out into the warmth of the front porch came up behind him putting my hands on his shoulders.

"Come on Daddy. Let's get you to bed." I said softly. He looked around for a few more seconds before finally letting out an exhausted breath and raising up to take my hand patting it with his fingers.

"Yeah." he said and finally got up and we moved to the door.

"I hope everyone's okay." I said gently. He nodded.

"Me too." he said and we went inside to start another regular day.