Natashia Deon: Grace

Colonel slams George against the tree and this time George cries a pitiful “Ow,” laughing all the while. “I promise you, Colonel,” he say. “I ain’t worth your time.”

“We may have lost the war, boy, but the law still the law. God’s law.”

George holds up his hands like he surrender, “Fine. Fine,” and brushes his clothes straight. “Since you and your. . battalion seem like reasonable men, I think you’re looking for Josephine and Jackson. Down the road a ways to the clearing. Bout a half mile on the right. A big new road points the way.”

Colonel signals to his soldiers and hops up on his horse.

“What y’all planning to do?” George say. “My sister Annie isn’t going to let you just come on her property taking things. You, of all people, should respect that.”

Fatty spits on George’s forehead and George wipes it off while the men trot up the road ahead. George slides back down on the tree, opens his flask and drinks.

IN THE SALOON above me, Henry’s angry. He’s already searched behind the piano, under the tables. Flipped two. “We know you keep that nigra girl hiding here,” Henry say.

“It’s best you tell us where she is,” Ray say. “Save the damages.”

Cynthia holds up a glass. “Gin’s your poison? Ain’t that right, Bobby Lee?” She pours it in her just-dried glass, offers it to him but he don’t take it.

She leans back in her chair, her legs fall open, for sale again. “Why y’all want her when you can have me?”

“Go outside to the workshop,” Ray say to Henry. “Check the shed and the blacksmith’s place.”

I watch Henry go down the porch steps and disappear into the darkness on the way to Albert’s. I still don’t move.

Cynthia twirls the gin in her glass. “I ain’t never known you to refuse a drank, Bobby Lee.”

“She killed old Charlie Shepard,” he say.

“Mr. Shepard?” Cynthia say. “Somebody killed Charlie?”

“This afternoon. . butchered.”

Cynthia sets the glass down, holds the table.

“It was somebody he knew,” he say.

“I can’t believe somebody would hurt Mr. Shepard,” she say.

“Had to know whoever did it ’cause he let ’em in the house. . let her in.”

“Her? You think that little girl did this? You ask Soledad about that?”

“She told us she seen the girl running from her house just before she found him. Said Mr. Shepard figured out she was the one who killed those in Faunsdale. He was gonna turn her in.”

“Naomi?” Cynthia said in disbelief.

“What you call her?” Ray say.

“Y’all crazy if you think that girl killed Mr. Shepard.”

“Read the paper yourself,” Bobby Lee says, tossing the wanted ad on the table. “Soledad said it’s the girl.”

Cynthia glances at it. Recognition slides across her face. “That ain’t her.” She picks up her glass, sips her gin.

“You know lies got consequences, Cynthia.”

“Then why don’t you go after the liar who’s accusin.”

“Soledad?” Bobby Lee say. “Couldn’t hurt a fly.”

“She’s pregnant, you know that?” Cynthia say. “The innocent girl you trying to kill, Bobby Lee. She’s with child.”

“Don’t listen to her, Bobby Lee,” Ray say. “She just try’n to make you soft.”

“You had a family, didn’t you, Bobby Lee? A baby? A wife? Is that right?”

“Everybody heard his family got kilt,” Ray say. “Point is, niggers can’t go ’round killing white folk. Even the rumor of it got to be dealt wit. And ain’t nobody gon’ miss a nigger.”

Cynthia sips her gin again. “Then like I said, she ain’t here.”

The floorboard squeaks under my foot and Ray looks down at me. His dark eyes get stuck on me but I don’t move.

Another squeak.

Ray takes out his pistol. He signals the others to be quiet while he sneaks to the bar, then rushes behind it. Cynthia closes her eyes like she praying it ain’t me.

“Aw, man,” Ray say. “You damn near got yourself killed, boy.”

Johnny whimpers there. Cynthia goes around the bar and grabs Johnny, yells, “I told you to go to bed!”

He’s not crying but Cynthia say to Johnny, “No, no, don’t cry,” and pulls him into her body and walks with him to the middle of the room above me. She kneels down where I can see her face and tells Johnny out loud, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be yelling at you,” then hugs him, strokes the back of his head, looks down toward me, and slides her eyes toward the under-porch door that’s all the way across my room. But I already know that door’s stuck and there ain’t no way to get across the floor quiet.

I shake my head at her. They’ll hear me if I open it. But she cain’t see me. Johnny rubs his eyes and walks sleepy up the hall.

“We all know about the story from the papers,” Ray say. “Those black folk murdered in Faunsdale. The owner. That girl did ’em. Just like she did Mr. Shepard.”

Cynthia picks up a new bottle of liquor from over the bar. She say, “You been spending a lot of time with Soledad, ain’t you, Bobby Lee? Visiting her when Charlie was away. How do we know you ain’t the one that done it?”

I’VE BEEN MOVING fast as I can to get to Josey before these soldiers do. I find her diving into a pile of leafs with Rachel so when the wind of my hurry meets ’em, the spray of leafs that follow go unnoticed. Squiggy and Jackson take my flied-away ones and throw ’em back on top of the girls, burying ’em under.

I yell to Josey, “Run!” but she don’t hear me. “Josey!” I say, beating the ground with my feet.

Rachel grabs Josey’s arm, say, “Momma? You hear that?”

“Hear what, baby?”

“Somebody calling you.”

Josey listens. Waits. “Just the wind,” she say.

“Or my belly screaming it’s time to eat,” Jackson say, throwing Squiggy over his shoulder on the way to the house.

“WHERE IS SHE, Cynthia?” Ray say.

Cynthia laughs and lays her pistol on the countertop. “Who?”

“Stop playin’ games,” Ray say. “We know she here.”

“Is this what you want, Bobby Lee?” Cynthia say. “For a innocent person to get punished?”

“I’m just doing my job,” he say.

“Why does injustice always got to start with those five words? You say that like it’s a game. One of them games where nobody gets hurt. Well, I like games, too, Bobby Lee.”

“I’m gon’ check these rooms,” Ray say, heading down the hall.

“Help yourself,” Cynthia say, leaning back. “The girls back there might be busy. Maybe you’ll get a show. Then again, there’s Albert. Maybe he’s heard y’all come in. Maybe he got a bullet waiting for you behind one of them doors. You say black folks off killing white folk. Maybe it’s your lucky day.”

Ray stops. “Well, when Henry gets back in here, we gon’ search every room.”

“Look, Cynthia,” Bobby Lee say. “We can go room by room, upsetting whatever you got going on here ’til we find her, or you can just bring her out and we can leave you alone. No bother. It’s your choice.”

Cynthia throws her legs up on the bar. “How ’bout we play a game, instead. Ray, you like games? Bernadette tells me you do.”

Cynthia picks up her pistol and points it at Ray’s head. Bobby Lee raises his pistol to Cynthia, say, “I won’t let you shoot.”

Slowly, she opens her pistol’s barrel and dumps out all the bullets on the bar top. “I said I was gon’ play a game. Didn’t say nothing about shooting him,” she say and puts a single bullet back in the chamber and closes it. “Unless he wants me to.”