The note was written in a scrawl

Chapter 23) The dark night
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Joel and Ruth followed each other around room to room trying to stay busy.
Joel broke the silence first. Are you sure Joddie said the Negro was the father?
That's what she said. But she wouldn't tell me anything else. Oh Joel, Ruth moaned, she's going to have a baby.

Joel knew how the town would treat a Negro baby.
He was in the Klan. His father too. His grandfather held sway in the state legislature under the Klan when he was in high school. That was before the open face of hatred fell out of favor.
The marches and rallies with thousands of white sheets were gone, reduced to a seething bravado among white men, especially business leaders, to support society against Negro immoralities.

How could his daughter fall into that lewdness?  What he didn't know was Joddie drowned in dirt every day, buried like her brother, except alive, and screaming without sound to stop this horrible addiction.
It was Joddie for all the men in town, and around the state, black white red brown yellow, whatever color. Whoever had money and wanted the best wanted her, and she was a star.

Joel said, maybe Dr. Mason can do something.
Ruth said oh no, we're not going to do that. When she was 17, her younger sister snuck away for a back-room operation and almost died. The doctor was jailed after the young girl showed up at the Pascagoula hospital.

Joel shook his head.
He would have to tell Howard, and then what would they do with two small babies, one white, one Negro?
Big Harvester might pull back their offer in the middle of getting a new store. A Negro in the family would stop a lot people from doing business with them.
Maybe he could avoid telling Howard for a while, but what would happen if the whole family gathered around and suddenly a Negro baby popped out? The shock would be unbelievable.
Joel realized he forgot to tell Ruth about Harvester. It would have to wait.

Joel said, well maybe we can send her away until the baby is born and then work things out.
Ruth said, no, you remember how many times we prayed for her to come home? We can't send her out. She needs us. Bob just died. No, no, we're not going to do that.

Maggie overheard her parents from the hall and was confused why they weren't happy about Joddie's baby?
She walked in slow, surprising them, asking why do you want to send Joddie away?
Joel shook his head.
Ruth answered, she told us a Negro is the father.
What? It's not Bob's baby?
Joel added, the Negro brought her home. He stole a car and Howard and I saw him chasing after Joddie and Bob out on the highway.

Maggie was lost trying to understand Joddie in Crooks Tail, but now this?
And wait a minute, a Negro was chasing Joddie and Bob? Joddie said Bob was hit in the head by somebody. Did the Negro do it?
Maggie didn't say what she was thinking.
She decided to ask Joddie, but then remembered River Boy said he was trying to get Joddie out of Crooks Tail, and now Joddie was home.
It seemed impossible that River Boy had something to do with it, but she needed to talk to him and find out.

Joel was watching her.
Maggie caught him looking, and tried to hide it.
Your friend River Boy knows something, doesn't he?
Before she could lie, Joel said, he lives in Blacktown doesn't he?
Maggie said, uh I .. I ... think so.
That got Ruth's attention. She said, please, you have to tell us what you know.
Well yes, he lives in Blacktown, but I don't know where he is?
Joel said, that's it. I'm going down there tomorrow and talk with those people, and find out what's going on.
Ruth said, no it's too dangerous.
It didn't matter he had to do something.

Maggie was thinking she had to find River Boy too. She wouldn't dare go to his shack. She had to wait. School started next week and she'd see him for sure, if he showed up.

There was nothing more to say.
Joel was mad. Ruth was confused.
The afternoon's conversation laid heavy around the house.
The old gloom was back. Maggie was sad to see her family stuck in this misery and wanted to run away like Joddie.
The dinner table was quiet. Ruth and Maggie took a tray upstairs while Joel sat alone.

Eeriness began to drift in as sunset came earlier each night.
Joel looked out the window and said, it looks darker tonight.
Ruth said, let me turn on some lights. Our family needs to stay together, Joel.
He paused then said, you're right, we can't send Joddie out. Not in this darkness. Never again, never. He began to cry, and Ruth joined in and they hugged.
Maggie was in the other room and felt the grief.

River Boy and Grandpa saw the same dark night, but their's was filled with hope.
Repairs were easier than they thought. The old shack was made from barn timber, brick and metal. It was strong as an ancient tree wedged in bedrock, oh yeah, a few busted shelves and a temporary door made from a roofing tin and a boarded window, but their fishing rods and skillet were good as new. River Boy kept an ear for anyone coming up the road, fearing that Crackling or Spade would sneak up. Grandpa fell asleep right away. He didn't care.

The Upstate Boys put a halt to Crooks Tail real fast.
Boy Johnson was in charge.
Crackling Green's man Spade caused the problem, so Crackling was done. He couldn't trust his own men, Boy Johnson was after him, Top Hat and his men were after him, so he disappeared.
With Crackling gone, that put Spade alone in Blacktown with nowhere to run. He had gotten Billy to betray Top Hat and folks didn't know why ... but it didn't matter, the mold was set with prints in the stone and the blood card was dealt again.

Big Mac found Top Hat and his men hiding at the old train depot. Top Hat's shoes lost their shine and one heel while they were beating Jackle and Ammerson. Some of the boys were barefoot. All of them hungry.
They already knew Crackling left Blacktown.
They had eyes out looking for Spade and found some of the people from Blacktown hiding up in the woods. Spade wasn't with them.

Late that afternoon, one of Top Hat's boys smelled bacon and then spotted a smoldering fire behind a house that pointed to the hideout.
The men laid up a plan and waited until the darkest night, then crept in and did the job quick before signaling Mac's car.

Big Mak, Top Hat and another big farm Negro rolled in fast, stopping in front of the house.
Two boys came out, opened the trunk and threw in a life sized bundle before the car twisted tires and dust as it leapt forward in the night going to a forever-unknown deep-hole black water swamp.
The alligators bellowed a tune they'd sung before.

Dr Bohaan Mason finished his house calls and made one last stop at Latchy Gray's door before the night dropped.
Parking in the back, careful to avoid gossip, and preferring not to spread it himself, the recently widowed doctor and Latchy had become close friends.

Well it was a bit more than that. It was a mutual need, spiritual and sexual.
He marveled at her tight body and immense patience at love-making. She didn't confide her past, and appreciated his attention toward her needs.

One of the things she needed was a social connection to keep her informed of goings on around town. She was cautious before making a friendship, and the likewise cautious doctor was suited to the task.
Mr Bohaan Mason didn't think he was gossiping, when he repeated stories from the day because he was simply telling Latchy a truth about the townspeople, as he saw it. And he didn't share stories with other folks, except with his deceased wife when she was alive. Bless her golden heart. He missed the confidences they shared.
Still, his gossip wasn't all that important since neither he or Latchy had grudges to settle, and plenty of people were way ahead of Bohaan for spreading half-facts and opinions without regard for the truth.
Anyway, the doctor's observations were acute and carried a large measure of value for Latchy who was becoming quite endeared with the man.

That evening was different. Latchy took the doctor up to her third floor desk and pulled out a note that was written in brown ink.
She handed it to him and asked, what does this say?
Bohaan looked at it for a time, and then slanted his head looking some more before turning it over and looking at it from the back, and then holding it up to the light. He said, it says something. Feels different doesn't it? But I don't know. What is this thing?
Oh, a friend left it. I'm not sure what it means, but it is a peculiar thing.

Latchy put the note back inside the drawer and was stricken with sadness.
She disliked the feelings in that room, especially up on the third floor if there was a fire.
Bohaan noticed the distraught, and asked are you alright?
Oh well, if I'm not, I have my doctor right here, she laughed.

Then she said, there are a lot of troubles right now aren't there?
The doctor told her about Reverend Diik, and Bob.
And there's a Deputy missing too. His wife said he was talking about going to Paris, then didn't come home.

Latchy could see Bohaan was agitated by the events, and it worried her. She reached for the note and put it in her pocket.
She also noticed that Bohaan didn't mention the murders in Blacktown. Certainly he would know if people were talking about it.
The Negroes would be tight-lipped, and if Trinity wasn't talking, then maybe the Klan wasn't involved.

The death of Diik and Bob was going to stain the town for a few weeks, but if the Klan attacked, it would be disaster.
It would encourage the worst people for months, maybe years. The drinking and roaring night life and attacks on women would start up like they always did when the Klan was involved. It would be hard to recover.
She said, let's go downstairs.

When they got to the main hallway, the overnight girl was waiting and said, excuse ma'am, you needing anything else?
Latchy said, no Margret, goodnight. I hope there won't be any more tapping on the windows at night.
Oh no ma'am, that never happen again.
Ok good.

Margret retreated to her room at the far end of the house, wanting to be home with her two boys and sick mother. Her sister was helping some, but the other houseladies said the boys were going about, and her mother's rheumatism was bad this week.

Latchy and Dr Mason sat next to each other in the smaller of the two sitting rooms. It had block paneling where her husband kept a bar. The stools and pool table were covered with old sheets when she moved back.

Latchy had Mr Wilkerson from the antique store remove the bar and replace it with her favorite furniture from the upstairs rooms. His upholstery man put it in top shape.

Harold Wilkerson, the auctioneer and antique dealer, and husband of Bethel Wilkerson at the pharmacy, found prosperity selling the fashionable older, well-made furniture, and appreciated that Latchy liked the same.
For his part. Mr Wilkerson saw that Latchy's beautiful home was empty and wanted to help.

It was true. She left everything behind in Mobile except a few clothes. There was nothing left of her life there and she hoped that Trinity would bring peace. There were no family portraits or special mementos left. Both Latchy's parents were dead, and her brother gone to New York and killed in alcohol. His abandoned wife lived in Abbeyville with her family, but she and Latchy rarely spoke. There were plentiful reminders of the past without that, especially at night with the housestaff gone when the loneliness settled in every corner.

She sat there with Bohann's arm around her shoulders, clutching the note in her pocket, knowing how much she needed Bohaan Mason and realizing that maybe Trinity needed her as much as she needed Trinity.

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