Old Birmingham Alabama: Chapter 1

Mary Lou Was Playing with the new baby doll our mother had gotten for her 7th birthday last week, when word had spread of the riot. I was flipping through the new Vogue magazine, unaware of what was happening outside. Of course every adult and parent on the street knew of what was happening. “What's goin’ on Mama?” I said while getting up from the chaise couch. She didn't answer, she just stared out the window. “Go wake up your father, and tell im' to get the gun.” I was only fifteen, and my parents had no problem exploiting violence in front of me. Especially my 7 year old sister, who knows more and more of what happens in this town than she should at her age. “Do it now!” She yelled. I ran quickly to my parents' bedroom to get Mr.Bates. I slowed down my pace seeing that he was already standing… gun in hand. He noticed my fear stricken face. I already had an idea of what he was going to say to me. “Negroes riotin' again. They just good for nothin' niggers. Stop yer' worrin' Baby Doll. I’m goin’ protect us.” Baby Doll... Baby Doll was his nickname for me. He's been calling me Baby Doll ever since I can remember. It's almost like when I had a name for him. Dad, daddy, father. In my mind, I don't know what to call him... so, to myself, I call him by his formal name, Mr. Bates, to myself. “I'm gonna protect us.” He said again quietly. Awkward silence crept before us. I stared at him as though I was staring death in the face. He kissed me on the head, and left the room without a word. I saw Mary Lou run off down the hall, doll in hand. I heard screaming and shouting from outside. “He won't do it” I said faintly to myself. I nearly jumped out of my skin when my thoughts were interrupted by two ear deafening gun shots. There was silence then. After a minute of thinking, I haltingly crept to the front door next to my mother. I saw Mr.Bates standing over two black men. I saw the other men and women who were with the two men stare at Mr.Bates in horror. I didn’t know any of the people that stood in front of my house, but they looked exactly the way I felt; petrified. Some of the other rioters ran away from our street, not looking back, almost tripping over their own feet. I saw our neighbors staring out the windows of their houses with blank but satisfied expressions on their faces. I heard my mother yelling for Mr.Bates to come back into the house. “Come on Thomas! Stop standin' there. Get in the house!” Mother told me to call the police, and give word that two negroes had been shot. It was a whole forty five minutes, until the police came and collected the bodies. Mr.Bates not being arrested was of no surprise. The police claimed to Lieutenant General, Martin Marin-Ellis, that, “Mr.Bates was only protecting his family from protesting niggers, and that they showed an act of violence first, leading him to take action.” When Mr.Bates was not arrested, my mother was smiling so hard her cheeks looked as though they could've fallen off. She wouldn’t know what to do if Mr.Bates was put in jail. Mary Lou was hiding from everyone. I was the only one who knew the location of her special hiding place. According to the family "friends," it was well known that Mary Lou was never supposed to be born. I couldn't say that it wasn't true. I was eight years old when I heard my parents arguing when my mother told Mr.Bates that she was pregnant again. Living within the nosy community of Birmingham, everyone knows everyone's business. I knew that in no time, all of the black people in town would soon refer to the Bates as being murderers, maybe even some whites. I needed to know that Mary Lou was prepared for what we would have to endure when we were to show ourselves in public. “Lil' Lady Bug, you ain’t gotta hide no more.” I could see and feel her big blue eyes staring straight through me. “Daddy killed two men Betty. And he ain't goin' ta jail. Why? When ya' kill people, ain't that a crime? Ain't you spose’ to go to jail?” I was unsure if I should tell her really why Mr.Bates didn't go to jail or not. I stared at her for a moment until I finally spoke. “The only reason he ain’t goin' ta jail is cuz the men he shot were black.” She looked as though she was thinking hard about something. “So. That don't matter. He still killed em.” She said slowly I was sure she would keep on asking questions if I did not fully explain. “The law don’t care much about negroes. They don’t have equal rights as the white’s in this town. Not just yet. I just want you to know what he did ain’t right.” I said in a quick whisper. She stared at me for a long time and nodded her head quickly. I couldn't tell what she was thinking. Her silence showed me that she understood. “Baby Doll? Where ya at?” Mr. Bates shouted. I looked at Mary Lou for a while longer before I left Mary Lou. I followed the sound of whispers to the kitchen. I watched Mr.Bates eyes follow me as I passed the threshold to the kitchen table. “Sit down Mary.” My mother said. I sat quietly and swiftly in the wooden chair. “Yes?” I said. They looked back and forth to each other before mother spoke. “We just want you to know that you're safe.” She said softly. “From who exactly?” I said curiously. I looked at them both as though I didn't know what they were talking about. Part of me was still in shock because of what Mr.Bates had done. I knew that I would never forget this day. They wouldn’t either. They were staring at me, just as I stared at them. I think they were trying to examine my emotions. I tried not to look either one of them in the eye. I looked out of the kitchen window, and cringed when I saw the pool of dried blood on the pavement. I wondered who would clean it up tomorrow. “From those... animals! They come roun’ here riotin’ an ‘complainin bout everythin’ and they wonder why us good white folk can’t stand ‘em. Can’t stand ‘em one bit.” Mr.Bates said with revulsion. I jumped a little, surprised by Mr.Bates rage towards me. My mother stared at her wedding ring. She didn’t look up once. Mr.Bates face showed unregrettable anger. He has never gotten mad at me before. Nonetheless ever stared at me with such hatred. I knew he wasn't mad at me, but he could surely make it look like he was. "Get on to bed Betty." Mr.Bates said sorrily. I got up from the table and walked slowly to my bedroom. As I rounded the corner I heard my parents whispering. It was hard to make out, but, I heard my mother say something to Mr.Bates about people trying hurting Mary Lou and I. I brushed the thoughts off quickly. As I got to my bedroom door I heard soft sobs coming from the bathroom. I saw Mary Lou lying in the bathroom tub, crying. I shook her lightly. “I don't wanna sleep in my room Betty. I'm scared." I could tell she had been crying for a while. “Why you afraid of sleepin' in your room?" I whispered. "I'm afraid of them men. I'm afraid they goin' come back and hurt us. "I looked at her fearful eyes. She knew certain people in this town probably wanted to hurt us, but I still wasn’t afraid of getting hurt, for some odd reason. “They can't never come back Mary. They ain't gonna hurt nobody, they can't... they won't, I promise.” She looked exhausted. Before she started to fall to sleep, I picked her up, and carried her to my bedroom. I looked out my window, and noticed that it was a full moon tonight, which meant everyone was going to be at The Hop. I knew every kid in town would be sneaking out of their houses to go. I've never been to The Hop before, but I do know that they even let the negroes in. I was unsure whether to go or not due to the tragic events that happened earlier today. Mary Lou was fast asleep in my bed. My parents had already headed to their bedroom. I would be back by three tomorrow morning, I planned. I saw that it was already 10:28. I didn’t have many friends, but I knew a lot of what went on in this town, such as the style. I couldn’t decide on whether to wear my new Rockabilly Pinup dress, or my Jerry Gilden sailor dress. The sailors who were overseas, were coming back to Birmingham, just to go to The Hop, and to find themselves a girl to wed. Mr.Bates is always hoping for me to catch a young mans eye to marry quicker than I think I should. I decided to wear my Rockabilly Pinup dress. I stared at myself in my bedroom mirror. "Long curled brown hair, hazel eyes, fair skin, skinny." I whispered quietly to myself. “What does he see?” I said to myself. Mr.Bates said I was a sight that could hold up traffic. My mother always said that I looked like those women in the picture shows, that I had the beauty of Lauren Bacall. I looked in the mirror a little longer before I did my hair. I had almost forgotten that I had my hair in pins. I took the pins out, and fixed my pins curls correctly. I put on my new white shoes to match my dress. I haven't done anything fun for a very long time. I was eager to get out of the house. School was starting in one week, and I hadn’t done anything fun since the school year ended. I left the house through my bedroom window. I crouched down on the side of my house, still debating with myself on whether I should go to The Hop or not. I stood back up, and quickly, but soundlessly crossed the yard to the sidewalk, and walked down the street. I crossed from one side of the road to other side. I saw two mixed girls from my school, that were around my age. It looked as though they were also heading to The Hop. They both wore swing dresses, and wingtip dance shoes. As I passed by, they stared at me, as if expecting me to make them move to the other side of the street. “Hi. Yall goin’ to The Hop tonight?” They looked at me in bewilderment, as if I wasn't the type of person who would talk to any people with even half black blood. They both knew me. The three of us went to Main-Reeland High School, but they were put in the new coloured section of the school. I have seen them many times, but I never knew much about them, or even their names. ¨Yeah. We heard them Wilson twins talking bout' it when we was comin’ from Mr.Leeson's store." I later found out their names. The first girl who had on a red dress with white polka dots over it's, name was Marina. The second girl's name was Lorina, and she wore a white dress with a black belt holding her waist. They were both sisters. They had very light colored skin, and they were very pretty. They were mixed, but to some they were still considered fully black, so they were treated like any other. “I'm surprised they be lettin' anyone in" Marina paused before speaking again. They were confused as to what to call themselves, white, or black. “Why you talkin’ to us? Ain’t your daddy shoot them two men in early mornin’? I heard they ain’t even did nothin’. Just protesting against them white folks. I bet if he eve found you out here, talkin’ with us, he’d shoot us dead too.” I was starting to regret ever leaving the house tonight. I didn’t want to have any other run-ins with anyone else knowing me as the daughter of Mr.Bates, negroe killer. I always wondered what it would be like to live in another family, or another town, and see what it felt like to live in a different skin colour. I wonder.