Take the Long Way Home, page 21
“Say what?”
“Pastry shops, Robert. The French are masters when it comes to baking.”
Smiling, Robert concentrated on winding linguine around the tines on his fork. “So, my wife doesn’t believe she’s sweet enough, so she feels the need to eat pâtisserie.”
“Your wife is very sweet, but it’s just that she’s addicted to macarons.”
“I suppose we’ll have to find a pâtisserie and buy some macarons.”
“No, we won’t. I’ve done nothing but eat since we’ve been here and if I continue eating like this, I won’t be able to fit into any of my clothes once I begin working.”
Robert folded his napkin and placed it next to his plate. He’d suggested honeymooning in New York City because it would give him the opportunity to introduce Claudia to the city he loved, and it would give him more time to spend with his mother.
“What if you don’t go to work, Claudia.”
Her shock was evident as soon as he’d issued that statement, when she gave him an incredulous stare. “You’re kidding me, aren’t you?”
Taking off his glasses, he took a handkerchief out of the pocket of his slacks and cleaned the lenses. “No, I’m not. What if after we buy the house you stay home to get used to relaxing.”
“Relaxing, Robert? Do you think I’ve spent the last four years of my life busting my brain to sit back and relax? Have you forgotten that I am a modern, educated woman who would like a career? I’m only twenty-two, so if you were to ask the same question at forty or even fifty-two, then maybe I would consider it.”
He replaced his glasses on the bridge of his nose. “It was only a suggestion.”
“A suggestion that is totally ridiculous.” She took a deep breath. “I promise to relax once we have children.”
“Are you going to go back to work after you become a mother?”
“It all depends.”
“On what, Claudia?”
“On what my job is. I would like to stay home until they are old enough to go to school. Then I would look for something part-time.” She slumped back in her chair. “Where is all this coming from, Robert? We talked about what we wanted for our future, so why have you changed your mind now?”
“It’s my mother.”
She blinked slowly. “What does your mother have to do with us?”
“My mother has had to be the breadwinner ever since she became a wife and mother. She would get up extra early in the morning to get me dressed to drop me off at my grandmother’s before she went to her school. Then she would come home exhausted after dealing with a classroom full of kids and picking me up. She’d cook dinner, put aside time with me before putting me to bed, then she was busy marking papers, or writing lesson plans. Monday through Friday she never had a break. It was only the summers when we had what she called our adventures. She called it her time to relax. July and August. Sixty straight days, Claudia. That’s how many days Ivy Moore had to relax out of three hundred sixty-five. And I’m not talking about the Christmas and Easter breaks.”
Claudia sat up straight and reached across the table to place her hand on his. “I am not your mother, Robert. And you are not your father. And I doubt whether I would’ve been as strong as your mother, given the hand she was dealt. Ivy Moore is an incredible woman, and when I grow up, I want to be like her. She’s intelligent, courageous, beautiful, and a superwoman. She’s the embodiment of what generations of Black women have had to do since we were kidnapped from Africa and enslaved here. She kept her family together when her husband and children were sold off, and it continues to this day. Your grandmother stepped up to take care of you when your mother had to work, and I’m certain my mother would do the same if the need arose with our children.”
Robert chided himself for bringing up the topic. It wasn’t that he didn’t want Claudia to have a career. He wanted her to take a break and enjoy being a wife. And he knew he had to stop comparing his childhood with hers.
He reversed their hands and gave her fingers a gentle squeeze. “I’m sorry if I upset you, because that wasn’t my intent. I just want you to know that when it comes to our marriage you will always have the option of a career or being a housewife.”
“Thank you, sweetheart.”
Robert felt as if he’d won a victory—albeit a small one. But still a victory.
Chapter 19
A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.
—Malcolm X
Claudia fell in love with Harlem. She’d felt the pulsing energy of 100 Twenty-Fifth Street from Eighth to Lenox Avenue, lined with small shops, a department store, five-and-dimes, restaurants, and coffee shops. Speakers outside the Record Shack blared the latest hits, and she was amused to see pedestrians stop, cut a step, then walk on as if no one was watching. Robert had tried to purchase tickets to a show at the Apollo, but they were sold out the day they had wanted to attend.
Robert had taken her on a walking tour of Striver’s Row on 139th Street; Lenox Avenue between 122nd and 123rd Streets with a preserved row of late-nineteenth-century homes. The exquisite brownstones were a startling contrast to the ever-present towering brick public housing dotting the Manhattan landscape.
A crowd had gathered around a man standing on a platform and there was something about his voice that drew her to him. “Robert, let’s go and see what he’s talking about.”
“That’s Malcolm X.”
“I’ve read about him, but I want to see him in person.”
Claudia managed to get close enough to get a glimpse of a slender, light-complected man with cropped reddish hair, and intense gray-green eyes that she felt when trained on someone could look into their soul. She was mesmerized—no, hypnotized—when he began saying what some civil rights leaders were reluctant to say. He said Black people didn’t land on Plymouth Rock; Plymouth Rock landed on us. Claudia felt as if he were speaking directly to her when he said, A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything. She nodded and whispered amen when he stated if Black people weren’t ready to die for it, then they should put freedom out of their vocabulary.
Claudia felt Robert tugging on her arm, and she slapped his hand away. “Stop it!”
“It’s time we leave,” he said in her ear. “He’s riling up the crowd, and more cops are heading this way.”
She had been so transfixed with what the former Malcolm Little was saying that she hadn’t noticed the growing police presence. “Okay.”
They walked back to where they could take the subway uptown, in silence. “You don’t agree with him, do you?” she said once they were back in their bedroom at his mother’s apartment.
Robert emptied his pockets and set his wallet, handkerchief, and keys on the bedroom dresser. “Who are you talking about?”
“Malcolm X.”
“He’s a troublemaker, Claudia.”
She sat on the bench at the foot of the bed. “Why? Because he speaks the truth?”
“He’s not a Christian and he’s also racist and militant.”
Claudia threw up her hands. “Do you hear yourself, Robert Moore? Are all members of the NAACP Christians? No,” she said, answering her own question. “I’m certain there are a few Muslims along with Christians and Jews that are Freedom Riders. Not everyone wears their religious affiliation on their sleeve when it comes to fighting for equality. Malcolm X is a Black man who was born in a state where the KKK threatened his father. They claimed he was spreading trouble because he was a local leader in an association that advocated self-reliance and Black pride in their children.”
“How do you know all of this?”
“I read, Robert. While you had your face in law books, I had mine in history books.” She patted the cushion on the bench. “Come and sit with me.” Claudia waited for him to sit next to her and reached for his hand, lacing their fingers together. “Even though you’re young, you think like the old folks who say they’ll wait for the law to change. Well, the laws do change, but at what cost? Black people are still being beaten and lynched while guilty parties go free. What are the odds of a White man in the South going to jail for killing a Black man?”
“It’s probably zero to none.”
“Probably? It’s zero, Counselor. Our lives don’t mean spit to them. What’s their expression: Mule die, buy another. Nigger die, hire another. They don’t even have to pay us in advance to get us to work for them. Aren’t we worth more than a mule, Robert?”
“Of course, we are.”
“Unfortunately, they don’t see it that way. To them we’re not essential, except when it comes to cleaning their homes, cooking their food, and taking care of their babies. I don’t advocate violence, but if someone comes along and he or she is not afraid of fighting fire with fire, then I’m all for it. And once we get back to Mississippi, I plan to get involved in registering our people to vote. Rather than bullets, we’re going to use the ballot box to get rid of the racists.”
Robert closed his eyes, not understanding where all this rhetoric was coming from. “Why are you talking like a militant?”
Shifting slightly, she turned to look directly at him. “I’m an activist, or better yet a freedom fighter, not a militant. I don’t want to take up arms to effect change. I want to use the White man’s laws and rules to beat him at his own game. You plan to challenge laws in the courtroom, while I plan to empower disenfranchised people who have been denied the right to vote.”
“Do you know how dangerous that is, Claudia?”
“Not as dangerous as a Black teenage boy being accused of whistling at a White woman.”
“What the fuck!” As soon as the curse slipped out, Robert wished that he could retract it as Claudia looked at him as if he were a stranger. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“But you did say it. And I hope it wasn’t directed at me because if it was, then I will leave you so fast you’ll forget what I ever looked like.”
Robert wrapped his arms around her body. “Baby, I love you too much to disrespect you like that. Will you please forgive me?”
“Yes, I forgive you. But no matter how angry we get with each other, I don’t want you to curse at me, and I promise not to curse at you.”
He smiled. “Are you giving me permission to let loose whenever I get fired up?”
Claudia brushed a light kiss over his mouth. “I’ve never seen you get fired up. The fact that you’re so calm and easygoing is the reason I fell in love with you.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. Do you want me to show you how much I love you?”
Robert didn’t believe he would ever get used to making love with Claudia. They’d become so attuned to each other that there wasn’t a need for foreplay. As soon as they were naked and after he’d put on a rubber to prevent an unplanned pregnancy, she opened her legs to him and that’s when he lost himself inside her warm, moist body.
* * *
Six weeks after Claudia and Robert moved into the house belonging to her parents, they were moving into their own home. They’d found a three-bedroom foreclosure that needed minor repairs, and when negotiating with the bank Claudia had convinced the mortgage official to lower the selling price to offset the cost of repairing the roof and plumbing. She’d waited until closing to ask about a position with the bank that had been advertised in the local paper, and when she asked the bank manager to be considered for the position he appeared noticeably flustered and told her the position had been filled. She’d given him a I know you are lying look, thanked him, and walked out.
“Lying piece of White shit,” she said under her breath as Robert opened the passenger-side door.
Robert came around and sat behind the wheel. “Don’t worry about him, baby. You don’t want to work in a place where you would be treated like the trash they are. You’re better than them.”
Claudia stared straight ahead. Robert had secured a position as an attorney for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, better known as SNCC, while she was still sending out résumés. Robert was right. She didn’t want to work at a place with a chip on her shoulder and say something that would endanger her life or those of her family members, and more than anything she did not want a repeat of what had happened ten years ago.
Moving back to Freedom didn’t cause the angst Claudia had anticipated. Many of the boys and girls she had gone to school with had married someone in another town or had moved away. She’d caught a glimpse of Janice with stairstep children trailing behind her, but didn’t say anything to her. It was obvious Butch Washington didn’t know when to stop making babies.
“How long do you think it will take to put a new roof on the house?” Robert asked her.
“It shouldn’t take more than a couple of days.”
“If it’s only a couple of days, then I’ll ask my supervisor for some time off.”
“You don’t have to do that, Robert. My father can come and check on the roofer. He recommended the man because he has done work for him in the past. Besides, you just started working and it wouldn’t look good for you to ask for days off.”
“Your father is a good man, Claudia.”
She smiled. “He really likes you.”
“That goes double for me. Your family is wonderful.”
Claudia rested her left hand on his arm, and the sunlight coming through the windshield fired the diamond on her engagement ring. “Remember, they are also your family.”
“I suppose that’s something you’ll never let me forget.”
Leaning to her left, she pressed a kiss on his ear. “Never ever.”
* * *
It was mid-August when all the repairs on the house were completed. Claudia felt ready to take up residence in her new home with her husband. She had used a portion of her savings to purchase furniture for the parlor, living and dining rooms, and her grandmother gave them a kitchen set as a housewarming gift. Earline, who’d begun complaining about her arthritic joints, had begun sleeping in the parlor because she’d found walking up and down the staircase difficult. Earl and Sarah had tried to convince her to sell her house and move in with them, but Earline was adamant about sharing the roof with another woman—especially if that woman was her daughter-in-law.
Claudia was unaware that her life would change the day she used her mother’s car to drive to Biloxi to do some banking. She always had a few résumés in her handbag, and when she walked into the building and came face-to-face with the manager, she greeted him with a smile.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Gaskin.”
“Good afternoon, Miss . . . Mrs. Moore. I keep forgetting that you’re now a married woman.”
Within days of returning from their honeymoon she and Robert had opened a joint account at the Black-owned bank. “I still have to get used to folks calling me Mrs. Moore.”
“How is your husband doing? He is a lawyer?”
Claudia nodded. “Yes, he is.”
“And how are you doing?”
“I’m well, but I’m still looking for a job.”
“What type of job?”
“Something in business.”
“Do you have a résumé?”
Claudia’s breath caught in her lungs and then she let it out slowly. “Yes, I do. I happen to have one with me.” She opened her handbag and handed him one of the envelopes.
“Please go do your banking while I look this over.”
She was too shocked to do anything more than nod. Claudia deposited Robert’s paycheck into their savings account and thanked the teller when she handed her back the book after recording the transaction. Mr. Gaskin met her and asked her to sit at his desk.
“I’m really impressed with your résumé, Mrs. Moore. I could use someone like you for our loan department. The young man who is currently in the position will be leaving to attend graduate school at the end of the week, so if you don’t mind working for a bank, I’d love to hire you. I will need a couple of letters of recommendation and your college transcript. I hope that won’t pose a problem for you.”
“Not at all,” Claudia said quickly. She paused and took a breath to slow down her runaway pulse. “I happen to have copies of my transcript and letters of recommendation at home.”
“When can you bring them?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“Good. Then I’ll look for you tomorrow. After I make a few calls can I get back to you at the number on your résumé?”
“The address and number belong to my parents. My husband and I just moved into our own home, so I’ll give you my telephone number. And that reminds me that I must change the contact information on our accounts.”
“You can do that at another time. Meanwhile just concentrate on getting me what I need to hire you. I’d like you to begin before Alan leaves so he can show what he’s been working on.”
Claudia extended her lace-gloved right hand. “Thank you, Mr. Gaskin.”
He took it, smiling. “No, thank you, Mrs. Moore, for coming in when you did.”
Claudia left the bank feeling as if she were walking on air. She got into the car and drummed her hands on the steering wheel. “I’ve got a job!” she whispered.
* * *
It was their first Christmas as a married couple, and Claudia and Robert had decided to open their home to family members for a festive dinner. Claudia had invited her parents, grandmother, and Aunt Mavis. When Robert’s mother declined their invitation because Ivy, her sister and brother-in-law, along with a small group of teachers, were going to Bermuda for a week, he’d called Yvonne, who’d enthusiastically accepted the offer because she and Stephen needed a change of scene and a respite from nonstop studying.
Yvonne and her husband arrived a day before Christmas Eve and Claudia hadn’t realized how much she’d missed her former roommate until she saw her again. They’d reverted to adolescent girls talking at the same time, and occasionally screaming at the top of their lungs as if they’d seen their favorite teen idol. Robert and Stephen were less effusive in their reunion when they’d sat in the living room watching television or in the parlor discussing cars, football, and politics.
