Shadows of St. Louis by Leslie Dubois Page B

later.
    “Are you sure? I don’t mind carrying you. We still have several blocks to go,” he said.
    “Where are we going?” Emma Lynn looked around for the first time. They weren’t headed back to the Goodwin home. “Are we going toward the shantytown?”
    Charles sighed then set her down on her feet. “This has been an awful birthday for you, hasn’t it?”
    “It’s all right. I wasn’t expecting much. It’s Mary Anna’s night anyway.”
    “The hell it is,” Rebecca Jane said. “She’s had hundreds of parties in her honor. This should have been your night. You deserve it.”
    “I don’t deserve anything,” Emma Lynn swallowed back tears. Though she honestly didn’t feel that way, she knew it was the truth. She certainly knew she didn’t deserve happiness with Henry. It was crazy for her to even think that was possible. “It’s just the way it is, Rebecca Jane.”
    “But it’s not the way it should be,” Charles said. “I … we … need to tell you something.”
    Charles and Rebecca Jane exchanged glances, but neither of them spoke.
    “Well? What is it?”
    “Just follow us. There is someone you need to meet.”
     
    Moments later, she Rebecca Jane and Charles entered a rickety shack built of two-by-fours and tin. It was dreadfully warm inside. Emma Lynn always imagined that the shantytown … homes, if you could call them that, reeked of sweat and human excrement. This one thankfully smelled of collard greens, as if the family had just finished dinner.
    Rebecca Jane made herself right at home and started helping two little girls clean the dishes.
    “Hi, Becky,” they said in unison. Why were they so comfortable with a white woman like Rebecca Jane entering their home? Emma Lynn was thoroughly confused.
    “Um, Charles? Where are we? Who are they?” Emma asked in a whisper as if the little girls wouldn’t be able to hear her in the small space.
    “I’m Lulu,” one girl said.
    “And I’m Josephine, but everyone calls me Tumpie ,” the other girl said with a bright smile. “I’m gonna be a famous singer one day just like Becky.” The girl smiled up at Rebecca Jane.
    “You sure are,” Rebecca Jane said, planting a kiss on her forehead.
    “They often don’t have anything to eat so Cecilia has them come over for dinner,” Charles said as Lulu, Tumpie , and Rebecca Jane set about cleaning up the kitchen area.
    “And who is Cecilia?” Emma Lynn asked.
    Just then a rather large black woman with smooth dark skinned appeared from behind a sheet. Emma Lynn assumed the sheet took the place of a door.
    “Well, I am Cecilia. The one and only,” the woman said, holding out her arms. Charles smiled and gave her a hug. “But you two need to hush, Jesse just fell asleep.” Her eyes fell on Emma Lynn. “My, my, you are just as pretty as Charles said you were. It’s nice to finally meet you.” She held out her hand, but Emma Lynn was too confused and frightened to realize she was supposed to do the same.
    “Charles, what is going on? Why are we here?”
    Charles sighed and grabbed her hand. “Come with me. It’s time you meet Jesse.” He pulled her behind the hanging sheet into a room with two mattresses on the floor. Emma Lynn assumed it was some sort of bedroom. On one of the mattresses lay a small child.
    Emma Lynn looked down at the little boy peacefully asleep. She couldn't figure out why both Charles and Rebecca Jane were so adamant about her meeting him. He was a pretty little boy of about two years of age. He had shoulder length smooth black hair that was more wavy than curly. It definitely wasn't normal Negro hair, but from his complexion Emma Lynn could tell he was in fact Negro.
    "He's beautiful. But I'm not sure why I need to meet him," Emma Lynn said as she tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. He stirred a little but his eyes remained shut.
    After sighing, Charles said, "Emma Lynn, this is my son." At the sound of Charles voice, the little boy opened his eyes.
    "Papa?"