me. Blood is a hell of a lot thicker than sympathy. “You can’t carry that around on your shoulders.”
“Back during the sixties,” he says, hanging his stethoscope on a coat rack, “I was tempted to ask some of those Northern college kids over to the house. Give them some decent food, a little encouragement. But I never did. I knew what the risks were, and I was afraid to take them.”
“You had a wife and two kids. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”
“I don’t. But Del Payton had a wife and child too.”
“Mom told me you patched up two civil rights workers from Homewood after the doctor over there refused to do it. They were beaten half to death, she said.”
He looks disgusted. “I did take the Hippocratic oath, goddamn it.”
“I guess that Homewood doctor forgot it.”
Anger and shame fill his eyes. “It wasn’t enough. What I did was not enough.”
I stand and take my keys out of my pocket. “Nobody white did enough. Payton’s killers will pay sooner or later. It just won’t be me who makes them do it.”
Dad takes off his lab coat and hangs it on the rack. “If you don’t, Penn, I don’t think anybody else will.”
“So be it.”
CHAPTER 8
Dad and I are dressing for the Perry party—me in a sport jacket borrowed from his closet—when the phone rings beside his bed. He reaches for it without looking, the movement as automatic as scratching an itch.
“Dr. Cage,” he says, waiting for a description of symptoms or a plea for narcotics. His face goes slack, and he presses the phone against his undershirt. “It’s Shad Johnson.”
“Who’s that?”
“The black candidate for mayor.”
“What does he want?”
“You. Want me to say you’re not here?”
I reach for the receiver. “This is Penn Cage.”
“Well, well,” says a precise male voice in the middle register, a voice more white than black. “The prodigal son himself.”
I don’t know how to respond. Then a fragment of Dad’s thumbnail sketch of local politics comes to me: Shad Johnson moved home to Natchez from Chicago specifically to run for mayor. “I hear the same could be said of you, Mr. Johnson.”
He laughs. “Call me Shad.”
“How can I help you, Shad?”
“I’d like you to come see me for a few minutes. I’d come to you, but you might not want the neighbors thinking we’re any closer than we are. News travels fast in this town. Like those Payton women coming to see you this morning.”
A wave of heat rolls up the back of my neck. “I have no intention of getting involved in local politics, Mr. Johnson.”
“You got involved the second you talked to the newspaper about Del Payton.”
“Consider me uninvolved.”
“I’d like nothing better. But we still need to talk.”
“We’re talking now.”
“Face to face. I’m over at my campaign headquarters. You’re not afraid to come to the north side of town, are you?”
“No.” My father is straining hard to hear both sides of the conversation. “But I’ve got to be somewhere in an hour.”
“Not that fund-raiser for Wiley Warren, I hope?”
Shad Johnson obviously has the town wired. I’m about to beg off when he says, “You and your family are in danger.”
I fight the impulse to overreact. “What are you talking about?”
“I’ll tell you when you get here.”
“Give me your address.”
“Martin Luther King Drive. It’s a storefront setup, in a little strip mall.”
“Where’s Martin Luther King Drive?”
“Pine Street,” Dad says, looking concerned.
“That old shopping center by the Brick House?” I ask, recalling a shadowy cinder-block bar I went to once with two black guys I spent a summer laying sewer pipe with.
“That’s right. But it’s not the Brick House anymore, just like it’s not Pine Street anymore. Times change, counselor. You on your way?”
“Give me fifteen minutes.”
“What the hell did he want?” Dad asks, taking the phone from me and hanging it up.
“He said our
“Back during the sixties,” he says, hanging his stethoscope on a coat rack, “I was tempted to ask some of those Northern college kids over to the house. Give them some decent food, a little encouragement. But I never did. I knew what the risks were, and I was afraid to take them.”
“You had a wife and two kids. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”
“I don’t. But Del Payton had a wife and child too.”
“Mom told me you patched up two civil rights workers from Homewood after the doctor over there refused to do it. They were beaten half to death, she said.”
He looks disgusted. “I did take the Hippocratic oath, goddamn it.”
“I guess that Homewood doctor forgot it.”
Anger and shame fill his eyes. “It wasn’t enough. What I did was not enough.”
I stand and take my keys out of my pocket. “Nobody white did enough. Payton’s killers will pay sooner or later. It just won’t be me who makes them do it.”
Dad takes off his lab coat and hangs it on the rack. “If you don’t, Penn, I don’t think anybody else will.”
“So be it.”
CHAPTER 8
Dad and I are dressing for the Perry party—me in a sport jacket borrowed from his closet—when the phone rings beside his bed. He reaches for it without looking, the movement as automatic as scratching an itch.
“Dr. Cage,” he says, waiting for a description of symptoms or a plea for narcotics. His face goes slack, and he presses the phone against his undershirt. “It’s Shad Johnson.”
“Who’s that?”
“The black candidate for mayor.”
“What does he want?”
“You. Want me to say you’re not here?”
I reach for the receiver. “This is Penn Cage.”
“Well, well,” says a precise male voice in the middle register, a voice more white than black. “The prodigal son himself.”
I don’t know how to respond. Then a fragment of Dad’s thumbnail sketch of local politics comes to me: Shad Johnson moved home to Natchez from Chicago specifically to run for mayor. “I hear the same could be said of you, Mr. Johnson.”
He laughs. “Call me Shad.”
“How can I help you, Shad?”
“I’d like you to come see me for a few minutes. I’d come to you, but you might not want the neighbors thinking we’re any closer than we are. News travels fast in this town. Like those Payton women coming to see you this morning.”
A wave of heat rolls up the back of my neck. “I have no intention of getting involved in local politics, Mr. Johnson.”
“You got involved the second you talked to the newspaper about Del Payton.”
“Consider me uninvolved.”
“I’d like nothing better. But we still need to talk.”
“We’re talking now.”
“Face to face. I’m over at my campaign headquarters. You’re not afraid to come to the north side of town, are you?”
“No.” My father is straining hard to hear both sides of the conversation. “But I’ve got to be somewhere in an hour.”
“Not that fund-raiser for Wiley Warren, I hope?”
Shad Johnson obviously has the town wired. I’m about to beg off when he says, “You and your family are in danger.”
I fight the impulse to overreact. “What are you talking about?”
“I’ll tell you when you get here.”
“Give me your address.”
“Martin Luther King Drive. It’s a storefront setup, in a little strip mall.”
“Where’s Martin Luther King Drive?”
“Pine Street,” Dad says, looking concerned.
“That old shopping center by the Brick House?” I ask, recalling a shadowy cinder-block bar I went to once with two black guys I spent a summer laying sewer pipe with.
“That’s right. But it’s not the Brick House anymore, just like it’s not Pine Street anymore. Times change, counselor. You on your way?”
“Give me fifteen minutes.”
“What the hell did he want?” Dad asks, taking the phone from me and hanging it up.
“He said our
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