CHAPTER FIVE THE PLAN
CHAPTER
FIVE
The Plan
Cora paced the floor of Lee’s hospital room, her insides flip-flopping and buzzing, like a swarm of June bugs. ‘He’s selling it cheap because he’d have to invest too much in it for it to be rentable again and he just wants to be rid of it.’
Lee lay still in his bed and watched her pace.
‘It’d be the land from the river to Green’s Whiskey, plus the side lot to the east.’
‘You just got evicted,’ Lee said, his speech heavy and labored. ‘I lost everything in the fire that we didn’t bring to Uncle Drew’s, and he’s spent his entire savings on my hospital bills. Where are we supposed to come up with the money?’
‘Benny could get a loan.’
‘He already has a mortgage. They won’t give him another.’
‘No,’ Cora said, coming up to his bedside. ‘A GI business loan. He can start a company and build twenty houses. Thirty even. For all of us.’
Lee rolled onto his side to face her, wincing. ‘They’ll never give him money to build colored houses, no matter how white he looks.’
‘So, we don’t tell them,’ she said, pacing again. ‘They won’t know who they’re for until it’s too late.’
He held out his hand to her and she went to him, weaving her fingers into his. ‘You’re beautiful, Cora May North.’
‘Now you’re just trying to get on my good side after pooh-poohing my idea.’
‘You light up when you get excited. Did you know that?’
‘Okay, fine. You’re forgiven.’ She leaned down and kissed his cheek and climbed into the bed behind him, slipping her arm around his waist. ‘This is gonna work, Lee. I know it will.’
‘Talk to Uncle Drew before you do anything. I mean, if the city suddenly declares it a white neighborhood it would all be for nothing.’
‘I already talked to him.’ As she spoke, she stroked his arm, his shoulder, his chest. ‘The government can’t zone us out of neighborhoods any more.
There was a Supreme Court case to decide it.
Now, it’s only private covenants and people’s prejudices that keep us out.
’ She traced his scars with a feather-light touch. ‘This could work, Lee.’
He squeezed her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing her fingers. ‘I’m proud of you.’
Snuggling against his back, she breathed him in, finding his scent underneath the medicine and disinfectant smells of the hospital. It made her believe in impossible things. ‘Don’t be proud yet,’ she said. ‘I haven’t done anything.’
‘Yes, you have,’ he said. ‘You’ve set your mind to it. That’s a bigger step than most ever take.’
The next day she called a meeting at Aunt Teen’s and asked Uncle Drew to be there. When she told them the plan, Momma, Patsy and Aunt Teen all looked at her like she’d lost her marbles.
‘This is a fool crazy idea,’ Momma said. ‘I swear your brother’s recklessness is rubbing off on you.’
‘Momma, it’s a good idea that could work,’ Cora said. ‘That’s why Uncle Drew’s here. He’s checked out a few things for us and he thinks we can pull this off.’
‘In theory, those loans are for everybody,’ Uncle Drew said. ‘So, since the local good-ole-boys don’t give them out fairly, the idea is to make justice color blind for once. The law is on our side.’
Momma sucked her teeth hard. ‘This is crazy. And dangerous. And what’s the point if they’re just gonna keep taking everything away?’
‘I hear you, Janie,’ Uncle Drew said. ‘But you may as well ask what’s the point of breathing if one of these days you’re just gonna die. Our life is the point, and how we mean to live it. We are worth the fight.’
‘You’re not the one they’ll be dragging from his bed one night.’
‘Are you sure about that?’
With the newspaper articles, Uncle Drew had stayed behind the scenes, but when word got out about this, he’d need to step into the ring, fight them with the law, his name alongside Benny’s in the papers.
‘Benny thinks we should do it,’ Cora said. ‘Lee thinks we should do it. Uncle Drew and I think we should do it.’
‘I think we should do it too,’ Patsy said.
‘You don’t need to get mixed up in this,’ said Aunt Teen.
‘Momma, we’re all mixed up in all of it, whether we want to be or not. The only question is, do you want to do something about it?’
‘Are you trying to wind up in that hospital next to Lee?’ Aunt Teen hissed.
‘We’re supposed to be equal citizens under the law with equal chances,’ Cora said. ‘But every one of us knows that’s never been true. We need to make them play by their own rules.’
‘There’s a heavy price for having principles,’ Momma said. ‘And this family’s done paid enough prices.’
‘I understand how you feel, Momma. It’s not wrong for you to want some peace. Lord knows you deserve it. But me and Patsy and Benny and Uncle Drew and even Lee, we’re ready for this fight.’
Momma stared hard at Cora, arms crossed and shoulders hunched. Then she sat back in her chair, her mouth drawn into a tight line. Aunt Teen turned her face to the wall. It was as much agreement as Cora could hope for.
‘Well, now that that’s settled,’ Uncle Drew said, clearing his throat, ‘the first thing we need in here is a telephone.’