Just Wanna Testify (19 page)

Aretha’s eyes filled with tears. “That’s what I keep telling myself, but I still feel like it’s my fault.”

“Well, don’t,” Abbie said firmly. “It isn’t.”

“It will be if I don’t call
Essence
and tell them under no circumstances should they use those photographs,” Aretha said, getting up to pace again. “It will be if—”

“Don’t call anyone,” Regina said, surprised at the sharpness in her own voice. Aretha froze. “Don’t tell anyone. Don’t do anything.”

No one said anything for a minute, and then Aretha sat down again next to Abbie.

“Don’t you get it?” Regina said softly. “Abbie and I have been up all night trying to find some way to get these vamps out of here without Blue and Peachy having to do something that will change them forever.”

“What do you mean?” Aretha whispered.

Abbie reached over to take her hand.

Regina said the words she’d been trying not to say all morning.

“I mean, you can’t drive a stake through a beating heart and emerge unscathed.”

When the big black Lincoln pulled up beside each boy and the driver stepped out to motion them over, their reactions were identical: They looked around for somewhere to run. But before they could will their feet to risk it, they remembered that black town cars were Blue Hamilton’s vehicle of choice. Panic gave way to desperate hope as they recalled their brief exchange with Mrs. Hamilton the day before. Maybe she had put in a good word with her husband after all. Maybe he wanted to tell them how he planned to save them. One by one, they piled into the car for what Jake promised would be a brief meeting with Mr. Hamilton at the West End News. They wished they could ask one another what was up, but they were too intimidated to do anything but make eye contact and hope for the best.

Henry met them at the rear door and ushered them immediately into the back room where Blue stood waiting for them. They filed in with their heads bowed and stood in a line in front of Blue as if they had been called to the principal’s office. Henry’s massive, silent presence behind them blocked their only possible escape. Blue didn’t say anything for a good thirty seconds. He just looked from one young man to the next, and even though none of them had the nerve to lift their eyes, they could feel his stare like it was burning a hole in their scalps.

“Look at me,” Blue said finally, his voice harsh. They raised their heads slowly, each boy hoping his eyes would not be the first pair he would meet. As it turned out, that distinction went to Stan Hodges. Blue gazed at him so long, Stan actually thought he might pass out. He had never seen eyes that cold. Even on the vampires, there was a spark of
something
moving. But there was no light in Blue Hamilton’s eyes.

“I understand that when you came to see me for help a few days ago, you neglected to mention a very important element of your dilemma.”

The boys could feel one another’s discomfort, but they kept their eyes locked on Blue. Nobody said a word. They realized he probably didn’t expect them to.

“But this morning it came to my attention that you already have a possible solution to your problem. Anybody want to tell me what that is?”

Four heads turned to their unofficial spokesman. Stan Hodges took a deep breath to calm himself as best he could before trying to explain the situation in a way that didn’t make them look like complete fools.

“We have an escape clause.”

“And what are the terms of that clause?”

Stan swallowed and looked at Jerome for backup.

“Well, Mr. Hamilton,
sir
, it was kind of like a character-witness thing.”

“Be specific.”

“If we can produce one woman who would come forward and speak on our behalf, we don’t have to go.”

“I see,” Blue said. “Then what is the problem?”

Jerome’s nerves failed him and he looked over at Jackson.

“There have been some issues,” Jackson said. “Some communication problems, you might say.”

Blue frowned. “What does that mean?”

“You know how it is with women,” Lance said, and was immediately sorry when he saw Blue’s expression. “I mean
sometimes
, how it is with
some
women. You can’t please them no matter what you do.”

Stan tried to steer the conversation back around to the matter at hand. “The thing is, Mr. Hamilton, all these particular women have to do is vouch for us one time and we’re free to go, but they refuse. And no matter what we say, they won’t budge. We need somebody to talk to these women, to help make them come to their senses. That’s really why we came to you, but we didn’t know exactly how to explain it.”

“I see,” Blue said again and looked at each of them in turn. “You want me to convince some women I’ve never met to absolve you of whatever crimes made them cut you loose in the first place, not because you’re sorry and you want to make it right, but because you’re trying to get out of a deal you made of your own free will?”

There was a long moment of silence. They searched their brains for a more positive spin, a more generous interpretation of the question, but the silence lengthened and grew, and still nobody said a word.

Finally, Lance leaned forward and tried a small, ingratiating smile. “I mean, look, Mr. Hamilton, nobody’s perfect, right? We’re young. Nobody taught us how to treat women, so we’re going to make some mistakes until we figure it out, right?”

From where Henry stood, he thought Blue looked more sad than angry. The boys squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze.

Stan couldn’t stand it any longer. “Mr. Hamilton, we’re begging you. Please help us.”

“I won’t give aid or assistance to your enemies,” Blue said. “But I can’t stand with you. I think your witnesses have the right to their own opinions.”

Henry opened the door behind them and they realized to their dismay that the conversation was over. Jerome and Hayward looked like they were about to cry. Lance’s expression was a twisted mask of disbelief. Stan caught a glimpse of Jackson’s terrified face beside him and appealed to Blue one last time.

“I know you don’t have to help us, Mr. Hamilton.” His voice was flat and miserable. “I don’t pretend to understand why you won’t, but before you write us off, I beg you to ask yourself one question. What kind of women would send a man off to such a terrible fate just because he exercised a little bad judgment?”

Blue’s eyes were hard and his voice was cold. “Any time your life is at stake and you can’t find even one woman to come forward and say, ‘This is a good man,’ your problem isn’t what kind of women
they
are. Your problem is what kind of men
you
are.”

Regina was glad Peachy had brought so much food. When she and Blue found themselves alone in the kitchen at the end of the long, strange day, it was good to have the makings of a great meal already at hand. She told Blue that Aretha was still pretty freaked out, but that she had agreed to not to call the people at
Essence
and read them the riot act for hiring her to photograph some vampires, in the interest of keeping down a general panic when it would dawn on the magazine people that she wasn’t kidding.

At Regina’s suggestion, she had sent Joyce Ann to spend a few days at her father’s house in midtown until things settled down without mentioning the real reason she wanted her daughter out of West End. Aretha trusted Blue with her life, but this was different and they all knew it. Sweetie was spending the night with Abbie, and one of Blue’s most trusted associates would be parked right outside
until she was safely home in the morning. Regina needed to talk to Blue alone.

“So that’s all I’ve got,” she said, wanting to know more about Blue’s meeting with Serena than he’d been willing to tell her on the phone. “Your turn.”

Blue leaned over to where he had hung his jacket on the back of a kitchen chair and took out the contract Serena had given him earlier.

“There’s an escape clause,” Blue said. “If any of the guys can find a woman who will speak up on his behalf, the contract is null and void and everybody’s free as a bird.”

Regina felt relieved. “Then what’s the problem? I’ll speak up for them if that’s all they need.”

Blue shook his head and handed her the bulky white envelope. “It has to be somebody who knows them a little better than you do. Somebody they designated when they first signed up.”

Regina flipped through the pages of the contract quickly, her eyes scanning for the words
escape clause
. “What do you mean? Like a testimony to their good character?”

“Something like that,” Blue said. “They’ve got specific language for what she has to say.”

“Here it is,” she said, reading aloud. “The woman listed below will stand before a company of not less than ten people and both signatories and swear and affirm the following. This man is a good man who can be trusted to tell the truth, live peacefully among others, assist in the care and raising of his children, and contribute to the overall stability and productivity of his community.”

Regina frowned. “So why don’t they call up these designees and send the vampire girls packing?”

“Because none of the women they listed will come forward.”

“You don’t mean these women are prepared to just let these guys go?”

“That seems to be the situation.”

Regina couldn’t believe Blue was serious. “Does it say anything about who they are to these guys?”

“Look on the last page,” Blue said.

Regina turned to it. “High school sweetheart, best friend, neighbor, babymama, grandmother.” She looked up. “Grandmother?” Blue nodded. “That’s what it says.”

“Do they know their silence will be consigning these boys to death?”

“I don’t think they care.”

“That’s not possible.” Regina stood up and walked over to the back window. Outside, the moon was lighting up the freshly turned garden, and she felt like the ground where she was standing had shifted underneath her feet. Had it finally come to this? Had all the bad times and betrayals finally broken the bonds she thought were unbreakable? She turned back to her husband, who was watching her intently.

“Black women have defended black men against everything from the slave master to the crack pipe ever since our feet hit American soil,” she said. “It’s who we are! There is no way five black women are going to surrender our best and brightest to some vampires without a fight!”

“Apparently in this case that code isn’t being observed,” Blue said. “The reason the boys came to me was to ask for my help in convincing those women to change their minds.”

“Then that’s what you have to do,” Regina said. “There’s not a woman in West End who would refuse to step up once you make them understand what’s at stake.”

“I can’t do that, Gina.”

She turned back to Blue. “Why not?”

“I’m not prepared to second-guess a woman who tells me she’s lost respect for a man,” he said. “I have to respect her truth. Isn’t that what you always tell me?”

“Black women don’t have the luxury of walking away from our men.”

“Even when they fall short of the mark?”

“
Especially
when they fall short of the mark.”

He raised her palm and kissed it softly, his mustache tickling just enough to make her wish somebody would call and say it was all a mistake, but she knew that was just a dream. This was real life, and she was going to have to figure out a way to deal with it,
vamps and all
.

“That’s not much of a deal, is it?” Blue said softly.

“You know what my grandmother used to say?”

“What, baby?”

“It’s not what you like. It’s what you get used to.”

“So what are you going to do?” Blue said.

Regina didn’t blink. “I’m going to go see those women myself and see if I can get them to agree to give these boys one more chance to get it right.”

“What if they don’t deserve another chance?”

“Everybody deserves another chance.” Regina sighed.

Something in her weariness moved her husband. It was the same weariness he had seen in his mother’s face when she tried to find something to love in between his father’s angry rampages. It was the smallest glimmer of a desperate hope that something would change for the better, even when it never did.
Everybody deserves another chance
. Who was he to deny her that?