“Come on now, Christine. You are ninety-two years old and that was 1945. You can’t possibly still feel that way,” I said to myself. But I did, I still loved him. Wiping the tears from my eyes, I saw a car pull into my drive way. It was my great granddaughter, Courtney.
“Hey Grandma!” Courtney yelled with excitement and a smile on her face. As she walked closer to the porch, I could tell she noticed my sadness. She sat next to me and put her arm around me.
“What’s wrong grandma?”
“Oh honey its nothing. Don’t worry yourself about me. How are your classes going?”
“My classes are fine grandma. Now tell me what’s bothering you. Come on, you can talk to me about anything.”
She looked very concerned about me. I had never told anybody about Johnny. Maybe it was time for me to let this go. I turned to Courtney and held her hand. I then looked into her eyes and told her about Johnny.
It was January of 1945. I was getting off of work and my sister Sarah was waiting for me outside. She knew that I didn’t like to walk home alone so she would always be there when I got off. But this day she wasn’t by herself. She introduced me to her friends Mary, Valerie, and Valerie’s brother Johnny. He stood there, six foot three...smooth honey complexion...chocolate brown eyes, and a smile that could light the darkest night. From that day on, Johnny and I grew closer and closer. When I got off of work, it would be Johnny waiting for me instead of Sarah. I fell in love with Johnny, and one day while walking home he told me he loved me too.
As soon as I got home, I ran to Sarah’s room to tell her about my walk home. When I reached her doorway, I saw Sarah sitting on her bed crying with a swollen lip.
“What the hell happened to you?
“It’s nothing Christine. I’m okay.”
“Your lip is plumped like a cooked sausage and you say it’s nothing? Girl, you better start talking right now.”
“Damn Christine, okay! I was at the corner store with Valerie buying some Mary Janes. Some white girl name Barbara come up to Valerie and say she gon have Johnny’s baby. Now me and Valerie know that wasn’t true cuz of you. So Barbara got mad and went and told her brother that Johnny tried to feel her up. I was mad and wasn’t thinking about what I was saying and I told her brother that she was a liar. Then he swung and hit me.”
I was so pissed that I left the house looking for that damn Barbara. On my way to the corner store, I crossed paths with Johnny. Already knowing what happened, he talked to me and was able to talk me out of going to the corner store, but I was still pretty pissed off. He convinced me to go home and be with Sarah. He even walked me home just to make sure I did as he said. About half a mile away from my street, I spotted a group of white boys on bikes. Johnny stopped dead in his tracks when he realized who the boys were. One was Barbara’s brother and the other four were his friends. Johnny and I thought that if we just kept to ourselves that we could make it to my house somewhat safely. It didn’t go that way at all.
As soon as the boys noticed Johnny, they jumped him. Two guys held me up against the street lamp while Barbara’s brother and the other two boys punched, stomped, and kicked Johnny. People eventually heard my screams and chased off the white boys. Johnny was bloody and sore all over his body, but he was okay. That was April 24th.
The next day when I got off of work, no one was waiting outside for me. Thinking about what happened the day before, I ran home as fast as I could. Sarah was holding Valerie in her arms in front of the house when I got there.
“What’s wrong with Valerie?”
“Christine, something bad happened. Johnny….”
“What about Johnny?”
“I don’t know exactly how to say it. Christine, I’m sorry.”
“Sarah if you don’t tell me what the hell is going on I’m gon slap the black off you.”
“They killed my brother!” Valerie screamed and fell to her knees crying.
I couldn’t believe that. I didn’t want to believe that. I walked up to Valerie telling her that she had to be mistaken or just plain crazy because my Johnny couldn’t be dead. That’s when I noticed the blood on her hands and shirt. It was true. My Johnny was dead. They beat him until he wasn’t moving and then just threw him in his front yard. Valerie and her mom were at work so he laid there dying. By the time a neighbor walked by, it was too late.
That was it, my story of Johnny. Courtney, who had tears in her eyes, hugged me really tight. I showed her the two pictures, one of me and Johnny and the other was just Johnny. We both sat there looking at the pictures. We didn’t know what to say to each other. I looked over at Courtney and she was smiling. Then she looked up into the sunlit sky and whispered, “Man, you really loved him.” She was right. I did really love him, and I still do.
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