Page 106 of Meet Me on Greenwood

"You don't know—"

"Stop," he said again, and I did.

We stayed like that. His arm across my back. My hand flat against his chest feeling his heartbeat, steady and present and real.

At some point, I must have moved because I became aware that I was lying beside him in the narrow bed, his arm still around me, my head rested carefully on his shoulder so as not to disturb any of the bandaging. Neither of us had arranged this.

I didn’t know how much time had passed when the door opened.

Perry walked in, followed by C.J., who stopped in the doorway and took in the sight of us laying in the bed with an expression that moved through several phases before settling on something that was mostly relief.

Perry looked at us over his glasses. He had the decency not to comment.

"How are you feeling?" he asked Houston.

"Better," Houston said, keeping his arm around me.

Perry checked the chart and the bandaging as C.J. stood at the foot of the bed with his hat in his hands.

"The office is gone," C.J. said quietly. "I'm sorry Houston."

Houston was silent for a moment. "Donna"?"

"Will recover, thanks to you," Perry said. "She will need time."

Houston exhaled.

"There is something else," C.J. said. He looked at me briefly, then back at Houston. "It may not be safe to go home. Either of you." He turned his hat in his hands.

I closed my eyes.

I had known. It wasn’t supposed to happen for another year, but somehow the beginning of the racial tension was on our doorstep.

Houston's hand moved slowly up my back, seeming to note the fresh curls that tumbled past my shoulders.

"Whatever comes." His voice was quiet, speaking to me more than to C.J. "We face it."

"We could get you out," C.J. said, looking to me.

"She knows," Houston said.

C.J. nodded. "You’ve done so much for us. Use your own system to smuggle yourselves out."

Houston shook his head, sitting up. I moved off the bed to help him. "I’ve spent my whole life dreaming of building a life here. I can’t leave it."

"Go on an extended vacation. Come back when things die down."

"I’ll go with you," I croaked. "It’ll be an adventure."

Houston met my gaze, and for a second, I thought he was going to agree.

"We need to get home," he said at last. "Paul will be wondering where we are."

39

Houston

Colored Democrats To Form State Organization!