Chapter 2: 1968, Extended family

It was January in Georgia, and there was a light snow covering the ground. "How are the girls doing today," Terry asked his mother. "Toni's sick in the bed and we're all cold," she replied. "I'll get us a good fire going," he promised.

2 He tossed a couple of logs onto the fireplace and headed for the garage to get some gasoline. His mother held his youngest daughter while the oldest looked on at her side.

3 "Get back a little," he cautioned. He picked up the gas can and doused the wood with a generous amount of the liquid. In his hurry to get the fire started, Terry was careless and splashed a little bit on the sleeve of his shirt.

4 Then he set the can down and reached for the box of matches on the mantle. He grabbed one of them and quickly pulled it across the strike pad, and a small yellow flame roared to life. Terry quickly tossed it into the fireplace, and the course of his family's story was altered forever.

5 There was a flash and a whoosh as the fire momentarily enveloped him. His mother gasped and involuntarily stepped away from her son and the fire. Terry was still in a state of shock, and his shirt was on fire.

6 Instinct kicked in, and he ripped his shirt off his torso and flung it across the room. Unfortunately, it landed on the drapes, and they immediately erupted into flames. Suddenly, there was fire everywhere.

7 Terry grabbed his mother and his daughters and pushed them toward the door. When they were safely outside, he turned to go back to get Toni.

8 "Don't go back in there!" his mother screamed. The fire had spread quickly, and the flames were now leaping into the air over the roof. Black smoke was now billowing out of the front door. "I've got to get Toni," he shouted.

9 The heat was intense, and he couldn't see anything as he reentered the house. Even so, he finally managed to find the door to the bedroom and rushed inside. The little girl was very frightened as she stared at the now blackened man before her.

10 "Gotta go, Ton," he calmly told her as he scooped her into his arms and headed for the window. The glass shattered into many pieces, and Toni's foot landed on one of them when she hit the ground.

11 He quickly retrieved the little girl and moved her further away from the now fully engulfed house behind them. As they rejoined the others in the yard, Terry pulled the glass out of his daughter's foot and deposited her beside her grandmother.

12 When he set her down, Toni noticed that she was covered in black flakes. Years later, she would realize that those flakes were pieces of her father's skin.

13 "I've got to go get help," he told them. Then he turned and started walking toward their nearest neighbor's house.

14 They lived in the country, and it seemed like an eternity as they waited for him to return. They just stood there, shivering in the cold and watching the house burn down to the ground. They didn't want to see it, but they couldn't seem to look away. Even so, the spell was finally broken when Terry returned in their neighbor's car.

15 "Get in," he shouted. "We've got to go get your mama at the skating rink," he explained. "You've got to get to the doctor," his neighbor interjected.

16 "Are you gonna die, Daddy?" Toni asked from the back seat. "I'll never leave you, Ton," he assured her as he shook his head in disbelief.

17 "I did this!" Terry exclaimed in obvious horror. "This is my mistake," he continued. "Don't beat yourself up over this, you saved your family," his neighbor reminded him. "Thank God for that," he agreed.

18 Terry slipped into a coma and died a few days later. In his haste to warm up the house, he had made a critical lapse in judgment. Nevertheless, to his family, he was a hero.

19 "I am so proud of him," Doodle sobbed when she received the news. "I am so proud that he was my nephew," she repeated as she wiped the tears from her cheek. "He sacrificed his own life to save his babies," she told her own grandchildren.

20 The message to them was clear: Terry's actions that day hadn't just been courageous. They were an expression of true love and devotion. This was the way parents were supposed to act. Terry’s death had also underscored for all of them the importance of family.

21 The following summer, Doodle was a little apprehensive about taking the boys to see Aunt Lula Miller. She wanted the boys to meet their extended family, and she had always loved her aunt; but there was no getting around the fact that Lula Mae was extremely prejudiced.

22 Doodle had been exposed to this stuff for most of her life. And, although she could forgive a great deal of it as simple ignorance, she did not want her grandchildren infected with the nonsense.

23 As Clayton pulled into the driveway, she glanced at the boys playing in the backseat and frowned. “Get your shoes on,” she told them. “Remember your manners, boys,” she instructed as she pushed open her door and placed her foot on the ground.

24 Lula Mae was already out of her front door and running toward the car with her arms open by the time Lonnie and Steven had climbed out of the backseat. “Lord, Doodle, come over here and let me love on you a little!” she cried. She threw her arms around Edna’s neck and kissed her on the cheek. “Oh, Lord, it’s been so long,” she continued. “You look just like your daddy!”

25 After a few minutes of that, Lula noticed Clayton and the boys. “Come here, Clayton, and let me hug your neck,” she demanded. “Oh my, look at these little fellers! They sure are sweet.” She absent-mindedly patted Lonnie on the shoulder with one hand and mussed up Steven’s hair with the other.

26 “Look at that little redhead! I bet you’ve got a temper!” she exclaimed with a laugh. “Y’all come on in,” she invited as she moved toward the house.

27 After getting everyone a piece of watermelon and a Double Cola, she stood in the middle of her kitchen floor watching them eat. “That melon came out of my garden,” Lula told them with obvious pride.

28 “Lord have mercy! That child sure does love watermelon,” she continued as she pointed to Lonnie. “There’s got to be a nigger in the woodpile somewhere!” she laughed.

29 When her guests had finished eating, Lula directed them into the living room and finally relaxed into her rocking chair. “How is Wayne?” she asked. “Doing well, he had to work this week,” Edna explained. “Well there’s nothin wrong with that – wish more people was willin to work,” Lula approved.

30 “Does he still study the Bible?” she asked. “Oh yes, Wayne knows quite a bit about the Bible,” Doodle assured her. “Oh, I know he does,” Lula grinned. “I’m so proud of him!”

31 “Lonnie likes for me to read him the Bible too,” Doodle continued. “Is that right?” Lula smiled. “Do you know that God loves you, honey?” she asked the child. Lonnie nodded in affirmation that he was aware of that fact.

32 “Bless your little heart, Aunt Lula has got something for you!” she exclaimed with obvious delight. She quickly pushed herself up out of her chair and disappeared down the hallway.

33 In a moment, she returned with a large, white, leather-bound Bible and presented it to the child. “This is God’s Word, child,” she explained. “Every word in here is true. If you’ll live by those words, God will bless you!” she told him as Lonnie opened the book and began turning the pages.

34 “What do you say?” Edna reminded her grandson. “Thank you, Aunt Lula,” the little boy offered in a shy voice. “You are so welcome, honey,” Lula beamed.

35 “How is Eugene doing?” Edna asked. “Oh, Doodle, he is doing so well. I am so proud of him,” Lula responded.

36 Then, in a flash, she was up again and headed back down the hallway. She stopped in front of one of the walls and removed something that had been hanging there and returned. She handed it first to Edna.

37 “Doesn’t he look so handsome in his robes?” she asked. It was a picture of her son in his Klan robes. “He looks healthy,” was all that Edna could manage.

38 Lula quickly retrieved the picture with some obvious disappointment showing on her pleasant face and handed it to Clayton. “The Ku Klux clowns!” Clayton chuckled. The smile faded from Lula’s face.

39 “It’s just that we don’t approve of that kind of blind prejudice,” Edna attempted to explain. “I ain’t prejudiced against niggers, as long as they stay in their place!” Lula exclaimed. The look of distaste on Edna’s face made her aunt pause for a second before proceeding.

40 “Haven’t y’all been followin the news?” she demanded. “Colored folks have been stirrin up all kinds of trouble down here. Why just the other day, one of our garbage men dumped a whole trash can full of garbage in our driveway just because Eugene had a George Wallace bumper sticker on his car!”

41 “Oh, my!” Edna offered in mock surprise. “Well, Aunt Lula, we’ve only got a little bit of time, and we’ve got to go see Pearl before we go back to Ohio,” she told her as she stood to leave.

42 “Well, honey, I thought you’d stay and eat with me!” Lula pouted. “I wish we could, but I promised Pearl that I would visit her today too,” Edna repeated.

43 “Well, I sure am glad y’all stopped by to see me,” Lula replied in bewilderment. “I am too,” Doodle agreed as she gathered up the boys and headed for the door.

44 “Clayton, you bring them back to see me real soon,” she said. At that, Clayton stopped and hugged her around the neck. That seemed to restore Lula’s sense of equilibrium, and her smile and warmth quickly reappeared. She stood in her front yard waving as the car pulled out of her driveway and headed down the road.

45 Edna looked at her grandchildren in the backseat and wondered what they were thinking. “You boys know that we don’t use that word that Aunt Lula used, don’t you?” she asked. “Yes mam,” the boys answered. “We love Aunt Lula, but she uses words sometimes that she shouldn’t use,” she explained. The little boys nodded their understanding, and Clayton stepped on the accelerator.

46 When they reached Pearl’s house, Sis and her children were already there. In fact, her daughter Susan was just getting ready to walk down to the grocery store and pick up a few items for her Aunt Pearl.

47 “Take the boys down there with you and let them buy some candy,” Pearl instructed as she gave each one of them some change. “Get me a Double Cola,” Sis added as they went out the door.

48 The Alabama sun was hot as they walked toward their destination, but the air was pleasant in the dimly lit store. While Susan was busy accumulating the items that the adults had requested, Lonnie and Steven surveyed the candy counter and picked out what they wanted.

49 However, when Lonnie went to check out, he was twenty-five cents short. Feeling embarrassed and not knowing quite what to do, he looked around for Susan, but she was preoccupied with her own business.

50 It was then that Lonnie noticed the old Black man standing behind him in the checkout line. His hair was snow white, and he had the kindest eyes. He looked down at the little White boy and smiled, placed a quarter on the counter and patted him on top of the head.

51 “Thank you,” Lonnie almost whispered. “That’s alright little fella,” the old man smiled. “You enjoy that candy,” he commanded. “Why do some people think that Black people are bad?” Lonnie wondered as he took his bag of candy and headed for the door.

52 Unfortunately, the family’s visit to Alabama that year had underscored the deep-seated racial prejudices that still permeated many corners of the nation. In April, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. Two months later, Bobby Kennedy was gunned down in Los Angeles. Then, in November, former Vice President Richard Nixon was finally elected to the Presidency.