“My brother’s gone on a service call, and I promised to keep an eye on things till he gets back. I don’t work here. You can leave the tire if you want. Bobby Joe is pretty busy, so I can’t rightly tell you if and when it’ll get done.” She paused, cocked her head and looked hard at Mendelsohn. When she spoke again, the timidity had gone from her voice. “I don’t guess Bobby Joe is going to want to help you. You’re one of those Freedom Riders over in the Sanctified Quarter, aren’t you?”
Before he could answer, a pretty, blond, and pregnant woman emerged from the office and planted herself boldly in front of the office door. “We saw you when you first drove into the Quarter, didn’t we, Em? You had another white boy next to you and two Nigras crouching down in the back seat.” She chuckled. “Welcome to Shiloh. Population 3,107. The most vigilant town in Magnolia County!”
Mendelsohn had to laugh. “Thank you for the welcome.” He dropped the tire, suddenly conscious in their presence of how he must look, and wiped his hands on his grimy jeans. “Well, I sure can’t do much freedom riding with this damn tire, ladies. So I’m going to have to leave it. Maybe Bobby Joe will show a little Christian spirit. I’ll appreciate it.”
The pregnant woman smiled. “You don’t look like the others.”
“Beg your pardon?”
She flushed. “I said you don’t look like the others.”
He returned her smile. “I’m just like the others. I’m twenty years older than they are, but I’m just like them.”
She laughed softly, turned briefly to her embarrassed companion, then pointed her finger at him. “Take off your sunglasses,” she demanded. “I’ve got questions for you, and I want to see your eyes.” Puzzled, but intrigued by the glint of brazen fun in her voice, Mendelsohn removed his sunglasses and stepped forward. “What would you like to ask me?”
Surprised by his willingness, she wetted her lips and pondered. “Well, Em and I were wondering . . . ” She halted, then raised her chin, her green eyes flashing. “No, that’s not fair. Not Em. Me. I was wondering what are you doing down here in Shiloh?” The woman’s silent companion, lips parted and eyes wide, edged back to the entrance of the office.
“I’m spending the summer writing and taking photographs. I’m a journalist. And I’m covering the kids who came down here to work.”
The blonde’s eyes narrowed. “Who are you bein’ a journalist for?”
“Newsweek magazine.”
“Newsweek magazine! Up in New York City?” Up in New York City sounded as if she were speaking of the Land of Oz.
He tried not to smile. “Yeah. That’s where the publisher is. He sends us working types out to see the country. That’s how I got to Shiloh.”
Excited now, she moved closer. A very feminine summer aroma of lavender and suntan lotion made his thoughts drift. Her face was very near. “Would you answer me honest?”
Her companion interrupted from the doorway, “Willy! What in the world?”
“It’s all right, Em.” She never took her eyes from his face. “Would you really talk with me?”
Mendelsohn stared. Where was this going? He hadn’t been near a woman who smelled so good in—Christ! Six weeks? “Sure, Let’s talk. What’s bothering you?”
She pouted and frowned. “Well, we can’t talk here!”
He gazed slowly around the empty station and asked innocently, “Why not?”
She exploded, “Because this is a gas station!” Taking a deep breath, she plunged ahead. “Would you come to my house?”
Em looked shocked but remained silent. Mendelsohn grinned and nodded. “Well, thank you. That’s the first invitation I’ve had from the white community since I arrived in Magnolia County.”
“Now don’t start that!”
“Look, before I accept your kind invitation, you ought to know that if I come I’m liable to jeopardize your position in Shiloh. When I drive in or out of the Sanctified Quarter, people notice. You both noticed. And I’m often followed.”
“Don’t be silly. Everybody in Shiloh knows me. Just come.” She pointed south. “You go down 49 past the high school. First road on the right. The Claybourne place. Anybody can show you.”
“Thank you.” He thought of what it would be like if Dale Billings met this woman, and could hardly suppress his smile. “Can I bring some of the kids I’m living with? You’d like them.”
Her eyes widen in horror. “Heavens, no!”
He laughed at her vehemence. “They don’t bite! When would you like me to come?”
Her eyes were bright with anticipation and she turned to Em. “Can Bobby Joe fix his tire by Wednesday? He’ll need his car to get out to the plantation.”
Looking very uncomfortable, Em stared at the blonde, then shrugged. “I’ll talk to him.”
The pregnant woman clapped delightedly. “Bobby Joe’s never said no to Emily in his whole life. So why don’t you come Wednesday afternoon, one-thirty. Em, you come, too.” She extended her hand to him. When he took it, it felt smooth and surprisingly cool. She smiled. “My name is Wilson Claybourne. What’s yours?”
Dale Billings was speaking to SNCC headquarters in Jackson when Mendelsohn dropped into the chair opposite. Billings was staring at the phone, seemingly unaware that Ted had even come in.
“J. Edgar Hoover said he’s opening an office?” Billings’s voice became strident. “Down in Neshoba? Be the first fucking office the FBI’s got in Tildon’s state if it’s true! Keep me posted. It’s lonely up here.” He hung up and saw the reporter. His long slender fingers beat a tattoo on the old desk. “Nothing new on the boys.” A sardonic smile creased his intent young face. “But the shit’s hit the fan in all the big papers up north. Mickey Schwerner and Andy Goodman, two white guys, are missing. So Jackson says J. Edgar’s gonna have to look interested. Word from Washington is he’s going to open an office down here.” His scornful voice filled the empty Freedom House. “After how many years? How many lynchings? How many burned down churches? How many black brothers gone missing or shot? Now two white civil rights workers, Mickey and Andy, go missing, and the FBI is going to open an office in Missafuckingsippi? I wish I could still laugh. It’s fucking pathetic.” He took a deep breath and pointed to the ham sandwich on the desk before him. “You want part of this? You been gone all morning, you must be hungry.”
“Hell, no. Unlike some of my brothers, I do like ham. But that sandwich looks as tired as you.” Even at the Ohio orientation Ted had thought Dale looked drawn, his eyes too large in his thin face. Rail-skinny, he thought. And the bottled intensity in the youngster seemed ready to spill now that he was back in the Delta. His fingers never seemed at rest, tapping a staccato accompaniment to his speech. The kid’s been waiting for this summer, Ted reflected, feeling everything, and not taking care of himself.
He walked to the ancient ice box and took out a quart of milk and placed it next to Dale’s sandwich. “Eat your lunch, Dale. You look like a poster child for the Salvation Army.”
“Still being my Jewish mama, Ted?”
“Well, your kin are down in Tunica, so I’m the only man in Magnolia County that knows you don’t know how to take care of yourself.