"You mean my mother's mother?"
"Yes. Let me come over with the journal. I can be there in thirty minutes." He hung up and Sonata replaced the receiver on the phone. She wanted to call her mother but noting the tone of voice that Curtis had, she was concerned that it was information that could be a problem for the family. It must be a secret that involved Miss Salona and her grandmother who were best friends from childhood.
Sonata knew that the two had graduated from high school when they were both sixteen years old. Miss Salona went to Fisk and Grandma Elsie Mae went to Wilberforce. They parted because of the scholarships they were awarded.
The two were reunited when they were twenty years old and college graduates. Elsie Mae returned to Nashville. She met and married Mama's daddy Grantland Howard and they had nine children. Salona never married after her fiance was killed in world War II.
When the door bell rang, Sonata was still perturbed. Curtis was standing at the door with a briefcase. He was familiar with the entry way and entered the living room of the house that he also occupied for three years. He sat on the couch and opened the briefcase to retrieve a large book covered with purple fabric. Sonata sat next to him knowing that this must be Miss Sonata's journal because purple was her favorite color.
There was a bookmark near the beginning of the book. Curtis opened the book and handed it to Sonata. She recognized Miss Salona's script in bold purple ink. She read:
"I was shocked to see Elsie Mae when I opened the door. Her letter asked if she could stay a while with me in Nashville. She looked as if she could have her baby as she stood in my doorway. She was caring the baby so low. My mother is a mid-wife and there was a time that I assisted her in the delivery of babies. Elsie Mae could hardly stand and she was dragging a duffel bag behind her. I had to help her into my apartment. She hadn't told me that she was pregnant when she sent the letter. I just thought she was looking for a teaching job in Nashville. Three hours after she arrived, I helped her deliver her baby. It was a boy and I was able to cut the umbilical cord and clean the baby. I was able to clean-up the after birth and throw it away. Two days later, Elsie Mae told me that she had to find a home for her baby. She could not keep him. She could not stay in Nashville. She had to leave because the police were looking for her. While she was telling me all of this, she became hysterical. I could not find the sense in what she was saying. I called my Mama and she came to help me help Elsie Mae. Mama said that Elsie Mae was going through emotional reactions many young unmarried women were going through. The baby was a pretty brown skinned baby who looked like Elsie Mae. She told us that the baby's father was a professor's son who was engaged to a light skinned girl that his parents had expected him to marry. Her father was a rich undertaker and his parents expected him to go to medical or law school. He needed to marry the girl because it was his future at stake in his social class. She said that the police were looking for her because a body was found in the back yard of the rooming house where she lived. She was seen running away from the back yard when she realized that the old man had been stabbed and looked dead. She ran because she though that the person who stabbed the old man was still nearby. The next day the newspaper said that a witness saw a pregnant Negro girl leaving the scene. She thought she might be arrested because the man was White and she was Negro. She took a bus to Cleveland and stayed with a classmate when she wrote me to say she was coming to Nashville. My Mama filled out a birth certificate and took the baby boy to the social service agency that accepted babies born to unwed mothers."
Sonata stopped reading. Tears were running on her cheeks. The words on the page had become blurred. "Oh, Curtis, this was such a tragic part of Grandma Elsie's life. I only knew her as a gracious wise woman. Grandpa Grant always talked about the first time he saw her. She was accompanying Miss Salona singing the first time he was a guest preacher at East Avenue Baptist Church. It was love at first sight. Now, what do we do about this knowledge: This is a terrible secret."
"We don't have to do anything. The people directly involved are no longer in this world. We can bury the secret with them."
"Curtis, you and I know we cannot bury secrets."
"I know, if I had not tried to stay in the closet, I would not have married you in order to hide my true sexual identity as a gay man. I"ll always love you, Sonata, but not as a husband must love his wife."
"I don't know if I can bury this secret. Miss Salona may not have tried to keep this secret because she wrote this in her journal."
"Sonata, I should have kept this to myself, but I promised to be honest with you when we left the court room. Aunt Salona remained the cord that continued to tie us together."
"My mind wants to bury this but my spirit tells me that I must share this with Mama. While I was experiencing my deepest pain, Mama said that only truth can set us free. Also, I have an uncle somewhere who should be connected to his blood."
"O.K. when do you want to make the call?"
"I guess it has to be right now."
Sonata and Curtis sat waiting for the door bell to ring. Sonata had called her parents Foster and Naomi Franklin. The purple covered journal lay open on the coffee table. Curtis had moved to a chair near the window.
"They are here," he announced when seeing the couple walking up the walk way. The bell rang as Sonata was opening the door. Curtis stood as the couple entered the living room. Sonata guided them to the couch. She explained what Curtis had discovered.
Naomi and Foster sat reading the journal in shocked silence. Foster suddenly put his arm around his wife as she stifled a scream. When her parents had finished the reading by closing the journal, Sonata moved forward in her chair.
"Mama, my first thought was to keep the secret, but I heard your voice in my spirit saying 'the truth shall set you free'."
"You did the right thing," said Naomi as she was wiping her eyes and nose.
Curtis spoke for the first time. "As you both know, hidden secrets do not stay hidden. That's why I brought this to Sonata today. I found this on Monday but waited until Thursday to try to find her."
Foster looked at Curtis. "You did the right thing, Curtis." He looked at his wife. "What now, Na'?"
Naomi shook her head. "I guess if possible, it would be wise to find Mama's first child. He must now be around sixty-four years old. If Mama gave birth to him when she was twenty years old, got married at twenty-three and had me when she was twenty-four, he would be sixty-four."
Sonata asked, "How do we get started in this type of search? All we have is a date of birth, a race, and a gender. Would the state adoption service still have records? What about the state health department? Are there some written documents among Grandma Howard's things?"
"I'll do some more searching in the home house," said Curtis. That's where I'm staying until the end of next week when I have to go back to Atlanta. All of my cousins are either on their way back home or live in their homes in Nashville."
"I don't think we still have letters that my mother would have saved. My father's written sermons and correspondence were sent to the archives at Tennessee State at their request. My mother did not have any written items except her recipes in a kitchen notebook. I kept all of the letters she sent me after I left home. Is there something I can do to help you, Curtis?" asked Naomi. "My daytime schedule is flexible."
"That would be great, Miss Naomi. There are some other trunks that haven't been opened. You need to wear clothes for swimming in the dust of the attic. I've had to wear a face mask while working I bought a dozen at the hardware store so you can use one of those. Better bring a scarf or shower cap to protect your hair."
"Better take our portable vacuum cleaner," said Foster with a slight smile.
"I see that you still have your sense of humor," remarked Curtis. "I'll try to do a quick sweep with the house vacuum before you come over Miss Naomi. However, you may still need your dust cover."
Naomi and Foster left with permission from Curtis to take the journal for further investigation. Naomi