The Gallant South- Part One

Chapter IV- October 1-4, 1912

        Although Cora had asserted her power and bravery over Colby, and she felt confident about the situation, Kit was more than displeased. Cora had walked silently back to the automobile, where Kit was sitting in the driver's seat and trying to put on a pair of red leather driving gloves with shaking hands. Cora opened the door to the car, climbed in, and sat down, staring straight through the windshield and not looking at Kit, who she knew was about to give her an earful.
        Are you actually insane?" was the first thing she said. Cora shook her head and looked at Kit.
        "No one in their right mind would try to provoke Colby Whitbaker on an empty street late at night in a city that wouldn't give a flying fuck if I dropped dead right now! Yes I agree that we should stand up to him, but who knows what he could have done to us just now! He's stronger than both of us, and you were fighting with him on a street devoid of anyone! He could have done anything!" she shouted before slamming her head into the steering wheel.
        "I know it was rash, but I wasn't about to let him think he'd won!" Cora exclaimed as Kit got out of the automobile. She turned towards the front of the car, then paused to stick her head back in the window. "Cora, he already knows everything you told him. He knows you aren't going to listen to him. If you want to fight him, please, please do it when others are around, so that he wouldn't dare hurt you!" she exclaimed, before walking to the front of the automobile and turning the crank. The car sputtered to life and Kit jumped back in and took the wheel. It was a sight to see, even if Kit was still sore at her.
        "Look, Cora, I know you're eager to help people, but there are still a few things you ought to learn. One thing I'm incredibly concerned about is the wellbeing of Alice Whitbaker. I assume I needn't tell you of the horrid things Colby does, and she always gets the sharp end of the bayonet," Kit explained, as if Cora didn't already know that.
        "I know Kit, that's one of the major reasons why I want to take Colby down. To get her the hell away from him," Cora protested, but Kit held up a gloved hand to stop her. "I assume with your...stature...that you've never dealt with anything like this. These sorts of marriages, these sorts of situations, they're not easily resolved. They are very, very delicate situations. If we want to take down Colby and help Alice, we can't just rush in to fight him whenever we feel like it."
        "I'm aware of that, but-"
        "Never forget Cora, he has the entire city in his pocket. If we try telling the police or mayor about his treatment of her, they're not going to believe us! They'll tell Colby, and then it will only be worse for Alice. And Lord knows she's too afraid to stand up to him herself, and if I was in her situation, I would be the same."
        "I don't see why we can't just shoot Colby. Sneak up behind him and put a bullet in his head," Cora retorted, ignoring the rest of Kit's speech. Turning onto Cherry Coral Road, Kit sighed and lowered the speed of the automobile.
        "It isn't that easy, Cora. Yes, it'd be very easy to kill him. But think of the repercussions. No one except ourselves would see us as heroes. If any of us, especially someone black were to kill Colby, we'd all be hanged. Lynched even. And the mayor can claim all he wants that he's on our side, but he's on no one's side but his own. He's happy with his riches and control, and he doesn't care how many people are hurt, how much injustice there is, as long as he gets what he wants, which Colby gives him."

        Cora leaned against the open window and looked towards Magalee's house, which was fading into the distance as they traveled further down the road. "This feels like the plot of a moving-picture, or some dramatic play. I've been here what, two days? And already, I've been thrown into this. It feels almost like fate somehow," she said, her voice melancholy and her thoughts dark and sorrowful.
        "Maybe it is," Kit said as she pulled into Cora's driveway and parked near the front porch. "Maybe you were meant to come back and help us. Maybe we were meant to help you. Maybe we're all meant to help each other. I can say 'maybe' about a lot of things, but it's up to us what we do with those options. It's up to you what you do with your power and position. Same with all the rest of us. You've got power. You've got allies. You've got friends. You've got money. The door is open, Cora. Now what are you going to do?"