Civil

Chapter 1

It was the start of June, I was standing outside of the Miller's Malt Shoppe handing out flyers to the next Civil Rights Rally. I remember it was hot, way too hot for us to be out there for eight hours straight, we were all wearing short sets but that didn't help. Petunia Miller would bring us water, said her ma and pa were happy to give us free drink since we weren't causing any problems in front of their shop. From time to time her Pa would come out and tell us that we were doing a good job and offer us hot dogs, we declined.

The Millers were a well known family in our town, well respected too, Mr. Miller owned two businesses here while Mrs. Miller volunteered at the shelter every Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday and Petunia was just a well rounded student and teen. What made them even better was that they were white and like most white people that lived in this town they spoke of the Civil Rights movement but didn't associate because everyone around here wasn't as friendly.

We'd had a few families who moved here from the South because they thought that blacks didn't have the brains or money to move up up North, but when you're running away from poverty and death, you'll probably run anywhere. The southerners kept there distance from us though, even kept their kids from attending school because the schools weren't segregated here and the black and white kids were actually friends.

Speaking of friends, getting back on topic, my friends and I were standing outside the shop handing out flyers to the next civil rights rally. Every rally that we held were for teens, students, but adults would come and speak and donate. But this rally was more personal, a few weeks ago my friend Emmett had gone down to Mississippi to visit his uncle, we would constantly warn him that the Southern whites weren't anywhere as friendly as the whites here, but Emmett didn't like to listen. He was a jokester, he always liked to make people laugh, but he was also headstrong, he never backed down from anything and this would soon be his tragic flaw.

He'd gone into town with some boys and they dared him to whistle at a white woman in a corner store and he did, she took this took her husband, who took this to his friends and a few days later Emmett was found at the bottom of a river  beaten so badly that his face was hardly recognizable with a cotton gin tied around his neck. We were disgusted when we heard the news but more heartbroken because we'd lost a dear friend and this rally was to be more of a memorial service for our dear friend, Emmett Till.

At about seven we called it a day and we all went our separate ways, I was the last to leave because I helped to clean the tables at the Miller's. I left at eight and about this time the sun was setting behind the trees and the wind began to blow just a little, chasing off the days heat spell. I pulled my sweater close and crossed the street, walking past all of the stores and shops saying goodnight to all of the owners and picking up cooking and sewing materials for Mama, as usual.

Soon enough I was on the dirt road that would lead me to my house, when I walked farther I smelled cigarette smoke. I stopped where I was and walked towards a bush and peaked over seeing the usual suspects.

"Billy McDaniel and Ray Jackson, I sure hope that yalls parents know what you're doing behind this bush." I stated startling both the teens.

" Riley! Girl you damn near gave me a heart attack!" Ray Jackson replied dusting off his pants as he stood.

Ray was tall, dark and bad, all the perfect ingredients for all the girls here, except me, you see Ray knew who he was and how he was perceived and loved by all the girls and he sweet talked his way into every girls head. My Mama and Pa taught me better. His parents died in the South, they were lynched and burned together, so Ray's aunt packed up him and his cousins up here for safe reasons.

"Not as close as that death stick that you all are back there suckin' on. Ain't your parents taught you some kind of sense? Billy, I know for a fact that Mrs. McDaniel has, because every time I see her she's got your name danglin' from the heavens. Should've heard the lies she was tellin' about you today." I said.