I was relieved by the suggestion. I sat close to him and he glanced through the window before putting his arm around me.
“I missed you this week,” he said.
I hadn’t imagined his feelings for me. I nuzzled my cheek against his shoulder. Felt him kiss my temple. “It’s felt more like five weeks,” I said.
“It goes against everything I believe, though,” he said.
I lifted my head to look at him. “You really believe it’s wrong?” I asked. “Us?”
He drew in a long breath, momentarily shutting his eyes. “I always thought it was wrong for me,” he said. “I think Black folks have to stick together to get anywhere. To get power. Falling for you wasn’t in my plan.” He drew away and looked hard into my eyes. “Don’t frown.” He touched my cheek, and I was reassured by his smile. “I didn’t count on you,” he said. “On your dedication. And your goodness. On how you let yourself be so … vulnerable with me.” He looked away from me then. Let out a long breath. “You can’t help who you fall in love with, can you.” It wasn’t a question.
“I love you,” I said.
He nodded slowly, his gaze on me again. “We have to be so, so careful,” he said.
I looked past him to see Curry walking toward the van.
“Curry,” I said, and we both immediately turned, getting to our knees to grab the placards.
Curry opened the van door. “Need some more signs,” he said, looking from me to Win and back again. “You two just lookin’ for trouble, ain’t you?”
“Here,” I said, handing him three of the placards. “Have some signs.”
Curry took the signs from me, shaking his head like he couldn’t believe we could be so stupid. Or so obvious. Then Win and I got out of the van and started walking toward the gathering, our own arms weighed down with placards.
“I like your shirt,” he said as we walked.
“Not as much as I do.” I felt giddy with the joy of being with him. Giddy with the joy of walking next to him again, our bare arms brushing against each other.
* * *
There was a good crowd at the protest. I’d worried about that after what happened last week with the rock-and-bottle-throwing melee that had ended with little DeeDee getting that cut on her cheek. I saw only Mr. Hunt in the crowd tonight; he wasn’t going to risk his family by bringing them here again. Still, he waved to me across the green with his usual friendly smile.
So the whole Hunt family might not have been there, but many others came, even more than the week before despite the threat of violence, and they held our placards or ones they’d made themselves and marched around the courtyard, calling for their right to vote.
There were a few policemen in the street and some hecklers, but no one threw anything that I was aware of, and after an hour or so, we fell into a circle as naturally as if we did it every night. We crossed our arms, held hands, and began to sing “This Little Light of Mine.” It was then that I saw my brother. Buddy walked around the circumference of the circle, searching faces for, I assumed, mine. When he reached me, he grabbed my shoulders and pulled me from the circle.
I turned to him. “What are you doing here?” I asked, as calmly as I could.
“I’m here to talk sense into you!” he shouted over the singing. Grabbing my arm, he drew me another few yards from the circle so he didn’t have to shout to be heard. “You need to know what you’re doing to your family.”
His eyes were bloodshot and I smelled beer on his breath. “What do you mean?” I asked.
“We love you, Ellie,” he said, his voice thick with emotion and booze. “We love you more than anything.” Was he going to cry?
I grabbed his hand. “What’s wrong, Bud?” I asked. “Is everyone okay?”
“Ronnie told me he saw you with a colored boy,” he said, “and you weren’t just holdin’ hands. His cousin Rosemary said you’re in love with him.”
I swallowed, my nerves on fire. “I care about him,” I admitted. I dared to hope that my brother, who I knew loved me more than anyone, would understand.
“Are you crazy?” he asked, his arms flailing about. “What are you thinkin’？ This whole … I knew this whole SCOPE thing was a bad idea, but I don’t think you know how hard you’ve made it for your family. And when people find out you been … you’re hangin’ around with that boy, it’s only gonna get worse.” His voice was rising. I’d seen Buddy drunk more than a few times and I recognized those red eyes. The sputter when he talked.