Big Lies in a Small Town - Diane Chamberlain Page 0,127

all hooked together.”

I explained the difference between printing and cursive writing, and she said she was going to learn how to write that way. She said her daddy doesn’t know how to read or write except for signing his name. “Mama can read good. Aunt Jewel and Dodie and Jesse … they can do all of it ’cause they got more learnin’.”

I said something about learning being very important, but my gaze was once more out the window. Then Nellie said she would never want to have a journal, and when I asked her why not she said, “I like everybody to know what I’m thinkin’!” She hopped off the bed and twirled in a circle and I laughed, but then I felt worried that she might share my whereabouts with someone. I told her how important it was that it stay a secret that I was living with her family, and she reassured me that she understood, pressing a finger to her lips.

Just at that moment, I heard voices downstairs. Abe’s. Aunt Jewel’s. And Karl? I gasped. In the few seconds I’d let my guard down, he must have come up the driveway.

I whispered to Nellie that the police were downstairs and got quickly to my feet. I grabbed this journal and my purse and carefully opened Nellie’s bedroom door, ready to rush to the closet and its false wall, but I could see onto the living room floor at the bottom of the stairs in front of me. I could see the lower legs and shiny shoes of two policemen and the dusty shoes of a man who had to be Jesse’s father.

Nellie saw what I saw. She gave me one brief look of panic, those big dark eyes of hers even bigger. Then she shut the door again, quietly, and flung open the lid of the big chest at the foot of her bed. She began tossing its contents—clothing, toys, stuffed animals—on the floor, while I watched, my heart thumping. “Get in!” she commanded.

I took no time to think about it. Clutching my purse and journal, I climbed into the chest and Nellie closed the lid. I had to fold myself in two to fit. I heard muffled voices from somewhere in the house and then I heard what I was certain was Nellie’s door opening.

“Hey, girlie,” a male voice said. It wasn’t Karl’s voice. I thought of the roly-poly policeman who’d come with Karl to the warehouse that one time. Was it him? He asked Nellie if she’d seen a “white gal” around the farm. Nellie answered, oh so politely, that “no, sir, I ain’t seen no white gal.”

There were a few noises. The scuff of shoes on the wood floor, maybe. Inside the chest, I could hear myself breathing.

“You’re a messy little child, ain’t you?” the policeman said. “Your mama let you throw your clothes and such all over the room like this?”

Nellie said something about cleaning the room up real soon.

I heard heavy footsteps coming closer. I felt a pressure against the chest and pictured Nellie leaning protectively against the lid. Don’t be too obvious, Nellie, I thought to myself.

“What you got on under that pretty little dress of yours?” he asked.

I was horrified! My hands tightened around my journal.

“Bloomers,” Nellie said, calm as you please. “And you better git.”

“Oh, I better git, huh? Or what? What do you think you could do to me?” I was certain it was Roly-Poly now. I hated him. I had my hands on the lid ready to break out of the chest if that boor laid a finger on Nellie. I could have sworn I heard her rapid breathing above me.

But just then, another male voice called out for “Barney,” which I guess is Roly-Poly’s first name. Was it Karl? I couldn’t tell. But he said that I wasn’t there and to “quit horsing around with that nigger” and come downstairs.

I heard the footsteps recede, then the bedroom door slammed shut.

“They gone, Miss Anna!” Nellie raised the lid. “They—”

I quickly hushed her, looking toward the closed bedroom door, praying they hadn’t heard her.

“They gone,” she whispered this time. “You safe.”

I stepped out of the chest and pulled her to me. Hugged her tight. I told her what an incredibly brave girl she was. I thanked her for saving my life. I believe she truly did.

Monday, May 27, 1940

At lunch today, I asked how I could help out around the house while I’m staying on the Williams farm.