preacher, and he tapped the news article again.
“And when they revile you and persecute you, you turn the cheek, but you don’t turn away. In Luke it says blessed are you when people hate you and exclude you—”
“Even when they exclude you from the mob,” Lee Otis chimed in.
“Especially when they exclude you from the mob,” I said under my breath.
“‘For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong,’” Alvin quoted.
“That’s bullshit, Alvin,” Money said, waving his hand in his brother’s face. “We’ve been weak for too long. I’m damn tired of it. And that’s not Luke, it’s Corinthians.”
“I didn’t say it was,” Alvin responded, trying not to lose his temper. “I was talking about two different verses, Money.”
“I’m going to exclude you now, Alvin,” Money said, plugging his ears and closing his eyes. Thank God. I was done with this conversation.
Money wore me out, but he was no fool. He was too perceptive and too persistent, and I didn’t have any answers for him. Nonviolent protest might work at a lunch counter, but it wasn’t going to do a whole hell of a lot if a man like Rudolf Alexander wanted us dead.
“So that’s the plan, then? We’re not going to ask for trouble, but we’re not running from it either?” Lee Otis said, scooting forward so his long arms hung over the front seat.
It was as good a plan as any, although technically I’d asked for trouble the moment I’d asked Sal for help.
“Are they gonna throw you in jail every time we perform, Benny?” Lee Otis asked me, his eyes solemn, his voice low.
“I’m going to do everything I can so that doesn’t happen,” I promised him. I looked at my watch. Esther had been in the bathroom for ten minutes.
“What is taking her so long?” I muttered.
“It’s Esther. She’s particular. Or haven’t you noticed?” Money said, coming out of his temporary exclusion, but he opened his door to get out.
“I’ll go check on her,” he said. At that moment, she hurried from the door marked WOMEN, almost running, her purse bouncing at her side. My stomach plunged, and I started the car, ready to go as soon as she opened the door.
“I heard ‘Any Man,’” she gasped, falling into the passenger side and slamming the car door behind her.
“Damn it, Esther,” Money hissed. “You scared me.”
“They have music piped into the bathrooms. Nice bathrooms too. Good soap. Clean.” She waved that away, returning to the point. “I was just checking my lipstick when the deejay said, ‘Coming in at number forty this week, a brand-new song from a brand-new band. This is “Any Man,” by Minefield.’”
“Number forty?” Alvin breathed, closing his newspaper with a snap. “We’re in the Top 40?”
“We’re in the Top 40,” Esther yelled, laughing and drumming her feet against the floor. I was already driving, my heart and my head out of rhythm with each other.
“Now the guys at Motown gotta let Benny in,” Lee Otis chortled. “Who needs the mob when you’re in the Top 40 Club?”
The Top 40 didn’t have machine guns and politicians in their pockets, but I didn’t say anything.
“All I want to know is when do we get paid?” Money said, but he was smiling too.
The Motown studios were in the garage of a two-story white house on West Grand Boulevard in Detroit. The kitchen, right next to the garage, had been converted into a control room, and Berry Gordy Jr.’s family lived above it. I wondered how they ever got any rest or peace. The studio was rocking around the clock, spitting out music in assembly-line fashion. I’d been there a few times in the two years since Berry had opened his doors in January of 1959, but I’d never shown up unannounced, and I’d never felt so unprepared.
We pulled up in front of the house a little after noon on Thursday, December 15, and muted vibrations were already emanating from the walls. HITSVILLE U.S.A was written in curling script above two doors separated by a big glass window. Snow lined the long walk in lumpy piles, along with the remnants of a snowman. His arms and nose were missing, and he wore a pebbled grimace and a permanent wink. He looked exactly like I felt.
I thought about asking Alvin for one of his prayers.
“Money?” I said instead.
“Yeah?” he answered.
“Take the car around the block a few times.”
“Why?” Immediate suspicion.
“I want