Page 12 of The Deadly Candies

Daphne crawled across the bed and settled close to Sandra. “Let’s read the diary together. One more hour, then we’ll head to the bakery.”

“Okay, you read it this time,” she said, handing the diary over. Daphne smiled and flipped through the page. “Hey, this one got Mama name on it. I’ll read it.”

Sandra nodded in agreement.

Big Mama’s,(Butts, MS) February 1948

“You hungry?”Ely asked, his voice cut through the rickety noise of the pickup truck’s engine.

Kathy stared out the window, her mind a whirlwind of thoughts. The reality of being in her parents’ home without them settled in her gut like a stone. How would she ever get out of Mississippi and back to Harlem?What was Carmelo doing now?Had his parents sent him to Italy to keep them apart? How could they ever find each other again?

“Kathy?”Ely said, pulling her from her thoughts.

“Huh? Oh… yes, I’m tired,”she replied absently.

Ely chuckled.“Didn’t ask if you were tired. Asked if you were hungry. Big Mama’s prepared a feast. My folks are there too.”

“What?”Kathy sat up, startled.“Does everyone know what happened?”

Ely’s gaze returned to the road, his hands tightening on the steering wheel.“Everyone in Butts knows. Your Pa made sure of it. He doesn’t want you anywhere near the Italians, so we’re all to keep an eye on you.”

“Oh, my God,”Kathy whispered, her voice breaking. The tears came then, hot and unstoppable. The embarrassment burned her chest.

Ely reached for her hand, but she pulled away, shaking her head.“It’s not how Daddy tells it. I swear it isn’t. I love Carmelo. He… no one understands,”she said, her voice trembling.

“Tell me,”Ely said softly.“I want to understand.”

Kathy shook her head, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.“No. No, never mind. I’m fine.”

Ely swerved the truck to the side of the road, the tires crunching on the gravel. Startled, Kathy gripped the door handle as he parked the truck and turned to face her. He draped his arm over the back of the bench seat, his eyes locked onto hers.

“I know you know I’ve always had a crush on you, Kathy. Since we were kids,”he confessed, his voice steady but gentle.

“I—I didn’t—”Kathy stammered, her cheeks flushing.

“Hey, don’t speak. Let me say this,”Ely interrupted.“I may have had a crush, or wished for something between us, but that’s not why I volunteered to come get you from the bus station. I want you to hear me now. I’m your friend. I’ve always been your friend. I don’t judge you, or anything you did. If you say this boy was someone you cared about, I believe you. If you say you’re hurting because you lost him, I want to help you.”

He sighed, looking straight ahead for a moment before turning back to her.“Butts isn’t Harlem. The days are long, and the work is hard. The only thing we’ve got here is friendship, family, and each other. Okay? Your Pa sent you here because you’re safe with us. No one can hurt you. That’s love.”

Kathy wiped her tears and nodded. She moved closer, letting Ely pull her into his arms. This embrace was stronger than the first, and she cried freely, her sobs shaking her body. In that truck, she told Ely everything—the love, the secrecy, the attic, Mama Stewarts and the betrayal. Most of all she told him about her heartbreak. It took an hour of tears and confessions, but in the end, she felt a small measure of relief.

“I’m sorry that happened to you, Kat. I wish I could change it for you,”Ely said sincerely, his hand resting on her shoulder.

“We did everything God asked,”Kathy whispered.“Daddy thinks I had sex and ran off, and all kinds of terrible things. But it wasn’t like that. We protected each other. We followed God’s path to the very end. And I lost him. Maybe forever.”

Ely started the truck, shifting it into drive.“Forever is too long. Let’s just focus on the now. Okay?”

Kathy looked at him and managed a small smile.“Thank you for being a friend and for listening to me. Nobody but Debbie and Mama listens to me.”

“We family,”Ely said, returning her smile.

As they drove through the back roads of Butts, Kathy took in the landscape. The fields stretched endlessly, dotted with weathered wooden shacks and rows of black sharecroppers bent over the earth. Men, women, and even children worked the land, their movements slow but steady under the pale winter sun. The air smelled of fresh-turned soil and the faint tang of livestock.

“Is there a school here?”Kathy asked, already knowing the answer.

“One,”Ely said, his tone resigned.“But most kids leave for the fields by twelve. They’re looking for a new teacher, though. Maybe you could be it?”

Kathy shook her head sadly.“I didn’t finish school. I was one year short remember?”

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