Page 26 of Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Book
“’Course he thought he’d get away with it,” Val said. “Rape was hardly even a crime back then.”
“Well, ’least we did what we could to put him on a righteous path,” Yvette said. “We showed him hell our senior year.”
“I see the man every day,” Wanda added. “He still can’t look me in the eye.”
Val cackled. “Like they say—don’t fuck with cheerleaders.”
“Nobody ever says that,” Beverly told them.
“Well, they should!” Val insisted.
Of the ten girls on the cheerleading squad that Beverly Underwood had captained, only four had stayed in Troy. Val inherited the salon from her mother (Big Val), and Yvette rented a booth from Val on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She specialized in braids and extensions, though she was justas gifted when it came to color and nails. Wanda worked for the registrar of deeds over at the courthouse. Beverly and Wanda had standing appointments with Val and Yvette every three weeks—whether their hair needed a touch-up or not.
“I heard that Bella Cummings has picked up our torch.”
“Umm-hmm.” Yvette’s second job was assistant cheerleading coach. “Girl is kicking butt and taking names. And she’s got the best pike I’ve ever seen.”
“So what was it made Darlene go public after all these years?” Wanda brought the conversation back around. In high school, Wanda had encouraged Darlene to go to the cops. A white girl might see some justice, she’d argued. But Darlene had refused. To people in uniforms, trailer trash was still trash, no matter what shade their skin was.
“She told me she was inspired by a book,” Beverly said. “Something her girls found while they were visiting town over the weekend.”
Yvette yelped when Wanda unexpectedly spun her chair around. “What do you mean,a book?”
“A book,” Beverly repeated, surprised to find herself the subject of Wanda’s laser-like focus. “What’s so strange about that?”
“Where’d the girls get it?”
Beverly shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said.
“Was it Lula Dean’s library?” Wanda asked.
“Naw,” Val chimed in. “Couldn’t have been. I looked on Saturday. Only books in Lula’s library are about cakes and Newt Gingrich. I don’t know how she manages to be evilandboring, but damn, if Lula ain’t killing it.”
“I dunno.” Wanda wasn’t satisfied. “Something’s up in this town. I can feel it. Delvin borrowed a book from Lula’s library and that man hasn’t been himself since. Keeps talking in his sleep about fighting the forces of evil like he’s Black Panther or something. I mean, I ain’t complaining. It’s got him out of the funk he’s been in, but I’m telling you, it’s weird.”
Yvette lifted an eyebrow. “Delvin Crump—your hermit husband—borrowed a book from Lula Dean? What’s he going to do next? Put in an application for the Daughters of the Confederacy?”
“Who the hell knows!” Wanda cried. “This is the same Delvin Crump who once called Lula a boil on the ass of humanity. Now he’s swapping books with that bitch.”
“You know what? I hadn’t thought about it before now, but you’re right,” said Val. “This town hasn’t been the same since Lula’s library went up. First that Nazi gets dragged out of the closet, then Darlene spills the beans. Shit that’s stayed settled for decades is getting all stirred up.”
She was right, Beverly thought. Things hadn’t been the same. “What was the book Delvin borrowed from Lula?” she asked.
“Something calledOur Confederate Heroes.”
Yvette snorted. “Yep, that sounds like a Lula Dean book.”
“I know, but it sure put a bee in Delvin’s bonnet. Now he’s even talking about trying to get the Confederate statue pulled down,” Wanda said.
“Delvin wants to demolish old Augustus?” Val pointed out the window with a roller brush. “Good luck with that.”
“He says it’s an affront to every person who’s ever served in the United States military.”
“Not to mention every Black person in the state of Georgia,” Yvette added.
All eyes turned to Beverly. “No offense,” Wanda said. “I know y’all are related.”
“And I’ve spent the last twenty-five years wishing I wasn’t,” Beverly said. “Hell, I’d have that damn thing knocked down tomorrow if I could. Unfortunately, the school board doesn’t decide which statues get to stay.”
