Deceptive Calm

CHAPTER ONE

North Charleston, SC 1968

The bottlenose dolphins sailed through the air and splash-landed underneath the water of the wretchedly hot Low County marsh. If the day held any omens to come, the humidity had long since drowned them out. Echoing through the swamp, its noisy brakes brought the ancient bus to a screeching halt. Trisha hopped on, amazed to find the temperature within the bus to be higher than outside.

The eighteen-year-old driver set the brake and stood up. Listen, you weirdos, Gordy yelled to get the attention of his fellow parochial school teenagers, who were sweltering in the Carolina heat with their green wool blazers. Martin Luther King asked for a parade permit to march on downtown Charleston, and his request was denied. The governor of South Carolina has declared martial law and ordered the National Guard to be mobilized. Father Kelly wants all the coloreds to sit in the middle seats. Absolutely no Negroes are to sit by the windows. Got it, losers? he asked sarcastically as he grabbed the battered handle and shut the rusty door.

The dilapidated bus left Trisha’s poor, White neighborhood just outside the naval shipyard. Minutes later, they arrived at the decaying public housing projects, and a group of Negroes climbed aboard. After leaving the colored ghetto, the bus drove alongside the Ashley River. Set back along the waterway was a magnificent home with antebellum columns reminiscent of a Southern plantation. As the bus creaked to a halt, tall and handsome Barry Hale, with rich charcoal-colored skin, took the steps in one leap.

Top of the morning, Barry tipped his green beanie while his dark-brown eyes sparkled.

Don’t sit near the window! Trisha exclaimed.

Why? Barry’s gorgeous, effervescent eyes glistened.

They’re expecting the rednecks to be out in full force today.

Really, why? Barry looked puzzled.

I guess the city fathers did not take it too well that Martin Luther King Jr. supported the garbage men in Memphis, and it turned into a riot, Trisha explained.

Let me get this right, you are at the most five foot four, and you are going to save me?

The way Gordy drives, he’ll run over those guys. How’s that for a plan?

Spoken like a true Marine’s daughter. Barry glanced out the window when Gordy ran a red light, and horns honked from every direction.

The bus stopped in front of Saint Paul’s Orphanage, run by the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, solely for colored children. One teenager, Vanessa Condon, who had never been adopted, had spent her entire life in that institution. Stunningly beautiful, she possessed a rare grace that none of her fellow students could match. As Vanessa climbed on board, Sister Rosalie, the only colored nun within the diocese, followed. The obese nun ran the orphanage and had raised Vanessa ever since she was left at Saint Paul’s as an infant. Sister Rosalie spoke with a thick Charlestonian accent and claimed her family had been in Charleston for two hundred years. She loved the city’s history, and as most Charlestonians, she liked to distort and twist American history and lived in a special past. She was a classic Charleston historian with her own version of events from hundreds of years ago. Though colored, her loyalty to her beloved Charleston was unconditional. Sister Rosalie’s voice boomed out. May I have the attention of the fair ladies of the South and their gentlemen, please? Words rolled off her thick lips like dripping honey, while perspiration poured down her puggy face. Everyone listened because she was a great storyteller with a unique sense of humor, unlike the other nuns, who were humorless.

Well, I do declare, for the safety of the passengers, I reckon not to take this bus. Goodness gracious, can you imagine giving those crackers a target this big? She chuckled as her habit went flying backward. Father Kelly worked himself up into a tizzy today. I tell you the truth when I say that Irishman has been out in the sun too much playing golf! Our cotton-growing heat has caused that man to forget our great city’s history! Taking her sleeve, she wiped it across her forehead before continuing in her gooey Southern drawl. Heavens to Betsey Ross, how many of Charleston’s native sons signed the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776?

Four! the students yelled.

And who was the president of the First Continental Congress?

Charleston’s Henry Middleton for four days, the teenagers screamed.

And what did his son Arthur Middleton sign?

The Declaration of Independence, they hollered in unison.

Who was the youngest person to sign the Declaration of Independence?

Charleston’s twenty-six-year-old Edward Rutledge!

With this brilliance, ladies and gents, this bus is headed for universities across this great land. We are all destined for college, aren’t we, folks? Who did these Charlestonians take on without sheets over their heads?

Giggles echoed over her thick low country accent.

King George III of England, the teenagers roared.

Who kicked his Royal Army out of South Carolina for their eventual defeat in Virginia?

Charleston’s Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox.

Where is everyone on this bus going?

Ivy League!

Now, if y’all see some uneducated coward in a sheet, what are y’all going to do?

Duck! everyone screamed.

God’s speed, the plump nun bellowed as she made the sign of the cross and stumbled down the bus steps. With her powerful and amazingly professional voice, she sang, People get ready. There’s a train a-comin’. You don’t need no baggage; you just get on board. All you need is faith, to hear the diesels hummin’. Don’t need no ticket. You just thank the Lord!

Gordy grabbed the handle and shut the door as her mighty voice faded away. The Negroes were sitting in the middle seats as he barreled down the road in the wrong gear.

Vanessa sat with her best friend, Trisha, and whispered, Going to the prom?

Nope. No one asked me. Why?

Vanessa put one finger over her mouth. Hush your mouth! Barry might hear you! I desperately want to go, but I can’t, the orphan whispered with disappointment. No clothes!

Hold your horses! Remember my sister, the clothes horse? Yellow shoes, yellow dress, pink shoes, pink dress. The one and only fashion queen of South Carolina! She bought two different gowns with her babysitting money and never got invited to the prom! Her curse is being handed down to me, Miss Dateless. My mom will be thrilled. She has never quit complaining about how stupid my sister was to buy them before anyone asked her to go. Let’s keep Barry happy so he keeps dissecting frogs for us in biology.

Yuck! they both squealed in unison.

I’ll bring them to school, Trisha offered.

But Barry would see them, and that is bad juju.

Not again with the juju, Vanessa?

Sister Roe said that West African slaves like her great-grandfather used certain objects ascribing supernatural powers to them concerning life and luck. Yes, it’s big, bad juju.

OK, Vanessa. I, for one, do not need a double whammy of big, bad juju.

Gordy cursed, and everyone looked up at a stalled car as he screamed, Mayday! Mayday! Klan at three o’clock! May— Before he got the last day out of Mayday, a huge rock crashed through the front windshield, sending broken glass soaring toward him.

Flying through a passenger window, a brick struck Trisha’s head as glass showered her and blood gushed down her face. A sharp pain shot through her throbbing temple as red blood flowed freely into her eyes, blinding her. The bus shook back and forth as the Klansmen sent a meteor shower of abuse at it. Rocks, bottles, bricks, and trash descended. Outside, men covered in white sheets shouted, Listen up, you nigger-loving’ fish-eaters! Hand over your niggers now! Using baseball bats, they broke out all the windows in a vicious assault.

Blood covered her lap. Apply pressure to stop the bleeding! Barry yelled, while taking off his blazer and wadding it up. Here, use this, Vanessa! As he took off toward the front, the Klansman had gotten a pole through the door and tried to pry it open. Gordy held on to the door handle as Barry jumped into the driver’s seat. Let us get the hell out of here. Shall we, Gordy?

Run these sons a’ bitches over. Gordy fought with the door handle, throwing his skinny frame against it as Barry revved the old decrepit engine and threw it into gear.

Trying a frontal assault on the bus, the mob screamed, Get that nigger!

I’ll run your asses over! Barry yelled angrily as he rammed into the parked car in front and sent the men in their white sheets flying into the dirt. Sliding into reverse, he hit the vehicle parked behind them. As a horrible grinding noise came from the gears, the bus crashed back into the car ahead, which moved along until it slid into the next one and came to a complete stop. Barry hurled the bus back into reverse and hit the gas. It seemed free for an instant, but then the teenagers were thrown backward as the bus hit a telephone pole.

The mob flung a lit torch through the front window at Barry. You will fry, nigger! they screamed. You too, nigger-lovin’ fish-eaters.

Trisha had a blurred view of her friend’s face close to hers, as Vanessa struggled to stop her profuse bleeding. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she whispered beneath her breath, Come on, Barry. Another lit torch landed between Barry and Gordy, but the Negro boys jumped up in time to stomp it out. Coughing as the interior filled with fumes, the teenagers could barely breathe, overpowered by smoke. The boys got the fire out—quite an accomplishment considering how the bus kept plunging around. Jerking forward, Barry slipped quickly between gears and got up enough speed to ram the cars for a final time, which demolished the side of the 1960 white Cadillac. The Klansmen tormented Barry as he dodged objects they hurled at him while he stayed perfectly calm. Amazingly, it was as though he had trained for this his entire life. As he applied the gas, Vanessa could hear the crunch of metal and glass as they collided with the cars.

We’re going to kill you, you crazy-ass nigger.

Redneck, take that sheet off of your head! Gordy yelled.

Squeezing Vanessa tighter, Trisha could hear her sobs and feel her heartbeat. Hey, white trash! Vanessa screamed as she stuck her head out the window, but a Negro boy pulled her back down into the seat. Careful, Vanessa. They could have guns, so stay inside the bus, he warned as he took off his tie and wrapped it around Trisha’s blood-covered blond hair.

Barry swerved into a driveway and maneuvered the bus between two houses that led to the backyard of a residential block. A circular clothesline was flattened as the pole crushed easily when the clothes-laden lines slid underneath the wheels. He made it to the next street and demolished two large trash cans before entering the pavement.

Trisha blacked out, Barry! Vanessa yelled, panic-stricken, as she clung to her friend. Her blood is everywhere. Get to a hospital fast.

We’re on our way! Barry’s size fifteen foot forced the gas pedal to the floor. To get downtown is back through the Klan or across the Ashley River. It will take us too long, Barry said calmly. We’re going to my Dad’s hospital.

We can’t go to a Negro hospital. White people aren’t allowed there, Gordy replied.

My Dad is chief of staff at Cannon Street Hospital. I am what you call a preferred patient there, and that is where we are going. You got that, Gordy?

You cannot take Whites there, Gordy argued. Her dad is a Marine. Go to the Charleston Naval Hospital. It’s just as close.

No, it isn’t, and I’m driving, Barry replied heatedly. The extra time could mean the difference between life and death. We are going to Cannon, period.

Since you’re in the driver’s seat, I guess we’re going to Cannon. But if they turn us away because our skin is White, I will personally beat your ass, Barry.

You really think my dad would turn down a high school bus attacked by the Klan?

All right, all right, you win! Just haul ass, Gordy relented as his skinny frame held on.

Besides, you probably need stitches. Wait until my dad sticks a two-foot needle in your arm. When he gets done, you might even be able to dance.

Gee, Barry, you’re a regular Nipsey Russell. You belong on the stage, and the Klan will have a stagecoach leaving in a couple of minutes. Gordy coughed while his slender frame clung to the handle with all his strength. A scary silence fell over the teenagers. No one said a word as the shock of the whole experience seized everyone. The old bus rumbled along.

As they neared the hospital, Barry shouted, Carry Trisha off. I’ll get my Dad. The only colored hospital in Charleston, Cannon Street was tiny and plain with none of the grand entrances of the local White hospitals. Admissions were through a simple double door. The emergency room’s small Red Cross hung over a loading dock that resembled a factory shipping area. Surrounded by a perfectly manicured lawn, the White teenagers knew Cannon Street was a hospital, but its appearance did not instill confidence in them. The mere thought of going to a Negro hospital was scary and unfamiliar. As Barry turned into the entrance, his passengers were thrown forward when he slammed on the brakes, and the ghastly smell of metal rubbing metal filled the air. The rusty old brakes barely brought the ancient bus to a halt inches away from the loading dock. Gordy swung the door open, and Barry jumped off, not bothering to use the steps. Running inside, he grabbed Nurse Bow. Nurse Bow, come quick. We were attacked!

•   •   •

Two Negro boys carried in Trisha while her blood soaked their uniforms too. Follow me, gentlemen. Nurse Bow led them into an examining room and pulled the curtain back. Place her here, and then please leave immediately, she ordered.

Overhead, the paging system reverberated throughout the hospital. Doctor Davies, Doctor Hale, ER, STAT. Doctor Davies, Doctor Hale, ER, STAT.

Barry, I want everyone who needs medical treatment in the waiting room, Nurse Bow commanded. The rest can stay outside on the lawn. I certainly do not need a three-ring circus in here. Now, get! You don’t have your medical license yet! The nurse quickly checked Trisha’s pulse and prepared the blood pressure cuff.

Doctor Davies appeared and felt her carotid artery for a pulse. After opening her eyelids to examine her pupils, he then palpated around the head wound with his fingers. Let’s get pressure on that scalp laceration, he instructed. What’s her pressure?

Seventy over thirty.

She’s in shock. Get an IV started, D5 half normal saline wide open. Set up a dopamine drip. I want five units typed and crossed.

The odds are we won’t have that much blood, Doctor, Nurse Bow replied.

Have the lab get on the phone and find some, he directed. Surely Saint Francis or Roper has some we can borrow. Try the Trendelenburg position on her. We’ve got to get her pressure up, or she’s not going to make it.

Quickly, they got their patient’s head down and feet up to help blood flow and prevent damage to the brain. These two were quite a pair. Nurse Bow, five feet tall, barely ninety pounds, about fifty, was from the old school; she still wore her 1945 vanity (the nursing cap) and starched white uniform. In her era, physicians were gods whose orders you followed and never questioned. Doctor Davies, in contrast, only twenty-eight and two years out of medical school, stood six feet five inches. A South Carolina native, he had gone to Howard University in Washington DC, where he discovered it was best to drop the Southern accent. Now, he spoke English without a trace of his low country roots. He entered the adjoining examining room where Doctor Hale was suturing up Gordy’s hand. Considering the trauma sustained to the skull, she probably has a fracture. Why don’t you let me finish here, and you go look?

Very well. He handed his colleague the needle. Doctor William Hale was well-respected even within the stuffy Charleston medical community. A decorated Korean War physician, he served the entire length of the action. Military doctors stationed at the Charleston Naval Hospital called him for consultation and considered him the best neurosurgeon in the state.

So, what’s the story here? Doctor Davies asked.

It looks like the Klan thought I had ten passengers too many. They wanted me to have them disembark near their torch rally. Gordy winced as the pain shot through his arm.

What did you do?

Panicked, mostly. How many more stitches, Doctor?

I am not sure; it is a nasty gash. How did you get out of there? The young resident tried to keep his patient’s mind off the needle.

The Klan is not into letting people do U-turns at their rallies. While I was trying to keep the Neanderthals at bay, Barry jumped behind the wheel and took out four cars in the process. Closing his eyes, Gordy clenched his teeth. Wait till Father Kelly sees the bus. It looks like Atlanta after Sherman went through. I’m about to be relieved of my command.

I wouldn’t be so sure about that. The young doctor continued the suturing. You’re hurt and deserve a Purple Heart. Your command is safe.

Where did you go to medical school? Gordy asked, worried about his credentials.

I didn’t! I always loved my mother’s sewing kit, so I thought what the hell? I’ll come down here, hang out, and see if I could stitch anyone up.

I told Barry that we should not come here. Gordy bit his lip.

Let me tell you something, son. If you had spent the time trying to go around the river to get downtown, the young lady lying in the room next door would probably be dead right now. A chill came into his voice. You did the right thing.

Doctor Hale came in the door. She’s B-positive, and we only have one unit.

I finally found a woman who’s my type, the resident joked as he cut the final suture.

Draw a pint. Maybe I’ll let you have the night off.

What a deal, boss! You drain the blood out of me, and I get to go home and lie on the couch, Doctor Davies quipped while he washed his hands. Only I don’t own a couch.

Can you do that? Gordy asked incredulously. Can he give Trisha blood?

Both colored physicians turned around and answered in unison, Yes!

Are you sure? Gordy persisted.

Son, do you think anyone in this country who gives blood knows where it is going? Doctor Hale replied as he checked his resident’s sutures.

I don’t know, Gordy responded blankly.

Blood is typed and has nothing to do with race.

Oh, Gordy muttered.

Well, now you know all about blood and where it comes from. There is truly no such thing as Black blood, Doctor Davies advised as he left to give his blood to Trisha.

I want you to come back next week and let us take out your stitches.

Doctor Hale, I have to go to the naval hospital. My parents don’t have any money.

Son, this service is on the house, so tell your parents. You can get down now, and I want you to take one pill every four hours as needed for pain.

Thanks a lot, Doctor Hale. Gordy slid his skinny legs off the examining table.

Nurse Bow came to the door. Doctor Hale, there are eight police cars outside, and their sergeant is asking to speak to the chief of the medical staff.

Tell him I’ll be right out, but first I need to check on our Neuro patient again.

*   *   *

Outside, the students gathered under a huge magnolia tree for protection against the hot Carolina sun. Gordy announced that Trisha was so close to death that she was getting blood from a Negro doctor as he proudly showed off his stitches to his fellow students.

Doctor Hale appeared. I’m the chief of staff here. You wanted to see me?

You can’t treat White kids here, and you know it, boy, the sergeant announced curtly.

Did you want me to turn them away so they could continue their journey to downtown Charleston? In my medical opinion, the vehicle was not quite up to the trip. Doctor Hale glanced over to the burned-out, windowless bus with the front bumper hanging off and the entire back end and sides demolished. Dents made by the bats had destroyed most of the yellow paint. Glass covered the entire floor and most of the seats; blood was scattered everywhere. The burned floor had ashes mixed with blood where the torch had landed. The interior’s repulsive smell forced the police officers to cover their mouths with handkerchiefs to investigate the ugly sight.

I want these White children released immediately, and we will take them to the emergency room at Roper Hospital, the police sergeant demanded.

That would be a complete waste of time for the ER staff at Roper, sir. Doctor Hale spoke calmly, as he did not want to challenge the police even here on his own turf. Only two children were treated. The rest are free to go to school if you can find a way to get them there. I have only one patient who is in critical condition and will need surgery.

There’s no way you are going to operate on a White here, and you know it, boy.

She cannot be moved until her vital signs are stabilized. Your time would be better spent getting these kids to school and hauling this monstrosity back to your police station for evidence. If the young lady inside does not make it, you’re going to have a homicide on your hands.

Maybe we’ll have a homicide on our hands because your son drove her to the wrong hospital, if you can call this place one.

Sergeant, that’s up to South Carolina’s Medical Board. Doctor Hale tried not to lose his temper. Only they can revoke my license since it’s not within police jurisdiction. Now, if you will excuse this ‘boy’, the young lady needs a neurosurgeon. I appear to be the only one around here who has that title. Good day. His tall, muscular frame disappeared through the door.

Stunned, the police sergeant could not believe that a Negro had spoken to him like that. He turned to his troops. Load them up, and get the hell out of here. I want as many kids crammed into each squad car as possible. Move it.

*   *   *

A 1957 Ford came roaring up the driveway. Sister Rosalie was behind the wheel of the old clunky car, the only one the orphanage had. The huge nun burst out of the car with her white habit swaying. Spotting Gordy sitting under the magnolia tree, she tried to run but had to walk. Soaking wet with perspiration beads streaming down her face, she was out of breath. My dear, what in the name of sassafras happened? she bellowed. Sugar, show me your hand.

Sister, everyone is OK except for Trisha, Gordy said defensively. I overheard one of the doctors, and they think Trisha might not make it. Abruptly, she dropped his hand and trotted over to the emergency room.

Tripping up the stairs, she used the full force of her weight to open the door. As she barged in, she knocked into the petite nurse. Nurse Bow, tell me, how is Trisha? she blurted out.

For pity’s sake, calm down right now. The children have been through enough already. I will not have that in this hospital. Do you understand me?

Have mercy on my soul, Sister Rosalie said breathlessly. There is no way the children should be alarmed. I’m distressed enough for the entire low country.

No prancing around here and causing mass hysteria.

Let me see Doctor Hale, or I’m going to start throwing my weight around.

Nurse Bow brushed off her starched hat. No, you don’t. Without looking around, she knew the nun was following her. Get out, and get out now!

Ladies, ladies, ladies! Doctor Hale appeared and smiled. I need your help.

Doctor Hale, say no more. What can I do?

Trisha Bibbs is in critical condition, and I need you to orchestrate the departure of these children from our premises. Do you want that buffoon police sergeant in charge of these minors? I give you my blessing to totally steamroll over him, as only you can do. My money is on you, Sister Rosalie! Please don’t disappoint me.

Doctor Hale, you have put your greenbacks on the right mule.

As the nun charged for the door, Nurse Bow exclaimed, That nutcase gets on my nerves. You realize, Doctor Hale, that she needs some major sedatives.

I don’t think the drug companies have come up with one that powerful yet.

I warned you about sending Barry to a Catholic school.

*   *   *

Sister Rosalie descended the steps just as the police loaded the students into their squad cars. Who in the name of Pope Pius IX is in charge here? she hollered. Completely ignoring the nun, the sergeant sat in the driver’s seat with his legs dangling out sideways. As she stomped up, she demanded that he get off the police radio. All the kids held their breath since they knew failure to give Sister Rosalie undivided attention was deadly. I am talking to you, Mister. I expect you to listen. She grabbed the receiver out of his hand. It’s blowing up a storm, but this is not a police state yet! These children have been traumatized enough today without you carting them off in squad cars with wire mesh. I’m madder than a wet hen!

Who are you? he looked puzzled as he asked.

Pope Pius IX, she barked as the teenagers laughed at a joke that only a Catholic high school student could get. History professors at Harvard might not know Pope Pius IX.

I sure am glad y’all fish-eaters have a fat Negro pope now, he drawled.

Listen to the cretinous creature in front of me. He died in 1878, so I surely cannot be him. Once she had launched into a dissertation, nothing the sergeant could do would shut her up.

Clearly annoyed, he countered, "I’m Baptist and could care less about