Chapter 63: Dancing While Black

February 19, 1982, McKinley, Ohio

"Angie!" I exclaimed as I hurried toward the girls, who appeared tired but otherwise OK.

I took Angie in my arms and hugged her tightly.

"Are you OK?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. "I'm sorry I'm late, but we were at the party, and the police wouldn't let us leave or make phone calls until they interviewed everyone who was there."

"What happened?" Melody asked.

"A girl from the seventh floor was raped," Jeannette said.

"Who was it?"

"Some girl named Jody," Jeannette replied.

"Jody McCutchen?" I asked.

"Yeah. You know her?"

"We hung out a bit right when school started, but we didn't really hit it off. Did they catch the guy who did it?"

"I don't think so."

"Where are the guys?"

"The cops talked to all the girls first, then let us all go at the same time. The guys are all undergoing detailed interviews."

"She can't identify the guy?"

"She was beaten up pretty badly, and they took her to the hospital," Marie said.

"Are all the guys still at the house where the party was?" I asked.

"Yeah," Jeannette replied, "Clark, Larry, Jason, Pete, Carter, Kurtis, and a couple of other guys we know. But I can't imagine the asshole who did this stuck around. I think the cops are wasting their time."

"Wonderful," I said. "So we have a rapist on the loose."

"We were talking about what to do," Marie said. "And we're thinking none of us should walk anywhere alone and always stick together at parties."

"That makes a lot of sense," Melody said. "But what if it's a guy who's from the dorm?"

"That was one of our biggest concerns," Jeannette said.

"Well, you're all safe now," I said. "Was the Deputy still downstairs?"

"Yes," Marie said. "They're checking IDs. Did you get hassled at all?"

"No. He just asked where I'd been. They can verify with Katy's parents what time I left her house."

"Shall we all just hang out for a while?" Jeannette asked. "I don't think I want to go to bed before the guys get back."

"Common room or my place?"

"Yours! You have ALL the music!"

The five of us went back to my room, and the girls debated what to put on, eventually opting for Born to Run. Angie, Melody, and I were on the couch while Jeannette and Marie sat in the chairs.

"You don't usually go to parties, Ang," I said.

"It's our fault, Mike," Marie said. "We dragged her with us because we didn't want her sitting around the dorm all evening. You know she usually hangs out with Sandy when you're on a date, but Sandy went home this weekend."

"I think that came out wrong," I said. "I wasn't accusing anyone; I was just curious why she was at a party. She usually doesn't go with you."

"It's OK, Marie," Angie said. "Mike's right. I don't normally go to parties, so his asking really is OK. He's just concerned, that's all."

"Do you know any more details, Jeannette?" Melody asked.

"Not really," Jeannette replied. "We didn't know anything had happened until the cops showed up in force. And you know they won't talk. The only thing they said was that she was beaten and raped, and they took her away in an ambulance. The cops herded everyone into two rooms and wouldn't let us talk or leave or do anything. Everyone was searched and interviewed. I think they made a couple of busts for kids having joints on them."

"The government just needs to lighten up on that," Marie said. "It's just pot, for Pete's sake!"

"I hear the McKinley cops are actually pretty cool about that with college students," Melody said. "So long as it's just a joint or two, they'll simply take them away and warn the kid not to do it again. Getting caught the second time is when they give you grief. But if you have a bag on you? Then you're toast."

"I'm thinking we should continue taking karate," Angie said.

"I think you're right," I agreed. "And the rest of you should think about it, too. The dojo offers a weekly self-defense course that isn't formal karate training but teaches you how to stop an attacker."

"A kick or knee to the balls is pretty effective," Jeannette stated.

"Yes, if you're in the right position," I agreed. "But a guy can grab you in ways that make that impossible."

We heard voices in the hall, and a moment later, Pete and Jason showed up at the door.

"Hey, guys," Jeannette said. "All cool?"

"For us?" Pete asked. "Yes. But the cops took Clark, Larry, and Carter to the station for 'questioning'."

"What?!" several of us gasped.

"Two guys claimed they saw a 'black kid' come out of the room where the girl was found."

"What?!" I asked in disgust. "Wait, I know. They all look alike, right? Give me a break! Larry is 6′3″, and Clark is 5′10″. Larry's wiry, and Clark is muscular from lifting weights. And Carter wears glasses and looks like a classic nerd!"

"Apparently, 'black' was the limit of the description. They took a couple of other black kids in, too."

"Wonderful," I said. "Any idea what happens now?"

"No clue," Jason said. "Amy and Clarissa went to the station. I know it couldn't have been Clark because he was with Amy the entire night. And Larry hung out with me and Pete. And I'm pretty sure Carter was with Clarissa — she's the nerdy-looking girl in O-Chem; you know, stringy black hair, thin, glasses."

"Yeah, I know who you mean. She's pre-med, too. Did you tell the cops Larry was with you guys?"

"Yeah, but it didn't seem to matter," Pete said. "I think Nathan Bedford Forest was in charge of the cops at the party."

"Who?" Marie asked.

"A Confederate general," Melody said. "He's reputed to have been the Grand Wizard of the KKK, but if not, he certainly was in it. He even bragged about it to a newspaper in Cincinnati, saying there were like half-a-million Klan members in the South."

"So they just rounded up all the black kids?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's what it seems like," Jason confirmed. "I didn't see them take any white guys or see any black guys walk away."

"Damn," I said. "Is there anything we can do?"

"I doubt it," Melody said. "Though I hope they all asked for lawyers. Talking to the cops is a bad deal if you're a suspect."

"Clark doesn't exactly have a high opinion of white police officers," I said. "Or ANY police officers, for that matter. He got rousted a lot as a teenager in the Over-the-Rhine section of Cincinnati."

"That's a really rough neighborhood," Angie said.

"You sure as heck wouldn't catch me there!" Marie said. "Of course, with my Mediterranean skin, I'd get rousted if I went to Indian Hill!"

"What's that?" I asked.

"A ritzy area of Cincinnati. Lawyers, doctors, P&G executives, that kind of people. Huge houses with big lots, some even have swimming pools and tennis courts. Total WASPs. We played them in football, basketball, and baseball."

"We played them, too," Angie said. "Stuck-up snobs."

"I just hope Clark keeps his cool," I said.

"Does he have a record?" Jason asked.

"I don't think so. He was falsely accused of armed robbery when he was fifteen, but they dropped the charges. Basically, he was a black kid, and some white store owner fingered him. At first, the cops refused to even check his alibi, which was ironclad. When they finally did check, they discounted the alibi because the principal and teacher who vouched for Clark being in school at the time of the robbery were both black."

"What the fuck?!" Pete growled.

"Yeah, that's more or less the reaction I had, minus the profanity," I said. "I've run into something like that myself. You remember the girl from my hometown who came to visit?"

"The foxy little girl with the dark hair? Sure."

"Her dad found out I have a black roommate and forbade her from seeing me or my sister, who happens to be her best friend."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. I guess her granddad was in the KKK."

"What IS it with people?" Marie asked.

"Ignorance and fear are big parts of it," Jeannette said. "We're talking about it in my sociology class this semester."

"I hate to say this," I said. "But I need to be up for work in less than six hours."

"We'll go hang out in the common room for a while and wait to see if they come home," Jeannette said. "You and Angie can say your prayers, and she can join us if she wants."

"Thanks," I said.

They left, and Angie and I said our prayers.

"You OK with me going to bed?" I asked.

"Sure. I'll just hang out with the others. I know you need to work. See you for karate?"

"Yes. Are you skipping morning prayers?"

"Actually, no. I'll come by at the usual time. I can go back to bed afterwards."

"OK."

She kissed me on the cheek and left my room. I went to the bathroom, brushed my teeth, then got into bed.

February 20, 1982, McKinley, Ohio

When I woke up on Saturday morning, Clark wasn't back in the room. That concerned me greatly, and when Angie arrived for our prayers, we decided to go check on Larry and Carter. We knocked on their door but didn't get an answer, so we went back to my room to pray. Angie went back to bed, and I showered and dressed for work. I grabbed a bagel from my fridge, spread cream cheese on it, and took it with me to eat on my walk to work.

At the Quick Mart, I put on my smock, then picked up the McKinley Times and quickly read the front-page article about the rape. It said the police had detained five 'youths' for questioning, and a 'witness' was described as saying he'd seen a 'black youth in his late teens' coming from the room where Jody had been found. That told me everything I needed to know. If the supposed 'witness' said it was a 'black youth in his late teens', that meant he had to be close enough to tell the difference between my three friends. Something fishy was going on; I was sure of it.

"What's wrong?" Nancy asked.

"I know the girl who was raped, and my roommate and two other friends are being questioned by the police because someone claimed a black guy did it, but I don't buy it for a second."

"Why?"

"You've met all three of the guys when they've come in here. They do not look even remotely alike in build or facial features. A witness claimed he saw a black teen come out of the room, but if he was close enough to know it was a teenager, then he should know the general build, at least, and that would eliminate at least two of my friends. But even without that, they all seem to have alibis, according to my other friends."

"So what are you thinking?"

"Somebody told the cops what they wanted to hear, and they're going to try to pin it on black guys. Unfortunately, the girl hasn't been able to give a description yet."

"That sucks. Do they have lawyers?"

"I have no idea."

"Let me call my mom. Our next-door neighbor is a lawyer. I think he works on contracts and stuff, but at least he could give some advice."

"I'd appreciate it."

I manned the register while she made the phone call. About fifteen minutes later, her mom called back.

"Mom said our neighbor is going to go to the police station and try to see the guys. He's not a criminal defense lawyer, but he can at least see what's going on."

"Thanks, Nancy. I owe you one."

She laughed, "Hmm..."

I smiled and went back to work. We didn't hear anything before the end of my shift, and none of the college kids who had come in during the morning had any news.

At the end of the shift, I took off my smock, walked back to campus, ate a quick lunch in the dining hall, then went back to the dorm to find that the guys STILL weren't back. I found Angie, Jeannette, and Marie, who also had no new information.

"Is there ANYTHING we can do?" Jeannette asked.

"I don't know," I said. "Nancy's mom called one of her friends, who's an attorney, to see if he could see the guys, but I didn't hear anything before I left work. I suspect that unless the guys asked for an attorney, he wouldn't get in to see them."

"Does anyone have any idea how long they can keep them?" Angie asked.

We all shook our heads or shrugged.

"What are we going to do today?" Marie asked. "Should we just hang out here?"

"Angie and I have karate," I said. "We need to leave in about ten minutes, and we'll be back about 3:15pm."

"I think we'll go find Pete and Jason and hang out with them until you get back."

Angie and I went to our rooms to put on our karate uniforms, then headed to the dojo. As we walked, I thought about everything I'd considered for the past two weeks and realized that, in the end, nothing had changed. I was still working, I was still going to karate, I had decided not to sing with Milena, and I hadn't had my 'casual love affair' with her, which Jocelyn had suggested. All that angst, and, well, nothing, though I had filled out applications for six grants and mailed them on Friday after lunch, but that was it.

When we arrived back at the dorms, Clark, Larry, and Carter were back, having finally been released by the police.

"Just another white motherfucker of a cop who doesn't care about anything but us being black," Clark declared angrily when I asked him what had happened.

"So what was the end result?"

"Nothing. The girl said it was a white guy, about 5′10″, with brown hair. You know, he looks like you. But you didn't sit in a fucking interrogation room all night."

"What about the supposed witnesses?"

"Lying racist assholes!" Clark growled angrily. "T had a confrontation with them because he was dancing with a white girl, and they decided to get even."

T was Terry, another black guy whom Clark hung out with at times and whom he studied with.

"Clarissa is white," I said. "And I guess she was with Carter."

"Yeah, but nobody cares about her because she's so nerdy. T was dancing with a hot blonde chick."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing. It's a waste of time. White cops are always going to harass black guys. And they have witnesses to rely on."

"But those guys lied!"

"They told the cops they saw T near the room, but they were careful to only say he was a black student and the lights were too dim to get a good look at him."

"Seriously?"

"Listen up, middle-class white boy! There are more people like your girlfriend's dad around than you realize. They see a black guy doing well, and he's an 'uppity nigger' and has to be dealt with. And if he's talking to a white girl? Or worse, dancing with her? Forget it. Hell, if he dates her, they'll string him up. You think that shit doesn't happen? It does."

"I simply never ran into it personally. My dad knows about it and told me some stories, but our bishops marched with Doctor King in Selma and other places. And my friends think the way I do."

"You aren't the problem, Mike. I know that. But it's hard to see a white man in a good light when my friends and I were rousted for 'Dancing While Black'. From where I'm standing, I don't have a good opinion of a lot of your fellow white folks."

"So what now?"

"Nothing. Seriously. The last thing I want to do is attract MORE attention from that racist bastard Chief of Police. Hell, he wouldn't even take the word of white kids because they were my friends, which made anything they said suspect."

"That stinks. Did you get any sleep?"

"No. I'm going to crash. Amy is coming by later."

"Carter and Larry?"

"I'm sure they went to bed, too."

"I'm sorry."

"For what? If I blame you 'cause you're white, it's the same as that cracker thinking I'm guilty because I'm black."

"OK. Get some sleep and let me know if I can do anything for you."

"I will. And thanks, Mike."

After my shower, the gang, minus our black friends who were sleeping but with Melody joining us, went out for dinner and ice cream. Angie and I excused ourselves to go to Vespers, and when we came back, we hung out with the others in the common room because there were too many of us to fit comfortably in my room. We used my boombox and tapes for music, as I couldn't turn the stereo loud enough for us to hear without attracting negative attention from the RA.

February 21, 1982, McKinley, Ohio

"Michael?" Deacon Grigory called as I left the nave.

"Yes, Father Deacon?"

"Do you have a moment?"

"Sure."

We moved to a corner of the nave.

"Father Nicholas says you're willing to chant and read lessons. Are you available to do that on Wednesdays?"

"Sure. Starting when?"

"With the first Pre-sanctified Liturgy. If you would read the Psalms at the beginning of the service, that would save the voices of the chanters. And Father would like you to read the lessons from the Old Testament."

"Sure. I thought I needed to be a Reader to do those lessons at a liturgy."