Fallen Grace (Blaze Collection) by Sadeqa Johnson

Author:Sadeqa Johnson [Johnson, Sadeqa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
Published: 2024-02-22T00:00:00+00:00

It was lunchtime when Gertrude pulled into the parking lot of the Shady Breeze Motel, a two-story, turquoise building with a white-and-red awning. The place looked like it needed a fresh coat of paint but was a far cry better than the trailer park.

“I used to work here.” Gertrude looked in the rearview mirror, pushed her hair back, licked her finger, and then wiped at a dirt mark on her cheek. “Let me talk to my old manager and see what he can do for us.”

Bubbles waited in the car with the baby as Gertrude crossed the lot.

As Joy stretched, Bubbles looked down into her daughter’s sweet face. She had the same almond-shaped eyes as her mother. If Talitha had taken one look at Joy, she might have changed her mind. Bubbles held her beautiful baby girl up to her face and kissed her cheeks, her eyelids, and then her tiny mouth. She had been made with love, even if Ray didn’t love her anymore. Gertrude knocked on the car window.

“Here, put this on.” She passed through a baseball cap. “He said we can stay, but we gotta keep a low profile.”

“Whites only?”

“Sorry.” Gertrude’s nose turned pink.

Bubbles shrugged. At least it was a place to stay. She and Joy wouldn’t be on the street.

She followed Gertrude to the last door on the second floor, number 255. Inside, the motel room smelled musty, like it hadn’t been inhabited in months. Otherwise, it was clean, much to Bubbles’s relief. It had a queen bed made up with a floral quilt, a small sofa, and pea-green carpet with only a few dark stains.

“That man, Mr. Fox? Will he find us here?” Bubbles asked.

“Nah. He doesn’t know I worked here.”

“Would your mother tell him? Or the police if they came looking for us?”

Gertrude chewed her nail and then shrugged. “We won’t be here long enough for all of that. How much did you get from your ma?” She sat on the bed.

Bubbles emptied out her pockets and then put Joy on her breast while Gertrude counted the money.

“Twenty-four dollars and seventy-six cents. This is good. But it’s not enough. We need triple this if we’re gonna afford bus tickets and a place to set up in Hollywood.”

“I thought you had an aunt there?”

“I do.” Gertrude paused. “But just in case she won’t take all three of us, I want to make sure we have enough to get started.” She spit out her nail.

Bubbles hadn’t spent any time with white people before moving into the maternity home. She had moved through her all-Negro world under the protection of her father, pastor of the largest Baptist church in Richmond. She wasn’t ignorant to the ways of segregation and racism in the country. Just like every other Negro household with a television or radio, she’d cheered Jackie Robinson on as he became the first Negro to enter Major League Baseball, then prayed for him as he faced intense discrimination throughout the league. But now, being out in the world as a young Negro woman with a baby to protect was an entirely different experience.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.