Chapter 2 The Beginning of the End
“Where am I” cried Emma Johnson as she woke not knowing where she was. She again had slipped in and out of her own world. As she laid there struggling to pull her mind back inside to the place where she remembered, her granddaughter Missy could only whimper as she felt like she was loosing the only person in the world who meant something to her. Missy softly said “its’ ok Granny. I am here and you are with me”. Emma then said “Who are you”? Missy between sobs could only say this is Missy- your granddaughter. Emma with a soft smile and gentle eyes then said “ how long have I been here” and before Missy could answer , Emma slumped again into a deep sleep. Missy squeezed her hand knowing that she had lost her again.
Emma Johnson had lived a hard life by any standards but though it all she had endured. She endured pain, suffering and physical and mental hurt, but through it all she had never given up. How ironic that at such a late stage in her life she was now fighting an enemy that she could not see. An enemy that was threatening her one constant throughout her life- her strong will and fighting spirit. Missy set holding the hand of the only grandmother, mother, and friend that she ever had in life. The one person in her life that protected her from the entire world.
As she set there holding the limp and small hand that seemed to have to many calluses and too many wrinkles, she began to think of her grandmother in better times or at least earlier times but not so good. Funny, the more she remembers, she can only think of the good times as the bad times seem to be a far distant memory and happened to someone else- not her. Emma Jean Johnson was 71 years old and had not been sick a day in her life- being pregnant is not sick. She was only a shell of her old feisty self. She was dark with minimum frame. Some would say that she was plain looking. No distinguishing features. Just a plain Black women, who had seen and endured too much during her life time.
Emma Johnson was born in September 1912 or so she thinks for there was no formal birth certificate with her name and birth date. She was born to Lucy and William Johnson and the fourth of nine children who lived. Lucy Taylor had lost 2 children while giving birth. Emma Johnson was born in a two room shack where she lived until she was 16 when she left home. She was forced to leave as she had become pregnant and her parents did not want anyone in the small town of Riverside to know. It was that time when unwed mothers were a disgrace to the family. Her father Deacon Johnson at the First Baptist Church could not have a daughter pregnant in the congregation. Emma was put on a bus with only a small suitcase and chicken and biscuits in a brown paper bag and shipped to Washington DC to stay with her aunt and uncle. When asked William and Lucy told everyone that Emma had gone north to take care of her sick aunt.
Missy began to think of the many stories that her grandmother shared with her. How terrified she was on the bus to Washington DC. How she had to sit in the back of the bus and hid her face because she was so afraid. Her grandmother told her how she had to go across the street from the bus station to use the bathroom since the only bathroom at the bus stations were for Whites only and the sign said “ No Coloreds allowed”. She had to drink from the water faucet in the rear of the bathroom because the water faucet with the sign “Colored” did not work.
Missy remembered her Granny telling her how she almost got left in some town in Tennessee. She had gotten off the bus to use the bathroom and she could not find the “Colored” bathroom. She then needing to go badly went to the store across the street and was told to go to the outhouse behind the store. The outhouse was a little ways in the woods. Not finding any toilet paper, she had to sneak out and find some newspaper lying on the ground. Afterward she saw the bus closing the door and she had to run to catch the bus to get the rest of her chicken and biscuits. When she got on the bus she found that many more people had gotten on the bus. As she went to the back of the bus she noticed that there were no empty seats at all. As she got closer to her seat, she saw a White man sitting in her seat. She stopped frozen in her tracks thinking of her fried chicken until she reached the next bus stop where he got off. Luckily he had not eaten her chicken, She did not care about the seat just chicken and biscuits in that greasy brown bag.
Missy began to smile between the sobs and then suddenly Emma squeezed her hand and said “Hello Missy- I am glad that you are here” How long have I been sleep? Lean over closer so that I can talk to you and tell you some things that I have meant to tell you for many years.” Missy could only wipe her eyes and say “ Yes Maam” and pulled her chair closer to the one she loved.