“I can’t stay here.” She stood up and I put my arms around her. She smelled like the night, dark and forlorn. I held her gingerly at first and then something happened to me, maybe it was the hangover or the Dexedrine I had taken as soon as Malcolm left, maybe it was the whole blown-out-of-reality spring, maybe I just went crazy, but all of a sudden I was able to really hold her in my arms, all the whole long tall black body, all the history of her people, the majesty of the Watusi, spear and lion, ancient warrior race, God knows my wild genes had not come from peaceful men, maybe I admired her, maybe it seemed absolutely logical to let your enemy fall upon your knife.

“No one’s going to keep you in the jail,” I said. “We’ll get you out of here tomorrow. I’ll go by your place and find your sister and tell her to take your kids to your house. I’ll get someone to keep them there if I have to. Klane?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Don’t call me ma’am. You said you wouldn’t do that, remember? Listen. This is going to be all right. I’m going to fix it. Robert and I will fix it. You understand that?”

“I hope so. I’ll kill myself if I have to stay in here. I can’t stay in here.”

“You don’t have to. Tell me what happened. What happened last night?” I led her over to the cot and we sat down on it.

“Delmonica and Shirley and Shirley’s husband, Willie, came over to play whist. Shirley and Willie and Brown and I been playing whist for fifteen years on Saturday nights. Ever since we came up from Lafayette when we was young. Delmonica had been out drinking. She stepped in the door and right away started talking about my roast. That roast’s not right, she said. She’s always talking about my cooking. I said, Delmonica, don’t come in here talking about my cooking in my own house. Then we dealt out the cards and Willie said, ‘Open me a beer,’ and I took out the knife to open his beer and she jumped at me. I hadn’t said a word. I just took out the knife and she jumped me across the table and then she was on the floor and the knife was in her throat and Willie started crying and Shirley said, ‘Call somebody.’ I didn’t kill her, Rhoda. I didn’t kill anybody. You got to get me out of here.”

“Time’s up.” It was the sheriff. I hugged Klane again and comforted her as best I could and then I followed the sheriff back out to the office where Robert and his cousin Edmund were talking to a clerk.