Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!

Tilt-A-Whirl

Washington, D.C.

1978

When they got back to the hotel late that afternoon, Dena was worn out. She felt as if she had been riding a giant Tilt-A-Whirl at the carnival for the past five hours, whipped first one way and then the other. Even after she had taken a hot bath and was lying in bed, her mind was still spinning. Gerry registered them under his name but had gotten a suite with two bedrooms. At eight-thirty he called her from his bedroom. “How are you doing? Sure you don’t want me to order you some dinner?”

“No, I just want to sleep.” Then she asked, for the twentieth time, “Do you believe this?”

“Well … it’s different from what we expected.”

Later, Gerry was rereading What’s Doing in Washington magazine when the phone rang. He jumped up and ran into the bathroom and picked it up as fast as he could, so it would not wake Dena. It was Macky Warren, wanting to know how things were going. Dena had said he might be calling and to let them know what was going on. Gerry whispered, “Well, we found the woman we were looking for.”

“Great. What did she say?”

“Mr. Warren, could you hold on a moment?” He went into his bedroom, closed the door, and picked up the phone. “She told Dena that her mother was a black woman.”

“A what?” Macky was quite sure he had not heard right.

“A black—you know, like Lena Horne. Light but black. She didn’t know what happened to her, but at least now we know the mother’s real name; that’s a start. Dena’s asleep in the other room but I’m sure she’ll call you when we know more.”

Macky walked slowly back into the living room, where he had left Norma and Aunt Elner cracking pecans. Norma sat, waiting for news like a bird waiting for a worm.

“Well?” she asked, her eyes wide.

Macky sat down in his BarcaLounger and picked up the paper, hoping to avoid conversation.

“What did she say?”

“I didn’t talk to her, I talked to her friend. She was asleep.”

“Yes … and?”

“And he said they found the woman.”

“They found the woman. Yes—and?”

“And what?”

“What did she say about her mother?”

Macky tried to sound casual. “She said that Dena’s mother was a black woman.”

She looked at him incredulously. “What?”

“Black.”

Norma closed her eyes. “Macky, why do you do this? You know I’m a wreck over this thing. Now tell me what she really said.”

“I told you.”

“Macky, you are not funny. What did she say?”

“Norma, I am not trying to be funny. She said her mother was black.”

Norma squinted at him. “What do you mean, black?”

“Just like I said. Black.”

“You mean Amos and Andy black?”

“No, he said more like Lena Horne black.”

Norma waved him off. “Oh, you are making this up. You probably didn’t even talk to him.”

He looked over the top of the paper at her. “I’m telling you, he said she was black. That’s what the woman said. I’m just repeating.”

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous, she was no more black than I am!” Norma cracked a pecan to make her point and threw the shell in the green bowl in her lap.

“Norma, you asked and I told you.”

“Well, he’s wrong. Don’t you think somebody would have noticed if Gene had married a colored girl? Don’t you think one person would have looked at her when she got off the train and commented, ‘Oh, look, Gene married a colored girl’? Not one person said that, did they, Aunt Elner?”

“Not that I recall.”

“Of course they didn’t, she was a white person, for God’s sake. That woman has her mixed up with somebody else. How can you be black if you are a white person? It makes no sense at all, I’ve never heard of such a crazy thing. Lena Horne, my foot.”

Aunt Elner looked up, confused. “How did Lena Horne get in this? Was she there?”

“Oh, she’s not in it, Aunt Elner,” said Norma. “He’s making it up just to get my goat. He is determined to drive me insane. Keep it up, Macky, and when I’m down at the state hospital foaming at the mouth, then you’ll finally get your wish.”

Macky heaved a sigh. “Have it your own way, Norma. I’ve told you the truth and you don’t believe me, so forget it.”

A few minutes passed. Norma cracked two more pecans. “The very idea of saying a white person is black. I knew her, you didn’t.”

“Norma, I’m not saying it. The woman said it. I don’t know!”

“Well, you shouldn’t be passing that kind of false information along. How can you be black if you have green eyes? Answer me that.”

“I don’t know, Norma.”

“No, I didn’t think you did.”

Aunt Elner said, “Well, whatever she was, she was a pretty thing. Isn’t that what they say? That black is beautiful?” She emptied her bowl of shells into the paper bag at her feet. “And I’ll tell you another thing, they ought to put Amos and Andy back on the radio. Where did Amos and Andy go, is what I want to know.”