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IT WAS THREE DAYS LATER and the church was far fuller than it would have been had Lucy Lee’s death not been from an act of murder, and also a tragic part of a legal case that had captured the attention of the country. Frank and Jack Lee were two of the pallbearers.
DuBose slipped into the back pew right before the service commenced. She was startled when a man came to stand next to her.
Battle said, “I’m sure it means a lot to the Lee family that you’re here, Desiree.”
“It’s... very nice of you to come as well, Edmund.”
“I spoke with my son Brett last night. He sent his condolences. I’ve already communicated them and mine to the Lee family.”
“I’m sure they appreciated it.”
They turned their attention to the front as the funeral service commenced.
In a tremulous but emotionally riveting contralto, Hilly Lee sang “Amazing Grace” from the pulpit while Herman Till, the medical examiner and a deacon of this church, looked on, tears trickling down his face.
The rain held off just long enough for the gravesite service to be completed, and then it came tumbling down like heaven was crying.
Jack was the last to leave. He stood next to the coffin of his elder sister. Placing his hand on the wood he said, “Goodbye, Lucy girl. I will miss you for the rest of my days. You, more than anyone else I know, did not deserve this.”
He put a hand to his face but failed to hold back the tears. “And I’m sorry... I’m so damn sorry, Lucy.”
In a daze, Jack drifted back to his car, which was parked along the meandering, narrow lanes of Forest Lawn Cemetery, where towering oaks and beautiful canopies of pink and white crepe myrtles, and green flowing dogwoods sheltered both the dead and those who grieved for them.
DuBose walked up to him. “I’m so sorry, Jack.”
He wiped his eyes and nodded. “I know. And it means a lot.”
“I was thinking that I would move into the Oak Tree Motel. I saw it when I was driving back from Norfolk.”
“Oh, you mean the colored motel?” said Jack, wiping his eyes again. “That’s a long way away, and you don’t have a car.”
“That’s my problem, not yours.”
“Right now, they’re totally interchangeable. Come on, we’re going back to my parents’ house. We’re having a little get-together in Lucy’s honor. You can ride with me.”
“Jack, no. You need to be with your family and friends.”
“Which is exactly why you’re coming, Desiree.” He stared at her. “I... do consider you a friend. I hope you feel the same.”
She nodded curtly and said hesitantly, “Yes... of course.”
About thirty people were packed into the Lees’ small house. There were cold cuts and pastries and coffee and lemonade. The rain had picked up even more and the breeze was chilly.
DuBose poured herself a cup of coffee and hung back against the wall. She was well used to being the only Black person in a courtroom, but this was different. Every white face here held the anguish of an innocent life taken prematurely, and she felt herself constantly tearing up in the face of it.
Hilly Lee sat on the couch in the living room, holding a cup of black coffee, which matched the color of her dress, shoes, and spirits. She stared down at the floor like she had no idea what planet she was on, or whose life she was actually occupying at the moment.
Jack had sat with his stricken mother and father, then risen to greet the visitors and helped serve food and drinks. After that he’d joined DuBose against the wall.
The Lees’ neighbor, Ashby, had come by, dressed in an ill-fitting suit from his younger and leaner days. By the looks of him he was already three sheets to the wind before he walked in the door. But he conveyed his respectful condolences to the Lees, grabbed a pastry, glanced curiously at DuBose, nodded at Jack, and left.
DuBose said, “You’ll be surprised to learn that Battle had agreed to our extension request, but Ambrose seemed to think that postponing it would mean the man who attacked Lucy would win somehow. So we’re still on for trial.”
“Battle was at the service, too. A second surprise.”
DuBose sipped her coffee and glanced out the window at the falling rain. “After the hearing I saw another side of the man that I never expected to.”
“People can change, Desiree.”
