Sharon looked up at her and started to laugh. “You mean you're going to be a debutante, Tan?”
“More or less.” Tana looked embarrassed and groaned at her friend. “How could she do that to me?”
“It might be fun.”
“For who? And what the hell's the point? It's like a big cattle drive. They shove you around in a white dress and show you off to a lot of drunks, and you're supposed to find a husband somewhere in the bunch. Pretty cute, huh?” She looked sick, and Sharon put her nail polish away.
“Who're you going to take?”
“Don't ask. She wanted Billy Durning to be my escort of course, and thank God he'll be out of town.”
“Be grateful for that.” Sharon looked pointedly at her.
“I am. But the whole thing sounds like a farce.”
“So are a lot of things in life.”
“Don't be so cynical, Shar.”
“Don't be so chicken, Tan. It'll do you good.”
“Says who?”
“Says I.” Sharon advanced towards her and tried to stare her down. “You live like a nun around here.”
“So do you. So what?”
“I don't have any choice.” Tom had never called her again, it was more than he could cope with, Sharon knew, and in truth she understood. She hadn't expected more of him. But it didn't make her life very interesting at Green Hill. “You do.”
“Never mind.”
“You've got to start going out.”
“No, I don't.” Tana looked her right in the eye. “I don't have to do a goddamn thing I don't want to do. I'm eighteen years old, and I'm free as a bird.”
“A lame duck.” Sharon stared her down. “Get out there again, Tan.” But Tana said nothing at all. She walked into the bathroom they shared with the next room, locked the door, ran a bath, and didn't come out for an hour. “I meant what I said.” Sharon's voice was husky in the darkened room, once they were both in their beds.
“About what?”
“You should start going out again.”
“So should you.”
“I will one of these days.” Sharon sighed. “Maybe over the holidays when I'm home. There's no one for me to go out with here.” And then she laughed. “Hell, Tan, I don't know what I'm complaining about. At least I've got you.”
Tana smiled at her and they chatted for a few minutes and then drifted off to sleep.
The following week Tana went home to Washington with her. They were met at the train by Sharon's father, Freeman Blake, and Tana was instantly struck by how tall and handsome he was. He was a regal looking man, with a proud, beautifully carved, almost mahogany face, broad shoulders, and Sharon's same endlessly long legs. He had a warm smile, brilliantly white teeth, and he was quick to pull his daughter into his arms and hold her tight. He knew just how much she'd been through in the last year, and she'd come through it like a champ, just as he'd known she would, and he was desperately proud of her.
“Hi, baby, how's school?” She rolled her eyes, and turned quickly towards her friend.
“Tana, this is my dad, Freeman Blake. Daddy, this is Tana Roberts, my roommate at Green Hill.” He gave Tana's hand a powerful shake and she was magnetized by his eyes and the sound of his voice on the way home. He was filling Sharon in on all the local news, her mother's appointment to an even more important post, her brother Dick's big new romance, the remodeling of the house, the neighbor's new child, his new book. It was a warm friendly patter that touched Tana's heart, and she felt envious of the life that Sharon obviously had. And she felt it even more at dinner that night in the handsome colonial dining room. They had a beautiful house with a huge lawn and backyard, three cars in the garage, one of which was a Cadillac Freeman drove, despite the rude things his friends said. But he admitted that he had always wanted a Cadillac convertible and he had one now after all these years. They were obviously all four closely knit, and Tana found Miriam more than a little formidable. She was so intelligent and so direct that it took one's breath away, and she seemed to constantly expect the ultimate of everyone. One was never safe from her questions, her demands, and her ever-searching gaze.
“See what I mean?” Sharon said when they were alone upstairs. “It's like being on the witness stand, just having dinner with her.” She had wanted to know everything Sharon had done in the last two months, and she was interested in both the incident with Tom at the movie house, and the one at the coffee shop with Tana after that.
“It's just that she cares so much, Shar … about everything!”
“I know that. And it drives me nuts. Daddy is just as smart as she is for chrissake, and he's so much gentler about everything.” He was that, he told exquisite tales, made everyone laugh, and he had a way of making everyone comfortable, of bringing them closer together and forming an irresistible bond. Tana had noticed it all night long and she thought him the most remarkable man she had ever met.
“He's the most incredible man, Shar.”
“I know.”
“I read one of bis books last year. I'm going to go home now and read them all.”
“I'll give them to you.”
“Only if I can have an autographed set.” They both laughed, and a moment later, Miriam knocked at the door, anxious to know that they were all right.
“Do you have everything you need?” Tana smiled almost shyly at her.
“I do. Thank you very much, Mrs. Blake.”
“Not at all. We're so glad you could come.” The smile was even more dazzling than Shar's, and the eyes were driving, omniscient, almost frightening they plunged so deep and so hard. “How do you like Green Hill?”
“I do. Very much. The professors are pretty interesting.” But there was a lack of enthusiasm in her voice which Miriam picked up at once.
“But?”
Tana smiled. She was sharp. Very sharp. “The atmosphere isn't as warm as I thought it would be.”
“Why is that?”
“I don't know. The girls seem to stay in cliques.”
“And the two of you?”
“We're together most of the time.” Sharon looked at Tana and smiled, and Miriam didn't seem displeased. She thought that Tana was a bright girl, and there was a lot of potential there. Far more than Tana herself knew. She was quick, she was bright, she was funny at times, but cautious, laced up. She would have to open up one day, and when she did, God only knew what would be there.
“Maybe that's your problem then, girls. Tana, how many other friends do you have at Green Hill?”
“Just Shar. We're in class together most of the time. We share the same room.”
“And you're probably being punished for that. I'm sure you realize that. If your closest friend is the only Negro girl there they're going to penalize you, you know.”
“What for?”
“Don't be naive.”
“Don't be so cynical, Mom.” Sharon sounded suddenly annoyed.
“Maybe it's time you both grew up.”
“What the hell's that supposed to mean?” Sharon lashed out at her. “Hell, I've been home for nine hours and you're already on my back with your speeches and your crusades.”
“I'm not making any speeches. I'm just telling you to face facts.” She looked at them both then. “You can't hide from the truth, girls. It isn't easy being black today … or a black girl's friend … you're both going to have to realize that and be willing to pay the price if you expect the friendship to last.”
“Can't you do anything without turning it into a political crusade, Mom?”
Miriam looked at her and then at her friend. “I want you to do something for me, both of you, before you go back to school on Sunday night. There's a man I know speaking this Sunday in Washington. He's one of the most extraordinary men I've ever known, Martin Luther King, and I want you to come listen to him with me.”
“Why?” Sharon was still glaring at her.
“Because it's something neither of you will ever forget.”
And as they rode back toward South Carolina late that night, Tana was still thinking of it. Miriam Blake had been right. He was the most visionary man Tana had ever listened to. He made everyone else seem stupid and blind, and it was hours before she could even talk about what she had heard. Simple words about being black and being a black man's friend, about civil rights and the equality of everyone, and afterwards they had sung a song, swaying together, arms crossed, holding hands. She looked at Sharon an hour after they left Washington.