Stella by Starlight Read Free

that’s not all. . . .”
    â€œWhat’s not all?”
    Stella’s heart began to thud. “ Please don’t tell anybody, but I think I know who one of them is.”
    Tony sat back down in a blink. “That kind of information can get you hurt, girl.”
    â€œI know! That’s why I am not writing about it!” She paused. “Besides, I don’t think I could put into words the shiver down my back or the tingle in my toes or the thunder of my heartbeat while we watched.”
    â€œYou just did,” Tony told her matter-of-factly.
    Stella shook her head. “Why do you think they were out there tonight? They haven’t done anything like this around here for a long time, Papa says.”
    Tony stared out into the dark. “All I know is every time they get to showing off their pointy bedsheets, something bad happens.”
    â€œI got a feeling they like making us feel uneven.”
    â€œHow you mean?”
    â€œWell, it’s sort of like we’re living on a boat that might sink.”
    Tony nodded. “With no oars, and holes in the boat!”
    â€œI think when we get scared, they feel strong,” Stella reasoned.
    â€œBut . . . why? What’s the point?” Tony tilted hishead toward the house. “What do you think the old folks are talking about?”
    â€œThey’ve gotta be worried,” Stella said. “Real worried. But not one of them ever does anything!” She stomped her foot on the rough wooden step.
    â€œBut, Stella, what can they do? They got no power. No money. Like my daddy says, it’s hard to live like there’s a boot on your back every second of your life.” He reached down for a handful of pebbles and flung them into the night. A clatter immediately followed—he had a good arm as well as being fast—those pebbles had reached the front fence.
    â€œYeah, but your daddy got out,” Stella ventured. “He went to college and now he’s a doctor.”
    Because he was the only Negro doctor for two hundred miles, Tony’s father delivered babies, gave tonics and cough medicine for head colds, and patched up scratches, cuts, and burns. He stayed busy seven days a week.
    â€œYeah, he did. But he’s told me more than enough stories about how bad he was treated while he was getting his training. They made him empty the bedpans and clean up the blood on the floor after a surgery.None of the other interns had to do that. They gave him broken equipment and outdated books, and only let him treat colored folk.”
    Stella tucked her toes under the edge of her blanket. “My papa always tells me we gotta be twice as smart to get half as much,” she told Tony with a frown.
    Tony’s voice grew tight. “And even after all this time, my daddy’s still not allowed to treat white patients. Like their diseases are high class or something.” He whipped more stones after the first ones. “And Dr. Packard, the white doctor—he won’t even lay a hand on a black patient, even if they’re dyin’!” he added.
    â€œOh, he’ll lay a hand when he wants to.” Stella’s voice went harsh.
    â€œHow do you mean?” Tony asked, wiping his hands on his pants.
    â€œWhen I was five, Dr. Packard, well, he slapped me—hard—right across my face. I can still remember, it hurt so bad.”
    â€œHe did? But why?”
    â€œRemember that game, ‘Step on a crack, break your mother’s back’?”
    â€œYeah, you jump over the cracks in the sidewalk.”
    â€œWell, I was with Mama and we were walking down Main Street, heading to Mrs. Cooper’s candy store—I was so happy! I was concentrating on the sidewalk, doing my jumps, and I didn’t see Dr. Packard. I accidentally stepped on his shoe and got some mud on it.”
    Tony sucked in his breath. “You didn’t!”
    â€œYep. I did. I apologized