Ties That Bind Read Free Page A

“Ty, make sure this lady here gets back to the dorm okay. I’m walking her roommate home.”
    Tyrone nodded, smiling. “Okay, Rand.”
    â€œYou’re leaving already, Jenna?” Ellie asked. Her voice definitely indicated she wasn’t pleased at the thought.
    â€œYes. I’ll see you later.”
    Ellie looked at Tyrone and smiled. “Yes. Later.”
    Jenna shook her head, wondering what had happened to Ellie’s plan to snare Sonny Cahill, since it now seemed she was enamored with Tyrone Wells.
    â€œReady?”
    Randolph’s question intruded into her thoughts. “Yes, I’m ready.”
    With his hand curling around her arm, Randolph led Jenna across the room, through the doors and out into the yard.
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    The grounds were well lit as Randolph and Jenna strode along a paved lane that led to several dormitory buildings. They talked about everything, from the Temptations’ newest single, “My Girl,” and how fast it was climbing the charts, to the fact that some white folks had started growing their hair long, hanging big beads around their necks, wearing bell-bottom pants and calling themselves hippies.
    Randolph also told Jenna that he had participated in the march on Washington two years earlier and the Selma march earlier that year. “I was there for Bloody Sunday, too,” he said quietly, remembering what had started out as a peaceful demonstration. No sooner had they reached the city line, there had been a posse of Alabama State Troopers waiting for them on Governor Wallace’s orders. The troopers had immediately attacked the crowd who had bowed their heads in prayer, using tear gas and batons and whipping the peaceful demonstrators with no signs of mercy.

    â€œYour parents let you participate?” Jenna asked with keen interest. She had wanted to participate in the march but her parents had not allowed her to, although she knew her father had participated. He had written to her about what had happened and it had been just as Randolph described it. A number of peaceful demonstrators had gotten beaten and jailed.
    â€œBoth my parents were killed in a car accident when I was ten. Our paternal grandparents raised Ross and me. My grandfather is a good friend of A. Philip Randolph and he thought it would be a good experience for me and Ross.”
    â€œYour grandfather is friends with A. Philip Randolph?” she asked, making sure she had heard him correctly. Besides Martin Luther King, Jr., Mr. Randolph was one of the most prominent leaders in the fight against segregation, especially in the military and labor forces. He had also been the one to organize the march on Washington two years ago. Jenna had heard her parents speak highly of him on numerous occasions, especially her father, who was now a part of the Teamsters Union because of Mr. Randolph’s fight for fair and equal employment practices.
    â€œYes. They served in World War Two together. In fact I was named after him.”
    They stopped walking when they came to the building where Jenna lived. “You won’t get into trouble for coming in after midnight, will you?”
    She smiled. “No. I told our dorm mother that we would be getting back late. She’s usually more lenient on the weekends.”
    Randolph nodded. He wasn’t ready to part company with her yet. There was something going on here, something between them that had started from the moment he had laid eyes on her tonight. It was definitely worth exploring since nothing like this had ever happened to him before. “What are your plans for tomorrow?”
    Randolph’s question took Jenna by surprise. She hadn’t considered the possibility that he might want to see her again and her heart began beating rapidly at the thought. But another part of her heard her mother’s voice, warning her to be aware of smooth talking guys around
school. They were guys who were only out for one thing.