The night following my sister's humiliation, we decided that it would be best if we lay low at home. It would allow time for things to cool off and give her time to heal her wounds. Rachael's body was still sore from last night's thorough beating.
When she did venture out from room, she stumbled downstairs with her head hung low as she hunched over, clutching her sore back. It was evident that she was not only physically hurting from last night's activities but also spiritually crushed.
She was wearing a pair of tight gray sweatpants bottoms with "Tuskegee University" printed across the ass. I knew that she had been accepted by many of the top universities, but I had never heard her mention this particular one before. What I found even more disturbing was that she had on a tight white tank top without a bra, her breasts clearly stretching the limits of the fabric. All of Rachael's modesty was now gone; she no longer felt the need to hide her breasts after the whole town had witnessed her public exposure and humiliation.
To someone who didn't know my sister, she looked the same today as she did yesterday, worse for wear. From what I saw, however, I could tell that Rachael had her innocence shattered. More noticeably, she looked sluttier.
I didn't expect our mother to come home tonight. As usual, she had spent the night in the company of others and today, she would be nursing the inevitable hangover that followed yet another night of binge drinking.
There was a knock at our door and I went to answer it. There on our porch stood La Tonya Washington, her older brother Jubree, and another black guy whom I recognized as her cousin.
I was scared and didn't know what else to do except hold the door open like some sort of doorman. I didn't have enough courage to stop them, and as soon as they entered the house, they owned it. They casually made their way into our living room.
"Where's your sister?" was all La Tonya said.
"Upstairs in her room." I replied meekly. My sister must have heard what was going on because she was now out of her room and coming downstairs again to meet her betters.
"Thomas, go outside and give us some time alone," she said, as she ambled from the living room to the kitchen to get herself more of the pain medication that made her feel good.
She sounded neither frightened nor scared but resigned, almost as if she had been expecting our visitors to come and was prepared to accept whatever they had in store for her.
As my sister disappeared into the kitchen, I started for the door when the cousin grabbed me by the arm.
"You're not going outside, you're going upstairs and hiding in your sister's bedroom," he said in a nasty tone. "Real quiet-like."
I don't know why but I complied. I guess I was hoping that, by following orders, I would avoid any more trouble. I made my way quickly upstairs and hid in Rachael's closet. From there, I was able to see out to my sister's bedroom and, at the same time, hear what was going on downstairs.