BLACK PRESIDENT, Chapter 41. Rudy finally reunites with Sarah, the woman he met on the plane back in 1961, who never left his thoughts.
(PART THREE—1975-2012).
PART THREE—1975-2012.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
December 10, 1975
For years, both the twins had noticed a powerful connection between themselves, one that bordered on the psycho-kinetic. When one twin picked up his fork, the other felt a coldness in his fingers. And often, when one twin felt an extreme emotion, the other experienced it as well. Once, in seventh grade science lab, the teacher delighted the class by igniting a two-foot-high model volcano. When some burning particles flew from the crater and landed on John’s arm, Jackson was the one who shouted out a loud, “OW!”
The twins could finish each other’s sentences all day long, and always knew when their brother was hiding behind a door, waiting to jump out and startle. That trick, especially, seemed to unnerve their mother and grandmother. The women had seen it performed numerous times, and as the boys grew older the strange exercise lost none of its mystery. Sarah would go out of her way to get one twin or the other to hide, just to reaffirm the strange gift.
“Jackson!” she’d call out, after ushering John into the narrow hiding space behind the door, near a bookcase, making sure he was out of sight. “Can you come here for a second?”
Jackson would enter the parlor and immediately declare in that commanding voice of his, “John...get the hell out of there!” That’s all it took; two seconds and he had felt the presence of his brother. It was at this point of fooling around one afternoon, the twins and their mother laughing about it, that a knock on the front door grabbed their attention. Sarah opened the front door to discover a White man standing there, snow flurries swirling around his head. The tip of his cane had disappeared into three inches of new snow piled on the steps. In any case, Rudworth Temper’s years-long quest had finally come to fruition.
The stretch of time Rudy had spent in Chicago had been tough on him. Walking to and from his job had become a mental exercise more that anything else. He’d had to navigate the seven blocks at such a slow speed that it had made him an easy target. He anticipated having to use his crutches as defensive weapons at some point, while residing just a few blocks from the Black line. Rudy had stayed with Ruffy that whole first year before he landed a YMCA job – sitting on a stool at the front desk eight hours a day wasn't bad. He knew he was fortunate to have a job of any kind with his gimpy leg and patchwork face.
Ruffy had been a big help getting him settled and Rudy reciprocated by throwing his disability check into the household pot and taking odd jobs, cashiering and even babysitting on occasion. Sitting there on a couch, watching TV with a three-year-old, had been one of his better gigs. Rudy could rest his good leg, which also hurt because it was constantly overworked. And through the process of earning money he had gained back a little self-respect.
After about six months at the “Y,” Rudy had renewed his search for Sarah, and began by asking Ruffy’s black friends if they knew any “Littles.” There were some fifty-six Little’s in the Chicago phone book in 1975. Rudy didn’t have the stamina to call all of them, as he had done back in Seattle. But he continued asking everyone he met if they knew a woman named “Sarah,” or knew anyone with her last name.
One day, soon after Thanksgiving, he made the acquaintance of William Sogers, a cousin of Ruffy’s. Rudy asked him the usual question and was surprised to hear, “Why yes. A woman named Sarah Little attends my church.” When Rudy further inquired, “Is she a kind of...pale woman?” Sogers had answered, “Light – and beautiful too...she’s got twin boys.” Rudy had written down Sarah’s address and was standing on her front steps within the hour.
“Yes? Can I help you?”
Jackson and John walked up from behind, peering over their mother’s shoulders at the one-legged stranger. Rudy was momentarily speechless, oblivious to the cold and wind blowing around him. Not only could he detect his Sarah in the thirty-six- year-old woman before him, but he recognized the unmistakable traces of Kennedy features in her adolescent sons.
“Ah...we met once before. Many years ago.” Rudy tried to jog her memory by adding, “On an airplane.”
Sarah’s eyes scanned the man’s face, but she didn’t make any connection, couldn’t understand why this White man, a Vietnam vet no doubt, had appeared at her doorstep, in their all-Black neighborhood. Still, since she was by nature a hospitable person, and it was the Christmas season, she invited him in.
“Please...come out of this cold,” she motioned, backing away from the door to give Rudy some space to enter. He carefully brushed the snow off his hat and coat while still on the front step and then, with the help of his cane, negotiated his way into the Littles’ apartment. In the front hall, he sat on a well-positioned bench and pulled off his boots, was then helped out of his damp parka and wool cap by Jackson. He felt a tingling on his right ankle as the snow from his pant cuff made contact with his bare skin.
Following his three hosts into their cozy front room, he paused momentarily to stare at a wall of school photos of the boys, again catching various glimpses of a young Kennedy in their features – strong jaw lines, bright teethy smiles, intelligent eyes.
“Have a seat, Mr....” Sarah motioned her surprise guest to a chair and awaited his name.
“Tempers. Rudeworth Tempers. Rudy, actually,” he said, somewhat tongue-tied. “We...we met on a plane ride from Chicago to San Francisco. You were going on to Seattle...in 1961.”
Sarah sat down opposite him, looking blank at first. Then something started registering in her mind. The unusual name, “Tempers,”...felt somehow familiar. Her mother Dee hadn’t moved there until 1966. But from Washington D.C. she had changed planes in Chicago...1961...the Kennedy trip!
“OH MY GOD!” she said aloud. “YOU’RE THE MAN I SAT NEXT TO ON THE PLANE!”
Rudy felt a blush coming on. Before he realized it, a tear had formed in each of his eyes. He hadn’t been such a broken-up man back then. How shocking he must look to her now!
“I talked to you a lot, didn’t I?” Sarah’s face took on a whole new look, half-astonished, but open and warming into friendliness.
“Five-hours-worth.”
Rudy nodded his head slightly. And although somewhat bewildered by their mother's sudden emotional response, Jackson and John excused themselves, returning to the back room to continue watching TV. After the teenagers left, Rudy sought a confirmation of her Kennedy story, even though he’d already seen enough for himself in the faces of her sons.
“It was true, wasn’t it? And your kids...”
“You see it, don’t you?” she interrupted eagerly, a certain degree of relief audible in her voice. “There’s never been anyone I could talk with about it. You’re the only one who even suspects the truth.”
“Well, I just happened to be on that plane with you. So many years have passed since...” Rudy fought back more tears.
“Almost didn’t make it here at all. A lot of patching up...after Vietnam.” Rudy tapped his cane lightly against his plastic leg. “Everything changed after Kennedy.”
“Yes, it did,” said Sarah, her graying hair testifying to the passing of time. “I think we’ve seen some real evil things. All the killings...”
“But your boys...they turned out fine,” said Rudy, changing the subject. “And they...well, they look just like young Kennedys.” Rudy paused, waiting for Sarah to second his observation.
“I know. And they’re athletic, bright, and good. Maybe they’re here to help bring back some of the positive feelings we lost... At least my boys have given me something good to live for.”
Sarah shifted her gaze from Rudy’s face down to her hands resting on her lap. Almost apologetically, she added, “I guess I’ve been lucky.”
No one said anything for a while. It occurred to him that perhaps the nurses back at the V.A. hospital had been right after all. Maybe he was lucky too. When Sarah shifted in her chair, Rudy sensed that she was getting ready to stand up, somehow excuse herself and end the conversation. But before she could say anything he took the lead, asking a question that had plagued his mind.
“I gotta get going, but if I may be so bold. Is there a dad around...for the kids. Or is it just you and...”
“Leon – that’s my husband name. He and I are separated. He took up with a local woman and they moved away together.” Sarah momentarily remembered the pain she’d endured when Leon moved out.
“So just me...my mother...and the twins.”
Rudy anchored his cane on the carpet and pushed himself up from his chair. “Better be going now.” The heat in the room had made him perspire after the chill of the outdoors. “Don’t want to bother you...”
“Oh, no bother,” said Sarah. “Maybe you’ll come back and visit me and my boys again.” A grateful smile broke out on Rudy’s face.
“I’d love to do that. Maybe I can buy you all a dinner or something.” As he limped his way to the door, Sarah wondered how he had gotten himself through the half-foot of snow that covered the sidewalks around their building.
“You sure you’ll be OK walking around out there?” Sarah had real concern in her voice. “I have a car...could give you a lift somewhere, you know.”
“Oh, couldn’t do that. Don’t want to take you away from your family in this mess,” answered Rudy, his heart pounding with admiration for this woman he’d sought after for so many years. Rudy pulled on his coat and struggled into his boots. When Sarah opened the door she saw that it was snowing again, coming down more heavily than before. This man, she thought, is about to walk away, disappear back into that cold whiteness. Rudy was her link to the past, and suddenly something in her couldn’t bear to lose him so quickly. Sarah closed the door and turned to face him.
“No, I insist on driving you. Really! My car is parked right out front. It’ll be hard enough just getting us to the car. So please, let me drop you home.” With that, she busily got her boots strapped on and reached for her coat, hat, and gloves, calling loudly to the back of the apartment,
“Jackson...John! I’ll be giving our visitor a ride home. OK?”
“OK, Mom,” answered Jackson as he entered the front room. “We’ll see you in a bit. You want any company?”
“No...thanks, honey. I’ll be all right. Going to also stop at the grocery store though, so don’t worry. I won’t be long.”
Sarah and Rudy walked out the door onto the snowy porch. Jackson stayed on the warm side of the glass and watched as his mother and the stranger slowly descended the stairs and trudged out into the storm. As they made their way to the car, Sarah had to admit to herself there was something comfortably familiar about Rudy Tempers. She happily remembered him as a sympathetic ear when she needed one. But more than that, she appreciated his shy and friendly ways. And here they were again, older...much older, but still able to enjoy each other’s company. She just wasn’t ready to lose that again.
Sarah made sure Rudy was well-seated before closing his side of the Chevy. She then walked around to the driver’s door, unlocked it and quickly moved inside. Fortunately a snow-plow had cleared a path down the center of the street. Other cars seemed able to safely negotiate the snow without skidding, so she would take her chances too, using the outing to buy some needed foodstuffs.
“I live up on 50th,” Rudy told her. “You’re sure you don’t mind driving that far?”
“Have to get some food...and I was avoiding going out. So I’m just using you to get myself motivated,” said Sarah, not believing a single word of it.
For a while neither spoke. The rhythmic sound of the two windshield-wiper metronomes on the glass, mixed with the sound of rolling tires compacting new snow, seemed to provide the travellers with a certain insulating privacy. Swoosh, crunch...swoosh, crunch... swoosh, crunch...swoosh, crunch. At 50th street the snow stopped falling, changing the street sounds to a simple shush...shush...shush after Sarah cut off the blades.
Rudy stared out his window and reflected on his strong feelings for the woman beside him. Was it love? Was that possible? Could he have had a flame burning for all those many years and not even known it? True, he had been smitten by her beauty and natural charm back in 1961. She had captivated him for fourteen years. He’d thought of her before Vietnam, many times during his tour of duty, and had certainly fixated on her after the surgery. All along, he had figured he was trying to confirm the Kennedy story. But now he knew. All that had just been an excuse to be with her again.
The Chevy was suddenly idling in front of Rudy’s apartment building. It had taken Sarah a bit of maneuvering to get the car into a parking space. She knew that Rudy would need time to disembark with his bad leg. It wouldn’t have been proper or safe to let him step out quickly into the middle of the street.
As goodbyes often are when there is no promise of reuniting, theirs was awkward. The engine sound made Rudy conscious of valuable fuel being used up, but he wasn’t sure how to say what he had to say. Still, he went for it, fearing that there would never be another opportunity. He turned toward Sarah, looked into her eyes, and said with deliberation, “I want to see you again.”
“I want that too,” she answered without hesitation. Her bright smile radiated warmth in his direction.
“You know where I live. And here’s my phone number.” She pulled a pen out of the glove compartment and quickly wrote it down on a matchbook cover. As she handed it over, Rudy gently grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her in. As their lips met, Sarah’s foot jammed hard on the emergency brake, though the car was already set at Park.
———-
Well Rudy's having a good day!!