Marth tries

Months went by and a couple times when the music at Darius Jefferson’s house shook the walls of my house, I noticed Martha storm over. Wow! I thought, she’s going alone, she’s tough. Good! I thought, a black person telling another black person, they’re out of line.

Martha never stayed long and when she crossed the street back to her own house, the music was always lower.

One evening, I saw the woman in the insurance industry raking leaves in her front yard. I went over to talk to her and recounted Martha’s bravery and civic responsibility. The woman stared at me when I finished, as though she was waiting for some sort of insight to hit me. When I didn’t say anymore, she said, “That woman has a lot of problems. My husband and I are keeping our distance.”