Red River

Two years later in 1935, Noby Smith dies, and his body is brought back to Louisiana for the funeral. Ted attends “to witness the final return of the grandfather he never had a chance to meet” (362). There is some concern that David might come to his brother’s funeral, as he has never reconciled with his mother, Lucy, who blamed him for Noby’s exile. However, David does come, although does not get a warm greeting, and none in the first pew make room for him. At last, Polly Tademy invites him to sit in their family’s pew. Jackson says nothing to David and is visibly upset by his friend’s passing.

Through the service, many people stand to speak about Noby, but “regardless of how often the words good and proud and brave are repeated, Ted can’t grab hold, can’t decipher who his other grandfather really was beyond generalities” (364).

After the service, Polly asks David to leave. The others go to the gravesite to lay Noby to rest, home at last. Afterward, they go to Grandma Emma’s house. Ted regrets never having met Noby, as so many people tell him that he has Noby’s temper. He is 16, athletic, and eager to do something in life besides work on a farm or in a school. Ted sees Emma sit beside his great-grandmother Lucy and try to explain that Noby, her son, has died and been returned to Louisiana. Lucy is clearly confused and continuously mixes up Noby with Israel.

In another room, Ted sees Jackson sitting with his old fedora on his head talking about Noby and the past. He says, “[I]f we let the past go, how we know about those hundred colored men march down to Colfax and vote after the Civil War? My father and Noby’s father done that” (369). Ted is surprised to hear this and asks his GrandJack if it is true. When Nathan-Green scolds Ted for interrupting, Jackson defends him, saying that Nathan-Green “never got your sons to shout their name […] How he going to know who he is? You let tradition die” (370).

Ted does not understand but feels the tension in the air. He asks if Noby was in the riot, to which Jackson angrily responds: “don’t never let nobody tell you it was a riot. I was there. Your grandfather Noby was there. Our fathers were there. It was a massacre” (370). Emma calls Ted away, saying, “[N]o need to stir up that old mess today” (371).

In 1935, Jackson returns home to Amy after a day of work. She tells him that Ted has come to see him, possibly to discuss college. Jackson is adamant that he will attend. Jackson worked years to “breathe life into his father’s dream, and now Colfax has its own colored school” (375). Each of his five sons is taken care of, and all have been teachers. He worries that the next generation of Tademys is less aware of their history and less respectful of the land, “but with an impatience that isn’t all bad” (376). Of all the grandchildren, Ted visits most often and is most interested in the library of books.

He finds 17-year-old Ted reading one of the encyclopedias Jackson bought from the Widow Cruikshank. Ted tells Jackson that he wants “something different” from life once he graduates, a job where he can make things and not a farming or teaching life. Jackson is disappointed that Ted is admitting “how much he dreads the rhythm of the lives he sees played out every day in Colfax” (378).

Changing the subject, Jackson asks Ted what he’s reading. He shows him the encyclopedia entry for “Negro,” which describes black men as losing brain capacity as they age, comparing grown men to children with offensive drawings to go along with it. The entry disturbs Ted, and Jackson explains to Ted: “that encyclopedia over twenty-five years old, got some old-time ideas in it, but wasn’t no excuse even then for coming up with that foolishness” (380). He then gives Ted another book from the same time and has him read “a list of three hundred and seventy inventions by Negroes” (381). Ted has never heard these stories, but they show that the encyclopedia is obviously wrong.

Jackson has Ted turn to the back of the book, where all the colleges open to black people are listed. They agree that Ted doesn’t have to decide what he wants to be yet but that he should continue his education. Ted relents, promising Jackson that he will attend college despite his misgivings.

The day after Christmas that year, Ted gets up early and tells his mother, Lenora, that he is going for a walk to return something to Willie Dee. He’s made up his mind: He knows he is likely not her first choice, but “now that she is fourteen, he needs to seize the opportunity to formally court her” (386). Therefore, he will pay to ride the bus nine miles to her house in Aloha.

Outside, he meets Willie Dee’s brothers, Theo and I.V. One of them goes to get Willie Dee, and she comes outside, unprepared for company in her housedress and shoes. She runs back inside to make herself presentable, and her brothers are pleased at their joke. When she comes back out, Ted wishes her happy birthday, but Willie Dee says, “[T]hat doesn’t mean you can just show up unannounced” (390). Ted is saved from further embarrassment when her mother tells Willie Dee to invite him in for tea. Eva Billes recognizes the name Tademy, saying, “Colfax owe the Tademys for the school” (391).

When her mother goes into the kitchen, Willie Dee demands again to know why Ted has come unannounced. He is tongue-tied and only shrugs, even when she asks: “how can you write such beautiful letters and not talk?” (392). They make small talk about Christmas the day before. Willie Dee’s mother comes in again and praises the Tademys, saying they’re “good people, serious people […] I’d like to see some of that steadiness rub off on Willie Dee, calm her down a little” (393). Ted sees that even if Willie Dee does not seem interested in him now, her mother seems to approve of them being together. He decides to be patient and stay “in the good graces of Eva Billes” until he has a chance with Willie Dee (394).

Two years later in 1937, Ted is with a group of teenagers listening to Duke Ellington on the radio. Willie Dee is there, too, and dances with another boy, Robert Hadnot—Ted’s biggest rival for her affections. Duke Ellington is set to play for a white audience in Colfax, and the teenagers talk about driving by to try and catch a glimpse of him.

Ted protests the plan because “they catch colored hanging around, they hurt us sure” (396). Willie Dee pushes the plan, pouting when Robert Hadnot says he cannot get a car for them. Desperate, Ted offers to get his brother-in-law’s car and drive them all over if they all agree to go to the movies afterward, which is the cover story Willie Dee suggests they tell their parents. Willie Dee is gleeful that the plan is taking shape.

On Saturday night, Ted picks up the other three in his car. After making small talk with Eva Billes, they set out. They get to Calhoun’s Sugarhouse and see many cars, while “some people arrive by foot, mostly young, others on horseback, all white” (399). Willie Dee instructs Ted to drive slowly, and they see one of the white Hadnots, who “don’t acknowledge the colored Hadnots,” working as the doorman (399). She pushes Ted to circle back around and drive past again. On the second pass, Willie Dee points, and they all see Duke Ellington leaning against the bar in a tuxedo. The white Lucius Hadnot takes notice of them this time and comes toward the car. The car stalls, but Ted gets it moving again before Lucius reaches them, and they speed away, giddy at having seen the Duke.

They go to Alexandria to the movies, like they said they would. On the way back, the tire blows, and Ted gets out to fix it with Robert. While the girls wait inside, Robert pulls Ted aside and warns him to stay away from Willie Dee when he returns from college at Grambling. He elaborates: “just ‘cause your family put on airs in Colfax don’t mean she’s for the likes of you. Wait until you get to Grambling. The Tademy name don’t mean nothing there” (402).

Ted feels anger rise in him, and so does Robert, who grabs the tire iron and is ready to fight. For a moment, Ted considers fighting Robert, but he takes a step back to think rationally. Robert is bigger, older, and determined, but he is not a bully. Instead, Ted says, “[D]on’t make any difference whether they know the Tademy name at Grambling or not […] long as I know what it means. Don’t make sense to get in a fight about it now” (404). He gets in the car and “senses more than sees the change. Willie Dee is looking at him in a new way […] it is admiration. It is respect” (404). 

Later that year, Jackson is heading out across his fields after The Bottom was hit by heavy rains. Ted comes to ask if he can help. Jackson tells him: “I got to make the last round” (406). His health is deteriorating, and he has a persistent cough, but he is determined.

Ted reluctantly leaves him, and Jackson continues across the bayou and past the church before heading home. When he gets home, he sends Ted up to his room to get his brown fedora. He tells Ted that the hat started out with McCully, who “come by it after the newness already gone, but he freshen it up with this feather […] he swear it come from the phoenix bird” (407). He explains that the hat was passed from McCully to Sam and then to Jackson, who is now passing it to Ted. He warns that the hat is a responsibility: “whoever own this hat got to push forward and reach out for others not as strong, bring them along too” (408). Ted accepts the responsibility and the expectation. Relieved of the burden at last, Jackson closes his eyes, and he dies soon after.

The book ends with photographs of the real Tademy family.