"Mr. Peters I'm going out of town,is everything in order before I go?"
"Yes ma'am Patsy,you're free to go. Be safe on the drive up there ya hear!"
Driving all the way to Nashville by myself? Wouldn't it have been easier for them to see me,I even had to borrow a car for this. Good thing I can read a map. Okay so I did get lost a few times but I'm close to Nashville maybe I should stop and get something to eat. Wait,what was that? Is that my car? No way,not now! Thank the lord I made it to the gas station before the car stopped.
"Well hello there miss,what seems to be the problem?"
"My car broke down,I was driving up to Nashville and it just started making this weird noise. Could you fix it for me please?"
"No problem,we'll pull it around but the wait time is a little long,do you mind?"
"Not at all,take your time."
A man races into the store and turns on the tv,"Everybody quiet. Listen to this."
It flips to Walter Cronkite already speaking
"Police said they found a high powered hunting rifle about a block from the hotel but it was not immediately identified as the murder weapon. Mayor Henry Lowe has reinstated the dusk to dawn curfew he imposed on the city last week when a march led by Dr. King erupted in violence. Governor Buford Ellington has called out 4,000 National Guardsman."
A woman gasps in behind me. The man next to her tells her to be quiet.
" Police report that the murder has touched off sporadic acts of violence in the Negro section of the city. In a nationwide television address, President Johnson expressed the nation’s shock."
I never heard what President Johnson had to say and I never heard the rest of the report. I just couldn't think straight,I must have called someone to pick me up because later I was sitting in my cousin's car.
Without even looking at me she asks "You okay now Pat?"
I couldn't reply I was still confused from earlier.
"Don't worry we're almost home. I talked to the man who took your car,here's the ticket to get it back."
I stuff the ticket into my purse and sit back in the old seats.
Dinner was never discussed that night,not that I could've eaten it anyways. I'm not even sure why I'm in shock,it's not like I knew Dr. King.
Sitting in my uncle's living with my young cousins is making me think less and less about the assassination but I could still feel it like a punch in the stomach. I'm have to get back home,I'll stay the night and then I'm going back.
"You want to go back tomorrow? Haven't you heard the news Patsy?" My uncle practically yells at me.
"Yeah I've heard it who hasn't,it's all about-"
He cuts me off with a solid stare. "I guess everyone but you's heard it huh? The national guard is down in Memphis."
"So what? I don't live there," he's starting to annoy me,can't he tell I'm ready to leave?
"So that means you can't just walk your narrow tail down there to pick up your car and go!"
I had forgotten all about my car.
"The shops probably closed up for the day. Stay a couple of more days and then you can leave."
Two days later and I'm finally on the way home. My cousin Fey drives down all the back streets to drop me off.
"Stay safe cousin,we love you."
On the way out of Memphis most of the streets were empty like a ghost town. I am definitely ready to get out of here.
The car clanks and gurgles but I got home in one piece.
I promise to myself that I'd never move to Memphis. The people might have been kind but that was crazy. Almost ten years later I move to Memphis into a brand new home with my husband,Henry,my daughter,Nicole,and my son,Russell. I've lived in Memphis just about thirty years and I've seen it change and grow but the memories of the day Dr. King died are still pretty fresh.