Where the Neighborhood Ends
High School: Grades 9–12
Story
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Where the Neighborhood Ends
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At the first ring, Lane sprang from his desk. "That's mine," he called into the dining room where his parents were drinking their after-dinner coffee. Dropping to the arm of the davenport, he picked up the telephone. "Hello?"
"Hello," replied a male voice. "This is a concerned citizen. You're one of the quality families on our block, and I'm calling to warn you. The slum people are standing on the borders of our neighborhood, ready to invade us. Crime is rising. Trash is piling up in the alleys. Beware! Negroes are coming to Hyde Park!"
"You too late, man. Them Negroes already here," Lane drawled. The caller gasped. Lane let the receiver rattle into the cradle and turned to find his mother standing in the doorway, frowning at him.
"Who was that?" she asked. "One of your friends? One of your father's clients?"
"Easy, Mama. It was just someone trying to scare us with threats of a 'Negro invasion.' Probably a realtor hoping to convince you and Daddy to sell the house cheap so he can resell it at a big profit. That particular wheeler-dealer didn't do his homework, or he'd have known this house already belongs to a Negro family."
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"Blockbusters have targeted this section of Hyde Park, so we're going to get more calls," Lane's father added as he entered the room. He swallowed the last mouthful of coffee and handed the empty cup to his wife. "Wonderful meal, Lydia Jane. Sorry I have to run. A group of neighbors and university officials invited me to their meeting tonight. Apparently they want a lawyer's advice on how to stop the busters."
Lane grunted. "More likely they want advice on how to stop the 'invasion.'"
"Very likely," Henry Cross answered. With a sad grin, he lifted his hat from the hook beside the door and left for the meeting.
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