Treasure in a Tin Box (Wall of Silence Book 1)

by Dorey Whittaker

  CHAPTER 34

  Surrendering Our Dream

  DURING THAT FIRST year as we worked with Gladys, life continued as usual. Sulley and Whippoorwill’s new baby son arrived, and we all celebrated with them. I thought Sulley’s heart was going to explode with pride as he carried his son into his living room to show him off. “Toby, I would like to introduce you to my son, Sullivan Tobias Samuel Dunbar. We are going to call him Van, for short.”

  “He is a beautiful boy, Sulley,” I replied with tears in my eyes. “I feel so honored that you gave him my name and my grandpa’s name.”

  “I would have left off the ‘Sullivan’ part, but Whippoorwill insisted. Besides, when you have your son, he will be Tobias.”

  “Sulley, I am sure your son will live up to all three names. He will certainly be loved and cared for.”

  “Toby, I have always remembered the story of what your Grandpa Samuel did the day you were born. Ever since I first heard that story, I wanted to do the same when I had my children. But Whippoorwill warned me that she wants to be present when I do it, and she can’t get up for a few more days. Would you and Ruth, Ms. Pearl and Ms. Ruby, and Rev. Johnson please come over after church next Sunday? My wife and I would like all of you here when we present our son to God and pronounce a blessing upon his life.”

  That Sunday we felt honored to stand as witnesses as Sulley and Whippoorwill stood under the open sky, lifted up their firstborn son, presented him to God, and asked Him to bless their son’s life. Once word got around about this sweet ceremony, it became a tradition in our church that still goes on today. After the third child, the parents started keeping the child’s name a secret until the ceremony, making the time of dedication even sweeter.

  Ruth and I spent as much time as possible with little Van. We had been named his godparents, but in truth, we wanted as much practice as possible holding a little one since neither of us had any experience in that area. Months went by without any signs of hope. At first, we were able to set our hopes aside and focus on Gladys. We assumed our baby would come in due time.

  On our second anniversary, Karl and Gladys were married. Even though we were busy with their wedding plans and happy for them, the fact that we were still not expecting was a hard pill to swallow. As with most matters, Ruth handled it better than I did—at least she did at first. Several of the older women shared how their first child did not come until well after their first year of marriage. This news brightened her spirit, and Ruth was able to pour herself into other people’s lives and wait patiently—that is, until after only six months of marriage, Karl and Gladys announced they were expecting. I could see that this news rattled Ruth’s usually calm spirit. She remained gracious and happy for Gladys, but I did not take my eyes off of her that whole evening.

  We barely got into our kitchen door before Ruth collapsed in my arms, “Toby, I am glad for Gladys, I really am. But I don’t think I am strong enough to endure this. What if we are never meant to hold our very own child in our arms? What if we are never to have a naming ceremony and ask God to bless our child’s life? Toby, I don’t think I can bear this.”

  As I stood there in our kitchen, knowing my wife’s heart was breaking in sorrow, my mind raced to think of something that would calm her heart and dry her tears. I wanted to quote the perfect verse that would fix everything, but I knew that Ruth already knew all those verses and she did not need me to lecture her right then. Suddenly, the memory of my Auntie Pearl’s story about how she comforted Uncle Joseph at the loss of their only child came to my mind. Ms. Pearl and I are so much alike—both in our strengths and in our weaknesses. I remembered her saying that God shut her mouth that day because Joseph needed comfort—not instruction. She knew the hope of other children someday would not remove the pain of losing their child that day. She said that it was in their grieving together that God bound their hearts as one.

  Standing there holding the strongest woman I ever knew, I realized that that was a moment for us to bond together in our greatest fear. I allowed myself to feel Ruth’s fear and pain at possibly never having a child of our own. Eighteen months of disappointments now loomed into a lifetime of possible disappointment. Ruth and I both cried and held onto each other. Neither of us gave the other one false hope or hollow platitudes. We knew we were standing at an altar and being asked to trust God with our dreams. Neither of us was questioning God’s love for us, but we were both struggling to accept what might be God’s plan for us.

  Without saying a word, I finally pulled our two kitchen chairs away from the table and guided my beautiful wife down onto our knees. “Ruth, we don’t know what God’s plan is for us. There still may be children in our future, but I believe you and I need to lay our dream of children at God’s feet. If we hold onto this dream like some right we are owed, it will cripple us. We need to release the dream and trust God through our pain, so God can fill our hearts with His peace and joy.”

  I would like to think that we only had to do this one time, but that would not be the truth. Ruth and I struggled many times—usually when a close friend had a baby. Loving them enough to be happy for them, while we mourned for the babies that never came to us, was the hardest trial Ruth and I endured, but endure it we did. Over the next five years, Sulley and Whippoorwill had two more children; Karl and Gladys had a second son. We loved these children and would never wish our sorrow on our dear friends. God used these trials to stretch our love for others, for it was in those times of struggle that Ruth and I asked God to pour His love into our hearts so we could be glad and celebrate with our friend’s during their times of greatest joy.

  By 1928 we had been married for six years, and life was good. Ruth’s father began to turn some of the preaching over to me, and I loved it. I still worked full-time at the railroad yard because our church family could not afford to support two pastors, but I didn’t mind.

  Our weekly Bible study was going stronger than ever. If it were not for our annual remembrance day—the day we took stock of all the answers to prayers, I could have easily forgotten how far Gladys had come. The hardheartedness was gone, and, in its place, stood a gracious, kind, loving woman. People who had not known her previously would have a hard time imagining exactly how hateful and hard she could have been. Gladys’ family was the most impressed. Although never religious people, her parents could not help but see the difference in her, which caused them to begin seeking out this God who changed their daughter so very much. Her younger brother, Bill Thomas, had been only eight years old when Charlie was killed, and, for several years, she had filled his head with her hate. He was twelve years old when Gladys surrendered her anger to God, and she worked hard trying to undo all the hatred she had poured into her little brother. Gladys’ complete change intrigued her family, and soon they were joining her at church. Her father said, “If God can make that kind of change in my Gladys, maybe there’s hope that her mother and I might find our way out of the dark pit we have been in since we lost our boy.”

  Karl and I continued with our lunchtime Bible study, and three of our crewmen were now regulars. First, it was Luther and Sammy who joined us, but then Luther brought Hank along. For two full years, the yard foreman, Ed Gardner, stayed on Karl’s case about the Bible study, but Karl knew his real beef was with me. Ed wanted me gone, and he made it clear to Karl that, with or without his help, I was on my way out. He had already replaced the three blacks on the late night shift, but because our team continued to be ranked on top, he needed Karl’s help to get rid of me.

  In October of 1928, Sammy’s mother who lived in Baltimore took ill, and he came to Karl and me after work and said, “I have to leave right away. My mother is sick, and there is no one up in Baltimore to take care of her. The doctors say she won’t survive this, but it might take a year before it takes her. I’m sorry about the short notice, but I have to go.”

  As the crew captain, Karl had every right to hire Sammy’s replacement, and he knew exactly who he wanted. Sulley’s painting bus
iness was really struggling, and with three little mouths to feed, he needed a good paying job. Besides, with Sulley’s size, he would be a great asset to the crew. That evening Karl offered the job to Sulley, who accepted without any hesitation. “Karl, I can finish up my current paint job in two days. Would that work for you?”

  “Sure, Sulley. You can start this Thursday.” Karl knew his replacement was going to get him into hot water with Ed. Not only was he not getting rid of me, he was bringing on another one. Karl kept all this to himself, and I didn’t know how much pressure he was under until it all came to a head a week later. Sulley had been on the job for four days and was doing a great job. His size and power ensured the heavy pallets were off-loaded quickly, which further infuriated Ed. It was more important to Ed to get his way than to have the top-producing crew on the yard.

  I noticed that Karl was beginning to look a little haggard when he came out of Ed’s office after our shift. I asked him about it several times, but I always got, “Oh, it is just business. Ed is never happy. He thinks he isn’t doing his job unless he is pouring on the pressure.”

  Karl did not want to bother either me or Sulley. He had no intention of firing us and hoped that our crew reports would eventually make Ed back down; it didn’t happen. Instead, Ed began writing up Karl for negligence. He would walk through the yard and find dolly wagons fully loaded without the safety brake set. At first, Karl called the crew together and yelled at all of us about the safety rules. One mistake was one mistake too many, but when the third dolly in two weeks’ time was found without the safety brake set, Karl knew something funny was going on, but it wasn’t funny. A fully loaded runaway dolly could kill a man. One afternoon, Karl noticed Ed’s moving around behind the weight landing. Once the men loaded a dolly, they would roll it onto the weight landing and record its weight before moving it out onto the deck. Once the weight has been recorded onto the bill of lading and pasted on the outside of the top crate, it was ready to be taken down the ramp and pushed over to the loading dock beside the freight car.

  Karl made his way around behind the crates that were ready to be loaded and kept an eye on where Ed was and what he was doing. He watched as Ed moved around and released the safety brake of the first dolly in line. Sulley had just taken the dolly in front of it and was halfway down the ramp when Ed gave the dolly a hard shove and then took off running. Karl screamed at Sulley to get out of the way as he made a mad dash for the ramp still screaming at Sulley. At the last minute, Sulley let go of his dolly and dove off the ramp. The runaway dolly slammed into Sulley’s dolly, and they both picked up speed as they crossed the freight yard. Luther heard the screaming and saw what was happening. He grabbed an anchor pole, a wooden pole six feet long and about three inches in diameter, which is used to strap down the dolly inside the freight cars. Luther jammed the first pole under the front wheels of the first dolly, but the speed was too great to stop the forward motion. He grabbed a second and third pole, shoving the first in front of the wheel, and then he shoved the second pole under the first pole like a pole-vaulter, jamming the first pole right into the dolly’s axle. Luther used all of his body weight to bring both dollies to a stop. Everyone stood there stunned by what had happened—everyone except Ed. He was back in his office as if nothing had happened when Karl walked in and accused him of sabotage. “Ed, I watched you release that brake and push that dolly. You could have killed Sulley just now. Was it also you who released the other brakes?”

  Ed’s face was beet red as he yelled, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Karl. I have been in my office this whole time. Your crew is just sloppy, and you are trying to blame me for their mistakes. This will be your fourth infraction in as many weeks, Karl. I think there is going to be some changes made around here. Toby and Sulley will be gone by tomorrow.”

  Karl leaned against Ed’s desk, slammed his fist down and shouted, “You have been trying to get rid of them since day one, but I never thought you would put men’s lives in danger. I saw you release that brake and shove the dolly, Ed.”

  With a smug face, Ed replied, “Prove it. As a matter of fact, I think you will be gone tomorrow as well. Blaming your supervisor for your crew’s shoddy work is grounds for firing.”

  Sulley and I were standing at the doorway and heard the whole thing. Even if we both volunteered to quit, it would not have saved Karl’s job. I felt so helpless standing there. I knew there was nothing I could do, when suddenly I felt a hand placed on my right shoulder, and I was being moved aside. I looked up and saw Mr. Sutterhill, whose eyes were blazing with anger as he slipped between Sulley and me and walked up to Ed Gardner and said, “I saw you release that brake, Ed. I was standing up on the catwalk and wondered why you were walking around behind the crates. I want you out of here within the hour. Turn in your keys and empty your desk, and, by the way, you will not be getting a letter of recommendation from this company. You are just lucky no one was killed.”

  Mr. Sutterhill took hold of Karl’s shoulder and marched him out of Ed’s office before saying, “Karl, I want you to write up Luther. He earned a triple bonus today. Those runaway dollies would have crashed into the freight car if he hadn’t risked his own life to stop them. He saved this company a lot of money today.”

  “I will be more than happy to tell Luther you said that, Mr. Sutterhill,” Karl beamed with pride. “I am so thankful you were up on that catwalk today. No one would have believed me.”

  “Yes, I would have, Karl. It was no accident that I was up on that catwalk. Your crew has had a clean record for five years, then suddenly all these safety infractions. I knew something was up.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Sutterhill. We have all tried to do our very best for you.”

  “I know that, Karl,”’ Mr. Sutterhill said with a strange look on his face. “I’ve kept my eye on you over the years, and I will be sad to lose you as a crew captain.”

  Stunned, Karl just stood there. “Am I still going to lose my job?”

  Mr. Sutterhill slapped his hand on Karl’s shoulder and laughed, “Well, Karl, you cannot be a crew captain and the yard foreman at the same time, can you? Tell Luther that he has your old job, and tomorrow morning you move into your new office.”

  Life was good again, and we were all thankful. Ed was gone, Sulley and I were secure in our jobs, and Karl received a much-deserved promotion. For the next twelve months, we all enjoyed the fruits of our labor. We worked harder than ever to make sure Mr. Sutterhill would not regret his decision.

  One year later, in October of 1929, the Great Depression hit hard. Men were jumping out of windows in New York, bread lines began forming everywhere, and lots of men were out of work. About a month later, the full weight of this disaster sank in. At Bible study one night, Sulley shared an idea with the group. “You all know that I struggled to put food on the table and keep a roof over my family’s head when I ran my own painting business. I thought I just needed to work harder with three little ones to feed, but I had no idea this terrible disaster was coming. I am so thankful to Karl, but mostly to God, for providing this job at the freight yard. During this Depression, as they are calling it, no one has any money to paint anything. There are no painting jobs going on anywhere in the city, but freight cars are still moving and someone is needed to load them. I feel so blessed that God gave me this job so my three little ones will not go hungry.”

  CHAPTER 35

  The Great Depression

  SULLEY’S THANKFUL HEART would not stop churning. Every Friday, Karl stood at the bailing door as the shift whistle blew the ending of our workweek. As he handed out the pay envelopes, Sulley would almost tear up as he said, “Thank you, Karl.” The weight of this blessing was very real to Sulley. Being able to take that pay envelope home and put food on the table for his wife and three little ones, while other men were seeing their children go without weighed heavily on him.

  After a week or two of contemplating his options, Sulley decided he would share his idea with Karl and me. “B
ecause the three of us are employed, we need to do something for those who are hurting.”

  “What do you have in mind, Sulley?” I asked.

  “Toby, there is a large vacant lot beside the church. I think we should gather up all the able-bodied men and start a community garden. People are struggling to get by, and if we can help out by stretching their food supply, I think we should do it. I also think we should get all the old men of the church who love fishing and start a ‘Fishing-for-Jesus’ ministry. I know none of us have a lot left over, but if we have anything left over and do not share it during this time, we are not being thankful. How about it?”

  “Sulley, I can think of two or three other vacant lots in the city that we could also garden. My aunts have a very deep backyard, and so does Miss Fanny and Rev. Johnson. Our little leftovers, if pooled together, could be used to feed a multitude.”

  Ruth was quiet while we men banged out our gardening plan. When we were finished, Ruth said, “Toby, remember the story about how your Great-Grandma Hannah canned all the fruits and vegetables so they would not starve during the Civil War? Your aunts told about canning food to make them last. We don’t know how long this depression is going to last. We could put together a team of women who know how to do canning, and they can teach the others. It is late October, but we still have lots of blueberries around, apples are still going strong and figs are available for at least another month. If we start this community pantry, we can also provide something sweet once in a while. We can ask everyone to gather up all their unused jars and build a canning closet in the back of the fellowship hall.” Ruth stopped to catch her breath and then smiled and chuckled. “We could paint a big sign above the closet, ‘I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’ ”