Sage reading Billy's book on his back porch |
Billy Beasley, The
River Hideaway (Hanford,
CA: Oak Tree Press, 2014), 311
“Despite
what we accomplish in life, if we have not loved, we are nothing,”according
to Apostle Paul. “Many
waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it,” Solomon proclaimed. Such truths are played out in Billy
Beasley's first novel, A River
Hideaway. The book is
set in my hometown of Wilmington, North Carolina. The year is 1967 and Bret and his
teammates at New Hanover High School have their eyes on the state basketball
championship. But before
the finals, they must win against their crosstown rivals, "Williston." The segregated days are drawing to a
close and Williston, an African-American High School with a proud tradition
will be closed as students are integrated into New Hanover High and a new high
school that is being built in the county.
The fateful game features two
stars. Bret is the son of
one of the leading attorneys within the city. He lives a privileged and spoiled life
centered on the country club, a sport’s car,
and a string of girls. Money,
on the other hand, comes from more modest circumstances. He lives with his father, a
carpenter. Neither boy’s
mother is in their lives. Bret's
mother died when he was young while Money's mother moved back to her home in
the north, unable to live in the segregated south. There, she lives with her daughter,
Teke, Money's younger sister. Although
Bret and his team play well, Williston wins. Bret's dreams are shattered, but he
has more demons to battle. As the school year comes to a close, he has to
decide if he will follow his father's predetermined path for him to leave
basketball behind and head to the university to study hard so that he can go to
law school and become a partner in the firm. But Bret isn't sure that's what he
wants. Within this turmoil,
he begins a forbidden friendship with Money and his father.
When Money's sister is sent to her
dad's to avoid a violent ex-boyfriend, and even more forbidden friendship
develops between Bret and Teke, one that challenges not only Bret's
relationship with his family but also with Money and Teke's relationship with
her family. You’ll have
to read the novel to learn what happened and to be clued in on all the
subplots.
It would be easy to dismiss this as
just another love story, but don't be mistaken. Beasley’s story deals honestly with
issues of race and friendship. Color
doesn't seem to make any difference as there are good and bad people on, as
we'd say down south, both sides of the tracks. Furthermore, the good and bad
can be seen within the same character such as Bret, who uses and discards girls
without being bothered by their feelings, but when necessary is able to rise to
the occasion and stand for what he feels is right. Nor does this story seem
preachy. When offering
moral advice explicitly within the story, Beasley weaves it into the story such
as having the “cliché” come from the mouth of a dedicated coach
who has committed his life to the raising up of young men to be honest as they
strive to do their best. In
one scene, Bret conjures up a vision from his past, his first basketball coach,
who taught him to "Focus on what you can control and waste no time or
energy on what you can't." (247)
The story Beasley tells reminds me of
the young adult writings of Gary Schmidt, that deals with issues of youth
growing up and facing and challenging the adult world they're to inherit. This is especially true with his
novel, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy (which deals
with race relations and the friendship of two children of different races) and The Wednesday Wars (which was also set in the late 60s).
As a matter of disclosure, Billy
Beasley was a childhood friend. We
both grew up in Wilmington and were together in the 4th grade in Miss Freeman's
class during the spring of 1967, the time in which this story was
set. I look
forward to reading what Billy writes next.