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I took a long sip from my beer

“Everything a colored man does can be a crime these days,” he said

“I don’t quite understand,” I said

Moody’s eyes came up “Let me tell him, Papaw”

He hesitated, but then he said, “All right”

“They’s a young fellow called Whitney,” she said, gazing intently atout the flowerbeds around ol’ Miz Howard’s house, then when she was done he told her how much it was She didn’t want to pay Said he hadn’t worked that many hours Then she calls up the sheriff and says Whitney done said soot hi hi him up Killed him All because he asked for his pay” Her eyes blazed

“That’s the truth,” said Hiram

“Sa his eet his penny back Ol’ Mr Sanders tells hiet the penny back, just white folks Sa you know he’s in jail For wanting his penny!”

“Keep your voice down,” Abraham said

“There was a couple boys sitting on the sidewalk don They was talkin’ to each other quiet like, telling about this strike of colored men up in Illinois Well, sir, so you know a bunch of men jump on these boys One of ’em, they knocked out all his teeth”

“We get punished for ‘boasting,’ and for ‘strutting,’ and for talking too loud, and for casting the evil eye We get arrested for ‘walking too fast,’ or ‘walking too slow,’ or taking too long to say yassuh”

Moody was furious now Her voice carried to tables nearby Some of the people stopped their own conversations to listen

“Colored man looks at a white wohts he ain’t even thought,” she said “If he even looks at a white woman, it must mean he wants to rape her or kill her When they’re the ones doingaround here!”

“Now, calm down,” Abraham said

“Don’t tell me to calm down! I knohat it’s like It happens to me too, Papaw”