were lying in the alley too. They looked to have taken a pretty good beating. Their mother was between them. Her hair was plastered to her head like seaweed to a rock. She was screaming her boys were hurt and wouldn't somebody do something, but nobody did. She squatted next to Billy and held his head in her lap, screamed, 'Stop it! Stop it! Now! Stop it!'
Billy's hand came up and touched her hair. He said something, not very loud, then his hand went down again. He got the hand under him and pushed to a sitting position and scooted his back against the alley wall. He didn't look as if he cared much about what was happening now, long as it wasn't happening to him.
Maude rose suddenly, pushed through the crowd and went inside the cafe.
The blue-haired lady had a solid stance now. She kicked Leonard firm in the nuts with a football style kick. Leonard let out a burst of air, it puffed white and went wide and far, like a blast from a dragon. He sagged between the two men even more. The old lady said: 'Niggers is what's wrong with this country.'
I tried to get up, but couldn't. I fell over on my side and watched the alley wall lean at me. I turned my head toward Leonard, saw that Blue Hair had been replaced by Gray Suit. The rain had pushed his evangelist do apart and it had fallen into his face. I noticed, pushed down like that, he had been covering a half-dollar-sized bald spot at the back of his head. Good. I was glad he had a bald spot. I really didn't like this guy.
He had ketchup on his suit and the rain had spread it into rusty patches all over his jacket. His white shirt looked as if it were spotted with blood. He said, 'Hold him,' and the two guys picked Leonard up higher and held him firm, and Gray Suit began to work on him. Pounding him in the stomach, once in the jaw, but that hurt Gray Suit's hand. He jerked it back, said 'Damn,' and kicked Leonard in the shin. Then the leg. Leonard's bad leg.
Gray Suit reached in his pants pocket and got out a large pocketknife, pinched a blade open.
I tried to crawl toward Leonard, but I wasn't making any time at all. I felt like a slug nailed to the ground. I felt like I was in a car and it had skidded off the road, and everything had gone slow motion, and I could see a telephone pole coming through the windshield and there wasn't a thing I could do about it.
Gray Suit said, 'Way you tame a nigger . . . way you make em good, is just like you do a rambunctious stallion. You got to severely lower their testosterone level. All that ball juice just leads a nigger to trouble.'
The men in the crowd laughed. One came forward, got hold of Leonard's zipper and pulled it down, reached in his pants and pulled out Leonard's equipment.
'No,' I said. 'Don't,' but my words sounded like coughs.
Gray Suit turned, looked at me. He showed me that pretty dimple. It looked so deep now you'd have thought it ought to have a winch and bucket perched over it. He said, 'Well, the nigger lover's come around. I cut this nigger's boo-doodles off, I'm gonna put 'em in your pocket, boy.'
Gray Suit came forward and grabbed Leonard's testicles and lifted them and reached with the knife, and a gunshot split the air.
It was Maude. She had a pistol in one hand, a Winchester in the other, tucked under her armpit.
'You ain't gonna do this. Not in my place. Not out back of my place.' Maude fired a shot with the revolver and made a trash can jump. She pointed the revolver and the rifle at Gray Suit, who still held Leonard's balls and the knife. She said, 'Jackson Brown, you cut that nigger, you touch one of my boys, you come for me or that fella on the ground over there, any of you make a move to do that kinda business, I'm gonna blow what little brains you got out of the back of your head. And I'll do it too. Don't think I won't. Now all you cretins get on your horses and ride.'
Gray Suit said, 'You're gonna bring yourself some serious grief, Maude.'
'You don't own my place yet, Jackson. You don't threaten me. You hear? Let go of that nigger's rocks.'
So this was Tim's father. Jackson Truman Brown, the Lord of Grovetown. Standing in a wet alley with a pocketknife in one hand, Leonard's balls in the other.
Gently, the Lord unhanded Leonard's gonads, folded up his knife and put it away. Way he did it, you'd have thought he just used it to clean his fingernails. The two fatties dropped Leonard on his face. He hit so hard he cut a fart, then lay still.
A siren whooped once, went quiet. I turned to see the Chief's car at the mouth of the alley. Officer Reynolds was driving. He got out of the car and strolled up the alley, sucking his last Toot-see Roll Pop. 'That's enough,' he said. 'All y'all go home.'
'Draighten and Ray are on the floor in the restaurant,' one of the fatties said. 'These fellas hurt 'em bad.'
'Yeah,' Reynolds said. 'Well, haul 'em off. Get 'em a doctor, they need it. I want all y'all out of here. Now.'
'Officer,' Jackson Brown said, 'you don't want to get too carried away.'
Officer Reynolds studied Brown for a few seconds. His face took on a pleasant look. 'You know how it is, Mr. Brown. Think about it a minute. The position I'm in.'
Brown took the minute offered and considered. 'There'll be another time,' he said.
'That may be,' Officer Reynolds said. 'Maude, put them guns up before you shoot yourself or wound that nigger. We wouldn't want something to happen to that nigger. Niggers are special, you ought to know that. Government protects 'em, like some kind of goddamn endangered species.' He looked at me. 'And nigger lovers are special too. Damn precious, in fact.'
Maude lowered the guns. Caliber limped over and took the Winchester from her, then the revolver. Billy turned so he could use the wall to get up, clawed his way to his feet. He and Caliber looked rough. But not as rough as Leonard. I figured I didn't look too pretty myself.
The crowd began to break up. Brown looked at me, creased his dimple, said, 'You boys weren't tough as you thought, were you?'
It took me a couple of deep breaths to say it: 'Could be. But all I can say for you is, you certainly handled Leonard's nuts like a natural.'
Brown glared, turned, paused long enough to look Maude over good, nodded at her, then went through the back door of the cafe and out of sight. The others had already gone, and now there was only Maude, her sons, me, Leonard, and good ole Officer Reynolds.
