sion takes race into consideration, but a lot of black-
owned shops like this one have either been denied the
right to expand or have been zoned out of existence in
the last three or four years.
“We’ll put a berm in front, plant it with trees and
253
MARGARET MARON
evergreen bushes so you can’t see in from the road,”
said James. “There’s a Mexican across the branch with a
nursery that does landscaping. Diaz. We’re gonna trade
work. Make it look pretty. Enough folks know we’re
here that we don’t need to put up but just a little teeny
sign.”
“Now don’t y’all get so upscale you can’t take care of
my car,” I said as Dwight turned into their drive.
Jimmy laughed. “Girl, anytime you need a new fender,
I’ll fix you up. ’Course, now that you went and married
Dwight, I reckon you don’t drive too fast no more.”
“You think?” said Dwight who’d rolled down his win-
dow in time to hear Jimmy’s last remark. “I’m gonna
have to write her up myself to slow her down.”
James opened the passenger door for me and as I
stepped up to get in, his comment about the nursery
finally registered. “Diaz,” I said. “Miguel Diaz?”
“Mike Diaz, yes,” James said. “You know him?”
“We’ve met. I just didn’t realize his nursery was
nearby.”
“Just across the branch. They’ve made ’em a right
nice place over there.”
Jimmy promised that my car would be ready by mid-
afternoon and as we headed for Dobbs, I said, “Mike
Diaz, Dwight.”
“Who’s he?”
“Mayleen Richards’s new boyfriend, according to
Faye Myers.”
“Yeah? How do you know him?”
“He came to court last week to speak for that guy
that took a tractor and plowed up a stretch of yards,
remember? Back in January?”
254
HARD ROW
Dwight shook his head. With all the violent crimes he
had to deal with, he misses a lot of the lesser ones that
make it to my courtroom.
“I thought I told you about him. Palmez or Palmirez
or something like that. One of my freaky Friday cases.”
“You told me about the guy who tried to steal one of
the old lampposts off the town commons and how Dr.
Allred ticketed a man who parked at a handicap spot
without a tag and then let a three-legged dog run free.
