"They hadn't brought him back to Dee Ten when I left," Susannah says, "so far as I know, but they hadn't taken the card with his name out of the holder either. I... I don't know. The longer the wait, the more sure..."

She closes her eyes too, hugs him tighter. "He was stupid," she whispers. "Punchy too. You don't attack the police, not here. That's the quickest way to get lynched if you're a Negro--and we all are Negros here, even the whites are, we're all slaves." From slave to free to slave again in four generations, oh Lord. "Never attack the police. They can make you disappear. Probably easier here."