“do you know where you are, miss?” mrs wilkinson commenced, almost politely, with only a hint of steel in her voice.
“yes, i do, ma’am,” lily mae quickly answered. “and i am sorry, and i realize i should not be here. my mind must have been wandering, i guess.”
mrs wilkinson’s manner was not softened by lily mae’s admission. “i believe i have seen you before, miss. from my windows. was your mind wandering on those occasions, also?”
“yes, ma’am, it must have been. i will try not to let it happen again, i promise.”
“you promise to try not to let it happen again? i am afraid that is not good enough, my dear. i will tell you what will be good enough. you will turn around right now and make your way down the hill. if you come back, under any circumstances, with or without your unfortunate looking offspring, we have ways in this town, and i am not referring to the sheriff’s office, to make sure you do not return. i will be even clearer - you will find your fucking lowlife ass in a bag in the bottom of the river. do you understand?”
“yes, ma’am,” lily mae replied meekly. she was not surprised by mrs wilkinsion’s forthright language. having extensive acquaintance of the male members of the town’s upper crust, she was well aware that the leading citizens of the town, among themselves, expressed themselves as freely as the bums and hoboes who slept in the park, and down by the tracks.
little lucas, who had been paying the closest attention to the exchange between the two women, was somewhat perplexed by mrs wilkinson’s reference to his person as “unfortunate looking”. in what way was he “unfortunate looking”?
as if reading his thoughts, mrs wilkinson now pointed to lucas. “that child - it looks, as pastor franklin might put it, to have a touch of the tarbrush about it. or to put in good old-fashioned english, it looks like a fucking negro.”
“oh no, ma’am, i am as white as the queen of england, or as jean harlow.”
“i don’t doubt that, my dear. but what about the child’s father? is he listed in burke’s peerage? or even in who’s who in america? hmmm?” and with that mrs wilkinson took her leave, and lily mae turned the stroller around and headed directly down the hill.
lucas was left with two things by the episode.
first, with a burning desire to tear down existing society, based as it was on privilege and oppression, and to replace it with one based on justice and equality. he would never lose this desire.
and second, with the question of whether he was or was not a “negro”. this question would never be answered.
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