Sycamore Row - John Grisham

doubt he planned things perfectly. They had not been too impressed with Herschel and
Ramona anyway. And, they didn’t like the fact that a black housekeeper would get all
the money, but, as Jake had said, it was not for the jurors to decide. It wasn’t their
money.
For the Hubbard family, a morning that had begun with such promise had turned into
a humiliating nightmare. The truth was out about their grandfather, a man they’d hardly
known, and now their family name would be permanently stained. They could learn to
handle the stain, but losing the money would be a catastrophe. They suddenly wanted to
hide. They sprinted to the home of their host, out by the country club, and ignored lunch
while debating whether they should return to the courtroom.
Lettie and Portia returned to the Sappington place during the break, but there were
no thoughts of lunch. Instead, they went to Lettie’s bedroom, kicked off their shoes, and
lay side by side, holding hands, and began to cry.
Ancil’s story had closed so many circles.
With so many thoughts swirling around there were almost no words. Emotions were
too high. Lettie thought of her grandmother Esther and the horror of the story. And her
mother, a little girl with no clothes, no food, no shelter.
“How’d he know, Mom?” Portia asked.
“Who? Which one? Which story?”
“Seth. How’d he know it was you? How did Seth Hubbard ever find out you were the
daughter of Lois Rinds?”
Lettie stared at the spinning ceiling fan and couldn’t begin to answer. Finally, she
said, “He was a very smart man, but I doubt if we’ll ever know.”
Willie Traynor stopped by Jake’s office with a platter of sandwiches and invited
himself to lunch. Jake and Harry Rex were upstairs, on the balcony, having a drink.
Coffee for Jake, beer for Harry Rex. They appreciated the sandwiches and helped
themselves. Willie chose a beer. He said, “You know, when I had the paper, somewhere
around 1975, some guy published a book about lynchings. He did his homework, had
lots of gory photographs and such, and it was a good read. According to him, and he
was from up north and eager to make us look bad, between 1882 and 1968 thirty-five
hundred blacks were lynched in the United States. There were also thirteen hundred
whites, but most were horse thieves out west. From 1900 on, almost all lynchings were
of blacks, including some women and children.”
“Is this really appropriate during lunch?” Harry Rex asked.
“I didn’t know you had such a delicate stomach, big boy,” Willie shot back. “Anyway,
guess which state leads the nation in lynchings.”