Lynching Uncle Rye: a novel excerpt.

Lynching Uncle Rye: a novel excerpt. FROM THE ROCKER ON HIS PORCH, NOLAND JACKS SURVEYED THE ROWS OF newcorn that ran from the end of the yard to what his eyes saw as a blur onthe near horizon, where the river cut high banks through the field. Theair had turned warm, but not yet heavy and insect-laden as it would incoming weeks, so there was no need to turn on the electric fan. Jacksavoided the fan whenever it was feasible. The breeze it made seemedartificial and it dried out his mouth and made it hard to keep his pipelit. He liked to smoke and look at his fields, and he enjoyed the smellof the tobacco even more than its taste. He had experimented with anumber of flavors, but he preferred apple. It had a sweet smell that washeavy in the air, but light in his mouth. Do you have Prince Albert in acan? `He chuckled, remembering a joke. Do you have pig's feet? Doyou have oxtails? His father had told him those. How Spurgeon had knownthem, Jacks couldn't imagine. But he did know that Spurgeon himselfwould never have played the prank, never would have asked a proprietorany of those questions: Do you have Prince Albert in a can? "Lethim out, he's suffocating?" Jacks laughed out aloud and shookhis head. His corn was knee high and bright green, the young leaves holdingon to their yellow color. Soon they would darken, become bluer. Corn wasas American as apple pie, he thought, more so, since apples came fromEurope and corn originated in America, first grown by the Indians. Younever heard of Indian apples, but Indian corn was as common as anything.His was a yellow dent corn, and he already knew he would make a goodyield off of it. It would be ground to make good yellow meal for cornbread and grits. He stretched his arms above his head, breathed in theapple-vanilla smoke that clouded around him. Then he thought of an oldsong Spurgeon had sung. Tobacco is a dirty weed. I like it. It satisfies no normal need. I like it. It makes you thin, it makes you lean, It takes the hair fight off your bean. It's the worst darn stuff I've ever seen. I like it. Again, he laughed to himself. What pleasant memories he was having,remembering his father and enjoying the breeze that caused a wave todance through the corn. Even now, he sat, in the same chair his fathersat in when he surveyed the fields, looking for nothing, only enjoyingwhat he saw. He had become his father, he thought, a man at last, agentleman. He was a gentleman of the New South and one he thoughtSpurgeon would approve of. He remembered that it was on this very porch,not ten years earlier, when Spurgeon had tuned to him, recognizing hismaturity, saying, "I can't tell you what to do, but be a manand you will learn to be a man." It had happened on the night of the lynching of RyeJohnson--"Uncle Rye," as he had been known to the whitefamilies until his lynching; after which, he was called "NiggerRye" or "That Johnson Nigger," or "The Nigger WhoRaped that Cuthbertson Woman." It was a Saturday evening, earlyAugust, 1923, Jacks remembered. He and Spurgeon were sitting on theporch. His mother was indoors, cleaning the kitchen. From a long waysoff they heard a car, first on the road, and then sputtering A popular method for adhering thin films onto a substrate. Sputtering is done by bombarding a target material with a charged gas (typically argon) which releases atoms in the target that coats the nearby substrate. It all takes place inside a magnetron vacuum chamber under low pressure. up thedrive. "Model T," Spurgeon said. He did not take his eyes offthe field, planted in tobacco, that lay before him. "That'llbe that ass Billy Venable." Few owned cars in Talmaedge County atthat time. "Ask him what he wants." Jacks had gone around the front, promptly obeying his father. Itwas indeed, Billy Venable's Model T, no longer looking like a newcar. Billy Venable was driving, and he blew on the horn, which soundedas much like a goose as it did a machine. Jacks counted six people inthe car. Jake Cuthbertson was sitting in the front next to BillyVenable. In the back sat three men wearing white that Jacks did notknow. Later he leaned they were officials in the Ku Klux Klan Ku Klux Klan(k' klŭks klăn), designation mainly given to two distinct secret societies that played a part in American history, although other less important groups have also used , visitorsfrom Alabama. Vernon Venable stood on the running board next to hisuncle, Billy. "Where's your daddy, boy?" Billy Venable shouted. "He's 'round on the porch, sir," Jacksanswered, and as he turned to indicate, he saw his father come aroundthe corner. Spurgeon crossed his arms over his chest, holding his pipe in hand."What can I do for you gentlemen this time of evening?" "Oh, Spurgeon," said Billy Venable, in an excited butcomical way, "Come out with us tonight. We got some coon coon:see raccoon. hunting todo." Spurgeon shifted on his feet and put the pipe in his mouth. "Idon't reckon it's coon season, Billy." The men in the car laughed. Vernon Venable laughed. All of themwere drinking. "It's always coon season," Billy Venablesaid, and the other men in the car agreed. "Besides, we ain'tfixin' to eat this coon. We might fry'im, but we ain'teating him." Again there was laughter. Jacks wasn't sure what the men were talking about at first. Hemade eye contact with Vernon Venable, who beckoned to him with his head.There was a gleam of excitement in his eyes and he beamed a bigattractive smile. "Now, what this coon do to deserve getting fried?"Spurgeon asked. Jake Cuthbertson volunteered. "Goddamn god��damnalso God��damn ?interj.Used to express extreme displeasure, anger, or surprise.n.Damn.tr. & intr.v. god��damned, god��damn��ing, god��damnsTo damn.adj. nigger took a shot atme. Near to hit me, too." The other men in the car laughed at hisinflection. "What nigger?" Spurgeon asked, his tone serious. "That'll be Uncle Rye," Billy Venable said. Spurgeon said nothing but sucked deeply on his pipe. He let thesmoke come out of his mouth slowly and form a cloud around his head. "Uncle Rye?" Jacks whispered, turning to his father."Uncle Rye is a good ole boy good old boyalso good ol' boy or good ole boy ?n. SlangA man having qualities held to be characteristic of certain Southern white males, such as a relaxed or informal manner, strong loyalty to family and friends, and often an . Uncle Rye wouldn't shoot at anybody." Rye was a farmer and a lay minister. Approaching sixty, hehad taken on the snow-headed appearance of a good ole Uncle Remus fromthe picture books that the white children read in school. Jacks likedhim. He often came into the Venable feed store to purchase pig feed orcrop seed. He settled his bills in cash, and because he was one of thefew blacks in Talmaedge to own land, rather than to sharecrop share��crop?v. share��cropped, share��crop��ping, share��cropsv.intr.To work as a sharecropper.v.tr.To work (land) or grow (crops) as a sharecropper. , he rarelyran a tab at the store. "What did you do to him to make him want to shot you?"Spurgeon asked. Cuthbertson looked around at the other men. "Let's justsay, that nigger and I had a discussion about a property line."Cuthbertson owned a small farm on the west side of the town of Bethel. Spurgeon shook his head and smiled. "You got caught increasingyour real estate, Jake?" "Goddamnit, Jacks," Cuthbertson said. "Act like awhite man." Spurgeon cleared his throat. He stepped down to the top step of theporch. He spoke evenly. "Jake Cuthbertson, I don't reckon apiece of trash like you will ever tell me to act like man, white or not.I know what I am. I know I would have shot a piece of trash like you, ifyou had come moving my property mark. Uncle Rye ought to have killedyou, and I reckon he spared you just because you are a white man. Now, Iam sorry for Uncle Rye. He's man of pride and courage, as far as Ican see. But if you think you got to go off now and lynch him up, thenthat's your business. It doesn't involve me any." One of the men from the back seat interrupted. "It does tooinvolve you. It involves every white man. A nigger has shot at a whiteman. Could have killed him. Could have violated his home, his wife, hischildren. Maybe you win be next." Spurgeon did not look at the man, but continued to address JakeCuthbertson. "I can take care of myself and my own. If I know of anigger that needs lynching, I'll lynch him. And I'll do itsober, and I'll do it myself." "Spurgeon," Billy Venable said and laughed,"That's mighty unsportin'." "Well," Spurgeon Jacks said, "I guess I don'tsee the sport in it. Now, I advise you to go on home and leave Uncle Ryealone. I reckon, if he is as smart as I think, he's already halfway to Atlanta--" "No, he ain't. Got him, already," Cuthbertson said."He over in the Bethel jail, waiting." Cuthbertson grinned. "Well," Spurgeon said, stepping back onto the porch."Then, you don't need me." He walked back to the sideporch. Jacks had liked the way his father had spoken. He admired hisfather's stature before the other men, and the calmness of hisvoice where the other men's voices had gotten jittery and feminine.Now he took the same stance as his father, on the top step, his armsfolded. But then, Vernon Venable beckoned with his head again. He smiledand winked, and Jacks suddenly felt a rush of excitement. He shutteredto maintain control. He had never seen a lynching except on postcardsand now there would be one in Bethel. "Com'on Noland," Vernon Venable said. "Youfixin' to miss out on the biggest thing ever happen inTalmaedge." "This year," one of the men on the back seat said, andall the men laughed. Jacks went to the side porch and found his father standing, in thedark now, the glow of the pipe lighting his face as he smoked. "Papa," he started, his tone slightly pleading. Spurgeon didn't move to look at him. "I ain't theone to tell you to go or not to go. You the only one can do that. But Ican tell you this. It ain't so easy as you might think to kill aman." He turned to face Jacks, his face in the darkness. "Ifyou go, even if you don't so much as throw a pebble, you are in itas much as the man who ties the noose. You might just be a bystander by��stand��er?n.A person who is present at an event without participating in it.bystanderNouna person present but not involved; onlooker; spectatorNoun 1. ,but no body is innocent, son. Even I, standing here, knowing it is UncleRye, am among the guilty. It is the guik I bear for being who Iam." The two were quiet for a moment. The car horn honked. "Whatmust I do?" Jacks asked. "Go," his father said and sighed. "But be a manabout it." "What does that mean, Papa?" "You have to learn that for yourself." Jacks rode on the other running board, across from Vernon Venableas the car sped over the bumpy road to town. He held on to the sidemirror and braced himself against the back seat, so that his lanky bodyseemed to spread around Jake Cuthbertson. He turned his face over hisshoulder to guard against the dust and flying gravel, but he also lookedover at Vernon Venable. It seemed that Venable was carrying on aconversation with him, through his eyes, his smile, the nodding of hishead and wind-blown hair. Jacks returned the smile, and felt genuinelythe excitement that Venable seemed to communicate. But there was a knotin his stomach that had been tied by his father. Why hadn't hisfather come? And what did he mean by being a man. He would watch someonedie, he knew. He had never seen a dead man, but had read plenty aboutdeath in adventure novels and had seen pictures on postcards and indeath portraits. Still he did not know what to expect, or how he wouldfeel about it, especially since it was Uncle Rye, a man he knew. And hisfather had said it wouldn't be easy. Again, he looked at Venable, who seemed to be on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. ofbreaking into song. Venable's face was bright, lighted by the newlyrisen moon. Behind him, the forest, with its tangles of vines seemed tomove. There was kudzu kudzu(kd`z), plant of the family Leguminosae (pulse family), native to Japan. , of course, but also Virginia creeper, with itselegant circlet of five leaves, trumpet flower, honey suckle suck��le?v. suck��led, suck��ling, suck��lesv.tr.1. a. To cause or allow to take milk at the breast or udder; nurse.b. To take milk at the breast or udder of.2. , feral feraluntamed; often used in the sense of having escaped from domesticity and run wild. wisteria wisteria(wĭstēr`ēə)or wistaria(–târ`–), any plant of the genus Wisteria, , poison ivy poison ivy,poison oak,and poison sumac,woody vines and trailing or erect shrubs of the family Anacardiaceae (sumac family), native to North America. , fox grape--all tangling, twining, twisting like aroll of snakes in the canopy. When the car slowed, as it approached the town square, Venablesignaled Jacks and jumped from the running board. The square was full ofpeople, the heaviest part of the crowd being in front of the small,brick jail, a wing of the tin domed courthouse. Mostly the crowd wasmen, but there were women and children, too. There was a good dealdrinking, even though it was two years into the Prohibition. Venable hadbeer and offered it to Jacks. Jacks took the bottle, smelled it first,and when Venable laughed at him, took a sip. It was warm and tasted verybitter and he wanted to spit it out. "You will like it better if you take a big mouthful,"Venable said and demonstrated. He winced, and laughed, wetness on hislips. The crowd jostled to and fro to and froadv.Back and forth.to and froAdverb, adjalso to-and-fro1. , expectant. Some asked when thelynching would start, and noted the lateness of the hour, though it wasonly just after nine o' clock. "But these things can take allnight," someone complained. Another said she objected to so much drinking, especially since thenext day was Sunday. There were many strangers in the crowd, Jacksnoted, and a few wore Klan robes of various colors. Some had on theirhoods, looking like medieval priests, but none of them hid his face. The crowd lurched and excited shouts and shooting came from theside of the square opposite the jail. The two young men went toinvestigate. When they got the story, Venable broke into high, chokinglaughter. A black man had come unsuspecting upon the crowd and hadwanted to know what was going on. When he was told, he began to run andsome of the people chased him, throwing stones, sticks and bricks athim. Someone had fired off some shots. "That nigger went licketysplit," a man said and laughed. "Where's that nigger Johnson," someone else shouted."We want that nigger Johnson." Two women talked about Mrs.Cuthbertson, wondering how badly she had been violated. "Howfilthy," one said, "to have that big, dirty, grimy grim��y?adj. grim��i��er, grim��i��estCovered or smudged with grime. See Synonyms at dirty.grimi��ly adv. baboon baboon,any of the large, powerful, ground-living monkeys of the genus Papio, also called dog-faced monkeys. Five subspecies live in Africa, with one species extending into the Arabian peninsula. allover you. With all that hot nigger smell and sweat." "I'djust like to see 'im," the other replied. "We wantJohnson!" a man shouted. "Nigger. Nigger. We want the nigger.Bring out the nigger now." "Nigger. Nigger. Nigger," thecrowd chanted back. "Great God, bring out the nigger.""Oh god of the fields, god of the moon, bring us the nigger,"they seemed to chant. "Now it the time for the killing of thenigger; Now is the time for the blood of the nigger.""Hit's time, Hit's time. Eye of hog; tongue of dog;rattlesnake's sting and buzzard's wing. Hit's time forthe killing of the nigger." Again the crowd lurched, and this time rushed toward the jail housedoor where the sheriff had appeared with Rye Johnson. Venable pushedthrough the crowd, Jacks following. Jacks did not recognize Rye Johnson,and thought for a moment that another black man had taken his place. Butthen he began to put together the man's features, the white hair,the round face, swollen and missing its spectacles. The body was bowed,and as wobbly on its feet as a rag doll's. It seemed to be leaningon the sheriff first and then the deputy. A great shout went up from thecrowd, with hoots hoots?interj.Variant of hoot2. and hisses. Then it began to clod Rye Johnson withstones and sticks, until the sheriff fired off his gun to calm them."Here's your nigger," he shouted. "Eat him, if youcan." Then he pushed Rye Johnson into the crowd. For a moment therewas a scuffle and fistfights broke out among the men as they vied to getto Rye Johnson. For a while, no one had control of Rye Johnson as he waspushed one way and then another, all the time being pelted and beatenwith objects as well as fists. When he was pushed near Venable, Venablestruck a blow to the top of his head. He turned, grinning to Jacks.Jacks clenched clench?tr.v. clenched, clench��ing, clench��es1. To close tightly: clench one's teeth; clenched my fists in anger.2. his fist. He saw his chance to strike the man, who wasnow, on his knees, his clothes tattered, his eyes round with fear. ButJacks could not bring himself to strike. When he saw Johnson'seyes, more like the eyes of a giant bird, or toad, nearly completelyblack, all pupil, he fek he could strike. It made him feel strong to seethe man's fear, and he thought it would give him pleasure to strikehim as Venable had done. The muscles in his arms quivered. He flexed hisback and threw out his chest, but he did not clench his fist or raisehis hand. His temples throbbed, pleasurably with tension and for themoment that was enough. Then Rye Johnson fell and curled into a ball and the crowd showeredhim with spit, tobacco juice, and hawked-up phlegm phlegmhumor effecting temperament of sluggishness. [Medieval Physiology: Hall, 130]See : Laziness . Suddenly, he jumpedup, bowling into the crowd, as if to escape. The crowd fell back insurprise, as did Jacks, when the man, sickened and gray in the face rantoward him. Does he recognize me? Jacks thought. He remembered that theman had always been courteous, deferential deferential/def��er��en��tial/ (-en��shal) pertaining to the ductus deferens. def��er��en��tialadj.Of or relating to the vas deferens.deferentialpertaining to the ductus deferens. , though not solicitous so��lic��i��tous?adj.1. a. Anxious or concerned: a solicitous parent.b. Expressing care or concern: made solicitous inquiries about our family. ofhim. "It's a fine day, Young Mister Jacks," he would havesaid with a nod. "A fine day, sir." But then Rye Johnsonturned away from him, and Jacks realized that the man was crazed, nomore than a baited opossum opossum(əpŏs`əm, pŏs`–), name for several marsupials, or pouched mammals, of the family Didelphidae, native to Central and South America, with one species extending N to the United States. or a trapped coyote coyote(kī`ōt, kīō`tē)or prairie wolf,small, swift wolf, Canis latrans, native to W North America. It is found in deserts, prairies, open woodlands, and brush country; it is also called brush wolf. , desperate for a lastresort. It was then that Jacks relaxed his chest. There was no longer asense of danger. Someone shot a gun, and the crowd quieted. Rye Johnson lay on theground again, in the middle of Main Street. His leg was crooked underhim, the shot having blasted open his knee. He let out a shriek shriek - exclamation mark , andseeing he was down, the crowd moved in with axe handles and tire irons.He turned over and over in the street, trying to escape the blows, buteach way he turned, he was struck. Once again the crowd stopped, as acar backed into the street. The men in the car got out. Jacks recognizedthem. They were the men from Alabama. It was Billy Venable's carand Billy Venable and Jake Cuthbertson were inside. The men tied one endof a rope around Rye Johnson's feet, bending the broken leg backinto place, and held onto the other end, like bronco bronco:see mustang. busters, and gotinto the rear of the car as it drove away. They dragged Rye Johnson downMain Street, then turned just before reaching the Venable townhouse town��houseor town house ?n.1. A residence in a city.2. A row house, especially a fashionable one. , anddragged him down Poplar Street. Then they went a short way down Dogwood dogwoodor cornel(kôr`nəl), shrub or tree of the genus Cornus, chiefly of north temperate and tropical mountain regions, characteristically having an inconspicuous flower surrounded by large, showy bracts which Street, bouncing on the old cobblestones, to the delight of the oohingand ahhing crowd as it chased behind. "They are going to the oldtree!" Someone shouted. Venable tapped Jacks on the shoulder, andthey took a short cut, down an alley way and across a fallow fallowa pale cream, light fawn, or pale yellow coat color in dogs. field tothe very edge of town. It was in sight of Coon Bottom, where many of theblacks who worked as maids and lawn men for the townspeople lived. At the edge of the field stood a large old beech tree. Its silverybark shone in the moonlight and the wide spreading leafy branches castdown a puzzle of shadows on the ground. The bark of the beech was smoothand scarred with many initials and lover's hearts; and, already, anoosed rope hang from a low branch. There were a few moments of quiet, and then the young men heard theprocession, headed by the honking car and followed by the shrill, nearlychild-like screams from the crowd. Once the crowd had reconvened, one ofthe men from Alabama stood on the hood of the car. His white robe liftedin the breeze and shone in the moonlight. In a hoarse voice he spokewords that Jacks could barely understand. It seemed he spoke in English,but then again, it seemed like a language more ancient, more visceral,and rhythmic. It could have been Latin or Greek. He gesticulated,throwing wide his arms as if to embrace the moonlight. The crowdencouraged him with hoots and shouts, and when he was done he cried out,"Thus always to niggers!" There was loud drumming as someonehit a stick against a large can. Then a group, perhaps five men, liftedRye Johnson to his feet. The man had no fight in him. He was naked,bloody from head to foot. Large pieces skin had been rubbed from hisface and chest. Suddenly, he was swinging in the air, and much to thedelight of the crowd, he struggled, kicking at the air and trying topull the rope away from his neck. Before he settled, the drumming cameagain, and two men came with cans of gasoline, doused Rye Johnson andset him on fire. In the morning the two young men sat in the back yard of theVenable's townhouse. After the murder, they had lost sight of BillyVenable, and though Jacks had wanted to walk back to Woodbine, Venableconvinced him to stay at the townhouse. They had drunk more beer, andgradually Jacks had come to like it, swallowing big, fizzy fizz?intr.v. fizzed, fizz��ing, fizz��esTo make a hissing or bubbling sound; effervesce.n.1. A hissing or bubbling sound.2. Effervescence.3. An effervescent beverage. mouthfuls ashis friend suggested. Venable still talked about the lynching."That's one nigger that won't be troubling white womenagain." "I reckon not," Jacks said. "But that wasn'tthe problem to begin with, was it?" "Who knows?" Venable said. "The trouble is... thetrouble is... well, who knows what the trouble is? Anyhow, it was awfulsilly of those idiots to burn him up with a rope on him. Any fool knows,you need to chain him if you fixin' to burn him. But anyhow it wasspectacular. I never seen anything like it before--whoosh--and all thatsmoke and the nigger didn't even scream." "No," said Jacks. The image was fresh in his mind, theorange flames and the charring body. Venable took a sip on his beer. He looked seriously at Jacks, eyeto eye. Jacks could see Venable's eyes still bright withexcitement. "Have you ever wondered," Venable said, "whyit is that when you cook a chicken it smells so good and you want to eatit, but when you cook a man, it smells so foul." "No," said Jacks. "Have you ever thought about eating a man, like thosecannibals in Africa?" Jacks didn't answer. He walked to the edge of the yard, wherethe periwinkle periwinkle, in zoologyperiwinkle,any of a group of marine gastropod mollusks having conical, spiral shells. Periwinkles feed on algae and seaweed. was beginning to warm in the sun, and he vomited. ANTHONY GROOMS Kennesaw State University Kennesaw State University, commonly known as Kennesaw State, is a public, coeducational university and is part of the University System of Georgia. It is located in Kennesaw, an unincorporated community in Cobb County, Georgia, United States, approximately 20 miles north of