“Yes, Mr. Ito?”
“I don’t understand any of this. I’m just a farmer. But I do want to know one thing. Who’s going to pay for my father’s greenhouses?”
John Thomas got to his feet. “I am,” he said simply.
Betty tugged at his sleeve. “Sit down, you idiot!”
“You hush up, Betty. You’ve talked enough.” Betty hushed up. “Mr. Greenberg, everybody else has been talking. Can I say something?”
“Go ahead.”
“I’ve listened to a lot of stuff all day. People trying to make out that Lummox is dangerous, when he’s not People trying to have him killed, just for spite, yes, I mean you, Mrs. Donahue!”
“Address the court, please,” Greenberg said quietly.
“I’ve heard you say a lot of things, too. I didn’t follow all of them but, if you will pardon me, sir, some of them struck me as pretty silly. Excuse me.”
“No contempt intended, I’m sure.”
“Well. . . take this about whether Lummox is or isn’t a chattel. Or whether he’s bright enough to vote. Lummox is pretty bright, I guess nobody but me knows just how bright. But he’s never had any education and he’s never been anywhere. But that hasn’t anything to do with who he belongs to. He belongs to me. Just the way I belong to him. . . we grew up together. Now I know I’m responsible for that damage last Monday. . . will you keep quiet, Betty! I can’t pay for it now, but I’ll pay for it. I. . .”
“Just a moment, young man. The court will not permit you to admit liability without counsel. If that is your intention, court will appoint counsel.”
“You said I could have my say.”
“Continue. Noted for the record that this is not binding.”
“Sure, it’s binding, because I’m going to do it. Pretty soon my education trust comes due and it would about cover it. I guess I can. . .”
“John Thomas!” his mother called out sharply. “You’ll do no such thing!”
“Mother, you had better keep out of this, too. I was just going to say. . .”
“You’re not to say anything. Your honor, he is. . .”
“Order!” Greenberg interrupted. “None of this is binding. Let the lad speak.”
“Thank you, sir. I was through, anyway. But I’ve got something to say to you, sir, too. Lummie is timid. I can handle him because he trusts me-but if you think I’m going to let a lot of strangers poke him and prod him and ask him silly questions and put him through mazes and things, you’d just better think again-because I won’t stand for it! Lummie is sick right now. He’s had more excitement than is good for him. The poor thing. . .”
Lummox had waited for John Thomas longer than he liked because he was not sure where John Thomas had gone. He had seen him disappear in the crowd without being sure whether or not Johnnie had gone into the big house nearby. He had tried to sleep after he woke up the first time, but people had come poking around, and he had had to wake himself up repeatedly because his watchman circuit did not have much judgment. Not that he thought of it that way; he was merely aware that he had come to with his alarms jangling time after time.
At last he decided that it was time he located John Thomas and went home. Figuratively, he tore up Betty’s orders; after all, Betty was not Johnnie.
So he stepped up his hearing to “search” and tried to locate Johnnie. He listened for a long time, heard Betty’s voice several times-but he was not interested in Betty. He continued to listen.
There was Johnnie now! He tuned out everything else and listened. He was in the big house all right. Hey! Johnnie sounded just the way he did when he had arguments with his mother. Lummox spread his hearing a little and tried to find out what was going on.
They were talking about things he knew nothing about. But one thing was clear: somebody was being mean to Johnnie. His mother? Yes, be heard her once and he knew that she had the privilege of being mean to Johnnie, just as Johnnie could talk mean to him and it didn’t really matter. But there was somebody else. . . several others, and not a one of them had any such privilege.