Crazy in Alabama Page #8

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I knew about it

the whole goddamn time!

I did.

And he used to hit me all the time.

Dove, you don't know how many times

I went to the emergency hospital....

I went to the emergency hospital.

I covered up my bruises with makeup...

...because I knew that if you knew...

...that you would kill him.

Well, now you don't have to.

That's not the worst part.

The worst part is that he used to...

...hit the kids when I wasn't around.

And they were just

scared to death of him...

...my babies.

Sorry.

Thank you. Right.

You know...

...there are lots of ways...

...that you can kill a person.

There are slow ways

and there are fast ways.

And Chester was killing me

the slow way for 13 years.

You know, you stay....

You spend the whole day making

a beautiful meal for your husband...

...and he gobbles it down

in five minutes...

...and he never says thank you,

and a little piece of you dies.

Or you try to talk to him...

...and he tries to look around you

so he can see the TV.

He's just killing you.

He's just using you up.

He's just watching you grow old

and waiting for you to die.

I just hope...

...that you'll let me go back

to my babies.

I'm not guilty.

Because what I did...

...I did it in self-defence.

What's a diaphragm?

I don't know.

"On the first count...

...citing premeditated murder

in the first degree...

...we, the jury, find the defendant...

...guilty.

On the second count...

...citing willful mutilation

and mayhem...

...we, the jury,

find the defendant...."

Guilty?

How could they find her guilty?

But, Wiley, she is.

I don't understand.

Well, we tried to tell her, Mama.

But she had to have her say.

Well, she had it.

She gambled and she lost.

Now it's up to the judge.

Sheriff.

It's a pleasure to place you

under arrest...

...for violating the civil rights

of Taylor Jackson.

What is this? Tyrone, it's okay.

-You'll never make this stick.

-Well, you're probably right.

I'll have to settle on making your life

hell the next three or four years.

Nobody's gonna thank you

for that, boy.

Was that your idea,

telling all that on the stand?

Yes, sir.

I'm sorry.

I didn't think about it first.

I just said it.

Well, you said it in an open court.

That means we'll have to testify.

You can't back away from it now.

Yes, sir. I know.

Thank you, Peejoe.

Well, I can send you down to Draper...

...but I don't think prisons were

designed for people like you.

Or I could send you

up to Bryce Hospital...

...and let the head shrinkers

take a shot at you.

But I gotta tell you something.

I have a little feeling about you.

You got a little devil in you.

You'd charm your way out of there.

You'd just skedaddle right out.

No, I wouldn't, I promise.

Also...

...I could sentence you...

...to the electric chair.

And maybe...

...that's what the jury intended.

But I have never...

...sent a lady

to the electric chair...

...and I never will.

So here we are, my friends.

You're guilty, but I haven't seen

a shred of evidence...

...that says you are a danger...

...to anybody or anything

except Chester Vinson.

And let's face it:

Bon soir.

It's too late for him, right?

So there's something else you should

know, my darling. I have sat here...

...and I have seen

our good white juries return...

...verdicts that were...

...unbelievably stupid.

But they did.

And I have seen men so guilty...

...and yet...

...they were allowed to go free.

So here you are...

...and here I am.

But it's my turn now, dear.

I sentence you to 20 years.

Hold it. Hold it.

But I suspend that sentence...

...and I sentence you to five years...

...five years of probation...

...during which time

you have to seek...

...the help of a psychiatrist...

...during the whole time.

You understand that?

-Yes, sir.

-Good.

So...

...you're free to go.

Travesty of justice!

This is an outrage!

Oh, shut up!

Judicial misconduct, Your Honour!

This case is adjourned!

God bless Judge Mead!

I wondered what Aunt Lucille

said to that judge...

... to make him change his mind

about her.

She just smiled and said

he was one of those rare men...

... that knew the difference between

justice and what's just.

In all that excitement...

...I thought she'd forgotten

all about me and Wiley.

Well, I guess I was wrong.

We can squeeze these guys

into the hearse. Is that okay?

Oh, no.

Your timing is perfect.

I knew you were innocent.

I knew it the whole damn time.

Want to go for a ride?

Go!

I can't believe it.

I guess the judge said

it had to be integrated.

He didn't say nothing about

there having to be water in it.

Now you the same as us.

Ain't nobody allowed to swim.

That's so stupid.

You took the patch off your eye.

I can see light through it now.

Maybe you just had to let it heal.

Come on. Let's go.

You can drive by today...

...and never know there was

a pool there at all.

But I know the secret.

There's water trapped underneath

all that cement.

Three inches of water...

...as blue as Lucille's eyes.

I learned a lot of secrets

that summer.

You can bury freedom,

but you can't kill it.

Taylor Jackson died for freedom.

Aunt Lucille had to kill to get it.

Life and death are only temporary...

...but freedom goes on forever.

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