Chapter 22 Chapter Twenty Two

This time it was Jem's turn to cry.Tears of anger were streaming down his face as we passed through the laughing crowd. "It's not fair," he murmured over and over until we met Atticus waiting at the corner of the square.Atticus stood under the streetlight, looking as if nothing had happened: his waistcoat was buttoned, collar and tie were in order, his watch chain was shining.He returned to his indifferent appearance. "It's not fair, Atticus," said Jem. "Indeed, son, it's not fair." We walked home. Aunt Alexandra was up and waiting for us.She was wearing a nightgown, and I could swear she had tights underneath too. "Don't be sad, brother." She whispered.I'd never heard her call Atticus "brother" before, and I stole a look at Jem, but he wasn't listening.He looked up at Atticus and down at the floor, and I wondered if he thought Atticus was somehow responsible for Tom Robinson's conviction.

"Is he all right?" asked the aunt.She meant Jem. "He'll be all right in a minute," Atticus said. "It's a little overwhelming for him." Our father sighed. "I'm going to bed," he said. "If I don't wake up tomorrow morning, don't call me." "I don't think they should have been allowed to go in the first place..." "Sister, this is where they live," Atticus said. "Since we've put them in this environment, they have to learn how to deal with it." "But they don't need to go to court, soak in that kind of..."

"The courtroom is as much a part of Maycomb County life as the missionary tea party." "Atticus..." Aunt Alexandra's eyes were full of anxiety. "I didn't expect you to be so mean because of it." "I'm not being mean, I'm just tired. I'm going to bed." "Atticus . . . " cried Jem hopelessly. He turned around at the door. "What's the matter, son?" "How could they do this? How could they do this?" "I don't know, but they did. They did it before, they did it tonight, they'll do it again, and when they do it... it seems like only children cry. Goodnight."

However, things usually get better the next morning.Unmoved, Atticus got up early as usual.By the time we stumbled into the living room, he was already reading The Mobile Chronicle.There was a question on Jem's sleepy face, and the question struggled on his lips to escape. "It's not time to worry yet," said Atticus, reassuring Jem as we headed toward the dining room. "It's not over yet. We've got an appeal, and you can hope for it. My God, Where did this come from, Calpurnia?" His eyes widened in surprise, looking at his breakfast plate. Calpurnia said, "Tom Robinson's papa brought you this chicken this morning. I made it."

"You tell him I'm very honored to have this chicken—I daresay no one in the White House gets chicken for breakfast. What are these?" "Rolls," said Calpurnia, "from Estelle who works at the hotel over there." Atticus looked up, looking at her blankly.Calpurnia added, "You'd better come and see what's in the kitchen, Mr. Finch." We followed him into the kitchen, where the table was piled high with food that would have buried our family: chunks of bacon, tomatoes, beans, even grapes.Atticus found a bottle of soaked pig's trotters among them, and grinned suddenly: "Do you think my aunt will let me eat this in the restaurant?"

Calpurnia said: "I found this whole pile on the back steps when I came in this morning. They—they appreciate you so much, Mr. Finch. They—they didn't cross the line, did they? " Atticus was speechless for a moment with tears in his eyes. "Tell 'em I'm very grateful," he said. "Tell 'em—just say don't send anything. It's been a rough time these days..." He left the kitchen, went into the dining room, said a word to Aunt Alexandra, put on his hat, and went to town. We heard Dill's footsteps in the corridor, and Calpurnia left Atticus' untouched breakfast on the table.Nibbling like a rabbit, Dill told us about Miss Rachel's reaction last night.Here's what she said: If a man like Atticus Finch wants to bang his head against a rock, let him have his head.

"I gave her a good time." Dill said angrily while gnawing on the chicken leg, "but this morning, she didn't seem to like nagging very much. She said that she didn't sleep most of the night and had been Scared, not knowing where I'd slipped off, and said she wanted the sheriff to come and find me, but the sheriff was at the trial." "Dill, don't you go running out without a word," said Jem, "it'll make her mad." Dill let out a long sigh. "I tell her everywhere I go, and it's always dry - she sees too many snakes in the closet. This woman, who drinks half a liter of wine for breakfast every morning - I know Very well, she would drink two full glasses each time. I saw it with my own eyes."

"Don't talk like that, Dill," said Aunt Alexandra. "Children shouldn't do that. That's—sarcasm." "I'm not being sarcastic, Miss Alexandra. It's not sarcasm, is it?" "That's the way you talk." Jem glanced at her, but turned to Dill and said, "Come on, you can take that drumstick." We came out on the front porch and saw Miss Stephanie busy telling Miss Maudie and Mr. Avery about the night before.They turned to look at us and continued talking.Jem let out a vicious growl in his throat.I wish I had a weapon in my hand.

"I hate it when adults stare at us," Dill said. "It makes people feel like they've done something bad." Miss Maudie called Jem over. Jem snorted and lifted himself off the swing. "We're coming with you," Dill said. Miss Stephanie was so curious that her nose was quivering with excitement.She wondered who gave us permission to go to court--she didn't see us, but it was all over town this morning that we were sitting in the black person stands.Did Atticus put us there as a kind of...?Is it appropriate to sit upstairs next to those...Can Scout understand those...?Wouldn't we be angry if we saw our father lose the lawsuit?

"Shut your mouth, Stephanie," said Miss Maudie mercilessly, "I ain't got time to be here listening to your nonsense all morning—I called you here, Jem Finch. Ask if you and your mates would like some cake. I'm up at five in the morning to bake cakes, so you better answer yes. Excuse me, Stephanie. Goodbye, Mr. Avery." There were three cakes, one large, two small, and three small, on Miss Maudie's kitchen table.It stands to reason that there should be three younger ones, and Miss Maudie must have forgotten Dill.There must have been puzzled looks on our faces.We didn't understand her intention until she cut a piece from the big cake and gave it to Jem.

As we ate the cake, it felt like Miss Maudie was telling us that, in her mind, nothing had changed.She sat quietly in a chair in the kitchen, watching us. Out of nowhere she said: "Don't worry, Jem. Things are never as bad as they seem." Whenever Miss Maudie was about to deliver a long speech in the room, she would place her fingers on her knees to hold the braces in place.At this time she was doing these preparations, and we waited quietly. "I just wanted to tell you that there are some people in this world who were born to do those unflattering jobs for us. Your father was one of them." "Oh," said Jem, "all right." "Don't whine with me, sir," said Miss Maudie, noticing Jem's resigned tone. "You're too young to know what I mean." Jem stared blankly at the half-eaten cake in front of him. "I feel like a caterpillar in a cocoon, that's what it is," he said, "like something, sleeping in a warm place. I always thought Maycomb was the nicest thing in the world." people, or so it seems.” "We're the most self-contained people in the world," Miss Maudie said. "We rarely have to be Christian, but when we're called, there are people like Atticus who stand up for us." Jem grinned sadly. “Hopefully the rest of the county thinks the same.” "You'd be surprised how many people think that way." "Anyone?" Jem raised his voice. "Anyone in this town who did a thing to help Tom Robinson? Anyone?" "First of all his black person friends, and people like us—like Judge Taylor, like Mr. Heck Tate. Don't eat it, Jem, think about it. Judge Taylor nominates Adik It wasn't an accident that Adams defended Tom, did it ever occur to you that Judge Taylor might have had a purpose in assigning Atticus?" This is an intriguing question.The task of court-appointed defense counsel to defend the accused usually falls to Maxwell Green.He was Maycomb's newest barrister needing experience.Tom's case was supposed to fall to Maxwell Green. "If you think about it," said Miss Maudie, "this is no accident. Last night I sat on the front porch waiting for you to come back. I waited and waited until you came down the sidewalk. I waited , thinking to myself, Atticus Finch won't win, can't win, but he's the only guy here who can keep a jury that long on a case like this. I said to myself, well , we have taken a step—although it is only a small step, it is a step after all." "What's the use of talking—isn't a Christian judge and lawyer no match for an ungodly jury?" Jem muttered. "When I grow up..." "You'll have to talk to your father about that," said Miss Maudie. We went down the new steps of Miss Maudie's house, out of the shade into the sun, and found Mr. Avery and Miss Stephanie still whispering.They walked down the sidewalk and had moved to Miss Stephanie's house, and Miss Rachel was walking towards them both. "I'm going to be a clown when I grow up." Dill said suddenly. Jem and I stopped. "Yeah, I'm going to be a clown," he said, "and in this world, there's nothing I can do with people except laugh at them, so I'll just join a circus and laugh as much as I can." "You got it upside down, Dill," said Jem. "The clowns are really sad, and it's the audience laughing at them." "Then I'm going to be a new kind of clown. I'm going to stand in the middle of the field and laugh at the crowd. Look at a few people over there," he pointed to us, "everyone of them should be on a broomstick. Aunt Rachel is on it." Miss Stephanie and Miss Rachel waved at us furiously, proving that Dill was right. "Oh, dear," breathed Jem, "it wouldn't look good if you pretended you didn't see them." Something is not quite right.As we walked by, Mr. Avery was sneezing furiously, his face flushed, and nearly blowing us off the sidewalk.Miss Stephanie was quivering with excitement, and Miss Rachel grabbed Dill by the shoulder. "You go home and stay in the backyard," she said, "it's dangerous." "What's the matter?" I asked. "Haven't you heard of it? It's spread all over the town..." At this moment, Aunt Alexandra came to the door and called us back, but she was a step too late.Miss Stephanie has the great honor to tell us that this morning Mr. Bob Ewell stopped Atticus at the corner near the post office, spat on him, and threatened to spend the rest of his life with him.