hands along the carved wood and took turns sitting in the witness and jury boxes.
Diamond asked to sit in the judge's chair, but Cotton didn't think that was a good idea,
and neither did Fred. When they weren't looking, Diamond grabbed a sit anyway and
came away puff-chested like a rooster, until Lou, who had seen this offense, poked him
hard in the ribs.
They left the courthouse and went next door to a building that housed a small number of
offices, including Cotton's. His place was one large room with creaky oak flooring that
had shelves on three sides which held worn law books, will and deed boxes, and a fine set
of the Statutes of Virginia. A big walnut desk sat in the middle of the room, along with a
telephone and drifts of papers. There was an old crate for a wastebasket, and a listing hat
and umbrella stand in one corner. There were no hats on the hooks, and where the
umbrellas should have been was an old fishing pole. Cotton let Diamond dial a single
number on the phone and talk to Shirley the operator. The boy nearly jumped out of his
skin when her raspy voice tickled his ear.
Next, Cotton showed them the apartment where he lived at the top of this same building.
It had a small kitchen that was piled high with canned vegetables, jars of molasses and
bread and butter pickles, sacks of potatoes, blankets, and lanterns, among many other
items.
"Where'd you get all that stuff?" asked Lou.
"Folks don't always have cash. Pay their legal bills in barter." He opened the small icebox
and showed them the cuts of chicken, beef, and bacon in there. "Can't put none of it in the
bank, but it sure tastes a lot better'n money." There was a tiny bedroom with a rope bed
and a reading light on a small nightstand, and one large front room utterly buried under
books.
As they stared at the mounds, Cotton took off his glasses. "No wonder I'm going blind,"
he said.
"You read all them books?" Diamond asked in awe.
"I plead guilty to that. In fact I've read many of them more than once," Cotton answered.
"I read me a book one time," Diamond said proudly.
"What was the title?" Lou asked.
"Don't recall 'xactly, but it had lots of pictures. No, I take that back, I read me two books,
if you count the Bible."
"I think we can safely include that, Diamond," said Cotton, smiling. "Come over here,
Lou." Cotton showed her one bookcase neatly filled with volumes, many of them fine
leatherbound ones of notable authors. "This is reserved for my favorite writers."
Lou looked at the titles there and immediately saw every novel and collection of short
stories her father had written. It was nice, conciliatory bait Cotton was throwing out, only
Lou was not in a conciliatory mood. She said, "I'm hungry. Can we eat now?"
The New York Restaurant served nothing remotely close to New York fare but it was
good food nonetheless, and Diamond had what he said was his first bottle of "soder" pop.
He liked it so much he had two more. Afterward they walked down the street, peppermint
candy rolling in their mouths. They went into the five-and-dime and 25-cent store and
Cotton showed them how because of the land grade all six stories of the place opened out
onto ground level, a fact that had actually been discussed in the national media at one
point. "Dickens's claim to fame," he chuckled, "unique angles of dirt."
The store was stacked high with dry goods, tools, and foodstuffs. The aromas of tobacco
and coffee were strong and seemed to have seeded into the bones of the place. Horse
collars hung next to racks of spooled thread, which sat alongside fat barrels of candies.
Lou bought a pair of socks for herself and a pocketknife for Diamond, who was reluctant
to accept it until she told him that in return he had to whittle something for her. She
purchased a stuffed bear for Oz and handed it to him without commenting on the
whereabouts of the old one.
Lou disappeared for a few minutes and returned with an object which she handed to
Cotton. It was a magnifying glass. "For all that reading," she said and smiled, and Cotton
smiled back. "Thank you, Lou. This way I'll think of you every time I open a book." She
bought a shawl for Louisa and a straw hat for Eugene. Oz borrowed some money from
her and went off with Cotton to browse. When they came back, he held a parcel wrapped
in brown paper and steadfastly refused to reveal what it was.
After wandering the town, Cotton showing them things that Lou and Oz had certainly
seen before, but Diamond never had, they piled into Cotton's Oldsmobile, which sat
parked in front of the courthouse. They headed off, Diamond and Lou squeezed into the
rumble seat while Oz and Jeb rode with Cotton in front. The sun was just beginning its