Infants of the Spring by Wallace Thurman

Author:Wallace Thurman [Thurman, Wallace]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dover Publications
Published: 2013-02-15T05:00:00+00:00

XV

At ten o’clock the next morning Raymond, Paul, Stephen, and Eustace met Euphoria at the Washington Heights court. The room was already crowded and they were unable to find seats near the front. Making themselves satisfied with what they found, they impatiently awaited the calling of Pelham’s case.

The courtroom was compact and dreary. The electric lights on the sides of the wall and those depending from the ceiling did little to dispel the room’s depressive gloom. Seedy proletarians of all races occupied the benches and chairs. A towering policeman with a flaming red face guarded the entrance door, professionally scrutinizing all who passed him. Near the rear of the room was a railed in enclosure for the press and for lawyers. The judge’s bench loomed in front of this, separated by a passageway, which led to a prisoners’ pen on the left and consultation rooms on the right

A court stenographer and two clerks were seated at a table in front of the judge’s throne. Three immaculate policemen stood at attention at spaced intervals along the passageway. The magistrate was at his post, strabismic, formidable. There was a deal of noise and chattering. Bail runners cluttered up the doorway leading to the prisoners’ pen. A prisoner stood near the stenographer’s table, flanked by a policeman, what appeared to be his lawyer, and three other men in civilian clothes. No one could distinguish what was being said. For five minutes there was a droning interchange, then the policemen led the prisoner back to the pen. The others sought one of the consultation rooms.

Five Negroes were led in next. A policeman read from a sheet of lined foolscap. Only an occasional word mounted the noise sufficiently to be heard. The complaining policeman then stepped forward and with many angry gestures stated his case. The judge said something to the men. Only one of them replied. The rest blasphemed the complaining officer with their eyes and facial expressions. The spokesman finished. The judge rapped his gavel and said “dismissed” in a loud voice, then directed a grumbling monologue at the crestfallen complaining officer. The Negroes were ushered past the lawyer’s pew. They shuffled gleefully down the aisle and were soon out of the room. They were free.

The pageant continued. A wizened little Jew was the next culprit. There was a great hubbub as his case was called. Numerous Negro women, most of whom were accompanied by small children, left their seats and advanced before the judge’s dais. Euphoria opined that he was a landlord up for some infraction of the rent law or for failure to provide heat and hot water. The case was bitter and intense. There were times when more than six people were all shouting at the judge at the same time. He had great difficulty keeping order. It could be seen that he was becoming impatient, irascible. Finally he silenced all and delivered a scathing lecture. Everyone concerned was abashed and quiet when he had finished. The case proceeded with some semblance of order.

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