Blood and iron

Four white men sat behind a long table in the middle of the hall. "Let me have your name, please, and your street address," the one at the end nearest Cinci

He gave the fellow his particulars. The second man behind the table checked a list. Cinci

"I surely will, suh." Cinci

The third man at the table handed him a folded sheet of paper. ''Choose any voting booth you please, Mr. Driver," he said.

"Yes, suh. Thank you kindly, suh," Cinci

"Well, you've got it," the polling official said. "I'm glad it means something to you, and I hope you use it wisely."

"Thank you," Cinci

He voted for Democrats for Congress, for the State House of Representatives, and for the State Senate. That would, no doubt, have startled Luther Bliss; the boss of the Kentucky State Police had been convinced he was a Red. Apicius-Apicius Wood, now-had known better. A Red himself, Apicius could tell Cinci

Cinci

Mr. Driver has voted. As far as Cinci

He was still eating on a bench down by the train tracks when Joe Sims sat beside him. "Why are you gri

"I'm happy," Cinci

Sims scratched his head. "I was happy when I voted the first time, too. It meant I was twenty-one. It meant I could buy whiskey, too, back when whiskey was still legal here. But I can't recollect looking like I just tripped over a steamer trunk full of double eagles because I made some X's."

Cinci

"Well, sure I did," Joe Sims said, and then, belatedly, got the point. "Wasn't like that for you, was it?"

"Not hardly." Cinci

Sims took a big bite out of his sandwich. It wasn't ham, but a pungent sausage Cinci

"Only reason you reckoned that is on account of you was born here," Cinci

"It ain't so good here, either," Sims said.

Negroes in Des Moines-Negroes in the USA generally- were fond of saying that. They weren't even wrong; Cinci

"Yeah, you say that every chance you get." Sims breathed pepper and garlic into Cinci

"It would happen," Cinci

"Happy." Joe Sims chewed on the word as he'd chewed on his salami. "How could you be happy, when you knew you were lying to each other down there?"

That was a better question than most of the ones about the Confederate States Cinci

"Got to stay out of there to get some rest once the baby comes," Sims said with a reminiscent chuckle. "I know all about that, damned if I don't. What are you and your missus going to call the kid?"

"Seneca if it's a boy-that's my pa's name," Cinci

"Those are good names." Sims shut his di

Cinci

"I really and truly voted," Cinci

Achilles was doing homework at the kitchen table. He had a sheet of paper turned upside down in front of him: his spelling words, which he was supposed to be committing to memory. "Orange," he said. "O-R-A-N-G-E. Orange."

"That's good, son." Cinci

"It ain't… It's not"-Achilles carefully corrected himself- "that hard once you get the hang of it."