"Good," David said.

"What in the Hell did you say nigger?" the man began to yell. "Don't be getting smart. Don't be saying good to me. I'll beat your brains out."

"He picked up a wrench to hit David with," Mrs. Common continued. "I told him not to do it because he would hurt trade and wouldn't no one work for him. I took David across the street, 'cos you can walk away from trouble better than you can walk out. On my way back the man passed me running with a piece of iron, I said 'Look out, David'. When David turned to look round, the man met him with the piece of iron. David fell down and the man struck him again when he got up."

"The head-lady told me that I didn't have to leave, he just lost his temper. 'I'm goin,' I told her, 'he may lose his temper and hit me.'"

David Jones had 20 stitches. The next Thursday evening the sheriff arrested him. He said the owner of the gas station had asked for his arrest. The sheriff explained that David could also make out a warrant, but he knew that David would not make out a warrant once in jail. "He's afraid to." Mrs. Common explained.

We looked for him, first out at his home, a crumbling shack by the highway. His wife and his mother were there, but they did not know where he could be found. Then we looked along the main street in the Negro section of town. Mary Common went on ahead and disappeared into the dark of a pool-room. Inside were a number of young men, all very silent as I entered. David was wearing a straw-hat over a shaven head. By his side his mother and his wife, who had someway beaten us back into town. He smiled but would not speak. "He's afraid," Mrs. Common explained.