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boy.”
    “Animals, fuckin’ animals,” replied Mr. Stevens.
    Leon borrowed clothes from Mr. Stevens, which were baggy on Leon. Leon sat at the kitchen table along with his dad and Mr. Stevens.
    “Okay, son, tell us what happened,” asked James Brooks.
    Leon told them the whole story except the part of him kicking Lucky and his crew.
    “Lucky ain’t so lucky no more is he,” said James Brooks with a smirk.
    “Yeah, no more Lucky,” said Mr. Stevens. “Too bad Mr. Lucky.”
    “Papa, what are we going to do?” asked Leon.
    James Brooks sat there pondering what they should do and peered over at Mr. Stevens. “Tyrone, what do you think?”
    “Well, let’s think about his options,” Tyrone began. “The way I see it, there are three options. One, Leon runs away from the area. Two, Leon turns himself in. Three, Leon acts as if nothing happened.”
    “Shit,” James Brooks said, “I don’t like any of those options.”
    “I know, but I think that’s what we have to decide,” Tyrone responded.
    “Wait a minute,” interjected Leon. “Why do I have to turn myself in? I didn’t do anything wrong. They were trying to kill me .”
    “Leon, Son, you know what they’re going to think. They’ll going to suspect you right from the start. Do you think they care that the dead crackers were trying to kill you first?”
    “Okay, I see. How about someone drives me to Austin, and I’ll get a lawyer from Austin, then turn myself in,” suggested Leon.
    “Who’s to say you would even get to Austin?” asked James Brooks. “Once they find those bodies, they will be searching everywhere. All hell is going to break loose. They’ll probably burn down our whole neighborhood. If you run and they find you, they’ll try to hang you again without a trial.”
    “Okay, maybe it’s not such a good idea,” Leon conceded.
    “I think he needs to turn himself in, and the sooner the better,” Tyrone said. “They’re going to eventually find him. It’s better if he shows up first. It’ll make him look better. Don’t you think, James?”
    “Man, I don’t know what to think,” replied James. James started weeping. “No matter what we do, they’re going to hurt my boy. I can’t have them hurt my boy!”
    “Pops, I can’t go there alone,” said Leon. “I need a lawyer.”
    “There’s no attorney in Dodge County that’s going to help a Negro,” said Tyrone.
    “Yeah, that’s for sure,” said James. “We got to do something, though.”
    Leon sighed. “There’s got to be some lawyers in Austin that could help us,” suggested Leon.
    “I don’t think there’s going to be any lawyer that is going to drive over five hours from Austin to Dodge County to help a Negro.”
    “Let’s give it a try,” said Leon.
    “How?” asked Leon’s father. “I mean how do we go about doing it. It’s not like we have any phone numbers of any lawyers in Austin, let alone any that would actually help us.”
    “Wait,” interrupted Tyrone. “I think there was some organization that advertised in our church bulletin. I think they were from the ACL something.”
    “Who are they?” asked Leon.
    “They’re a nationwide organization that helps out poor people including Negroes. I don’t think they charge for their services.”
    “No way,” said James Brooks. “They must charge something or else they must not be very good.”
    “Well, it’s worth a shot,” said Mr. Stevens.
    “Okay, so how are we going to do it?” asked Leon.
    “I’ll give them a call right now,” said Mr. Stevens.
    “Now?” asked Leon. “It’s so early in the morning. No one is going to be there.”
    “It doesn’t hurt to try,” said Mr. Stevens.
    “Okay,” said Leon. “Let me call them.”
    Mr. Stevens retrieved the church bulletin and led Leon to his phone. Leon dialed the number listed for the ACLU.
    The phone rang for a long time, and Leon was ready to hang up until someone answered the phone.
    “Hello, ACLU,” a person