"Willard's broke. Can't tell about Cobb. Drug money's hard to trace. He might could find twenty, thirty thousand. I hear he's hired some big-shot Memphis lawyer. Supposed to be here today. He must have some money."
"Damn, why don't I know these things. Who'd he hire?"
"Bernard. Peter K. Bernard," answered Childers. "He called me this morning."
"Never heard of him," retorted Bullard with an air of superiority, as though he memorized some kind of judicial rap sheet on all lawyers.
Bullard studied the trees outside the window as the sheriff and prosecutor exchanged winks. The bonds would be exorbitant, as always. The bail bondsmen loved Bullard for his outrageous bonds. They watched with delight as desperate families scraped and mortgaged to collect the ten percent premiums they charged to write the bonds. Bullard would be high, and he didn't care. It was politically safe to set them high and keep the criminals in jail. The blacks would appreciate it and that was important even if the county was seventy-four percent white. He owed the blacks a few favors.
"Let's go a hundred thousand on Willard and two hundred on Cobb. That oughtta satisfy them."
"Satisfy who?" asked Ozzie.
"Er, uh, the people, the people out there. Sound okay to you?"
"Fine with me," said Childers. "But what about the hearing?" he asked with a grin.
"We'll give them a hearing, a fair hearing, then I'll set the bonds at a hundred and two hundred."
"And I suppose you want me to ask for three hundred apiece so you can look fair?" asked Childers.
"I don't care what you ask for!" yelled the judge.
"Sounds fair to me," said Ozzie as he headed for the door. "Will you call me to testify?" he asked Childers.
"Naw, we don't need you. I don't guess the State will call anybody since we're having such a fair hearing."
They left the chambers and Bullard stewed. He locked the door behind them and pulled a half pint of vodka from his briefcase, and gulped it furiously. Mr. Pate waited outside the door. Five minutes later Bullard barged into the packed courtroom.
"All rise for the court!" Mr. Pate shouted.
"Be seated!" screamed the judge before anyone could stand. "Where are the defendants? Where?"
Cobb and Willard were escorted from the holding room and seated at the defense table. Cobb's new lawyer smiled at his client as the handcuffs were removed. Willard's lawyer, Tyndale, the public defender, ignored him.
The same crowd of blacks had returned from last Wednesday, and had brought some friends. They closely followed the movements of the two white boys. Lester saw them for the first time. Carl Lee was not in the courtroom.
From the bench Bullard counted deputies-nine in all. That had to be a record. Then he counted blacks-hundreds of them all bunched together, all glaring at the two rapists, who sat at the same table between their lawyers. The vodka felt good. He took a sip of what appeared to be ice water from a Styrofoam cup and managed a slight grin. It burned slowly downward and his cheeks flushed. What he ought to do was order the deputies out of the courtroom and throw Cobb and Willard to the niggers. That would be fun to watch, and justice would be served. He could just see the fat nigger women stomping up and down while their men carved on the boys with switchblades and machetes. Then, when they were finished, they would collect themselves and all march quietly from the courtroom. He smiled to himself.
He motioned for Mr. Pate, who approached the bench. "I've got a half pint of ice water in my desk drawer," he whispered. "Pour me some in a Styrofoam cup."
Mr. Pate nodded and disappeared.
"This is a bail hearing," he declared loudly, "and I don't intend for it to last long. Are the defendants ready?"
"Yes, sir," said Tyndale.
"Yes, Your Honor," said Mr. Bernard.
"The State ready?"
"Yes, sir," answered Childers without standing.
"Good. Call your first witness."
Childers addressed the judge. "Your Honor, the State will call no witnesses. His Honor is well aware of the charges against these two defendants, since His Honor held the preliminary hearing last Wednesday. It is my understanding the victim is now home, so we do not anticipate further charges. The grand jury will be asked next Monday to indict the two defendants for rape, kidnapping, and aggravated assault. Because of the violent nature of these crimes, because of the age of the victim, and because Mr. Cobb is a convicted felon, the State