Blackwater: The Complete Saga

by Michael McDowell

“Mr. Wallace,” Oscar declared, “is coming down hard on your people. Don’t you think you and I better send Sammy up there with a letter or something and ask him to ease up a little bit?” “You write the letter,” said Zaddie, “and I will pay for Sammy’s gas.” “Are you looking for equality, Zaddie?” Oscar asked, with a little of his old high-flown courtliness. “Equality with what, Mr. Oscar? Equality with who?” “Don’t you want to be better paid? Don’t you want not to have to pay your poll tax? If all your people voted, Zaddie—if they didn’t do anything but register all the Sapps in this town—why you could take over. You could have a colored mayor, and a colored sheriff, and a colored I-don’t-know-what-all.” “I guess we could,” said Zaddie. “Then do it. If you did it, you could be the mayor, Zaddie. I’d vote for you. So would Elinor. And Miriam and Malcolm, too. You’d be the first colored female mayor in Alabama, I bet.” “I bet I would,” said Zaddie. “But who’d read the paper to you every day?” “I don’t know, Zaddie, I don’t know. Maybe you ought not run for office after all. I wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t hear the obituaries every afternoon. Maybe you ought to give up this idea of politics. But I tell you what: in my will, I’ll leave you enough money to start up a campaign and beat Mr. Wallace out of office. I bet you could turn Selma and Sylacauga right-side up again.”