RKS Literature: After a Southern Lynching How Does Mike the Mob Participant Feel? Part 2 (John Steinbeck)

Posted byRobert K Stephen (CSW)Posted inliteratureTags:, , , , ,

“He walked around the side of his house and went in the back door. His thin petulant wife was sitting by the open gas oven warming herself. She turned complaining eyes on Mike where he stood in the doorway.

Then her eyes widened and hung on his face. ‘You been with a woman,’ she said hoarsely. ‘What woman you been with?’

Mike laughed, ‘you think you’re pretty slick, don’t you. You’re a slick one, ain’t you? What makes you think I been with a woman?’…..

‘Was it the nigger?’ she asked “Did they get the nigger? Everybody said they was going to.”

‘Find out for yourself if you’re so slick. I ain’t going to tell you nothing.’

He walked through the kitchen and went into the bathroom. A little mirror hung on the wall. Mike took off his cap and looked at his face. ‘By God, she’s right,’ he thought. ‘That’s exactly how I feel.’

John Steinbeck, “The Vigilante”,1938.

Published by Robert K Stephen (CSW)

Robert K Stephen writes about food ,drink, travel, film, and lifestyle issues. He also has published serialized novels "Life at Megacorp", "Virus # 26, "Reggie the Egyptian Rescue Dog" and "The Penniless Pensioner" Robert was the first associate member of the Wine Writers’ Circle of Canada. He also holds a Mindfulness Certification from the University of Leiden and the University of Toronto. Be it Spanish cured meat, dried fruit, BBQ, or recycled bamboo place mats, Robert endeavours to escape the mundane, which is why he has established this publication. His motto is, "Have Story, Will Write."

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