Michael HoHr. 45/20/2008
Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry
By: Mildred Taylor
Epilogue by: Michael Ho
Ten difficult years after TJ had been in the chain gang, Judge Jim, acquired a jury for TJ's trial.
"Order in the court!" announced Judge Jim. "Do you, TJ, confess you took the life of two innocent people and the pearl handled pistol?!"
"I told you, I'm innocent of everything!" announced TJ.
"We find the defendant guilty of all charges!" protested the jury.
"You are now sentenced for five more years in the chain gang, and then maybe you will realize that it does good to tell the truth." said Judge Jim.
One day, I looked out the window and saw a figure walking toward our house. It took me a while to finally realize that it was TJ. I shouted for joy and told everyone that it was TJ. Little Man quickly rushed to hug TJ and when he saw him he was stopped in his tracks with shock.
"TJ, you have no arms!?" Little man exclaimed to TJ.
"Thanks for noticing!" replied TJ.
"How did you do it?" questioned Little Man.
"I was fixing the tracks on the railroad and my arms got stuck. They wouldn't help me. So, I stayed there for two long hours. Then, a train came and took my arms. The benefit was that they would let me go if, I said I'm guilty of all charges. So, I did. It was not a wise choice because everybody now thinks I did it, but what's done is done. You can't change the past," said TJ.
The night when TJ came home, we had a huge feast to celebrate. About an hour after the feast had started, I heard a scream. Mr. Morrison told everyone that the night men were riding. Then, mom went into the pantry to get ten rifles out and then, she taught us how to use them.
So we ran out, onto the porch, and started shooting. We finally prevailed and had three causalities, Big Ma, Uncle Hammer, and Mr. Morrison. A few years passed and a black hero was born. His name was Martin Luther King Jr. He saved us all from segregation and made everyone integrate. Now no one wants to mess with us, because we have friends, who back us up when we are in need of it. They are our white friends.
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