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Chapter 17 Bob Ewell Heck Tate ("Did you go?" ("And what…
Chapter 17 Bob Ewell Heck Tate
"What night, sir?"
"It was the night of November twenty-first. I was just leaving my office to go home when B- Mr. Ewell came in, very excited he was and said get out to his house quick, some nigger’d raped his girl.”
"Did you go?"
"And what did you find?"
"Found her lying on the floor in the middle of the front room. She was pretty well beat up but I heaved her to her feet and she washed her face in a bucket in a corner and said she was all right. I asked her who her and she said it was Tom Robinson."
"
"Certainly. Got in the car and went out as fast as I could."
“Are you the father of Mayella Ewell?”
“Well if I ain’t I can’t do nothing about it now, her ma’s dead,”
“Mr. Ewell, would you tell us in your own words what happened on the evening of November twenty-first, please?”
“Well, the night of November twenty-one I was comin‘ in from the woods with a load o’kindlin’ and just as I got to the fence I heard Mayella screamin‘ like a stuck hog inside the house—”
“What time was it, Mr. Ewell?”
“Just ‘fore sundown. Well, I was sayin’ Mayella was screamin‘ fit to beat Jesus —”
“Yes? She was screaming?”
“Well, Mayella was raisin‘ this holy racket so I dropped m’load and run as fast as I could but I run into th’ fence, but when I got distangled I run up to th‘ window and I seen—” “—I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin’ on my Mayella!”
“Mr. Ewell, did you see the defendant having sexual intercourse with your daughter?”
“Yes, I did.”
“You say you were at the window?
“Yes sir.”
“How far is it from the ground?”
‘bout three foot.”
“How did the room look?”
“Well, it was all slung about, like there was a fight.”
“What did you do when you saw the defendant?”
“Well, I run around the house to get in, but he run out the front door just ahead of me. I sawed who he was, all right. I was too distracted about Mayella to run after’im. I run in the house and she was lyin‘ on the floor squallin’—”
“Then what did you do?”
“Why, I run for Tate quick as I could. I knowed who it was, all right, lived down yonder in that nigger-nest, passed the house every day. Jedge, I’ve asked this county for fifteen years to clean out that nest down yonder, they’re dangerous to live around ‘sides devaluin’ my property—”
“folks were doing a lot of running that night. Let’s see, you say you ran to the house, you ran to the window, you ran inside, you ran to Mayella, you ran for Mr. Tate. Did you, during all this running, run for a doctor?”
“Wadn’t no need to. I seen what happened.”
“Weren’t you concerned with Mayella’s condition?”
“I most positively was,” “I most positively was,”
“No, I mean her physical condition. Did you not think the nature of her injuries warranted immediate medical attention?”
“What?”
“Mr. Ewell, you heard the sheriff’s testimony, didn’t you?”
“How’s that?”
"Did you call a doctor, Sheriff? Did anybody call a doctor?"
"No sir,"
“You were in the courtroom when Mr. Heck Tate was on the stand, weren’t you? You heard everything he said, didn’t you?”
“Yes,”
"Didn't call a doctor?"
"No sir,"
“Do you agree with his description of Mayella’s injuries?”
“How’s that?”
"Why not?"
"Well I can tell you why I didn't. It wasn't necessary, Mr.Finch. She was mighty banged up. Something sho' happened, it was obvious,"
“How’s that?”
“Mr. Tate testified that her right eye was blackened, that she was beaten around the—”
“Mr. Tate testified that her right eye was blackened, that she was beaten around the—”
“I hold with everything Tate said.”
“You do?”
“You heard it again, Mr. Ewell. Do you have anything to add to it? Do you agree with the sheriff?”
“Mr. Ewell, can you read and write?”
“I most positively can.”
“Will you write your name and show us?”
“I most positively will. How do you think I sign my relief checks?”
“About your writing with your left hand, are you ambidextrous, Mr. Ewell?”
“I most positively am not, I can use one hand good as the other. One hand good as the other,”
"Yes, what were her other injuries?"
"Her arms were bruised, and she showed me her neck. There were definite finger marks on her gullet."
All around her throat? At the back of her neck?
I'd say they were all around her neck Mr. FInch
"Was it her left facing you or her left looking the same way you were?"
"The right side, Mr. Finch, but she had more bruises - you wanta hear about 'em?"
"Could you say it to the jury, Mr. Tate? Thank you. Who
called you?"
" I was fetched by Bob- by Mr. Bob Ewell yonder, one night-"
“But you didn’t call a doctor? While you were there did anyone send for one, fetch one, carry her to one?”
“No sir—”