The Summons

e truckers on the busy four-lanes and fought the bottlenecks around the ci

lly cared when he came or went, and left Charlottesville. He would not exceed the speed limits and he would not drive on a four-lane, if he could possibly avoid it

a 2000 model, just a year or two off the drawing board. Ray had read Audi's announcement of a brand-new sports car about eighteen months ea

sipped coffee, then took off again at the maximum spee

front of him, all talking at once, all carrying old briefcases that were scuffed and worn almost as badly as their shoes. He looked to his left and not

ot too far away and ordered a club sandwich from a elderly waitress who'd been serving them for decades. One

it followed, etc., etc., and now they were having the trial. They had called witnesses, quoted precedents to the judge,

ost said aloud. He was hiding behind the local pape

retire from the bench, and together they would open an office on the square. There, they would follo

They were packed in the office buildings opposite the courthouse square. They ran the politics and banks and civic clu

is father. For no salary, of course. He knew all the lawyers in Clanton

hed one year of law school he had promised himself he would not remain in Clanton. It took another year to find the courage to tell his father, who went eight months without speaking to him. When Ray

Atlee & Atlee never got off the ground because the jun

s a huge man i

orty-five miles an hour. Sometimes forty. He stopped at the overlooks and admired the scener

rooked and rusted around the edges. Inflation had arrived with the cable because the room was now $40. Next door was an all-night cafe where Ray choked

ater. The marquee had fallen and was covered with vines and weeds. The big s

e locals with the typical lineup of beach romps, horror flicks, kung-fu action, movies that attracted the younger set and gave the p

rose in the coffee shops around the square. It opened on a Monday night to a small, curious, and somewhat enthusiastic crowd. The reviews at school were favorable, and by Tuesday packs of young teenagers were hiding

hey led their flocks to the highway in front of the drive-in, where they carried posters and prayed

t was no surprise that all of this landed in the courtroom of the Honorable Reuben V Atlee, a lifelong member of the First Presbyterian Church, a descendant of the

The Cheerleaders, the owners were represented by a big firm from Jackso

the most current federal cases, Judge Atlee's ruling protected the rights of the protestors, with certain re

uglier. No one was pleased. The phone rang at night with anonymous threats. The preachers deno

ak. He chose a Sunday at the First Presbyterian Church as his time and place, and word spread quickly, as it always did in Clanton. Before a packed house, Judge Atlee strode confidently down the aisle, up the carpeted st

lcony, both near tears. They had begged their father to allow them to skip

al views or opinions, and that good judges follow the law. Weak judges follow the crowd. Weak jud

he said to a silent cro

l see his father down there in the d

Kung-fu returned with a vengeance and everybody was happy. Two years later

m. The night was cool so he opened a window and listened