A Thousand Never Evers

Addie Ann returns to Elmira’s house to see her mom, hoping that Elias is still there. However, she learns that he has gone to Jackson to help Miss Gold prepare for trial.

In the few days leading up to the trial, Mama and Addie Ann do not work, and Addie Ann does not go to school. Instead, they stay at Delilah’s house, spending most of the time lying on the couch and thinking or talking about the trial.

Often, Addie Ann dreams of the man in the forest digging a hole, whom she saw with Flapjack when they ran home to tell Uncle Bump that he was in trouble. That night, however, Addie Ann has a different dream. She sees the same man in the forest, but this time, she has a news reporter with her. The news reporter sneaks out and snaps a photo of the man. When Addie Ann sees the photo, she is shocked by who it is. Waking up, she decides that she needs to keep the secret for now.

At the trial, the first person called to the stand is Mrs. Worth. She tells the prosecution’s lawyer that her husband, instead of doing the work on the garden himself, actually hired several Black people to work it for him.

Miss Gold attempts to object during the prosecution’s questioning, as Mrs. Worth presumes to know Bump’s thoughts and feelings. However, she is overruled by the judge.

When Miss Gold cross-examines Mrs. Worth, she questions how she knew that Bump was working in the garden but did not know the names of any of the other people hired to help. Mrs. Worth says that Mr. Mudge had a lot to do with the hiring of fieldhands but that he has been busy opening another store and tending to his sick mother in Florida, so he has not been around to ask.

Next on the stand is Mr. Tate, who explains to the court that the large garden would take 348 pounds of seed to cover the field. The prosecution then asks him about his high school football career. Miss Gold again objects due to irrelevancy but is overruled.

When Miss Gold cross-examines Mr. Tate, she asks him about his butterbean sales. She presents a vine taken from the garden to show its length and how long it would have taken to grow to that length, but the prosecution objects, and the judge sustains, ending her line of questioning. Instead, she asks to whom Mr. Tate sold the most butterbeans. He says that it was Mr. Mudge but adds that Uncle Bump stole them. When Miss Gold objects due to speculation, she is overruled by the judge.

As Miss Gold asks for his sales record, the judge sides with her but “winks” at Mr. Tate as he tells him to bring in the records, as there’s “no hurry” (229).

Miss Gold calls Adams’s lawyer to the stand. She asks him to read Adams’s will, which reveals to most of the community for the first time that the garden was left to the Black and white communities. The courtroom responds in anger, shouting that the will must be a fake.

When the prosecution cross-examines Mr. Pennington, he asks if Bump would have become angry when he learned that the Black community was excluded from the garden. He reluctantly agrees that he probably would be angry and then leaves the courthouse immediately after testifying.

Uncle Bump then comes to the stand. Throughout the questioning from Miss Gold, Addie Ann thinks of it as a religious service, where the crowd responds, “Amen!” each time the reverend speaks. With Bump, each time Miss Gold asks a question, he answers, “No ma’am!”

When Bump is cross-examined, the prosecution asks him about the death of his brother—Addie Ann’s father—and whether it angered him. The prosecution also implies that he feels responsible for Elias and became angrier still when Elias disappeared. Bump stops answering, causing the prosecution to call him “boy” twice, before Bump angrily explodes and says that he is not a boy but a man. Addie Ann can feel the Black community realizing that the case is falling apart and that “the law, it’s not on [their] side” (236).

Before Bump’s questioning can continue, Miss Springer comes into the courtroom with Mrs. Tate. She informs the court that Mrs. Tate has very important evidence to share, and the judge invites her forward to speak.

Mrs. Tate comes to the stand despite objections from the prosecution. She first shows the courtroom the list of seeds that Mr. Mudge wrote at the first Garden Club meeting, showing everything that was in Adams’s stock. Because there were no butterbeans, she insists that Bump could not have stolen them and ruined the garden.

She then explains how she came across her husband’s records from his store of seeds that he had sold. She brought with her a receipt for a large supply of butterbeans sold to Mr. Mudge.

The women in the courtroom clap in response to her testimony, but the men angrily begin yelling at her. Addie Ann realizes that she needs to speak with the court to support Mrs. Tate.

Addie Ann runs to the front of the courtroom but is stopped by the court officer. She explains that she has evidence for the trial and is initially dismissed by the judge, but then Miss Gold invites her forward to speak as a witness.

After swearing in, Addie Ann tells the court that she knows where evidence is buried that will help her uncle. The judge looks at the court’s news reporter, and Annie Ann thinks that the judge wants to find the evidence rather than allow the reporter to look for himself. The judge instructs the courtroom to remain where they are while he, Addie Ann, the two lawyers, the jury, and the reporter go to check the forest.

Addie Ann leads the group to the forest. At Mr. Mudge’s property, they find Mr. Mudge digging in his garden. According to Mrs. Worth’s testimony, he was allegedly in Florida caring for his mother. When he sees the group, Mr. Mudge explains that he just got back but seems uncomfortable. When the judge tells him that they are going to check his property, he becomes angry, especially at Addie Ann. His anger reaffirms that, even though Addie Ann does not know what he buried, he must have buried something important.

She leads the group to the tree where she thinks Mr. Mudge was digging beneath. However, when they dig a hole, there is nothing there. The judge becomes angry, and Addie Ann becomes embarrassed, realizing that Uncle Bump is going to be convicted because she failed.

Just as the group is leaving, she hears Flapjack in a tree. She realizes that he has climbed the same tree he climbed that day. Realizing that she led the group to the wrong spot, Addie Ann digs a new hole. She finds seven empty butterbean sacks.

Back in the courtroom, the two lawyers make their closing arguments.

The prosecution claims that Mr. Mudge has been out of town for four weeks, giving Uncle Bump the opportunity to steal the seeds and plant them. He also claims that anyone could have buried the burlap sacks to frame him.

Miss Gold then speaks, explaining that the vines were far too long to have been planted within the past four weeks and instead started growing seven weeks ago. She claims that Mr. Mudge wanted to sabotage the garden so that people would continue to buy vegetables from the store. She tells the court that Mr. Mudge told Mr. Worth and the others that he would hire Black workers to do the weeding to keep them away from the garden so that they would not see the vines growing. After her accusations, the courtroom erupts in anger.

When Miss Gold finishes her closing argument, the jury leaves. Addie Ann thinks of how clear the evidence is that Uncle Bump is innocent, but she notices that Mama is still nervous and praying for his freedom.

When the jury returns, they declare Bump not guilty.

Addie Ann thinks of how “things in Kuckachoo might be starting to change,” even though “setting an innocent Negro free isn’t the same as locking up a guilty white man” (266). She hugs Uncle Bump as he thanks her for his freedom.

As they are leaving the courthouse, Addie Ann sees Mrs. Worth yelling at Mrs. Tate as Mrs. Tate struggles not to cry. Addie Ann wants to thank her but realizes that doing so in public would only make both of their situations worse.

Addie Ann and her family return to Delilah’s house, where Elias has been waiting during the trial, and give him the news.

Addie Ann and Mama go out into the night. They sit on blankets and look at their burned-down home. They cry, both at what they lost and in relief at winning the trial.

Five days later, Addie Ann and her Mama return to the Tates’ home to ask for their old job back. Mama recognizes that it is unlikely, but they are also desperate for the money.

Mrs. Tate answers the door with her mascara smeared from crying. Addie Ann hears Ralphie crying inside the house and Mr. Tate yelling. Mrs. Tate tells them that she cannot give them their job back. She apologizes but says that she is working on “keep[ing] this family together” (27).

Addie Ann is heartbroken by the news. Although she knows that the money is important, she thinks about how much more important her relationship with Ralphie is.

Addie Ann and Mama return to Delilah’s home to talk with Uncle Bump and Elias. Addie Ann finally lets out her anger over not having been told about her father, but her anger is assuaged as Mama admits that she finally sees that Addie Ann is growing up.

After some discussion, the group decides that Uncle Bump will go with Elias to Hattiesburg for work and send money back to Addie Ann and Mama. Meanwhile, Addie Ann and Mama will stay at Delilah’s for at least the rest of the school year so that Addie Ann can finish.

A week later, Addie Ann and Delilah are going to a meeting to discuss the garden. Because the truth about the will came out, the white community decided that it should finally become a garden for everyone—Black people included.

Addie Ann and Delilah arrive at the Adams estate where the meeting will be held for the garden. Although there are no assigned seating sections for white people and Black people, the white people naturally sit in the front, while the Black people go to the back rows or stand in the back. Addie Ann also notes how, as the white preacher talks about the garden, several members of the white community—especially Mrs. Worth—show their disdain at the idea of including the Black community in the garden.

As the discussions begin about the garden, arguments start about what to plant and how much. However, Addie Ann spots Mrs. Tate sitting with Ralphie and ignores what is happening in the meeting. As Ralphie makes eye contact with her, he begins to cry and cannot be consoled by his mother, who does not realize that it is because he saw Addie Ann. Mrs. Tate takes Ralphie outside as Addie Ann begins to cry. After several moments, she excuses herself from the meeting.

Addie Ann spots Mrs. Tate and Ralphie through the window and watches. After a few minutes, Mrs. Tate turns and makes eye contact with Addie Ann. She waves for Addie Ann to come outside.

Mrs. Tate tells Addie Ann that Ralphie misses her and allows her to hold him. As she sings to him, he slowly calms down. Addie Ann holds up her finger to him, and “soft as cotton, he wraps his hand around [hers]” (289).