Native Son - Richard Wright [144]
“Yes.”
“But you didn’t expect him to go so far as to rape and kill the girl?”
“I didn’t expect anything in that direction at all.”
“That’s all, Mr. Erlone.”
Bigger watched Jan go back to his seat. He knew how Jan felt. He knew what the man had been trying to do in asking the questions. He was not the only object of hate here. What did the Reds want that made the coroner hate Jan so?
“Will Mr. Henry Dalton please come forward?” the coroner asked.
Bigger listened as Mr. Dalton told how the Dalton family always hired Negro boys as chauffeurs, especially when those Negro boys were handicapped by poverty, lack of education, misfortune, or bodily injury. Mr. Dalton said that this was to give them a chance to support their families and go to school. He told how Bigger had come to the house, how timid and frightened he had acted, and how moved and touched the family had been for him. He told how he had not thought that Bigger had had anything to do with the disappearance of Mary, and how he had told Britten not to question him. He then told of receiving the kidnap note, and of how shocked he had been when he was informed that Bigger had fled his home, thereby indicating his guilt.
When the coroner’s questioning was over, Bigger heard Max ask,
“May I direct a few questions?”
“Certainly. Go right ahead,” the coroner said.
Max went forward and stood directly in front of Mr. Dalton.
“You are the president of the Dalton Real Estate Company, are you not?”
“Yes.”
“Your company owns the building in which the Thomas family has lived for the past three years, does it not?”
“Well, no. My company owns the stock in a company that owns the house.”
“I see. What is the name of that company?”
“The South Side Real Estate Company.”
“Now, Mr. Dalton, the Thomas family paid you….”
“Not to me! They pay rent to the South Side Real Estate Company.”
“You own the controlling stock in the Dalton Real Estate Company, don’t you?”
“Why, yes.”
“And that company in turn owns the stock that controls the South Side Real Estate Company, doesn’t it?”
“Why, yes.”
“I think I can say that the Thomas family pays rent to you?”
“Indirectly, yes.”
“Who formulates the policies of these two companies?”
“Why, I do.”
“Why is it that you charge the Thomas family and other Negro families more rent for the same kind of houses than you charge whites?”
“I don’t fix the rent scales,” Mr. Dalton said.
“Who does?”
“Why, the law of supply and demand regulates the price of houses.”
“Now, Mr. Dalton, it has been said that you donate millions of dollars to educate Negroes. Why is it that you exact an exorbitant rent of eight dollars per week from the Thomas family for one unventilated, rat-infested room in which four people eat and sleep?”
The coroner leaped to his feet.
“I’ll not tolerate your brow-beating this witness! Have you no sense of decency? This man is one of the most respected men in this city! And your questions have no bearing….”
“They do have a bearing!” Max shouted. “You said we could question with latitude here! I’m trying to find the guilty person, too! Jan Erlone is not the only man who’s influenced Bigger Thomas! There were many others before him. I have as much right to determine what effect their attitude has had upon his conduct as you had to determine what Jan Erlone’s had!”
“I’m willing to answer his questions if it will clear things up,” Mr. Dalton said quietly.
“Thank you, Mr. Dalton. Now, tell me, why is it that you charged the Thomas family eight dollars per week for one room in a tenement?”
“Well, there’s a housing shortage.”
“All over Chicago?”
“No. Just here on the South Side.”
“You own houses in other sections of the city?”
“Yes.”
“Then why don’t you rent those houses to Negroes?”
“Well…. Er…. I—I—I don’t think they’d like to live any other place.”
“Who told you that?”
“Nobody.”
“You came to that conclusion yourself?”
“Why, yes.”
“Isn’t it true you refuse to rent houses to Negroes if those houses are in other sections of the city?”
“Why, yes.”
“Why?”
“Well, it’s an old custom.”
“Do you think that custom is right?