FICTION // Gus and Lizzy: Chapter One, Part One
BOOK EXCERPT //
“Today, Gus was keenly aware that his schooling would not help him avoid the draft. All young men age 21 to 30 were required to register for the draft. At 23 and 21 years of age, Gus and Willie were eligible draftees. As such, their names were printed along with hundreds of others in the June 13 issue of the Sentinel. The brothers left home just after sunrise and walked the six miles to the courthouse and stood in line with other young men from all over the county. Once inside, the draftees were arranged like rows of cornstalks winding through the building’s entrance, corridors, and the main meeting room. For many of the conscripts, it was not their first time in the courtroom. Gus and Willie had never been in trouble with the law (Mother Sloan would not have allowed even the slightest offense), so the brothers were not familiar with the courthouse and its dark, ornate oak walls.
Gus studied the portraits hanging on the walls: judges, mayors, and governors—leaders of Edgefield since before the Civil War. Though he had never been personally judged by any of the men depicted, Gus suddenly felt mocked by their collective gaze.
Each draftee carried a card he had filled in with essential information: name, age, marital status—and on line number 10, race. Gus’ form contained eighteen lines of truthful information and one line that was a lie. He didn’t think of it that way when he completed the form. Gus answered line number 10 reflexively, the same way he would have responded to a question in Miss Brown’s class—with the right answer, the one his teacher expected to hear.”
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