don’t know if the solution is to start blowin’ up Mexicans. Be a heck of a mess. But we got to do something. Juanita feels kinda strongly against it.”
“I’ll bet she does,” Pepper said. Juanita was JJ’s girlfriend. She’d been the housekeeper and cook up until JJ’s wife, Pearl, had passed. Juanita still did the cooking and housekeeping; a few other duties had been added.
“Hold on,” Pepper said. “I think I’m supposed to have an opinion on that. I’m
supposed
to have an opinion on everything, including the moons of Jupiter. It’s somewhere in here. . . .” She opened her briefing book, flipped through the pages. “Here it is. Get a load of this.” She read aloud:
“Question: In the event the Texas Border Enforcement Initiative (TBEI) becomes state law and is challenged in the federal courts—as would almost certainly be the case—how would you vote on that?
“Answer: I am very glad you raised that, Senator. The issue of illegal immigration is indeed a complex and highly charged one, at the federal, state, and certainly local level. While it would not be appropriate for me to comment about this or for that matter any hypothetical case that might come before the Court, I would point out that in
Jimenez v. California
, the Ninth Circuit held, in a case involving a private aircraft chartered by an out-of-state corporation, that state legislation permitting the strafing of illegal aliens did not run afoul of the Dormant Commerce Clause. At the same time, in
Montez v. Arizona Minutemen
, the Fifth Circuit held, in another case involving a private aircraft chartered from an out-of-state corporation, that Title 14-266 of the Arizona Revised Statutes 19 b, which permitted dropping incendiary devices on illegal immigrants, did, in fact, run afoul of the Dormant Commerce Clause. Now, as to reconciling these divergent opinions . . .”
“What in the hell is that?” JJ said. “I didn’t understand one damn word.”
“It’s my homework,” Pepper said. “I got to memorize that, along with a thousand other pages just like it.”
“Julius Caesar. You sure you want this job?”
“Suppose.”
“Suppose? That don’t sound like ‘whuppee’ to me.”
“I don’t know, JJ,” Pepper said, suddenly feeling like she was going to cry. “It’s the Supreme Court, isn’t it? Shouldn’t I
ought
to want it?”
“Wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference to me, either way. We’re already proud of you just for being asked. Juanita’s bought a new dress for the hearings. Oh, I’m supposed to ask you—she supposed to curtsy when we meet the President?”
“No, JJ. It’s America. Nobody’s got to curtsy to nobody. We fought a war over that.”
“That’s what I told her.”
Pwwttt. “
But you know how she is. Hell, she’s about the first person in her family ever to own a pair of
shoes
.”
“Well, you tell her not to. Tell her I said. You talk to the bishop?”
“Bishop” was the word Pepper and JJ used privately for the Reverend Roscoe.
“I called him on Monday.”
Pwwttt.
“He called me back on
Thursday
. I said, ‘Been so long since I called I can’t remember what I was callin’ you about.’ That boy’s got the manners of a . . .”
“Now, JJ,” Pepper said. “You go easy on him. You know Daddy ain’t dealin’ off a full deck.”
Pwwtttt.
“I know
that.
I think he’s got a case of the guiltys. He offered me and Juanita a ride up there to Washington on that plane of his.” JJ chuckled darkly. “Preachers with their own
planes
. I said to him, ‘So what kind of private
plane
did the twelve
apostles
have?’ He didn’t laugh none.”
JJ and his son, Roscoe, had a somewhat textured relationship. Though JJ had never admitted as much, Pepper suspected that he’d taken a major amount of ribbing from his fellow lawmen about his son being the one who told Jack Ruby where he could go shoot Lee Harvey Oswald. JJ was as down-to-earth as asphalt. His idea of a religious
“I’ll bet she does,” Pepper said. Juanita was JJ’s girlfriend. She’d been the housekeeper and cook up until JJ’s wife, Pearl, had passed. Juanita still did the cooking and housekeeping; a few other duties had been added.
“Hold on,” Pepper said. “I think I’m supposed to have an opinion on that. I’m
supposed
to have an opinion on everything, including the moons of Jupiter. It’s somewhere in here. . . .” She opened her briefing book, flipped through the pages. “Here it is. Get a load of this.” She read aloud:
“Question: In the event the Texas Border Enforcement Initiative (TBEI) becomes state law and is challenged in the federal courts—as would almost certainly be the case—how would you vote on that?
“Answer: I am very glad you raised that, Senator. The issue of illegal immigration is indeed a complex and highly charged one, at the federal, state, and certainly local level. While it would not be appropriate for me to comment about this or for that matter any hypothetical case that might come before the Court, I would point out that in
Jimenez v. California
, the Ninth Circuit held, in a case involving a private aircraft chartered by an out-of-state corporation, that state legislation permitting the strafing of illegal aliens did not run afoul of the Dormant Commerce Clause. At the same time, in
Montez v. Arizona Minutemen
, the Fifth Circuit held, in another case involving a private aircraft chartered from an out-of-state corporation, that Title 14-266 of the Arizona Revised Statutes 19 b, which permitted dropping incendiary devices on illegal immigrants, did, in fact, run afoul of the Dormant Commerce Clause. Now, as to reconciling these divergent opinions . . .”
“What in the hell is that?” JJ said. “I didn’t understand one damn word.”
“It’s my homework,” Pepper said. “I got to memorize that, along with a thousand other pages just like it.”
“Julius Caesar. You sure you want this job?”
“Suppose.”
“Suppose? That don’t sound like ‘whuppee’ to me.”
“I don’t know, JJ,” Pepper said, suddenly feeling like she was going to cry. “It’s the Supreme Court, isn’t it? Shouldn’t I
ought
to want it?”
“Wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference to me, either way. We’re already proud of you just for being asked. Juanita’s bought a new dress for the hearings. Oh, I’m supposed to ask you—she supposed to curtsy when we meet the President?”
“No, JJ. It’s America. Nobody’s got to curtsy to nobody. We fought a war over that.”
“That’s what I told her.”
Pwwttt. “
But you know how she is. Hell, she’s about the first person in her family ever to own a pair of
shoes
.”
“Well, you tell her not to. Tell her I said. You talk to the bishop?”
“Bishop” was the word Pepper and JJ used privately for the Reverend Roscoe.
“I called him on Monday.”
Pwwttt.
“He called me back on
Thursday
. I said, ‘Been so long since I called I can’t remember what I was callin’ you about.’ That boy’s got the manners of a . . .”
“Now, JJ,” Pepper said. “You go easy on him. You know Daddy ain’t dealin’ off a full deck.”
Pwwtttt.
“I know
that.
I think he’s got a case of the guiltys. He offered me and Juanita a ride up there to Washington on that plane of his.” JJ chuckled darkly. “Preachers with their own
planes
. I said to him, ‘So what kind of private
plane
did the twelve
apostles
have?’ He didn’t laugh none.”
JJ and his son, Roscoe, had a somewhat textured relationship. Though JJ had never admitted as much, Pepper suspected that he’d taken a major amount of ribbing from his fellow lawmen about his son being the one who told Jack Ruby where he could go shoot Lee Harvey Oswald. JJ was as down-to-earth as asphalt. His idea of a religious
Similar Books
