Mississippi Trial, 1955: Chapters 1–3

by Chris Crowe
In this historical fiction, sixteen-year-old Hiram Hillburn crosses paths with fourteen-year-old Emmett Till, whom he unsuccessfully tries to protect from the hateful intentions he has grown more aware of in his birthplace of Greenwood, Mississippi.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–3, Chapters 4–7, Chapters 8–11, Chapters 12–14, Chapters 15–17
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. tolerate
    put up with something or somebody unpleasant
    “Hiram,” he’d say, straightening up tall like a preacher, “the world’s got plenty enough hate without you adding to it. I will not tolerate such language—or even such thinking—in my home or in my family!”
  2. delta
    a low area of alluvial deposits where a river divides
    He’d go on with his sermon for too long, five minutes or more, preaching about the evils of hate and reminding me how hate had hurt folks back in our old home, the Mississippi Delta.
  3. slather
    spread thickly
    Then he’d march me up to the bathroom and give my tongue a slathering of Lifebuoy soap.
  4. meander
    move or cause to move in a winding or curving course
    I meandered down the marble hallway and out the main courthouse doors.
  5. nook
    a secluded place, corner, or recessed area
    A huge magnolia tree shaded the front of the building, and I walked under the tree and pulled myself up into its lowest branches, resting comfortably in a shady nook to enjoy my candy bar and wait for Grampa.
  6. furrow
    a long shallow trench in the ground
    I wandered up and down the cotton rows looking for arrowheads or lost tools or anything I could find in the furrows.
  7. methodical
    characterized by orderliness
    I looked out over the field at the black men, the backs of their shirts stained with sweat, bent over their hoes chopping weeds among the cotton plants. They worked methodically, quickly, almost like machines.
  8. wicker
    flexible branches or twigs that can be woven together
    Gramma had a few wicker chairs out on the front porch and a porch swing to one side.
  9. suitable
    worthy of being chosen
    If I wandered in, she’d tell me to sit at the kitchen table while she found me “something suitably sweet to tide you over till supper,” and after she set a slice of pie or plate of cookies in front of me, she’d open the icebox and get me a cold drink of milk or lemonade.
  10. knead
    use the hands to mix and work something into a uniform mass
    Gramma had a wooden table in the middle of the kitchen where she did most of her “cutting, kneading, and rolling.”
  11. muffled
    being or made softer or less loud or clear
    If I lay quietly on the bed, I could usually hear the muffled clatter of stirring spoons, pots, and pans down in the kitchen.
  12. flush
    turn red, as if in embarrassment or shame
    His face flushed, and he frowned.
  13. harebrained
    very foolish
    And Hiram, ask God Almighty if he might shed a little wisdom on them harebrained Yankees and their Mr. Harry Truman.
  14. dilapidated
    in a state of decay, ruin, or deterioration
    R.C. Rydell lived way down River Road, along the Yazoo, in a dilapidated old house that he claimed had been in Greenwood since before the Civil War.
  15. rustle
    make a dry crackling sound
    A faint breeze rustled the magnolia tree and azaleas in the backyard, and even though the sun had not yet set, outside was cooler than Gramma’s kitchen.
  16. insignia
    a badge worn to show official position
    He usually wore a baggy Army uniform with no insignias.
  17. amble
    walk leisurely
    He was slow and sort of ambled from one place to another, usually looking for people he knew so he could ask to borrow a nickel.
  18. stifle
    smother or suppress
    R.C. could stand it no longer and fell to the ground, snorting and choking, trying to stifle his laughter.
  19. trudge
    walk heavily and firmly, as when weary, or through mud
    I trudged up the back steps to the kitchen, hoping Gramma would offer me another slice of apple pie when I got inside.
  20. skittish
    unpredictably excitable, especially of horses
    She always seemed skittish, kind of like a cat that’s been kicked around too many times.
  21. rickety
    inclined to shake as from weakness or defect
    R.C. was waiting for me on his rickety front porch, and the first thing he noticed was the canvas lunch bag I had slung over my shoulder.
  22. rummage
    search haphazardly
    We were barely back on the road in front of the Rydells’ house before R.C. was rummaging through my lunch bag.
  23. snag
    catch or cause to catch on something sharp that is sticking out
    That old cane pole didn’t slow R.C. down at all; he seemed to snag fish at will.
  24. flail
    thrash about
    Every time he hooked one, he’d laugh and jerk it out of the river onto the shore where he’d let it flap and flail on the ground.
  25. puncture
    pierce with a pointed object; make a hole into
    The fish jerked when the nail touched it, but R.C. held it firm. Gradually he pressed harder and harder with the nail until it punctured the eye and clear fluid trickled out.
  26. flinch
    draw back, as with fear or pain
    He kept poking that fish until it flinched and snapped its stingers into R.C.’s hand.
  27. gleam
    shine brightly, like a star or a light
    The sun gleamed through my bedroom window; it was still morning, but something wasn’t right.
  28. mourn
    express grief after the death of a loved one
    I wrapped my arms around Grampa’s neck and hugged him while we cried together, mourning the loss of a wife and grandmother and friend, wondering how we could possibly survive without her.
  29. presume
    take to be the case or to be true
    “Young Mr. Hillburn, I presume?” said Ralph.
  30. condolence
    an expression of sympathy with another's grief
    Please know that you have our most mournful condolences.
  31. unseemly
    not in keeping with accepted standards of what is proper
    I apologize for Ronnie’s unseemly outpouring of emotion, but your grandmother’s demise has come as a real shock to him, and, of course, to me as well.
  32. demise
    the event of departure from life
    I apologize for Ronnie’s unseemly outpouring of emotion, but your grandmother’s demise has come as a real shock to him, and, of course, to me as well.
  33. abode
    housing that someone is living in
    “Now we must return to our own abode and deal with our private grief in whatever ways seem to bring us peace.”
  34. frank
    characterized by directness in manner or speech
    And frankly, I don’t want to live in Greenwood or in Mississippi. I’ve already started looking for college teaching jobs in the West: Utah, Idaho, Arizona, California. I love the Delta, but there are some things you can’t understand that keep it from being a good place for us right now.
  35. immaculate
    completely neat and clean
    She worked five and a half days a week—she had Sundays off and didn’t come in until Monday afternoons—kept the house immaculate, and kept me and Grampa stuffed with delicious food.
Created on Tue Jun 06 14:04:58 EDT 2017 (updated Mon Aug 14 14:10:24 EDT 2023)

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