a lesson before dying

That night at the club, the mulattos are complaining about Jefferson, griping that he has made it hard for all colored people, and they “should have burned him months ago” (198). Grant tries to stay calm, but eventually he tells the mulattos to shut up and they begin to brawl.

The fight seems to end when Grant kicks the tallest bricklayer in the testicles, and Thelma Claiborne breaks up the brawl with a broom. However, the tall bricklayer gets up and punches Grant, and soon the men are hitting each other with chairs. Because they refuse to stop fighting, Joe Claiborne gets out his rifle and threatens to shoot them. This is the last thing Grant hears before he feels a blow and falls to the ground.