Rejoinder

Next to the door was a small stage, where a beautiful old black lady, Merle, sat at her piano and sang “Rainy Night in Georgia.” Three long rows of tables ran to the front and stopped next to the stage. The tables were half full, and a waitress in the back poured beer from a pitcher and motioned for them to come on in. She seated them in the rear, at a small table with a red-checkered tablecloth.

"Y'all want some fried dill pickles, honey?" she asked Jake.
"Yes! Two orders."
Ellen frowned and looked at Jake. "Fried dill pickles?"
"Yes, of course. They don't serve them in Boston?"
"Do you people fry everything?"
"Everything that's worth eating. If you don't like them, I'll eat them."

Ellen approached a fried dill pickle with her fork and played with it suspiciously. She cut it in half, pierced it with the fork, and sniffed it carefully. She put it in her mouth and chewed slowly. She swallowed, then pushed her pile of pickles across the table toward Jake.

“Typical yankee,” he said. “I don't understand you, Row Ark. You don't like fried dill pickles, you're attractive, very bright, you could go to work with any blue-chip law firm in the country for megabucks, yet you want to spend your career losing sleep over cutthroat murderers who are on death row and about to get their just rewards. What makes you tick, Row Ark?”
...