"Mayberry Vice" by Norman Rockwell

This is a popular Norman Rockwell painting called "Mayberry Vice". A young boy, Opium, has his first run in with the law. It would seem that the boy has been nabbed muling 2 pounds of black tar heroin for one of the many drug distributors in this picturesque small town.

This clever copper has decided to try to 'sweet talk' Opium into 'giving up' his distributor by treating him to a cup of black coffee, with the promise of a carton of cigarettes if his information is 'good'.

What will the boy decide? Perhaps he'll heed the officer's warnings and rat out his supplier. Or maybe he'll keep quiet, do his time, and, using his small stature and speed to his advantage, become a champion gladiator in the prison yard death matches. It's just this type of suspense that Rockwell was attempting to convey with this painting.

Rockwell's penchant for clean lines and crisp brushwork serve him well in his portrayals of the stark realities of small town corruption. The use of a young Christopher Lloyd as the crazy time traveling, klingon, cab driving, bartender - Blarney Fifer - was a masterful stroke of genius.

-- Sister Randy