The Sunset Limited(6)

White Yes.

Black Six years. Seven, almost.

White I dont understand why you live here.

Black As compared to where?

White Anywhere.

Black Well I’d say this pretty much is anywhere. I could live in another buildin I reckon. This is all right. I got a bedroom where I can get away. Got a sofa yonder where people can crash. Junkies and crackheads, mostly. Of course they goin to carry off your portables so I dont own nothin. And that’s good. You hang out with the right crowd and you’ll finally get cured of just about ever cravin. They took the refrigerator one time but somebody caught em on the stairs with it and made em bring it back up. Now I got that big sucker yonder. Traded up. Only thing I miss is the music. I aim to get me a steel door for the bedroom. Then I can have me some music again. You got to get the door and the frame together. I’m workin on that. I dont care nothin about television but I miss that music.

White You dont think this is a terrible place?

Black Terrible?

White Yes.

Black What’s terrible about it?

White It’s horrible. It’s a horrible life.

Black Horrible life?

White Yes.

Black Damn, Professor. This aint a horrible life. What you talkin bout?

White This place. It’s a horrible place. Full of horrible people.

Black Oh my.

White You must know these people are not worth saving. Even if they could be saved. Which they cant. You must know that.

Black Well, I always liked a challenge. I started a ministry in prison fore I got out. Now that was a challenge. Lot of the brothers’d show up that they didnt really care nothin bout it. They couldnt of cared less bout the word of God. They just wanted it on their resumé.

White Resumé?

Black Resumé. You had brothers in there that had done some real bad shit and they wasnt sorry about a damn thing cept gettin caught. Of course the funny thing was a lot of em did believe in God. Maybe even more than these folks here on the outside. I know I did. You might want to think about that, Professor.

White I think I’d better go.

Black You dont need to go, Professor. What am I goin to do, you leave me settin here by myself?

White You dont need me. You just dont want to feel responsible if anything happens to me.

Black What’s the difference?

White I dont know. I just need to go.

Black Just stay a while. This place is got to be more cheerful than you own.

White I dont think you have any idea how strange it is for me to be here.

Black I think I got some idea.

White I have to go.

Black Let me ask you somethin.

White All right.

Black You ever had one of them days when things was just sort of weird all the way around? When things just kindly fell into place?

White I’m not sure what you mean.

Black Just one of them days. Just kind of magic. One of them days when everthing turns out right.

White I dont know. Maybe. Why?

Black I just wondered if maybe it aint been kindly a long dry spell for you. Until you finally took up with the notion that that’s the way the world is.

White The way the world is.

Black Yeah.

White And how is that?

Black I dont know. Long and dry. The point is that even if it might seem that way to you you still got to understand that the sun dont shine up the same dog’s ass ever day. You understand what I’m sayin?

White If what you’re saying is that I’m simply having a bad day that’s ridiculous.

Black I dont think you havin a bad day, Professor. I think you havin a bad life.

White You think I should change my life.

Black What, are you shittin me?

White I have to go.

Black You could hang with me here a little while longer.

White What about my jailhouse story?

Black You dont need to hear no jailhouse story.

White Why not?

Black Well, you kind of suspicious bout everthing. You think I’m fixin to put you in the trick bag.

White And you’re not.

Black Oh no. I am. I just dont want you to know about it.

White Well, in any case I need to go.

Black You know you aint ready to hit the street.

White I have to.

Black I know you aint got nothin you got to do.

White And how do you know that?

Black Cause you aint even supposed to be here.

White I see your point.

Black What if I was to tell you a jailhouse story? You stay then?

White All right. I’ll stay for a while.

Black My man. All right. Here’s my jailhouse story.

White Is it a true story?

Black Oh yeah. It’s a true story. I dont know no other kind.

White All right.

Black All right. I’m in the chowline and I’m gettin my chow and this nigger in the line behind me gets into it with the server. Says the beans is cold and he throws the ladle down in the beans. And when he done that they was beans splashed on me. Well, I wasnt goin to get into it over some beans but it did piss me off some. I’d just put on a clean suit—you know, khakis, shirt and trousers—and you only got two a week. And I did say somethin to him like hey man, watch it, or somethin like that. But I went on, and I’m thinkin, just let it go. Let it go. And then this dude says somethin to me and I turned and looked back at him and when I done that he stuck a knife in me. I never even seen it. And the blood is just flyin. And this aint no jailhouse shiv neither. It’s one of them italian switchblades. One of them black and silver jobs. And I didnt do a thing in the world but duck and step under the rail and I reached and got hold of the leg of this table and it come off in my hand just as easy. And it’s got this big long screw stickin out of the end of it and I went to wailin on this nigger’s head and I didnt quit. I beat on it till you couldnt hardly tell it was a head. And that screw’d stick in his head and I’d have to stand on him to pull it out again.