here?”
“He was filthy.” She lit a new cigarette off the old one, then tossed the butt into the sink.Charlie waited as she ran water to wash it down the drain. “You seen what he looked like, at the end, right?”
Charlie said nothing.
“It started five years ago. Mel came home from work covered in blood. Said it wasn’t his, which I believed, but then I noticed he’s not interested in any bedroom business, if you get what I mean. That’s not my guy. He’s pounding it to me just about every night. Why do you think I stayed with him for so long?” She took a lungful of smoke and shot it back out. “So, I catch him in the shower one morning. His dinkle’s got teeth marks on it. Teeth marks.” She waved her hand at her lap. “Down there.”
Charlie tried to swallow past the lump in his throat. “Did he say what happened?”
“Like Mel’s gonna tell me anything? My guess is he tried to take out some rent with his cock and the fish weren’t biting. Or, at least one of them bit, which was the problem.” She pushed herself up onto the counter. “It happened fast. The next day, everything starts to get weird. I seen it with my own eyes. Overnight, Mel’s hair grew out. Damndest thing. He was going bald in the back, but not after that night. You saw it, right? Looked like an Afro.”
Charlie nodded. He had seen it all right.
“Then, Mel starts dressing like he’s some kind of J. J. Walker or something. Leaves a pick in his hair. Starts doing this jive-talk bullshit. ‘What it is, mama.’ Like he’s never talked to me before. Turned kinky as a garden hose.” She twisted her lips to the side. “I gotta admit, at first it kind of turned me on. I was always into black guys, even though ain’t a none of ’em knows how to go down on a woman. Ha!” She barked a laugh, like that was funny. “Too bad the fucker didn’t turn black below the belt, if you know what I mean.”
“No,” Charlie said, suddenly prudish. “I don’t.”
She stared at him like he was an idiot. “Do you hate stupid people? Because, if you got the curse, then you’re gonna turn into a stupid person.”
Charlie had to swallow all the saliva in his mouth. He didn’t believe in curses. At least, he didn’t want to. “What happened in between? How did your husband lose everything?”
“I told you, people stopped being scared of him. Nobody wanted to do business with him because of …” Her voice trailed off.
“Because of what?”
“Ain’t you been listening to me, mister? He turned into a darkie. A colored. A coon. ANegro. A nigger.”
Charlie felt his jaw drop.
She said, “You seen him yourself. You thought he was black, too, right?”
Charlie didn’t know what to say. He’d been listening to her story. Somewhere in his brain, he had put the pieces together, but it wasn’t possible. It didn’t make sense.
She inhaled deeply on her cigarette. “I mean, he wasn’t really black down deep. He was my Melvin and all, but his skin turned dark. The hair—I done told you about that. The way he walked. Had kind of a hitch to his step. People just took him for black. And worse, they treated him like he was black, which was the part he couldn’t stomach. White men making him walk on the other side of the street. Cops giving him shit for no reason. White women clutching their purses like he was gonna rob ’em. Hell, even I made him use the back door. At least until I told him to stop coming around.”
Charlie finally found his voice. “You kicked him out of his own house?”
“I couldn’t have him living here. Sleeping here. How would that look, me living with a black man?” She straightened her maid’s uniform. “I’m a respectable white woman. This ain’t the kind of neighborhood for that.”
Charlie went back to not talking.
“This is what I figger the curse is all about. Think about who you hate. My Mel, he hated colored people. Always did. Said they were shiftless and lazy, didn’t take care of
“He was filthy.” She lit a new cigarette off the old one, then tossed the butt into the sink.Charlie waited as she ran water to wash it down the drain. “You seen what he looked like, at the end, right?”
Charlie said nothing.
“It started five years ago. Mel came home from work covered in blood. Said it wasn’t his, which I believed, but then I noticed he’s not interested in any bedroom business, if you get what I mean. That’s not my guy. He’s pounding it to me just about every night. Why do you think I stayed with him for so long?” She took a lungful of smoke and shot it back out. “So, I catch him in the shower one morning. His dinkle’s got teeth marks on it. Teeth marks.” She waved her hand at her lap. “Down there.”
Charlie tried to swallow past the lump in his throat. “Did he say what happened?”
“Like Mel’s gonna tell me anything? My guess is he tried to take out some rent with his cock and the fish weren’t biting. Or, at least one of them bit, which was the problem.” She pushed herself up onto the counter. “It happened fast. The next day, everything starts to get weird. I seen it with my own eyes. Overnight, Mel’s hair grew out. Damndest thing. He was going bald in the back, but not after that night. You saw it, right? Looked like an Afro.”
Charlie nodded. He had seen it all right.
“Then, Mel starts dressing like he’s some kind of J. J. Walker or something. Leaves a pick in his hair. Starts doing this jive-talk bullshit. ‘What it is, mama.’ Like he’s never talked to me before. Turned kinky as a garden hose.” She twisted her lips to the side. “I gotta admit, at first it kind of turned me on. I was always into black guys, even though ain’t a none of ’em knows how to go down on a woman. Ha!” She barked a laugh, like that was funny. “Too bad the fucker didn’t turn black below the belt, if you know what I mean.”
“No,” Charlie said, suddenly prudish. “I don’t.”
She stared at him like he was an idiot. “Do you hate stupid people? Because, if you got the curse, then you’re gonna turn into a stupid person.”
Charlie had to swallow all the saliva in his mouth. He didn’t believe in curses. At least, he didn’t want to. “What happened in between? How did your husband lose everything?”
“I told you, people stopped being scared of him. Nobody wanted to do business with him because of …” Her voice trailed off.
“Because of what?”
“Ain’t you been listening to me, mister? He turned into a darkie. A colored. A coon. ANegro. A nigger.”
Charlie felt his jaw drop.
She said, “You seen him yourself. You thought he was black, too, right?”
Charlie didn’t know what to say. He’d been listening to her story. Somewhere in his brain, he had put the pieces together, but it wasn’t possible. It didn’t make sense.
She inhaled deeply on her cigarette. “I mean, he wasn’t really black down deep. He was my Melvin and all, but his skin turned dark. The hair—I done told you about that. The way he walked. Had kind of a hitch to his step. People just took him for black. And worse, they treated him like he was black, which was the part he couldn’t stomach. White men making him walk on the other side of the street. Cops giving him shit for no reason. White women clutching their purses like he was gonna rob ’em. Hell, even I made him use the back door. At least until I told him to stop coming around.”
Charlie finally found his voice. “You kicked him out of his own house?”
“I couldn’t have him living here. Sleeping here. How would that look, me living with a black man?” She straightened her maid’s uniform. “I’m a respectable white woman. This ain’t the kind of neighborhood for that.”
Charlie went back to not talking.
“This is what I figger the curse is all about. Think about who you hate. My Mel, he hated colored people. Always did. Said they were shiftless and lazy, didn’t take care of
Similar Books
