< Previous page

The white guy dusted the glass off his pants and came right back after Erskine. Erskine hit the white guy with the padded seat of one of the bar stools. Otis Redding's "Mr. Pitiful" began to bellow out of the jukebox's speakers.

The front door opened and Little Harry yelled to the guys, "Look, you better get out of here! Sheriff Cahoon and the Highway Patrol are on the way!"

Little Harry looked around the restaurant. Then he slowly looked at Erskine, George Thomas, Meatball and finally, Ervin. Then he looked at the white guys. "You boys from Wanchese are some tough white boys!"

The black guys all went on the Hill Top to avoid Sheriff Cahoon and his posse. When Sheriff Cahoon arrived, he asked, "What in the world happened in here?!"

Mr. Ben responded by saying, "I have always been good to the colored people. Now they are too good to come to the back door to order their food!"

Sheriff Cahoon asked, "What really happened? I need to know the facts. Can you tell me who did what?"

Mr. Ben got angry. "That's the problem right there!" he said. "You treat the coloreds like they're one of us! Why don't you find one of those boys and make an example out of him?"

I guess that triggered something in the white guys, because, after Mr. Ben finished, the biggest of the three rose to his feet. He said, "I have no hard feelings. Those colored boys didn't start the fight anyway. And why should they have to go to the back door?

"In fact, when we leave here," he said, "we're going on the Hill Top to apologize to those boys. And we had so much fun, we'll pay for the damages! I've just had one of the best times of my life!"

All Mr. Ben could say was, "I just don't understand what this world is coming to."

< Previous page