The Sunset Limited: A Novel in Dramatic Form (7 page)

BOOK: The Sunset Limited: A Novel in Dramatic Form

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Black		You ride that subway ever day, Professor?
White		Yes.
Black		What do you think about them people?
White		On the subway?
Black		On the subway.
White		I try not to think about them at all.
Black		You ever speak to any of em?
White		Speak to them?
Black		Yeah.
White		About what?
Black		About anything.
White		No. God no.
Black		God no?
White		Yes. God no.
Black		You ever curse em?
White		Curse them?
Black		Yeah.
White		Why would I do that?
Black		I dont know. Do you?
White		No. Of course not.
Black		I mean where they cant hear it.
White		What do you mean?
Black		Maybe just under your breath. In your heart. To yourself.
White		Because?
Black		I dont know. Maybe they just in your way. Or you dont like the way they look. The way they smell. What they doin.
White		And I would mutter something ugly under my breath.
Black		Yeah.
White		I suppose.
Black		And how often do you reckon you might do that?
White		You really dont get to interrogate me, you know.
Black		I know. How often?
White		I dont know. With some frequency. Probably.
Black		Give me a number.
White		A number?
Black		Yeah. Say just on a average day.
White		I’ve no idea.
Black		Sure you do.
White		A number.
Black		I’m a number man.
White		Two or three times a day, I would guess. Something like that. Maybe.
Black		Could be more.
White		Oh yes.
Black		Could be five?
White		Probably.
Black		Ten?
White		That might be a bit high.
Black		But we can go with five. That’s safe.
White		Yes.
Black		That’s eighteen twenty-five. Can we round that off to two grand?
White		What’s that, per year?
Black		Yeah.
White		Two thousand? That’s a lot.
Black		Yes it is. But is it accurate?
White		I suppose. So?
Black		So. I aint goin to guess your age but let me put you on the low side and say times twenty years of commutin and now we got forty thousand curses heaped on the heads of folks you dont even know.
White		So where is this going?
Black		I just wondered if you ever thought about that. If it might have anything to do with the shape you has managed to get yourself in.
White		It’s just symptomatic of the larger issues. I dont like people.
Black		But you wouldnt hurt them people.
White		No. Of course not.
Black		You sure.
White		Of course I’m sure. Why would I hurt them?
Black		I dont know. Why would you hurt yourself?
White		It’s not the same thing.
Black		You sure about that?
White		I’m not them and they’re not me. I think I know the difference.
Black		Mm.
White		More mm’s.
Black		You sure you aint hungry?
White		No.
Black		You aint eat nothin.
White		That’s all right.
Black		I see you eyein the door. I got to strategize, you know.
White		I’m really not hungry.
Black		Active morning like you had you aint worked up no appetite?
White		No.
Black		I see you lookin around. Everthing in here is clean. No, dont say nothin. It’s all right.
The black pushes back his chair and rises.

Black		I could eat a bite and I think you could too.
The black goes to the refrigerator and takes out some pots. He turns on the stove. He washes his hands and dries them with a towel.

Black		You break bread with a man you have moved on to another level of friendship. I heard somewheres that that’s true the world over.
White		Probably.
Black		I like probably. Probably from you is worth a couple of damn rights anywheres else.
White		Why? Because I dont believe in anything?
The black has put the pots on the stove to warm and he brings napkins and silverware to the table and sets them out. He sits down.

Black		Well. I dont think that’s the problem. I think it’s what you do believe that is carryin you off, not what you dont. Let me ask you this.
White		Go ahead.
Black		You ever think about Jesus?
White		Here we go.
Black		Do you?
White		What makes you think I’m not Jewish?
Black		What, jews aint allowed to think about Jesus?
White		No, but they might think about him differently.
Black		Is you Jewish?
White		No. As it happens. I’m not.
Black		Whew. You had me worried there for a minute.
White		What, you dont like jews?
Black		(Shaking his head, almost laughing) Pullin your chain, Professor. Pullin your chain. I dont know why I love to mess with you. But I do. You need to listen. Or you need to believe what you hearin. The whole point of where this is goin—which you wanted to know—is that they aint no jews. Aint no whites. Aint no niggers. People of color. Aint none of that. At the deep bottom of the mine where the gold is at there aint none of that. There’s just the pure ore. That forever thing. That you dont think is there. That thing that helps to keep folks nailed down to the platform when the Sunset Limited comes through. Even when they think they might want to get aboard. That thing that makes it possible to ladle out benediction upon the heads of strangers instead of curses. It’s all the same thing. And it aint but one thing. Just one.
White		And that would be Jesus.
Black		Got to think about how to answer that. Maybe one more heresy wont hurt you. You pretty loaded up on em already. Here’s what I would say. I would say that the thing we are talkin about is Jesus, but it is Jesus understood as that gold at the bottom of the mine. He couldnt come down here and take the form of a man if that form was not done shaped to accommodate him. And if I said that there aint no way for Jesus to be ever man without ever man bein Jesus then I believe that might be a pretty big heresy. But that’s all right. It aint as big a heresy as sayin that a man aint all that much different from a rock. Which is how your view looks to me.
White		It’s not my view. I believe in the primacy of the intellect.
Black		What is that word.
White		Primacy? It means first. It means what you put first.
Black		And that would be intellect.
White		Yes.
Black		What about the primacy of the Sunset Limited?
White		Yes. That too.
Black		But not the primacy of all them folks waitin on a later train.
White		No. No primacy there.
Black		Mm.
White		Mm what.
Black		You tough, Professor. You tough.
The black rises and goes to the stove. He reaches down plates and stirs the pots and ladles out the dinner. He takes down a loaf of white bread and puts four slices on a plate and brings the plate of bread to the table and sets it down.
Black		Yeah you tough.
The black brings the two plates to the table and sets them out and takes his seat. He looks at the professor.

Black		You see yourself as a questioner, Professor. But about that I got my doubts. Even so, the quest of your life is your quest. You on a road that you laid. And that fact alone might be all the reason you need for keepin to it. As long as you on that road you cant be lost.
White		I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying.
Black		Well, Professor. I have got some very serious doubts about you not understandin anything I say. Now I’m goin to say Grace.
The black puts his hands on the table at either side of his plate and bows his head.

Black		Lord we thank you for this food and we ask that you keep us ever mindful of the many blessins we have received from your hand. We thank you today for the life of the professor that you have returned to us and we ask that you continue to look after him because we need him. (Pause) I aint sure why we need him. I just know we do. Amen.
The black looks up. He smiles at the professor.

Black		All right. You tell me if you like this.
White		It looks good.
They begin to eat.

White		This is good.
They eat.

White		This is very good.
Black		Supposed to be good. This is soul food, my man.
White		It’s got what in it? Molasses?
Black		Mm. You a chef, Professor?
White		Not really.
Black		But some.
White		Some, yes. Bananas, of course. Mangos?
Black		Got a mango or two in there. Rutabagas.
White		Rutabagas?
Black		Rutabagas. Them aint easy to find.
White		It’s very good.
Black		It gets better after a day or two. I just fixed this last night. You need to warm it up a few times to get the flavors right.
White		Like chile.
Black		Like chile. That’s right. You know where I learned to fix this?
White		In Louisana?
Black		Right here in the ghettos of New York City. They’s a lot of influences in a dish like this. You got many parts of the world in that pot yonder. Different countries. Different people.
White		Any white people?
Black		Not if you can help it.
White		Really?
Black		Messin with you, Professor. Messin with you. You know these French chefs in these uptown restaurants?
White		Not personally.
Black		You know what they like to cook?
White		No.
Black		Sweetbreads. Tripe. Brains. All that shit they dont nobody eat. You know why that is?
White		Because it’s a challenge? You have to innovate?
Black		You pretty smart for a cracker. A challenge. That’s right. The stuff they cook is dead cheap. Most folks throws it out. Give it to the cat. But poor folks dont throw nothin out.
White		I guess that’s right.
Black		It dont take a lot of skill to make a porterhouse steak taste good. But what if you cant buy no porterhouse steak? You still wants to eat somethin that tastes good. What you do then?
White		Innovate.
Black		Innovate. That’s right, Professor. And when do you innovate?
White		When you dont have something that you want.
Black		You fixin to get a A plus. So who would that be? That aint got what they want?
White		Poor people.
Black		I love this man. So how you like this?
White		It’s very good.
Black		Well let me have your plate.
White		Just a small portion.
Black		That’s all right, Professor. You need to eat. You done had yourself a pretty busy day.
The black puts more of the dish on the professors plate and comes to the table and sets it in front of him.

BOOK: The Sunset Limited: A Novel in Dramatic Form

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