“Aunt Ruth?” Jimmy was becoming more and more annoyed by the waitress’s rude manner, despite realizing that her impatience was now, perhaps, becoming justified. “Why don’t you try the steak and potato special?”

“What’s so special about it?”

“The price.” The waitress stuck her pencil behind her ear. “Listen, hon. I’ll come back in a minute. What you want to drink?”

Ruth locked eyes with the waitress, obviously prickled at the way the woman had said “hon.”

“Just give me a glass of water. If you please.”

The waitress, a mocking smile on her face, and pulling her short dress down, wiggled away.

“I don’t want none of this mess. White folks don’t know how to cook no how.”

“Aunt Ruth, I asked you if this place was all right, and you said it was.” He became conscious of the whining tone in his voice and hated it.

“Where is she? I’ll order something, anything, so we can get some food and get on out of here, cause I’m ready to go home.”

The waitress returned with the two teas and water. “You ready now?”

“Yeah. Give me that beef stew. Nobody can mess up a beef stew, to be sure.”

The waitress smirked and scribbled.

“This tea ain’t sweetened!” Zeke made an ugly face. “Ain’t you got no sweetener?”

The waitress reached over the table and pieked up a handful of white packages of sugar and pink packages of Sweet’ N Low, dropping them in front of Zeke’s glass. “Best I can do.” She pivoted and walked away.

Zeke stared at the woman and sneered. “Bitch.”

Jimmy, only mildly startled, looked at him. Ruth, also taken off guard, let out a brief Hah, though she did not look at him. Jimmy realized it was more of a mock than genuine humor.

“Try the Sweet’N Low,” Jimmy said, emptying some into his own glass. “It dissolves better.”

As Zeke picked up one of the packages, the gravity began to lift from his face. “You know, this reminds me of the time—”

“Oh, Jesus, not another one of them lies you pass off for stories.” Ruth stared out the window, her mouth set with the minor annoyance one might expect over a cat.

Zeke’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. “Now, Ruth. That wont a nice thing to say.”

As if pondering she said, “No, it wont, now was it.”

Taking a moment to recover some of his dignity, Zeke had a swig of tea. “What’s been ailing you, Ruth? You been as evil as a wet hen all day. What is it?”

“‘Evil’?”

“Yeah, evil.”

“Cousin Asa sure looked bad, didn’t he?” Jimmy put his hand on Zeke’s, but Zeke turned and gave him a serious glance, shaking his head, No, not this time.

“What ails you, Ruth?”

Ignoring Zeke, she looked to Jimmy. “Yeah, Asa did look pretty bad. Pretty bad indeed.”