Chapters (31)
- Cover
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Room in the Dark I
- Fawns of the Diaspora Court Liliane in Paris, While Tabou Combo Whispers “Coq Qualité” in Her Ears
- Room in the Dark II
- “I Usedta Drink, Smoke and Do the Hoochie-Koo,” or What’s a Girl to Do When Her Mother Looks Like Ruth Brown
- Room in the Dark III
- “El Bochinche” es que only Fe Cortijo Knows or All the LeBron Brothers Know If Victor-Jésus María Sang Lili to Her Freedom
- Room in the Dark IV
- And Where Is Garnett Mimms?
- Room in the Dark V
- I Know Where Kansas City Is, But Did Wilbert Harrison Ever Get There?
- Room in the Dark VI
- Zoom Went the Strings of Liliane’s Heart, But Arsenio Rodriguez Could Have Told Her the Music Sounds Just as Sweet When We’re Blind and Still We See
- Room in the Dark VII
- I Know Where the E Train Stops But I’m “Sendin’ Out an S.O.S.” and I’m Not Edwin Starr Either
- Room in the Dark VIII
- “Happy, Happy Birthday, Baby” or Wouldn’t It Be Great If the Lead Singer of The Crests Wasn’t a White Boy and I Could Be My Mother?
- Room in the Dark IX
- Every Time My Lil World Seems Blue, I Just Haveta Look at You and Learn Eye-Hand Coordination
- Room in the Dark X
- “That’s Why I Love Her So and Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I Want to Know” or Why Jackie Wilson Died in Silence
- Room in the Dark XI
- There’s No Use Cryin’ “Forever” or Hyacinthe Returns from a Very Blue Holiday for Real B(l)ack at Ya
- Room in the Dark XII
- Lollie Struts Her Stuff Thru “The Sea of Love” or the Brides of Frankenstein Catch the Bouquet
- By Ntozake Shange
- Acknowledgments
- Copyright
“Listen here, I don’t think you all should be playin’ like that with this girl. She’s talkin’ all outta her head.” And they laughed some more. Hyacinthe is still movin’ her eyes around up in the top of her head and mumblin’.
“Hyacinthe, did you find out how our eyes glow in the dark yet? Have you now? Will you show me, too? I want to do it right, now.” Then, Roxie got next to Hyacinthe and started to rollin’ her eyes, too. Lollie and Liliane commenced to struttin’ around like they was some hot shit, right?
“Roxie, your eyes are definitely not glowing adequately. There is no way I could ascertain that you are a bona fide niggah the way you look right now. Now, Hyacinthe here has mastered the art of niggahs in the dark, the glow and the roll.” With that said Hyacinthe relaxed, relieved. Now I knew I was goin’ home. All these girls was crazy. Liliane looked at me sharply, some nerve. Then she bent over Hyacinthe, who was now sittin’, rockin’ on the floor. Liliane patted Hyacinthe’s head, held her, rocked her. Hyacinthe started to cry again, but this time not crazy like. Lollie and Roxie motioned for me to go with them, like we should leave Hyacinthe to Liliane. As we were creepin’ away slowly, I heard Hyacinthe shout out, “…That white man talks like he’s a friend.” That was a line from the movie we were watchin’, these bitches think we in a movie, a movie about slavery and niggah eyes. Jesus you know I gotta go home.
“Well, I think we need to call Sawyer, immediately, Lollie, don’t you?” Roxie was positioning herself by the phone in the kitchen. Lollie was searchin’ cabinets for food, I guess. “Yeah, you are probably right.” Lollie found some brandy with fruit in the bottom of it. “You think we could give her some of this? It might quiet her down til we find Sawyer. God only knows where that fool might be.”
Before anybody else could say anything, I interrupted: “What in the fuck is wrong with that girl? All you all are crazy as shit.”
“There aren’t many colored folks who aren’t,” Roxie said to me so particular, I liked to slapped her damn face. I know I’m not crazy. Lollie put her two cents in first, though, fore I could get my hands on that smartass. “Listen, Bernadette, Hyacinthe has problems,” as if a jackass couldn’t tell that. Lollie went on, though, “Hyacinthe has episodes of, what shall we call it? Ah, times when bein’ a Negro scares her to death. She starts talkin’ all that strange slavery talk about glows, and eyes, and big teeth, sometimes, too.”