Back Liliane
Chapters (31)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Contents
  5. Room in the Dark I
  6. Fawns of the Diaspora Court Liliane in Paris, While Tabou Combo Whispers “Coq Qualité” in Her Ears
  7. Room in the Dark II
  8. “I Usedta Drink, Smoke and Do the Hoochie-Koo,” or What’s a Girl to Do When Her Mother Looks Like Ruth Brown
  9. Room in the Dark III
  10. “El Bochinche” es que only Fe Cortijo Knows or All the LeBron Brothers Know If Victor-Jésus María Sang Lili to Her Freedom
  11. Room in the Dark IV
  12. And Where Is Garnett Mimms?
  13. Room in the Dark V
  14. I Know Where Kansas City Is, But Did Wilbert Harrison Ever Get There?
  15. Room in the Dark VI
  16. 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
  17. Room in the Dark VII
  18. I Know Where the E Train Stops But I’m “Sendin’ Out an S.O.S.” and I’m Not Edwin Starr Either
  19. Room in the Dark VIII
  20. “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?
  21. Room in the Dark IX
  22. Every Time My Lil World Seems Blue, I Just Haveta Look at You and Learn Eye-Hand Coordination
  23. Room in the Dark X
  24. “That’s Why I Love Her So and Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, I Want to Know” or Why Jackie Wilson Died in Silence
  25. Room in the Dark XI
  26. There’s No Use Cryin’ “Forever” or Hyacinthe Returns from a Very Blue Holiday for Real B(l)ack at Ya
  27. Room in the Dark XII
  28. Lollie Struts Her Stuff Thru “The Sea of Love” or the Brides of Frankenstein Catch the Bouquet
  29. By Ntozake Shange
  30. Acknowledgments
  31. Copyright

Well, Granville insists he lead the way. “Lollie and I have been here many times,” he says. We step through the most Puerto Rican doors I’ve seen since Ohio, into a blockade of the biggest men outside, oh, Port Arthur, Texas. There we are patted down, Granville first. “But, you know me, I’m Lollie’s fiancé.” There is a loud echoing shout. “You seen Lollie in here tonight?” Then, there’s a return volley, “Lollie ain’t been here, Lollie ain’t been here.” The guy who is now searching Thayer’s guitar for a trigger and clips says, “Lollie ain’t here. I’ll need some I.D.” Well, since I’d decided to carry two cameras and a case, my Konica became possible explosives or the cover for grams and ounces of what was not my right to take into Nasty’s cause in Nasty’s they reserve the right to serve. Tu m’entiendes? Finally we all get in there and get something to drink. These chicks, pretty hippy naked women, are flying up and down these poles, others are standin’ over our drinks wrigglin’ and writhin’ so, some pussy musta been in one of my drinks. But see, I didn’t get excited until Thayer took over the rhythm section of the sampler and Sawyer with his nonmaterial behind started feelin’ up the naked dancers and runnin’ his tongue over their nipples. Then I couldn’t just enjoy myself. I got to work. Apparently Jean-René is an exhibitionist cause he got almost naked, en realidad, up on the bar with one of those whores. But that was after Sawyer’d filled his nose with powder of great value. I saw what Lollie liked so much in Granville, finally. He kept to himself, enjoyed everybody and danced his junkanoo whenever he felt like. That was usually after a short visit from our boy Sawyer, too. So a fine time was had by all, including the ghost of Sawyer Malveaux. If you look closely at one of the images I have of Granville and Jean-René dancing on the bar with the same woman, you’ll see Sawyer’s handsome head between her legs. A very nasty boy, sí.