“Do you think I will tell F. D. to go home? I would not!” said Simple. “I remember when I first come to Harlem, nobody had better not tell me to return back home. I do not know if I looked like that kid or not. But I can see F. D. now setting there last night on that chair with one million dreams in his eyes and a million more in his heart. Could I tell him to go home?”

“What kind of kid is F. D.?”

“About the darkest young boy I ever seen. And he has the whitest teeth which, when he smiles, lights up the room. He also looks like he has always just taken a bath, he is so clean. Fact is, I would say F. D. is a handsome black boy, but my judgment might be wrong. I want you and Joyce to meet him. He’s a husky young cat, done picked so much tobacco he’s built like a boxer. Also plays basketball, says his high-school team were the county champeens last spring. He’s graduated and got a diploma, too. I know he’s smart because the first thing he asked me for this morning when that alarm clock went off, was, ‘Cousin Jess, you got any books I can read while you’re at work?’

“You know, I couldn’t find nothing but a comic book. But I borrowed a dollar from my landlady and told him, ‘Go out and look at Harlem today—till I find my books. There ain’t but about a million Negroes in Harlem. You will make One Million and One. Get acquainted with your brothers.’

“You mean you turned him loose on the town unaccompanied, just like that, and he’s never been here before?”

“Could I stay off from work just to go sightseeing with F. D.?”

“I suppose not, but—”

“And do I know anybody else rich enough to be off from work in the daytime? I do not. That young boy did not want to be cooped up in that hot room in the warm summertime with nobody there. And it was a good thing I turned him loose this morning, too, because do you know what he did?”

“No.”

“F. D. found himself a job the first day he was here. I’m telling you the Semple family is smart even on the Brown side.”

“How did he accomplish that miraculous feat?”

“He asked a boy running for the subway if he knew where a job was. The boy said, ‘I’m running to my job now. If you can keep up with me, there might me another one down where I am.’