“Then I said, ‘To hell with F. D.! He’s big as me, so I ain’t responsible. I do not care where he’s at. What right has he got to worry me like this? I ain’t his daddy.’

“I returned back to my Third Floor Rear. He still were not there—going on four in the morning. So I took off my clothes and went to bed. I did not sleep.

“F. D. come in later than me by twice. But I give that boy credit he did not try to tiptoe. If he just had come in with his shoes in his hands sneaking up the steps, I would have riz up mad and caught him with, ‘Where the damnation you been, arriving back this time of night?’

“But when F. D. come walking in loud like nothing had happened, creaking every step and hitting on his heels, I pretended to be asleep. F. D. set down on the bed to take his shoes off. I grunted and groaned, “Uh-er-ummm-uh! Man, why don’t you turn on the light so you can see?’

“‘Cousin Jess, I’ve been having a ball,’ he said. ‘Listen! We’ve been to the Savoy. It’s fine up there! Two bands and a rainbow chandelier that goes around. I’m learning the mambo. I had to take a girl all the way home to Brooklyn.’

“I could not help it but say, ‘Late as it is, I thought maybe you had gone to Georgia.’

“‘No, I got on the wrong subway coming back and forgot to change. I went all the way to some place called Jamaica.’

“‘That happens to every Negro what ever comes to New York, at least once,’ I said. ‘I think they just made that Jamaica line to confuse Negroes, because everybody knows somebody that lives in Brooklyn, and the first time you start back to Harlem you always end up in Jamaica. Don’t you have to work in the morning, F. D.?’

“‘Yes, sir.’

“‘Then fall on over in this bed and get your rest.’

“‘She’s a sweet little number, coz.’

“‘Um-hummmm, well, tell me about her tomorrow.’

“‘Were you asleep, coz?’

“Yes, I were asleep—till you woke me up.’

“‘I got her phone number.’

“‘Um-hum! Well, I suppose you’ll be running to Brooklyn every night now.’

“‘Not every night. I couldn’t get a date in edgewise till Sunday. That girl is popular. Sunday we’re going to Coney Island.’

“‘I want you to bring that girl up here and let me look her over before you-all get too thick. You hear me, F. D.?’

“‘Yes, sir, but I’ll bet you’re gonna like her, Cousin Jess. Her name is Gloria. She’s eighteen and keen. Dresses crazy—had on a big wide leather belt with green shoe strings in the front and a little tiny waist about the size of this bed post. You gonna like her.’