“I do not want no more punishment from Joyce. Last night she were so mad she turned gray. In fact, she were real mad.”

“Jealous, you mean.”

“Joyce says she would not low-rate herself by being jealous of Zarita. But what made her so mad was that Joyce knowed I must have spent some money. She wondered where did I get it, when I had just borrowed Ten Dollars from her the night before. Joyce said if she thought I had spent her money on Zarita, she would annihilate me for life. Lucky I could show Joyce my receipt where I paid my rent. It’s a good thing I had one from this time last year. My landlady do not put the year on them, just the month and the date. So Joyce thought it was a receipt for now. She don’t know I didn’t pay my rent this week.”

“I call that deceit,” I said.

“Better deceit than defeat. Now I have really got to figure out how to settle my rent. Can’t you lend me Ten Dollars?”

“You know I cannot lend anybody Ten Dollars in the middle of the week.”

“Then how on earth am I going to stay alive until I die? I cannot face my landlady.”

“Borrow back from Zarita that Ten Dollars you spent taking her to the dance. Rob Peter to pay Paul.”

“Zarita’s name ain’t Peter,” said Simple, “and my landlady’s sure ain’t Paul. In so far as concerning Zarita, who just left out of here, sometimes I wonder why God made womens like her, because I don’t understand her at all. I thought I did, but I do not believe I do. Zarita knows I go with Joyce. She knows I love Joyce. Zarita does not love me. Yet and still, Zarita is trying to make trouble between us—me and Joyce. Now why would she do that, as good as I am to that girl? I buy her a fifth of licker practically everytime I go to see her, treat her if I meet her, even take her out once in a while if I know Joyce is in bed and won’t run into us. Nice as I been to Zarita, she comes telling me tonight she is ‘thinking of telling Joyce how close we been.’ She’s done heard somewhere I’m planning to marry Joyce. Now, why would Zarita want to start some stuff?”

“Probably envious,” I said, “because Joyce is going to have a happy home and she, Zarita, will still be on the loose.”