“‘Very few educated men look like Harry Belafonte,’ said Joyce.

“‘I am glad I am handsome instead of wise,’ I said. But Joyce did not crack a smile. She had that lecture on her mind.

“‘Dr. Conboy is smart,’ says Joyce. ‘Did you hear him quoting Aristotle?’

“‘Who were Harry Stottle?’ I asked.

“‘Some people are not even misread,’ said Joyce. ‘Aristotle was a Greek philosopher like Socrates, a great man of ancient times.’

“‘He must of been before Booker T. Washington then,’ I said, ‘because, to tell the truth, I has not heard of him at all. But tonight being Negro History Week, how come Dr. Conboy has to quote some Greek?’

“‘There were black Greeks,’ said Joyce. ‘Did you not hear him say that Negroes have played a part in all history, throughout all time, from Eden to now?’

“‘Do you reckon Eve was brownskin?’ I requested.

“‘I do not know about Eve,’ said Joyce, ‘but Cleopatra was of the colored race, and the Bible says Sheba, beloved of Solomon, was black but comely.’

“‘I wonder would she come to me?’ I says.

“‘Solomon also found Cleopatra comely. He was a king,’ says Joyce.

“‘And I am Jesse B. Semple,’ I said.

“But by that time the subway had got to our stop. At the store Joyce broke the budget again, opened up her pocket purse, and bought us six cans of beer. So it were a good evening. It ended well—except that I ain’t for going to any more meetings—especially interracial meetings.”

“Come now! Don’t you want to improve race relations?”

“Sure,” said Simple, “but in my opinion, jazz, jive, and jam would be better for race relations than all this high-flown gab, gaff, and gas the orators put out. All this talking that white folks do at meetings, and big Negroes, too, about how to get along together—just a little jam session would have everybody getting along fine without having to listen to so many speeches. Why, last month Joyce took me to a Race Relations Seminar which her club and twenty other clubs gave, and man, it lasted three days! It started on a Friday night and it were not over until Sunday afternoon. They had sessions’ mammy! Joyce is a fiend for culture.”

“And you sat through all that?”

“I did not set,” said Simple. “I stood. I walked in and walked out. I smoked on the corner and snuck two drinks at the bar. But I had to wait for Joyce, and I thought them speeches would never get over! My wife were a delegate from her club, so she had to stay, although I think Joyce got tired her own self. But she would not admit it. Joyce said, ‘Dr. Hillary Thingabod was certainly brilliant, were he not?’

“I said, ‘He were not.’

“Joyce said, ‘What did you want the man to say?’