“I could have used a drumstick,” said Simple. “It would have meant more to me than it did to that little fice.”

“I gather you do not like dogs.”

“I love dogs,” said Simple. “When my landlady was laid up with arthritis and scared to get her feet wet, I even took that little old she-hound of hers out two or three times to the park to do its duty—although I would not be seen with no dog like that if it belonged to me. All I got was, ‘Thank you, you certainly nice, Mr. Semple.’ She used my real last name, all formal and everything. ‘You certainly nice, yes, indeed.’ But did I get a extra towel when I asked for it? I did not. All I got was, ‘Laundries is high and towels is scarce.’ Yet I seen her dry that dog on a nice big white bath towel, the likes of which she never give a roomer yet. I don’t think that is right, to care less about roomers than you do about a dog, do you?”

“Ties between a dog and its master are often greater than human ties.”

“Ties, nothing,” said Simple. “That lazy little old mutt don’t bring her in a thing, not even a bone. I bring in Ten Dollars rent each and every week—even if it is a little late.”

“You got behind though, didn’t you, when you weren’t working?”

“I tried to get behind,” said Simple, “but she did not let me get far. I told her they was changing from a ball-bearing plant to a screw factory and it might even take three months. But she said it better not take three weeks—do, and she would get eviction orders and evict me. So I had to go to the post office and draw out my little money and lay it on the line. That very evening she says, ‘Oh, this poor dog ain’t been out of the house in five days, bad as my knees ache.’ So me, like a chump, I take it out to the park.”

“Why doesn’t her husband take care of it?” I asked.

“He runs on the road,” said Simple. “When he gets through taking care of white folks, he does not feel like taking care of dogs. Harlem is no place for dogs—people do not have time to look after them.”

“True,” I said, “but Harlemites love dogs, and there are a great many here.”