WOLF: I just found out she died. She overdosed last night. West just went down to pick up her body. She dead and he in jail. He went down to Surrey’s to get her a dress to be buried in. You know them dresses down there cost two, three hundred dollars. He went down there like a fool and was walking out the door with the dress . . .  they arrested him. He can’t even go to her funeral. The people taking up a collection to see if they can get him out on bond. You wanna give anything?

HOLLOWAY: Here go a dollar.

STERLING: Holloway . . .  loan me two dollars.

HOLLOWAY: I ain’t got no two dollars. If you had a job you’d have two dollars.

RISA: Holloway ain’t got no money. . . . Here.
(RISA hands STERLING two dollars, STERLING hands them to WOLF.)

STERLING: That’s for me and Hambone.

HOLLOWAY: How much is his bail?

WOLF: They got him on a two-thousand-dollar bond. I got to get two hundred dollars.

STERLING: Go ask West. He got all that money.

WOLF: West ain’t gonna give a dime.

STERLING: Whoever hit the numbers ought to put in ten or twenty.

WOLF: That’s what I say, but it don’t always work like that. Thanks, I’ll see you all later.

HOLLOWAY: Let me get a dime on that nine sixty-eight before you go. I dreamt about snakes.
(WOLF writes the slip.)

WOLF: I don’t know what Bubba Boy’s gonna do now. I ain’t never seen him without her. You see him you see her. It’s been like that for fifteen years. I used to look at them and say that’s how deep love get. I don’t know what he gonna do now.

WOLF: I don’t know either. But we gonna try and get him out of jail.
(WOLF exits. STERLING moves over to the stool next to HAMBONE. RISA gives HAMBONE a bowl of beans.)

STERLING: Hey, Hambone. How you doing?

HAMBONE: He gonna give me my ham.

STERLING: You want your ham?

RISA: Sterling, don’t be playing with him like that.

STERLING: I ain’t playing with him. Me and Hambone got us a thing going. Ain’t we, Hambone?

HAMBONE: He gonna give me my ham.

STERLING: I’m trying to build up his confidence in me. Ain’t that right, Hambone? You don’t know nothing about this. We talking man to man. Okay, Hambone, check this out. Now . . .  you ready? First I say it . . .  and then you say it. You ready?
(STERLING lines up in front of HAMBONE.)
Now listen. Take your time. Don’t worry about getting it wrong. Okay.
(He pronounces each word carefully.)
Black—is—beautiful. See? Come on now. Black . . .

HAMBONE: Black . . .

STERLING: Is . . .

HAMBONE: Is . . .

STERLING: Beautiful.

HAMBONE: Beautiful.

STERLING: Yeah, see—you got it. Black is beautiful.

HAMBONE: Black is beautiful.
(HAMBONE grins at his accomplishment.)