STERLING: I went up there to see Old Man Albert. He sitting up there with four or five bodyguards. They let me in to see him and I told him to give me back my two dollars. Said I was calling off the bet. He gave me the two dollars and asked me for his six hundred back. I told him no. Told him I was gonna keep that. That way I have something that belong to him for a change. He just looked at me funny and told me to leave the same way I had come in. Told one of his bodyguards to show me the door. I left out of there and was walking by Aunt Ester’s. I saw the light on and I figure she might be up, so I stopped to see her. They led me into the hallway and then through some curtains into this room . . .  and she was just sitting there. I talked to her a long while. Told her my whole life story. She real nice. Ain’t nobody ever talk to me like that. “I cannot swim does not walk by the lakeside.” It took me a while to figure out what she meant. Told me, “Make better what you have and you have best.” Then she wrote down something on a piece of paper, put it in a little envelope, told me to put it in my shoe and walk around on it for three days. I asked her how much I owed her. She told me to take twenty dollars and throw it in the river. Say she get it. She had this look about her real calm and sweet like. I asked her how old she was. She say she was three hundred and forty-nine years old. Holloway had it wrong. I figured anybody that old know what she talking about. I took twenty dollars and carried it down there. Didn’t even think about it. I just took and threw it in the river. I’m gonna wait them three days and see what happen. You ought to go up there and see her. She a real nice old lady. She say yeah, you the one God sent when he told me he couldn’t send no angel.

RISA: Sterling, you crazy.

STERLING: I figure me and you get us a nice little old place. . . . Ain’t you tired of sleeping by yourself? I am.

RISA: Naw, I’m just fine taking care of me.

STERLING: You ain’t got to take care of you . . .  let me do that. I’ll take care of you real good.

(He sings:)

Wake up, Pretty Mama

See what I got for you

I got everything

Set your poor heart at ease

I got everything for you, woman.

I got a list of things

long as my right arm.

RISA: Naw, that’s alright.