EUGENE: (CHILD EUGENE) (Sings) “Miss Mary Mack Mack, Mack–all dressed in black black, black”–

BOTH: (Sing) “With silver buttons, buttons, buttons all down her back, back, back.”

ALMA: (Beat) I was seven when I first laid eyes on Gene. I saw this little boy–a little older than us–he was nine and in the fourth grade. He looked like he was wearing a suit.

EUGENE: It wasn’t a suit.

ALMA: There was the formality of a suit. I went over to him. “Why you wearin’ a suit to come to school? All o’ us is playin’ an stuff–you don’t never play wit nobody. I see you by ya self all the time–you wanna play wit us? I know you in the fourth grade but you can be wit us.”

EUGENE: It was a button-down shirt. It was my favorite shirt and I felt good wearing it. “I’m not wearing a suit. I’m wearing my favorite shirt and that’s why and I don’t care about me being in the fourth grade and you being in the second grade–I want to play with you.” I wanted to say “Let’s be friends. I see you all the time in the schoolyard and everybody likes you. EVERYBODY–how do you make everybody like you? How do you make people like you?” That’s what I wanted to say but I was a child and I didn’t know how.

ALMA: I ask him his name and he says–

EUGENE: Eugene Robert Gaines.

ALMA: He says his whole name–

EUGENE: Eugene Robert Gaines.

ALMA: “You talk funny. Not funny like ‘laugh’ funny–you does talk nice. You talk like people on t.v. talk. You don’t talk like none o’ us. You does talk good–I like it.” Then we played–

BOTH: “Hot peas and butter, come and git yo suppa.” We played and yelled and played–

EUGENE: That day I met Alton White. He was friends with Alma first and he just sort of comes up to me. He sees me talking to Alma and just comes up smiling. This small dark boy with dark eyes and a wide, great smile–not malicious in the least. He has a great smile. I look down at him and say “I’m Eugene Robert Gaines. What’s your name?” He looks up at me and says (ALTON) “My name is Alton–Alton White.” (EUGENE) We play at lunch and Alton says (ALTON) “Eugene let’s play after school.” (EUGENE) I say “What do you want to play?” He grins. (ALTON) “I wanna play Batman.” (EUGENE) I say “Okay–does that mean that I play Robin?” He says (ALTON) “You wanna play Batman?” (EUGENE) I say “Yeah.” (ALTON) “Okay.”