The baby began to cry, and she turned her head as much as she could to look at him. This made him slap her twice, and she started to fall, and he pulled her up and, as he did, went for a better grip, which was time enough for her to say, “Don’t kill me in front of my son, Horace.” He loosened his hands. “Don’t kill me in front of my boy, Horace.” Her tears ran down her face and over and into his hands. “He don’t deserve to see me die. You know that, Horace.”
“Where, then!”
“Anywhere but in front of him. He’s innocent of everything.”
He let her go and backed away.
“I did nothin, Horace,” she whispered. “I give you my word, I did nothin.” The baby screamed, and she went to him and took him in her arms.
Horace sat down in the same chair he had been in.
“I would not do this to you, Horace.”
He looked at her and at the baby, who could not take his eyes off Horace, even through his tears.
One of the baby’s cries seemed to get stuck in his throat, and to release it the baby raised a fist and punched the air, and finally the cry came free. How does a man start over with nothing? Horace thought. Elaine came near him, and the baby still watched him as his crying lessened. How does a man start from scratch?
He leaned down and picked up a few of the broken albums from the floor and read the labels. “I would not hurt you for anything in the world, Horace,” Elaine said. Okeh Phonograph Corporation. Domino Record Co. RCA Victor. Darnell, Jr.’s crying stopped, but he continued to look down at the top of Horace’s head. Cameo Record Corporation, N.Y. “You been too good to me for me to hurt you like this, Horace.” He dropped the records one at a time: “It Takes an Irishman to Make Love.” “I’m Gonna Pin a Medal on the Girl I Left Behind.” “Ragtime Soldier Man.” “Whose Little Heart Are You Breaking Now.” “The Syncopated Walk.”
~ ~ ~
“The First Day” first appeared as “First Day” in Callaloo (vol. 5, nos. 1 and 2, February — May 1982) and has been substantially revised. “A Dark Night” first appeared in Ploughshares (vol. 7, no. 1, Fall 1981), and has been revised. “Marie” first appeared in The Paris Review (issue 122, Spring 1992). “A Rich Man” first appeared in The New Yorker (vol. LXXIX, no. 21, August 4, 2003).
Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reprint portions of the following: “Consideration,” words and music by Thomas A. Dorsey. Copyright © 1953 by Hill and Range Songs, Inc.; copyright renewed, assigned to Unichappell Music, Inc. (Rightsong Music, Publisher). International copyright secured. All rights reserved. Unauthorized copying, arranging, adapting, recording, or public performance is an infringement of copyright. Infringers are liable under the law. “I’m a Pilgrim (I’m a Stranger),” arranged by Thomas A. Dorsey. Copyright © 1951 by Hill and Range Songs, Inc. Copyright renewed, assigned to Unichappell Music, Inc. (Rightsong Music, Publisher). International copyright secured. All rights reserved. Unauthorized copying, arranging, adapting, recording, or public performance is an infringement of copyright. Infringers are liable under the law. “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” words and music by Carole King and Gerry Goffin. Copyright © 1961 by Screen Gems — EMI Music, Inc.; renewed 1989. All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Used by permission.
About the Author
EDWARD P. JONES was born and raised in Washington, D.C. A recipient of the Lannan Foundation Grant, Jones was educated at Holy Cross College and the University of Virginia. This collection of stories, his first book, won the PEN/Hemingway Award and was nominated for the National Book Award. His debut novel, The Known World, was published in 2003. He lives in Arlington, Virginia.
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