THE SILENT STAR plus a dozen SELECTIONS - an excerpt
an excerpt from JOSHUA'S JOURNEY - page 37 - 40
"Do you want help with that shirt, Joshua?"
"Lordy, lady! You still here? Don't need no help!"
"Okay, you have a good day. I'm leaving now."
"Good! It's about time!" I get the buttons all done up. I pull the grey pants outa the closet and carry them back to bed where I plunk myself down. Never used to have this trouble getting into my pants. Used to stand up tall, slide in one leg, then the other; tighten the belt and away I'd go. I remember those days. Some people call them the good old days. Not me!
Getting into my pants is a project and I don't mean the kind I used to live in either. Anyway by the time I was three mama moved out of that hell-hole and rented a little house near Oakwood and Vaughan. Don't know where my daddy was but he sure wasn't in that neighbourhood. Back in those days I was the only black face in the crowd. I asked mama once where my daddy was but she wasn't in a good mood to give me a straight answer.
Mama used to say if her life was a movie it would be a melodrama. If my life was a movie it would probably be a comedy or maybe a horror show depending on how you want to look at it.
I get my pants on. The pants legs are dragging on the floor; way too long. I shove my big old feet into my shoes and it makes no difference. The pants legs are still dragging. The pants are old and I know they're not getting any longer. Means I'm getting shorter. I didn't notice the shrinking. Guess it was a gradual thing. Doesn't seem long ago that I was six feet tall. Of course I wasn't bow-legged in those days. Don't know when that happened either.
Today's my birthday. Not sure but I think I'm 82 years old. Doesn't seem long since I was a strapping young man. In fact it doesn't seem that long ago that I was a kid. This gray fuzz on my head was curly black in those days. I was the only black kid in my school. When I was little I didn't know the difference between black and white but by the time I was ten I knew how to punch out anybody that got in my way or called me a bad name. I was brutal when I had to be. I knew how to be tough and even cruel. It kept people away from me and that's how I liked it.
I remember the day I was sitting out on the front step. Mama was at work and I was just hanging around, bored, waiting for her to come home to make us some supper. I saw this old lady coming down the sidewalk pulling her grocery cart. From the step I could see she had some good stuff in that cart. There was bread, apples, some meats from the butcher shop wrapped up in brown paper and tied with strings. I wanted some of that good stuff. I was hungry.
When that old lady was just about in front of me I stuck my leg out in front of her. The cart collapsed, groceries scattered all over the cement and she went flying. Then down she went on the sidewalk. Her knees were bleeding all over the place. It was hilarious. Stupid old woman!
Before she had a chance to pick herself up I grabbed a package of meat and ran up the alleyway like I was being chased by dragons. Once I was safely hidden in the back alley I opened the brown package. Good stuff! To this day knackwurst is one of my favourite sausages but it has never tasted as good as it did that day.
Mama came home about a half hour later. I remember ..............
THE SILENT STAR plus a dozen SELECTIONS is an anthology of short stories, all with the focus on contemporary social issues.
You will find this book on my author's page at https://amazon.com/author/audreyaustin
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