52
LARRY NEAL
"That's all right with me, but it has got to be a quickie. I'm sup–
posed to meet this chippy in a little while."
When the next round of drinks came, I toasted him and thanked
him
for
his
time. "Wow! Uncle Rufus, all the time you was talking
you never told me who you were pulling for."
He looked at me long and hard. Then his black face broke into
sarcastic smile. He reached down beneath the bar stool, and pulled
his
cane out. He held it up so that the golden-headed serpent would glitter
as it caught the low amber light of the My Bar. He looked at the
cane, and then at me. I could see now, looking at him full
in
the face,
that he was really much older than he seemed. I saw the cane swiftly
fly back. Before I had time to react, Uncle Rufus had whacked me
hard across my arm.
"What was that about?" I whined, rubbing my aching arm.
"It's about you not learning to ask the right questions, especially
after I done took all this time explaining things to you. Sheeet! I really
shouldn't give you no answer. But since you once told me you wanted
to be a boxer, here it is: I was pulling for
both
of them. But this time,
your old uncle put his money on slow blues...."
