The Castle Cross the Magnet Carter

by Kia Corthron

  Soon as I step out my front door I get shook. There’s Carl on his porch lookin down at Roof on the sidewalk below. Engaged in conversation. Now Carl turn my way. Wave, smilin. Roof see me too. I wave not smilin, stroll down, no kinda rush.

  The firs day do not wear red, Roof’s sayin to Carl. That’s Humble East, cross town. Rival, you musta heard of em by now. Blue’s nice to wear, Humble West blue, or you can wear some other color, jus not red.

  Never?

  Football days, when there’s games, always blue. If ya can. Maybe all your blue’s dirty. But not red. You can wear red any day but football days an the firs day.

  How’re the teachers?

  I ain’t heard much. Be my firs year secondary too. I did hear pray you don’t get ole Miss Englewood, English.

  Pick your classes?

  Uh-uh, not till ninth. Seventh an eighth they assign sections. All the sudden thunderclap an a streak.

  Whoa! says Carl. You all wanna play Monopoly? Indicatin the porch.

  Roof look at me a second, like he need my permission. I say nothin. Okay, he say to Carl. Well, I ain’t never played it before.

  I’ll teach ya. I taught Dwight, an Carl goes inside to get the board as the big drops start ploppin. I notice the two of em jus decided it’s Monopoly, ain’t neither one bothered to wait for my two cents.

  On Carl’s porch Roof says, He was askin about school. Cuz almost August, an me an him at the same school after Labor Day.

  I thought you didn’t like him. Lower my voice.

  Roof shrugs. Foun a penny in the yard, on my way to D’Angelo’s get some bubble gum he stops me, talkin. Roof shrugs again. Guess he okay.

  You have a choice of the iron, the thimble, the rocking horse, the purse, the cannon, the hat, or the lantern, Carl comin out says to Roof. I like the sports car, Dwight likes the shoe, and we lost the battleship.

  Maybe I wanna be lantern today, I say.

  I be the shoe then, says Roof.

  We set cross-leg, board in the middle while Carl explains every stupid lass detail to Roof. The worth a each property, land versus the railroads, how to get sent to jail, developments.

  Since ya brought it up. We say limit to one hotel, or no limits?

  I see Carl’s eyes glance to Mediterranean and Baltic. My strategy! Buy the cheap land an cover it in prime real estate!

  Well, strictly according to the rules, only one. But if we decide to bend the rules—

  Let’s stick by the rules, I say.

  Who wants to be banker? You probably shouldn’t since you never played before. Dwight?

  This the firs time that question’s been put to me. Every other instance Carl jus automatically appoint himself banker. I wanna say No thank you jus to catch him by surprise, but say no now I might never get the question asked again.

  After two passin goes for which I give him his two hundred an a lotta property bought, Roof is happy with rollin two trays an ecstatic followin em up with boxcars, thinkin he on a doubles streak, till Carl remines him three doubles is a jail sentence, so then Roof look more serious rollin an rollin an rollin the dice in his hand, prayin not to repeat his good luck which suddenly be bad. I imagined this day different, Carl’s firs full day back. Sunny an puttin up the volleyball net an me askin him about camp an what is tetherball an maybe his daddy an sister joinin in to volleyball an his mama bringin out the lemonade. I could ask Carl about camp now but I don’t wanna. It was somethin I had in my head to be a conversation between two friends already knowed each other pretty good.

  Roof!

  His mother hollerin. After all Carl’s explanations, we ain’t been playin long enough for anybody to buy up a whole lot so them green houses and red hotels Roof been eyein the whole game don’t never even come out the box. Roof let go a big groan an despite the monsoon drag his feet all the way up the street to his house.

  Carl look at me.

  You wanna keep playin?

  I shrug.

  Wamme teach you piano?

  We set on the bench side by side. He liffs the cover. My eyes dancin. All them keys!

  Listen to this.

  Okay, that’s Middle C. I’m gonna teach ya the C Major scale now. It’s all white so don’t worry about the black now. C D E F G A B and now you’re back to C. Listen to this C, now this C. That’s an octave.

  Why don’t it start with A?

  Huh?

  You jus went by the alphabet, C D E F G A B. Wouldn’t it be easier A B C D E F G ?

  A’s not in the middle.

  Well maybe it oughta be.

  Well it’s not. Now play that C Major scale.

  Huh?

  What I just did. Not so fast! you need to hear every note. Yeah. That’s good. Okay, chords. A chord is at least three notes at the same time. See? Try it. Why’d you hit that black key?

  I like the black keys.

  That sounded terrible! You’re not ready for the black keys yet, they’re sharp.

  After supper I think about goin to Roof’s but the rain pourin again, how we sposed to do our outdoor tower ritual? Anyhow I already seen Roof today. Carl’s.

  Nex mornin still drizzly. I knock on Roof’s door early. Miss Ray Anne holdin the baby, smilin.

  Oh hello there Dwight. Roof ain’t up yet.

  Could you tell him I be aroun for the Dusk Club if it ain’t rainin?

  The Dusk Club?

  Uh-huh.

  Okay.

  That was luck. If it’d been Roof he’da wondered why I couldn’t play now. Though I kinda covered myself there, I could say I gotta do my chores now which wouldn’t be a lie cuz I leff the house before my work, now gotta go back hit it. But after your chores, he’d surely say nex, an then I’d be stuck. Cuz after my chores I planned to go to Carl’s. I do plan on splittin time between em but I ain’t seen Carl in three weeks so we gotta catch up.

  The sun suddenly out bright. Takes a while to set up the poles for the volleyball net, his dad comin out to help. When it’s ready we play two against one, firs game Mr. Talley on my team, second Mr. Talley versus me an Carl. Mrs. Talley come out with some kinda fruit punch she say she been experimentin with. She happy to see me, she missed me. Then me an Carl one-on-one till supper.

  What’s tetherball?

  Stupid camp game. (I don’t say but recall Carl mentionin in his letter he liked it.) Ball tied to a rope, rope tied to top of a pole. You hit it one direction, your opponent hits it back at you. Poor man’s volleyball, then he tells me at camp he learned the 1942 volleyball official new rule: touchin the ball anywhere from the knees up is legal.

  Sky clouded over again but I can’t exactly cancel the Dusk Club cuza overcast. Roof’s dirt yard’s muddy, which I enjoy. The tower pretty much decimated from the rains, the pieces lyin in a pile roun the foundation so we rebuild from scratch, embracin the opportunity to make it better. It’s fun, but tomarra I want more volleyball or another piano lesson. I don’t know what I’m gonna say when Roof asks me about tomarra, but he never does. Instead he jus seem grateful I bothered with him at all with Carl back. Walkin home I turn aroun at my house an sprised to see Roof still standin there, lookin at me kinda sad.

  Flood! I beg her can I go to Carl’s an firs she say no, then she relent but watch me from our porch, make sure I don’t stop to play in the water. Like I’m really gonna drown, four-inch deep.

  After my piano lesson Carl pull out Criss-Crosswords. Carl got so much indoor stuff rainy days ain’t never a disappointment! Mrs. Talley bring us brownies an milk. Carl spells BELCH the same time he does, loud. We both crackin up. Then I take his C and CADET. Then he take my T an TRASH.

  I was thinkin of whatshisname up the street. Then he roll over laughin again.

  Till that moment I had no idea if maybe Carl felt different about Roof, him actin all cordial that Monopoly day. I start up
again too, all contagious, howlin till the tears. Then I try to take the S for JUDAS, J tile’s eight points, but Carl says no proper nouns so I pass.

  When I knock on Carl’s nex day his mother answers. She done sent him to D’Angelo’s for eggs, but Come on in, Dwight, you can wait for him in the family room with Mr. Talley.

  I’d just as soon wait out on the porch but I do like I’m told. I like Carl’s family but without Carl I feel kinda funny.

  Listen to this, Dwight, says Mr. Talley. You know it?

  He got his phonograph playin. I seen it before but this the firs time it been turned on while I’m here.

  Touch it if you want, Mr. Talley says. Gentle, don’t make the record skip. You know Jelly Roll Morton?

  I hearda him.

  Stride piano. The right hand playing the melody while the left brings in the bassline. Rhythm. Morton could play the melody with just his right thumb! In the bass he moved in major and minor sixths instead of octaves. New Orleans sound. You hear it in Satchmo. You know Louis Armstrong?

  I nod. I think, I didn’t imagine colored music be comin outa this record player!

  God, I wish Bolden’s recordings had survived! Not many were made, the technology wasn’t yet in place. His band was the start of it all. Jazz.

  Dwight, say Mrs. Talley enterin with her tray, have a cookie?

  If the Bartons had a phonograph surely be nothin but country n western comin out of it. An never know when nigger gonna pop outa one a them Barton kids’ mouths. I kep waitin for that here, but guess it ain’t gonna happen. Whole different brand a white people, like they don’t even notice I’m colored. Carl walks in the door. Badminton or volleyball? he say to me.

  Walkin home for supper I think maybe better I spend more time at Carl’s. Good for me, make me on bess behavior, show em how Negroes can be. Up the street I notice Mr. John’s pickup parked, muss be his day off. He don’t get many days off. Mr. John an Miss Ray Anne’s nice. Still, bein with Roof an his family I sure ain’t improvin on myself. I ain’t tried at all to be on good behavior there, I jus am what I am.

  Some days go by I forget about the Dusk Club, or playin till dark with Carl then too late for the Dusk Club. One evenin Carl an his family go out to some barbecue they was invited to an I use the opportunity to walk up to Roof’s. Miss Ray Anne answer the door.

  Oh hi, Dwight. Where’s Roof?

  I step back. I come over here lookin for him.

  Oh. She look confused. Oh. I thought that was odd. Lass couple days he say I’m goin out with my friend, I thought Why don’t he jus say Dwight? But guess he meant some other friend. I didn’t know he had no other friends! She laughs. From inside the house Beaver an Cath Cath start fightin over somethin. Oh I better see what that’s about. You come aroun again soon, honey. An she shut the door.

  I turn aroun to walk on home, then stop. Go back, take a glance in Roof’s backyard. Not a remnant left a the castle we built, cleared away clean like it was never there.

  ELIOT

  Which way does the E point?

  Dr. Leibowitz put his big machine over my eyes, it scary! Brush agains my eyelash, what if my eyelash get caught in there!

  Mama!

  I’m right here, baby. I hear her I don’t see her.

  Which way do the E’s point, Eliot?

  I point my finger to the right, to the leff, up, up, leff, down.

  Very good. How about now?

  Mama!

  I’m right here, baby.

  When it over Dr. Leibowitz say, Pick out your frames.

  I look at Mama. Any color I want?

  Any color you want.

  There’s black! There’s brown! There’s red-brown! There’s light blue! I like light blue!

  Try em on, he say.

  I try em on, look in the mirror. I want em!

  Try another pair, she say.

  I can’t have em?

  I jus want you to try more than one before you make a decision.

  I pick a brown pair. I try em on, look in the mirror. I want em!

  I come home wearin my black pair. Everything I see only one of. We walk in, I see Dwight one Dwight. He look at me. I think he gonna be mean.

  But he smile. They look good, Eliot.

  I love my brother!

  Week later school start. Mrs. Brent. We hear she strict! She seem strict!

  There are things I will not tolerate in my classroom. No tardiness. No talking while I’m talking. And no nose picking, that’s a one-way trip to the principal.

  But after a few days she nicer. To me she nicer. She like me! I do my work! I’m smart!

  Class, what did we learn yesterday about the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar? What makes him so distinctive?

  My han up!

  Eliot?

  He write in die-lect an standard.

  Mrs. Brent smile at me!

  Yes, he wrote some poems in the Negro dialect of the time and others in the standard American English. He was as adroit as any white poet writing in the language, but he also had pride in the English of his own people. Now what do you think “adroit” means from the context. Eliot?

  He wrote jus as good as the white people!

  Very good!

  Dwight huggin the covers! I pull em back, he pull em harder! October startin chilly! Dwight still sleep, Saturday he sleep forever!

  I hear somethin. Coal truck! Coal truck! Run down the steps!

  Mama already top a the basement lookin down. Don’t let her see me! They open the basement winda, pour the coal down the shoot! It all loud, she can’t even tell I’m right behind her! Coal so pretty, coal smell so good! October 11th, firs coal a the year!

  I can tell when they almost finished, coal mountain! I tiptoe away. Mama catch me starin at the coal mountain, she be mad! She fraid I play in the coal mountain, eat the coal mountain like lass year. I ain’t! I told her I ain’t, promise!

  I go through the shortcut bushes find Parker, play with Parker. But I keep thinkin bout it, thinkin bout coal. I come in the kitchen. My mama upstairs. Late mornin, soun like Dwight still ain’t up. Quiet, quiet, I run to the basement door! Step down the steps, easy! easy!

  Coal! I love the coal, hahaha! I love bein in the coal mountain, toppa the coal mountain! My behine buried in the coal mountain! I’m the queen an the coal mountain my dress! Hahahaha! Coal smell good. Mmm. Coal lick good.

  Eliot!

  Quiet quiet.

  Eliot, I’ma fry some bacon. You want some bacon?

  I love bacon! But I ain’t hungry. I’m full. I’m full on coal, hee hee hee.

  Then I hear her callin outside for me, I run up the steps! Up to the bathroom! I worsh myself worsh myself clean clean clean!

  Eliot!

  I got dirty outside, Mama, I’m worshin up!

  Didn’t you hear me callin you?

  Uh-uh.

  Well hurry up an come on down here.

  I walk in the kitchen. Dwight already eatin his bacon, he like it a little soff. I like it crisp! crisp! Dwight take a bite, then stop froze. Starin at me. Mama turn aroun, gasp!

  You been in that coal?

  Uh-uh! Uh-uh! Dwight whole body shakin. Stop laughin, Dwight!

  Why you tellin him stop laughin? You the one actin silly. An you been eatin it too, aintcha? How many times I gotta tell you not to eat coal? It ain’t food, boy!

  Stop laughin!

  Now smile, she say.

  I do. Dwight almost fall off his chair! Mama pull a han meer out the drore, show me. I shoulda brushed my teeth, black black.

  Stuck inside all resta the day! I can’t even say Night to Parker! Cry myself to sleep, wake up snifflin. The tree branches outside the winda make a shadow dance in our room. When Dwight’s not here, I don’t like that shadow dance!

  Dwight come to
bed, I’m bawlin again. Dwight turn away, don’t say nothin like he don’t hear me like he death or somethin. You act like you don’t hear me like you death or somethin, Dwight!

  Deaf. He still don’t turn look at me!

  I had to have my Saturday night bath Saturday day, I couldn’t go outside resta the day!

  What was you gonna do? Walk aroun filthy?

  An no pie! Why I gotta have early bath an no pie, two punishments! Cruel an unusual!

  Eliot! she holler. Stop that cryin an go to sleep!

  I put my hans over my mouth, try not to cry!

  You better stay outa that coal, he whisper.

  I can’t help it! It shiny! It smell good!

  You better stay out.

  The wind blow, the tree shadows dancin.

  In my dream me an Mama an Dwight all buried in the coal mountain, all happy tastin the coal mountain, hahahaha!

  How many’s in your class? She walk me to school early today, before Dwight leave. We stop in D’Angelo’s.

  Seventeen! Then I get another thought. Seventeen in my class, today October seventeen. My birthday! My birthday! I’m glad my birthday’s Friday. At school they gonna sing Happy Birthday, if my birthday was Saturday I don’t get that!

  We color jack o’lanterns. I ain’t never seen no jack-o’-lanterns before, I guess the white people make em. Sometime my mama call me punkin. My jack-o’-lantern got three teeth. Enda the day everbody sing Happy Birthday to me! Then Mrs. Brent give everbody a long fat pretzel stick! I love long fat pretzel sticks! Crunch crunch crunch! Then she say, Mrs. Campbell bought us all these pretzel sticks for Eliot’s birthday. Tell Eliot thank you for his mother. An everyone thank me for my mother!

  Mama! Mama! They all thanked me for my mother Mrs. Campbell for the pretzel sticks! She waitin outside for me.

  Did they? She smile, hole my han.

  In the kitchen, I look at her makin cake!

  I’m seven! I’m seven! I’m seven! I get cake I get ice cream. I get chocolate cake chocolate ice cream Happy Birthday, Eliot! Happy Birthday, Eliot, hahahaha! The telephone ring!

  Hello, Mr. Seven!

  Hi Daddy!

  How it feel, ole man?

  I’m bigger!

  I know.