Conway was tearing at his vest, trying to get a burning cigarette out he'd dropped from his mouth. He finally got it, stamped it out, then turned to Pigmeat and said, 'The man'll come up here and kick your a.s.s.'

'Kick whose a.s.s?'

'Well now, ef'n it come to that,' Arkansas said, 'I s'pect just usses in here could whip all these pecks on board this ship.'

Ben had to look up again. One of the white pipe fitters stole a glance at Arkansas.

George said, 'Man, you are a fool. These p.e.c.k.e.rwoods'll come up here and beat all the black off'n us. I bet you be the first one to holler calf rope.'

'What you bet?' Arkansas said. 'You ast anybody 'bout me. I'll fight a peck till--'

'Aw, man, hush!' George cut him off. 'The worst whipping I ever got come from me thinking I could whip every grey boy I seen. I was in Chicago, man, and I was going down to the A.C. on Thirty-fifth Street, learning how to duke. Man, I was bad, I was beating up all the little studs on State Street. Man, I dared them chumps to open their chops. Then I run into this grey boy over on Clark and we got to jawing 'bout a ruff we found on the street. He said it was hisn and I said it was mine and we went back in a vacant lot to settle it. Well, man, I got to dancing around, showing off my footwork I'd learned at the gym and hitting this grey boy anywhere I wanted. All he'd do was just duck his head and bore in. Man, I beat this chump till he was b.l.o.o.d.y as a hog, and he kept coming in. Man, I got so tired from beating this chump I couldn't get my hands up no higher'n my belt and this chump kept gritting his teeth and ducking his head and coming in. Just about time I'd decided to broom, this chump hauled off and hit me a haymaker and killed me a year. I'm telling you, man--'

'Tha.s.s you,' Arkansas said. 'That ain't me.'

They had all just about got over their defiance and were about ready to go to work when Tebbel came in with Kelly. Then they just stood there, milling around, looking sullen. Kelly walked around and looked at the work; he stopped and looked at the broken fire pot. Finally he came up to me and said, 'What's the matter these boys aren't working, Bob?'

I looked at him. 'Ask 'em,' I said. I didn't care whether he fired me or not.

He reddened and looked away. His gaze rested on Smitty. 'What's the matter you aren't working?' he said.

'I was just waiting to ask Bob 'bout this here joint,' Smitty said. 'I'm going to work right now.'

Pigmeat said loud enough for everyone to hear, 'n.i.g.g.e.r, you got c.r.a.p up your back.'

Kelly said hurriedly, 'Well, you better all get to work, I'm telling you,' and beat it.

They were all silent for a moment and then Peaches said, 'Bob done just right. There's more'n one of these dirty white tramps needs cussing out. Course it's too bad he lost his job,' she added lamely.

'What he oughta done 'stead of cussing her out is to trick her some kinda way,' Homer said. 'He shoulda slipped up to Hank and said she was lorating him, or somp'n like that, and get Hank down on her. Ain't no need of none of us running round here fighting these white folks. All you gotta do is get 'em fighting 'mongst themselves. Look what they doing in Europe right this minute, killing each other off like flies.'

'That reminds me of when I used to be a water boy for a bunch of Irish ganny dancers in Arkinsaw,' Conway said. 'They was laying track for the Yellow Dog and it was hotter'n a West Virginia c.o.ke oven. Them paddies kept holl'ing, "Come on, c.o.o.n, with the water! Water Jack, you oughta been here and halfway back! Where's that black c.o.o.n?" They made me mad but I knew I couldn't fit 'em all. So when I'd go atter a bucket of water I'd pee in it every time.'

'Conway!' Peaches said.

Conway gave a shamefaced grin. 'Well, that's the truth,' he said. 'Every time.'

The three girls withdrew to the end of the compartment, not out of hearing distance but far enough so no one would think they were included.

I took a deep breath and thought, Well, here it goes. I hadn't expected anything anyway, so I wasn't disappointed. I'd known from the first that, whatever was done for me, I'd have to do it for myself. But I still stuck around; I didn't want the guys to think I didn't appreciate their thinking about me anyway.

Murphy took the ball and started telling dirty jokes. That morning was the first time I'd seen him; he'd been transferred into the gang yesterday when I'd been absent. He was a medium-sized, stoop-shouldered, lean-framed guy, black as the ace of spades, with a long, narrow, egg-shaped head getting bald at the extreme back tip, and eyes that slanted upward at the edges like an Oriental's.

George bobbed his head at Murphy and winked at me. 'Come in talking and ain't let down.'

Johnson said, 'We oughtn't be telling them dirty jokes. There's ladies present.'

'We ain't listening to you,' Zula Mae said. 'We's talking 'bout you.'

Two or three of them looked around to see if Tebbel was still there. He was standing off to one side, listening to everything.

Pigmeat said, 'That Willie! When he was a little baby he was so black his mama used to have to put flour on his mouth to tell where to feed him.'

'That's all right,' Willie said. 'You was so black you was four days old before anybody knew you was here.'

'Gentlemen! Gentlemen!' George said. 'I beg you desist.'

The three girls started out. It was getting too rough for them. When Peaches pa.s.sed Willie she pinched him on the leg with a pair of pliers. He jumped and yelled.

'That's what you get,' Johnson said.

Then all of a sudden Arkansas asked, 'Kin you run?'

'Who you talking to?' Johnson asked.

'You,' Arkansas said.

'Sure, I can run,' Johnson said. 'Can you run?'

'Kin I run!' Arkansas echoed. 'Takes three to tell it.'

After a moment Johnson asked dutifully, 'What they say?'

'One to say, "Here he come!" The other to say, "Where he at?" The third to say, "I didn't seen him!"' Arkansas didn't crack a smile.

'That reminds me of the coloured fellow what went down to the river--' Smitty began.

'Now how that remind you of a man going to the river?' Arkansas wanted to know.

'Anyway,' Smitty went op, 'this coloured fellow was sitting down by the bank of the river when an alligator came up out of the water. The coloured fellow watched the alligator for a while, then he started laughing. "Look at that old funny alligator," he said. The alligator rolled his eyes at the coloured fellow and ast, "What so funny 'bout me? I'se just an alligator." The coloured fellow jumped up and looked all about, looked in the bushes and up and down the bank, then he look back at the alligator. "Did you say somp'n?" he ast. "I say what's so funny 'bout me?" the alligator said. The coloured fellow's eyes popped near most out his head. "Kin you talk, or is I just hearing things?" he ast the alligator; and the alligator rolled his eyes and said, "Sure, I kin talk. All us alligators kin talk. The difference between us and you coloured folks, you coloured folks talk too much."

'Well, the coloured fellow lit out running and didn't stop till he come to the field where a white man was ploughing, and he said, "Mistah Jones, Mistah Jones, I just hear an alligator talk." Mistah Jones said, "Go on, boy, you know can't no alligator talk." The coloured fellow said, "I swear I heard him talk. Just lak a natural man. Come on down to the river, Mistah Jones, I'll show you." Mistah Jones say, "I ain't got no time for no foolishness; I got to git dis corn ploughed." But the coloured fellow said, "I swear I heard him talk. I laughed at him and say, 'Look at dat old funny alligator,' and he say, 'What's so funny 'bout me?'" So Mistah Jones say, "All right, boy, I'll come 'long and see. But I swear if that alligator don't talk I'se gonna beat the stuffings outa you." The coloured fellow said, "Oh, he gonna talk."

'Well, they come down to the river bank and the old alligator was laying out in the sun; and the coldured fellow said, "Hey, alligator, show this man you kin talk." The old alligator just rolled his eyes at the coloured fellow. The white man looked at the coloured fellow and the coloured fellow said, "Now come on, Mistah Alligator, and talk. You was talking up a breeze a while ago." But the alligator don't say nothing. Ain't nothing the coloured fellow can do to make him say nothing. So the white fellow got tired of standing there and jumped on the coloured fellow like he said and beat the stuffings out of him. Well, the coloured fellow sat down beside the alligator, his head knotty as fat pine; man, his head knottier than the alligator's. "Why didn't you talk?" he ast the alligator. "I told that man you could talk and you made him beat the stuffings outa me." The alligator rolled his eyes at the coloured fellow and said, "That just what I says, you colpured folks talk too much."

Willie and Arkansas rolled on the floor. 'Dat was some alligator,' Arkansas said.

I caught Ben's eye and grinned at him. Ben made twirling motions with his index finger at the side of his head, and I laughed.

n.o.body could top that one, and they were silent for a moment. Tebbel took advantage of the pause to tell his. 'Old Aunty was out in the back yard washing.' All of us gave him a startled look. 'And she said--'

'You mean old Aunty Loo?' Pigmeat cut him off.

'It don't make any difference what her name was,' Tebbel tried again; but Pigmeat cut him off again, 'Or do you mean old Aunty Coo?'

Tebbel began getting red. 'Just old Aunty,' he snarled. 'Old Aunty was out in the back yard--'

Conway picked up a duct and banged it on the deck. 'We done told enough jokes, now let's get to work,' he said.

I had to laugh. I felt better than I'd felt all morning.

'We all know that one about old Aunty,' Johnson said.

'You know that one, don't you, Johnson?' I winked.

'Everybody knows tifat one, boy,' Pigmeat said to Tebbel. 'You go think up another one and then come back.'

'What I wanna know now is whether to make a b.u.t.t joint here or a lap joint,' Conway said, turning over the duct.

'Tebbel will tell you all about it,' I said. 'Tebbel's gonna be your boss next week.'

Tebbel looked dubious. 'What does the print say?'

'If I had the print I wouldn't be asking you,' Conway said.

'Better get the print to be sure,' Tebbel said, and walked out.

'I done run him,' Conway grinned.

'It's a lap joint,' I said.

'I know,' he said. 'I was just trying to stop him from telling that dirty joke to keep from having to knock out his teeth.'

The three girls came in and Peaches asked, 'Are you all through telling dirty jokes?'

I laughed. 'Tebbel broke it up.'

'What did he tell?' Bessie wanted to know. 'Something dirty about some coloured people, I know.'

'They ganged up on him and wouldn't let him tell it, so he left,' I told her.

'That's good,' Peaches said. 'Don't let him get started on that stuff.'

I winked at Peaches. 'Think I'll go out and give my white woman a break,' I said.

'You ain't no trouble,' she said slyly. 'You done found that out.'

But it didn't even ruffle me. 'Wanna bet?' I teased.

'Who gonna be the judge?'

'I'll let you judge. If you holler more than once--'

'What I've got will kill a little boy like you dead,' she cut me off, and then if she had been light enough she would have turned fiery red: 'All right, let our helpers alone,' George said. 'We'll take care of everything that needs taking care of. You go on and give your white woman a break.'

Kelly had popped his head in just in time to hear the last of it. He gave a startled look and beat it without saying a word.

Pigmeat laughed. 'Did you chalk the walker?'

I glanced at my watch. It was nine-fifteen. We had clowned up more than an hour. But they had got it off their chests; almost all of them had started back to work. I felt better about it too. Now I could go up and talk to the union steward without blowing my top.

Then all of a sudden Conway snapped his fingers. 'We done plumb forgot all about Bob--' he began, but I cut him off, 'No, no, we're not gonna do that any more. You guys go on and do your work. I'll take care of everything.'

'Well, we behind you, chief,' Smitty said.

'Way behind you,' Pignieat said.

I gave them the okay sign, hitched up my pants and started out. Ben stopped me. 'Some folks, ain't they?' he said, shaking his head.

'Remember what the monkey said when young Mose ran over him and cut off his tail?' I asked.

'My people, my people,' we chorused, grinning at each other.

CHAPTER XIII.

I found the union steward, Herbie Frieberger, on the weather deck, enjoying his privileges. He was a tall, lean, stoop-shouldered guy in his early thirties, with frizzly gopher-coloured hair, a flapping loose-lipped mouth, and a big hooked nose. His face was narrow and his brownish eyes were set close together; he had a shiny tin hat tipped to the back of his head and a union b.u.t.ton big as a saucer pinned to the front of his shirt. I didn't exactly hate the guy, but I despised him from the word 'go.' It was strictly personal.

There were five guys standing around him, four white and a coloured fellow who was something or other in the union, probably the proof that it wasn't discriminatory. Herbie was beating up his chops about Lend-Lease to Russia when I walked up.

'Comrades,' I greeted.

They all looked around. One of the white guys winked; the other three didn't speak.

'Comrade,' the coloured fellow saluted. A black Russian, I thought.

Herbie looked salty. "Lo, Bob,' he growled.

'May I have a word in private with you, Commissar?' I said. Herbie didn't like that either. 'Come on, can the corny jive,' he grated. 'Next thing you'll be asking me to get you out of a jam.'

I kept my face under control. 'Okay, you know the story,' I said. 'I want to talk to you about it.'

He got important again. 'Say look, Bob, can't you see me in about a half-hour? Maybe I can do something for you, old man.'

'Whatever you can do in a half-hour, you can do right now.

'Jesus Christ, all you guys do is gripe,' he complained. 'You don't want a union, you want a court of human relations. Write a letter to Mr. Anthony.'

If he knew what I thought about both him and the union he wouldn't be so cute, I thought. I kept my voice level. 'Come on, Jew boy, don't be so loud,' I said, dragging him in front of the white bays.

He jerked a look of solid malevolence at me, then gave the others a you-see-how-it-is look, spread his hands in a despairing gesture, and walked with me to the starboard rail.