Lemme have it. LUCY BELLE (_measuring him with a withering glare_) Fo’ Gawd sakes--! Listen ter yo’--! CHICK Go ahaid! LUCY BELLE Is yo’ crazy--? CHICK I only be in it free days a week--an’ I’ll pay yo’ twict as much as Pocher. LUCY BELLE Don’ care ef yo’ pays me five times as much. CHICK W’at’s de mattah wid yo’? I ain’ got smallpox or nuffin’ like dat-- LUCY BELLE Yo’ knows I ain’ gwine ter let yo’ have dat room. CHICK Don’ like mah looks--huh? LUCY BELLE (_With a laugh_) Sho’--dat’s it. Waitin’ fo’ a bettah lookin’ man ter come ’long. CHICK (_with an explosive laugh_) Nevah did have no luck wid de ladies. LUCY BELLE (_in the same spirit_) Ain’ gwine ter till yo’ git anoder face. (_Chick nods and chuckles._) CHICK (_at length, seriously_) Luce--listen ter me-- LUCY BELLE Chick Avery, lay off wid dat nonsense-- CHICK I gits so lonesome-- LUCY BELLE (_shaking her head and scowling_) Nuffin’ doin’. CHICK Jes’ till I fin’s a room ’roun’ dis neighborhood dat suit me. LUCY BELLE (_with mock ferocity_) Yo’ wan’ me ter bus’ yo’ in de eye? CHICK Ain’ I yo’ frien’--? LUCY BELLE (_nodding_) Sho’ yo’ is! An’ I wan’s yo’ ter stay mah frien’. (_Chick grins and shakes his head, as though he regarded her as an extremely difficult person to understand._) CHICK (_breaking into song_) “Yo’ kin break mah bones, Wid sticks an’ stones, But I’se gwine ter live anahow till I die.” LUCY BELLE Yo’ oughter be singin’ fo’ a livin’--’stead-a barbarin’. CHICK Dat’s w’at ev’body tell me. (_They both laugh explosively. Lucy Belle sits down._) CHICK (_at length_) Enjoyed yo’se’f at dat dance at de Mawnin’ Star, did’n’ yo’? LUCY BELLE Sho’ did--! CHICK Glad yo’ wen’, now, ain’ yo’? LUCY BELLE I reckon so. CHICK Yo’ knows so! LUCY BELLE Anaway yo’ says. CHICK Had ter beg yo’ long nuff ter git yo’ ter go. LUCY BELLE I was’n’ feelin’ so good jes’ den. CHICK ’Noder dance up dere Saturday night. LUCY BELLE Yo’ don’ say-- CHICK Big or-_kes_tra an’ plenty ter drink. LUCY BELLE Yo’ gwine--? CHICK Sho’! Wan’ ter go? LUCY BELLE Kain’t. CHICK (_impatiently_) Sho’ yo’ kin. (_She shakes her head._) W’at’s de mattah wid yo’? LUCY BELLE Not dis time. CHICK Why not? Is yo’ sick? LUCY BELLE I ain’ feelin’ jes’ right. CHICK Dat’s wa’t yo’ needs--ter git out an’ have a good time. LUCY BELLE I know-- CHICK Yo’ wan’ ter quit wukkin’ so steady. LUCY BELLE Tell me somefin’ I don’ know. CHICK Why don’ yo’--? LUCY BELLE Why don’ I quit breafin’? CHICK Yo’ look ten yeahs younger at dat las’ dance. LUCY BELLE (_with a deprecating laugh_) Wish I thought so. CHICK I’m tellin’ yo’ so! LUCY BELLE Did’n’ feel no ten yeahs younger w’en I gits out on dat flo’. CHICK ’Noder one up dere free weeks from nex’ Saturday. LUCY BELLE Dat so? CHICK Come on an’ go ter dat. LUCY BELLE (_rising_) Kain’t, Chick. CHICK (_sliding off the table_) Gwine ter stick home yere--all de time? LUCY BELLE