AUNT REBECCA Reckon he would--! LUCY BELLE Den he decides ter beat it--an’ goes off ter Atlanta. Stays dere five yeahs. Only come back yere ’bout a yeah ago. AUNT REBECCA An’ yo’ ain’ seen him--all dat time? LUCY BELLE No. AUNT REBECCA Gawd-a-massy! LUCY BELLE But he say he was thinkin’ ’bout me all de time! Nevah fo’git me an’ nevah seen any oder gal dat he like bettah! (_Shakes her head._) An’ I sho’ nevah did fo’git him! Ef I’d only stuck ter him. Would’n’ have had ha’f de trouble I is. Yo’ see--yo’ see, aftah he’d been gone a while I began ter see w’at a good fellah he’d been. (_Pauses a moment in sombre thought._) While Jeff was in de wukhouse I marries Ed Cales. He uster bootblack on de Avenue an’ carry sample cases fo’ drummers. Fo’ a lil’ while he drive a wagon fo’ a white man dat run a meat stan’ on Louisiana Avenue. But mos’ de time he don’ do nuffin’ but lay ’roun de house. (_Contemptuously._) He wasn’ no good--jes’ a loafin’, no-count niggah dat lay ’roun an’ let a gal wuk fo’ him--long as she would stan’ fo’ it. I lives wid him two yeahs. Den one day he say he gwine down ter Richmon’ fo’ a few days, beats it off--an’ I ain’ nevah seen him since. AUNT REBECCA Yo’ lucky ter git rid-a him so easy! LUCY BELLE (_nodding_) ’Deed I was! (_Sighs heavily._) ’Bout free mon’s aftah dat I meets Jeff Bisbee ovah in Gerner’s one day--an’--an’ he walks home wid me. I’se livin’ ovah in Carter Street den. (_Gives a little nervous shudder._) He shoot off his mouf great. Tol’ me how much he think-a me--an’ dat I is de onlies’ gal dat evah got him goin’--an’ all dat kin’-a stuff. He say dat he broke--but dat he ’spec’ ter collec’ some money in a week or two--an’ dat he don’ know w’at he gwine ter do till den. Begs me ter let him stay dere wid me fo’ a few days. (_Drops her head and sighs._) I finally does. De longer he stay de harder he git, an’ by-an’-by he say ef I don’ let him stay dere all de time he gwine ter kill me. He say ef I call de _po_-lice he gwine ter lay fo’ me--an’ watch his chanct--night an’ day--till he git me. Hones’, I gits so scar’t I did’n’ hardly know w’at ter do. An’--an’ so he keeps livin’ on dere wid me--an’ I keeps thinkin’ mo’ an’ mo’ ’bout Sam--an’ wishin’ I’d stuck ter him--an’ dat I knowed whar he was. AUNT REBECCA ’Deed, honey, I knows how yo’ must-a felt. LUCY BELLE He wuk in a livery stable ovah on C Street fo’ a while. Couldn’ git him ter do nuffin’ steady. Mos’ de time he jes’ lay ’roun’ de house an’ guzzle gin--guzzle gin--an’ w’en he ain’ doin’ dat, he out in de alley shootin’ crap wid Mink Hall an’ Slim an’ dat gang. AUNT REBECCA He wuss den no-count! LUCY BELLE