11,833. LIFE LIVED AT RANDOM

LIFE LIVED AT RANDOM

The pepperman was staked to his

game; I'd put up the 40-buck ante

for him. Now all he had to do was

sit down but all he wanted to do

was play pool. 'My very slick

condescender, that's not so cool.'

I had to tell him that, not even

knowing what it meant, those

words I'd just made up. If it had

been, instead, 1960, I may have

said, Hey, daddio, get your 

hepcat black ass off the table 

and come here.' Well, maybe. 

-

Back then you had to be really

careful anyway; like the time

James Baldwin and that other

guy got nearly beat to death at

The White Horse, for sitting

at a table with two white girls.

Two Italian locals didn't like

what they saw when they 

passed by on the way to the

men's room (or as they say in

Italian, 'Balderoni toiletrini').

They never even realized those

two dukes were gay.