Getting to the Answers : Stories

It was not uncommon for sentimentality and humor to mingle when (the men at Slim’s table) talked of (Bart, the crotchety elderly white man who had been teasingly adopted as Slim’s “pappy”). As they sat together at the table, Hughes told Slim more about what had happened at the hospital (Bart had been hospitalized several times after collapsing in the cafeteria):

“I took him a couple of candy bars. I went over to the liquor store because I knew he always goes in there before you drive him home. I described Bart to the guy behind the counter. He said, ‘Oh, yes.’ I said to him, ‘What kind of candy does he buy?’ He laughed. ‘Chuckles.’

“So I took a couple of Chuckles to him. When I walked into the hospital room, he said, ‘What do you got?’

“I said, ‘Chuckles.’

“He said, ‘Hughes, I don’t eat candy. I don’t eat candy.’ ”

Slim and Hughes laughed together.

“I said, ‘Well, they’re here. And if you get hungry you can have them.’

“He said, ‘Well, why don’t you take them with you and eat them?’

“As I reached for them, he put his hand in the air and said, ‘Leave one.’ I don’t know if he didn’t know how to . . . all he had to say was thanks.”