played.
19
Clarance and I had had these fights for more than 20
twenty-five years. I could still get to him. I regretted it 21
every time. But all Clarance had to do was be himself and 22
he made me mad. He’d always done better than I had. He 23
held a good job as the daytime dispatcher for a colored 24
cab company. He was married, but he still had more girl-25
friends than I did. He read the newspaper every day and 26
was always referring to events in the world to prove a S 27
R 28
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Walter Mosley
1
point when we were discussing politics or current affairs.
2
Even though I had made it through three years of college, 3
Clarance always seemed to know more.
4
For a while there I had a subscription to the
the paper. Sometimes I’d try to do the crossword puzzle, 7
but that just made me feel stupid. Finally, after losing my 8
job at the bank, I let the subscription go.
9
I did some things better than Clarance. I was good at 10
sports. But he wouldn’t compete with me there. He said I 11
was better than him but I couldn’t get a scholarship or 12
anything. And he was right. Like my uncle Brent was al-13
ways happy to say, “He could win the race, but he cain’t 14
beat the clock.”
15
So I tortured Clarance now and then, angry at him for 16
proving my inadequacies.
17
18
19
There were certain benefits to an early evening. The first 20
thing was that there was more than half the fifth of 21
whisky left over. I loved to drink. Loved it. But I didn’t 22
abuse alcohol. I never drank before the sun went down 23
and never drove while under the influence. Every once in 24
a while I’d make Ricky and Clarance sleep over when they 25
got too tipsy on a Thursday night.
26
You’d think I’d want to spend the evening with my 27 S
friends. As it was I spent almost every night alone, listening 28 R
to the radio or reading science fiction. I never got into the
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