Negro Digest - Freedom Archives

a while . I didn't know what she
meant by it . But I knew that I
didn't hate her, and I didn't want
to make fun of her anymore . "I
. . . I . . . care," I said . "C'mon
Janice, get up ."
As usual, Janice didn't pay any
attention to me . "I hate everybody,"
she said . "I hate mama, too .
I'm gonna stay here till I die . Then
she'll be sorry ." i
I was already sorry abo~ everything
. "Please get up," I said, fighting
back the tears . She wouldn't
move . I walked over to the sidewalk
and sat down. I wasn't in any
hurry to go home . I knew I was
going to get it when I got there . It
wouldn't be any little old slap
either . Besides, I knew Janice
couldn't lie in the street forever .
People drove their cars through
that alley . And one way or another,
they would make her move . I sat
for a long time thinking about Janice,
Miss Ruth, and Mama . Finally
Janice got up and came over to the
sidewalk . She sat down next to me .
I didn't know why she moved from
the street . Maybe she thought that
someone cared after all . Maybe she
just got tired of lying there . Anyway,
she moved . We sat there for
a while longer . I didn't look at Janice
because I didn't want to cry ;
and I think maybe she didn't look
at me because she didn't want to
cry either .
Christine Reams, author of the short story, "'The Game," is a student
of History at Washington University in St . Louis, Mo . After graduation
in June, Miss Reams plans to join the Peace Corps for a period of two
years . This is her first published story .
NEGRO DIGEST March 1968 6 3