Distant+Whispers

curled back into a huge grin. “What!” Randy turned to his brother, his eyes pleading. “What?”
“Sit down, Randy,” Ralph said, pointing to his chair.
“But, Ralph! You know Aunt Leila makes real good apple Ger—”
“I said…sit down, Randy!”
Toni shook her head. “The usual gathering of misfits and malcontents, huh, Uncle JT?”
“We are a barber shop, madam! Last refuge of misfits, oddballs and even New Yorkers,” JT said,
chuckling. Since Toni was a little girl, they had played these word games with each other.
Ralph, fuming in his chair, narrowed his eyes. “Whoa! You sure likes to use them ten-dollar
words, don’t you, Toni.”
Toni chuckled. She turned and eyed Ralph. “Maybe!” she said slowly. “But even if I used my fifty
cents words, they would still be about forty nine cents more than your mind could afford.”
“Got Damn! She got you!” Little Man erupted in laughter.
JT smirked.
Even Randy laughed at his brother. Ralph evil-eyed him.
Randy still couldn’t stop laughing. “I can’t help it”, he said to his angry brother. “That sure was
funny.”
Ralph sneered at the petite woman. “Look! Just cause you got that little white man’s education at
South Carolina State don’t mean you all that. Remember, I knowed you from when you wuz just a
frog-eyed puppy in high school.”
“High school!” Toni turned defiantly towards Ralph “That was a long time ago. About seven
years. Now quick, Ralphie, how many years ago was that?”
“Whoaaaaa!” Little Man rocked in his chair.
Mikell chuckled. He laughed even louder when he saw the one they called Randy actually using
his fingers trying to figure out the answer.
It was too much. What a country. You have this buffoon who confuses Afro-German with Apple
German and another who eats in public like a beggar in the street.
Ralph’s embarrassment sizzled into anger. He shot an icy gaze at Mikell. “What you laughing at,
you Sergeant Shultz speaking kraut? You the one come in here looking for your daddy and don’t even
know his name. So don’t play with me, boy. You stupid.”
JT had been sweeping up around his chair. His broom froze in mid-sweep.
“Rein in your mouth, boy, else leave outta here. That boy is my customer. He just paid me five
dollars for cutting his hair. That’s five dollars more than you’ve spent in here in six months. Now, you
tame that tongue of your’n and act like you got some home training”
Toni turned and studied Mikell. “Are you really German?”
“Yes! I live in Berlin,” Mikell responded.
“Berlin! The Brandenburg Gate!” Toni said knowingly.
Mikell’s eyes widened. “You, you know of Berlin?”
“Uh-huh!” Toni replied. “Some kids from Germany came to my college. I went to South Carolina
State. That was about two years ago. They were from, wait a minute, I’ll remember the name,
something like I.S.—”