"Himes, Chester - If He Hollers Let Him Go" - читать интересную книгу автора (Himes Chester)

'Damn that!'
The other workers took their cue from me. 'Come on, let's get together and back Bob up,' Red said. 'Let's go down and see the man and tell him what's what.'
'Look, fellows, let me handle it,' I said, but they weren't listening to me now.
They were going to have their say about it so they gathered around Red. All of them joined but Ben; he went about his work and had nothing to do with them.
Each one had a different idea. Red said they all ought to quit. Smitty was for talking to Mac. Pigmeat said they ought to mess up the work so it'd have to be done over. Conway thought they ought to form a committee to go see some of the big shots in the front office. George said they ought to organize all the coloured workers in the yard and strike.
Tebbel stood at a distance, red and undecided. I knew he wanted to tell them to go to work; I wondered if he would try it. I didn't say anything to them; I let 'em beef. I didn't care whether they worked or not; I didn't look for 'em to climb any limbs for me; but it made me feel good that they thought about it.
Two white pipe fitters came into the compartment, but they went about their work without asking any questions. They had a tall, angular, coal-black fellow as their helper. He leaned over Homer's shoulder and asked him what it was all about. Homer told him. He came closer, was included.
All of a sudden Pigmeat snatched up a hammer and smashed a cast-iron fire pot. It broke into pieces, rang like a gong in my brain. Everybody jumped. Pieces flew through the air; one hit one of the white pipe fitters on the leg. Kerosene ran all over the deck.
'I wish that was a peckerwood's head,' Pigmeat said. His face was distorted, uncontrolled.
Then everybody reacted at once. The white pipe fitter glanced at Pigmeat, reached over, knocked the piece of iron out of the way, went back to work. Ben stopped work just long enough to give Pigmeat a cold, sardonic look.
Red said, 'Don't nobody light no match until these fumes blow outa here.'
Tebbel hurried out. Then suddenly Pigmeat grinned. 'I scared hell outa that sonabitch, didn't I?'
George said, 'I don't know whether you scared hell outa him. You sure scared hell outa me.'
Conway was tearing at his vest, trying to get a burning cigarette out he'd dropped from his mouth. He finally got it, stamped it out, then turned to Pigmeat and said, 'The man'll come up here and kick your ass.'
'Kick whose ass?'
'Well now, ef'n it come to that,' Arkansas said, 'I s'pect just usses in here could whip all these pecks on board this ship.'
Ben had to look up again. One of the white pipe fitters stole a glance at Arkansas.
George said, 'Man, you are a fool. These peckerwoods'll come up here and beat all the black off'n us. I bet you be the first one to holler calf rope.'
'What you bet?' Arkansas said. 'You ast anybody 'bout me. I'll fight a peck till--'
'Aw, man, hush!' George cut him off. 'The worst whipping I ever got come from me thinking I could whip every grey boy I seen. I was in Chicago, man, and I was going down to the A.C. on Thirty-fifth Street, learning how to duke. Man, I was bad, I was beating up all the little studs on State Street. Man, I dared them chumps to open their chops. Then I run into this grey boy over on Clark and we got to jawing 'bout a ruff we found on the street. He said it was hisn and I said it was mine and we went back in a vacant lot to settle it. Well, man, I got to dancing around, showing off my footwork I'd learned at the gym and hitting this grey boy anywhere I wanted. All he'd do was just duck his head and bore in. Man, I beat this chump till he was bloody as a hog, and he kept coming in. Man, I got so tired from beating this chump I couldn't get my hands up no higher'n my belt and this chump kept gritting his teeth and ducking his head and coming in. Just about time I'd decided to broom, this chump hauled off and hit me a haymaker and killed me a year. I'm telling you, man--'
'Thass you,' Arkansas said. 'That ain't me.'
They had all just about got over their defiance and were about ready to go to work when Tebbel came in with Kelly. Then they just stood there, milling around, looking sullen. Kelly walked around and looked at the work; he stopped and looked at the broken fire pot. Finally he came up to me and said, 'What's the matter these boys aren't working, Bob?'
I looked at him. 'Ask 'em,' I said. I didn't care whether he fired me or not.
He reddened and looked away. His gaze rested on Smitty. 'What's the matter you aren't working?' he said.
'I was just waiting to ask Bob 'bout this here joint,' Smitty said. 'I'm going to work right now.'
Pigmeat said loud enough for everyone to hear, 'Nigger, you got crap up your back.'
Kelly said hurriedly, 'Well, you better all get to work, I'm telling you,' and beat it.
They were all silent for a moment and then Peaches said, 'Bob done just right. There's more'n one of these dirty white tramps needs cussing out. Course it's too bad he lost his job,' she added lamely.
'What he oughta done 'stead of cussing her out is to trick her some kinda way,' Homer said. 'He shoulda slipped up to Hank and said she was lorating him, or somp'n like that, and get Hank down on her. Ain't no need of none of us running round here fighting these white folks. All you gotta do is get 'em fighting 'mongst themselves. Look what they doing in Europe right this minute, killing each other off like flies.'
'That reminds me of when I used to be a water boy for a bunch of Irish ganny dancers in Arkinsaw,' Conway said. 'They was laying track for the Yellow Dog and it was hotter'n a West Virginia coke oven. Them paddies kept holl'ing, "Come on, coon, with the water! Water Jack, you oughta been here and halfway back! Where's that black coon?" They made me mad but I knew I couldn't fit 'em all. So when I'd go atter a bucket of water I'd pee in it every time.'
'Conway!' Peaches said.
Conway gave a shamefaced grin. 'Well, that's the truth,' he said. 'Every time.'
The three girls withdrew to the end of the compartment, not out of hearing distance but far enough so no one would think they were included.
I took a deep breath and thought, Well, here it goes. I hadn't expected anything anyway, so I wasn't disappointed. I'd known from the first that, whatever was done for me, I'd have to do it for myself. But I still stuck around; I didn't want the guys to think I didn't appreciate their thinking about me anyway.
Murphy took the ball and started telling dirty jokes. That morning was the first time I'd seen him; he'd been transferred into the gang yesterday when I'd been absent. He was a medium-sized, stoop-shouldered, lean-framed guy, black as the ace of spades, with a long, narrow, egg-shaped head getting bald at the extreme back tip, and eyes that slanted upward at the edges like an Oriental's.
George bobbed his head at Murphy and winked at me. 'Come in talking and ain't let down.'
Johnson said, 'We oughtn't be telling them dirty jokes. There's ladies present.'
'We ain't listening to you,' Zula Mae said. 'We's talking 'bout you.'
Two or three of them looked around to see if Tebbel was still there. He was standing off to one side, listening to everything.
Pigmeat said, 'That Willie! When he was a little baby he was so black his mama used to have to put flour on his mouth to tell where to feed him.'
'That's all right,' Willie said. 'You was so black you was four days old before anybody knew you was here.'
'Gentlemen! Gentlemen!' George said. 'I beg you desist.'
The three girls started out. It was getting too rough for them. When Peaches passed Willie she pinched him on the leg with a pair of pliers. He jumped and yelled.
'That's what you get,' Johnson said.
Then all of a sudden Arkansas asked, 'Kin you run?'
'Who you talking to?' Johnson asked.
'You,' Arkansas said.
'Sure, I can run,' Johnson said. 'Can you run?'
'Kin I run!' Arkansas echoed. 'Takes three to tell it.'
After a moment Johnson asked dutifully, 'What they say?'