"I'll admit it,"
she told me
in conspiratorial tones,

"I really didn't like
the thought of you joining us -

you know -
you being black and all-"

I was silent
blank-faced
waiting for the other shoe to drop
which it did:

"But then,"
she told me,
all beaming
and proud,

"I got to know you
and it was like
meeting someone

who's fat

and ugly

but turns out to be
smart and really nice!"

I don't remember if I replied -
I mean really,
what does one say to that?

But I remember feeling
as if I had been
walking down a sidewalk
in a foreign city
and someone
had popped around the corner

and whacked me
with a giant pillow -

not hurt
but astonished
and reluctantly

amused.

10/27/2005