Black or White Page #10

see a black man, the color of his skin?

Yes. Submit away.

Because I can go ahead and submit

that it's the first thing you see

when you see a white guy.

Now I don't know why that is

any more than I know why

when I see a good-looking woman,

the first thing I notice

are her breasts. Because I do.

But if I move onto

my next thought quick enough,

I'm not a pervert, all right?

I'm not a... I'm not a bad guy.

I'm just... I'm just mildly flawed.

It's the same thing with race.

It's not my first thought that counts,

it's my second,

third and fourth thought.

And each and every case I'm in,

it comes down to the same thing:

The action and interaction I'm having

with the person

that I'm interacting with.

The interaction I've had with Reggie,

in case you haven't noticed,

hasn't been all that great.

And I don't need a math tutor to know

that it doesn't make me a racist

just because he's a crack addict.

That column doesn't add up.

It just simply totals him out as a...

...a drug-addled criminal,

a liar and a...

...a thief with no moral compass.

He may be able to play you,

fool his mother,

may be even able to

get one over here on Judge Cummins.

But he can't fool me, because I see him

for exactly what he is.

And to this day, he's never once

apologized or shown one bit of remorse

to me or my wife

for the death of our daughter.

All right?

His mother wants to

mollycoddle him, fine.

The whole world wants to treat him

like a wounded, put-upon child,

then do it.

I don't really care.

I just don't want him infecting Eloise.

So, no, Jeremiah,

I'm not racially prejudiced,

I just don't happen to want your

little nephew's broken-down black ass

anywhere near my granddaughter.

What's your next question?

I don't think I have one.

I don't think that went

as bad as you think it did.

She'll make a ruling in a few days.

Who knows, she may even surprise us.

I couldn't have been

a worse witness if I tried.

No way in hell she's not gonna

take Eloise away from me.

Not a shot in hell.

Ah, come on, you were great.

Not a lot of the other Klan members

could be that articulate.

Time to turn

the lights out, Puppy.

Want to see my new drawing?

That's you, me and Daddy.

You're very talented.

Now lay down.

- Did we do good in court today?

- We did OK.

Did you tell the lady judge

that I only want to live with you?

That I love Wee Wee and them,

but this is where I am?

- Yes, I told her.

- Did she hear you?

- I think she did.

- Good.

Son of a b*tch.

You better get your ass out of here

right now, Reggie.

Give me money. A lot of money. Fifty.

You make it 50 and

I'll go away for good this time.

You need to leave right now.

You give me the money

and I'll just go away.

- You hear me? You need to leave now!

- Give me the money!

- Or I'll take my daughter right now.

- Hell you will.

Get out of here!

You don't ever come over here

like this again! You hear me?

Never, ever!

All you're ever gonna do is hate on me.

I know that.

I ain't gonna never be nothing

but a street n*gger to you. Never.

Oh...

Elliott! Elliott!

Elliott!

I'm so sorry, Elliott.

I'm sorry about

you losing your little girl.

God, I'm so sorry.

I'm so sorry.

I'm so sorry.

OK, so, as you know, I was ready

to issue a custody ruling in this case,

but I understand that both sides

would like to address the court

with some additional information.

So, uh, let's first hear from Mr. Davis.

Your Honor,

I just want to say that, um,

the things that Mr. Anderson

said about me last week,

they were hard to hear,

but they were true.

I ain't fit just yet to be a father.

I ain't no good to be around my girl.

I need to go away, or something.

Get some air. Learn how to breathe.

Figure out how to just...

...how to live like somebody

worth having a little girl lives like.

I don't want the custody.

That's the real truth.

Well... that is an interesting turn.

So, um, Mr. Anderson,

I understand that you have something

I need to know as well,

something about an incident

at your house?

No, Your Honor,

there's nothing I need to...

...nothing I need to say

at this point.

OK, so, Counselor,

are you now back to asking me

to give custody to your sister,

is that where we're going?

Yes, Your Honor, we'd like to revert

back to our original brief,

asking that Rowena Jeffers

be given full custody of the child.

- OK. Now...

- No.

Your Honor, that's not what we want.

I know I'm not supposed to just

stand up and blurt things out in here

and I really don't want

to go to jail today, but...

...I need to say that I was wrong

about Eloise's grandfather.

I need to say that right now.

I believe he has

her best interest at heart.

- You do?

- I mean, he's got himself a cranky side

and he drinks too much,

which he needs to work on that, pronto.

But I do trust him

with my granddaughter.

I'm not going to jail

for saying any of this, am I?

Not today. So you want to sit?

Yeah. There you go. Thank you.

OK, now this is all very interesting.

So Mr. Davis, are you sure

that this is what you want?

To give sole custody to Mr. Anderson?

Because this will not be easy

to rescind once it's...

That's fine, Your Honor, that's fine.

We trust Elliott.

You won't have to rescind anything.

Reggie understands that, don't you,

Reggie? I mean, it's all good.

- It's all good.

- OK. Thank you.

I would... like him to stop

with the drinking, though.

OK, you know what, Your Honor?

I do need to quit drinking.

All right? I got it. But it's...

And it's not easy,

so please tell her to...

Tell her to mind her own business.

Please?

Y'all done?

I am.

I'm ready to sit back down, Your Honor.

Jesus.

All right, Mr. Anderson, you now

have full custody of your granddaughter,

Eloise Anderson, in accordance with

California Family Code, Section 3040,

paragraph three.

And for your granddaughter's sake...

Hey, Eloise!

- Just for a while. You promised. Right?

- Yes.

A couple of weeks.

I just need to get some air, Puppy.

It won't be long.

Papa just...

Papa just needs to relearn

how to breathe.

Work on some things.

- You understand that, right?

- Yes.

Duvan is gonna come and

take you to school every day, OK?

He's gonna help you keep up

with your studies. All right? Good.

That's a pretty good-looking bow

you have up there. Wonder who tied it.

You did.

That's right.

Hey, you. Come here. Mm-mm.

Wee Wee's got some love for you.

Come on, come on.

You about done?

Uh, yes. Yes, I'm done.

You've got the best

of both worlds

You're the kind of girl

Who can take down a man

And lift him back up again

You are strong

but you're needy

Humble but you're greedy

And based on your body language

And shoddy cursive

I've been reading

Your style is quite selective

Though your mind

is rather reckless

Well I guess it just suggests

That this is

just what happiness is

And what a beautiful mess

This is

It's like picking up trash

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