Get on the Bus Page #3

Okay, Little Orphan Annie,

the sun'll come out tomorrow.

Haven't you heard the expression

"There's strength in numbers"?

I've been on many ditched buses. I

won't let nothing like that stop me.

- Hey, fellas?

- What's up?

I need every able-bodied man

off the bus now! Come on!

- Come on, everybody!

- Gonna mess up my shoes!

We got a little problem.

Come on.

What's wrong with that arm?

Get on down there.

- Come on. All right.

- All right.

Come on. Everybody!

Ready? One...

...two...

...three!

That ain't gonna work.

- We can't do it.

- Can't?

What do you mean, we can't?

Look there. When Hannibal

crossed the Alps...

- Who's Hannibal?

- Who's the Alps?

...and saw that he was outnumbered

10-1 by the Roman army, he didn't say:

"Let's go home. We can't do it."

He said, "Get your ass

back on that elephant...

...and stomp them Roman bastards!"

There ain't no such words

as "We can't do it."

Let me use three other words:

Too damn heavy.

I can't believe you're so shiftless...

...and lazy that you'll just give up.

Oh, he's going to get all

plantation on us now.

I'm gonna do it, boss!

The way you look, I can't blame him.

I thought slavery was over.

It doesn't concern you.

Maybe it does.

Tell us what it's all about.

No, I'm telling you to back off.

That's what I'm telling you.

Hey, everybody, the man's got

a court order. I seen it.

- I want to see it.

- Who are you, Richard Roundtree?

That's all right.

I'd like to see it too.

Okay, now, does this

meet your approval?

Okay, good, because I'm gonna

say this one time...

...okay?

Now, this boy right here

has got one father. One.

And that's me.

If you're trying to find

somewhere to stick your noses...

...I got several places I would

love to tell you about.

But whatever you do...

...make sure that it ain't

in my business.

You see, brothers?

That's just what I'm talking about.

The devil don't want the black man

to have atonement.

- Right, Pop?

- Right.

But God wants us at that march.

It's our mission.

So, on three...

...I want you strong, black African

Mandinka Zulu goddamn warriors...

...to lift this damn bus out of that

stupid ditch, and let's be on our way!

To whose tribe

do you belong to anyway?

Shaka Zulu's or Clarence Thomas'?

Shaka Zulu's!

Put your back into it! You're all

Mandinka warriors! Lift the bus!

Come on, do it for me!

Pull it up! Go! Go! Pull! Pull!

Come on!

Pull, y'all! That's right, baby!

That's right.

You didn't believe me!

You didn't want to!

I told you, Pop.

Did you see that?

Give me my $10.

- Now what?

- Now the devil's kicking...

...our Mandinkan asses.

Wait. Remember Hannibal, now.

We ain't getting our ass kicked.

We'll get out of this ditch.

You know what this is? A plot.

It's a plot, man!

- Come on, man.

- What's going on?

I was putting its pedal to the metal.

The axle must be busted.

Sh*t.

Let me call base.

- This is malicious f***ing country.

- Talking negative.

- Malicious.

- Damn, man.

- They want me to stay with the bus.

- You know those idiots.

But I'll miss the march.

You know the rules.

What can I do about it?

Ain't this a b*tch.

Who's taking my place?

They didn't say. They'll just

send us another bus.

We got another bus coming.

- When?

- I don't know.

We won't get stranded on no desert.

Why don't y'all take your sh*t out?

Lord have mercy, man.

Gentlemen, please!

Which way? You going back to L.A.?

Out on the road

And the bus broke down

Out on the road

And the bus broke down

Well, it won't be too long

Till I see Farrakhan

Out on the road

And the bus broke down

Out on the road

And the bus broke down

Here you go, Jay. Take it away.

And it won't be long

Till what?

Till we're 1 million strong

Well, I was out on the road

And the bus broke down

About 20 of us was

Out on the road

And the bus broke down

Well, I think

They're trying to stop us

But we still DC bound

Hey.

Hey, you guys, here comes...

Hey, here comes the bus!

Y'all didn't believe me.

- What's up?

- Craig, George, what's all this?

- They're going to the march.

- The Farrakhan thing? You're kidding.

I'm kidding. They're the

Harlem Globetrotters.

They said a trip to the Capitol.

I should've known.

I guess so. Come on, brothers!

- This is our ride.

- And he's white, fellas.

He gets to go to the march,

I get to stay.

You're kidding, right?

We can't go to no march

with a white boy driving.

What about all that Mandinka stuff?

Used to be we always

had to chauffeur the white man.

This time, he's chauffeuring us.

Right, Pop?

- Right.

- Come on!

You got anything to stow,

leave it with me.

What's up, Reuben Kinkaid?

You looking for a recording contract,

you come to the wrong place.

What's up?

Hey, how you doing?

- Gary.

- Rick.

Not scared or anything, are you?

Of course not. Why, should I be?

Damn right.

They got guns and knives.

I'll be with you guys in spirit!

Freedom now!

We're just getting going, y'all.

Yeah, 1 million strong.

I can't believe this.

"Thank you..."

- Writing a letter?

- No.

This is a prayer I thought I might say

when we arrived at the march...

...thanking the Lord

for all that this means to me.

If we arrive.

White boy driving us to the Million

Man March, that's gotta be a bad omen.

What's the deal

with Kunta Kinte there?

Brother said for us to stay

out of his business.

I don't care what some judge said,

no way I'd handcuff my son like that.

- You?

- That I cannot say.

No kids?

Oh, yeah, I had two kids. Had them...

...but not anymore.

That's all over now.

No family at all?

Not anymore.

Jeremiah's strictly on his own.

- How do you feel?

- Pardon?

You're on a bus...

...with 20 black men.

How do you feel?

Black, white, all the same to me.

I like to think of myself

as colour-blind.

Colour-blind?

So you didn't notice at all that

everyone on this bus is black but you?

So-called black men,

descendants of slaves.

Well, we're all brothers

under the skin, right?

Now you're brothers just because

you're on the black bus?

Look, I never wore a white sheet

over my head. I'm Jewish.

God forbid we think a Jew

could be a bigot.

My parents were for civil rights.

Black people came to our house...

Are you getting this? They actually

had black people at their house.

- I didn't mean it like that.

- Oh, spare us.

Only two things came out of

the civil rights movement.

One, black people got a few crumbs.

Two, condescending white people

could say they struggled with us.

But it didn't end with

the March on Washington.

We're still catching hell.

My people know about catching hell.

My parents did their part.

Their part to make a difference,

or to appear liberal?

Jews made a difference

in the movement.

As soon as they got what they wanted,

they abandoned it.

I don't see black people

marching for Jews...

...Hispanics or Asians.

Why do you expect white people

to solve all your problems?

We didn't create our problems.

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