He was the only black child of poor shareholder folks, and worked hard from sun to sun, toting this and fetching that for cruel white people who often withheld his wages so they could buy opium.
In the evening, when he finished his bowl of thin gruel made from barley shells and oat husks, and a heel of course brown bread, he cleaned the house, cleared stumps and re-roofed the barn—all by lamp light..
And then he would dress up like a tart and walk 15 miles to the gay bars.