Like Wise. A Story. Part 7.
No one really remembers the time. Everyone would say it was late.
It was the kind of late that your parents talk about when they say "nothing good happens after..." the time can change but the meaning doesn't. There is a time in the night when there is nothing good that will happen. It's got nothing to do with numbers on a clock but it's real and we all know it.
Saul was in a hotel room with a woman. He needed a cigarette, a drink, and some fresh air. He didn't especially enjoy the city he was staying in but he left the room and started walking on the streets, anyway. It was something he wasn't supposed to do and something he liked to do anyway. There were not many chances to rebel anymore.
Moses was in a car. He was never in a car at that kind of hour but he was struggling. He had just preached a sermon that had gone well, and he had just preached to his son, and that had not. It never did. He needed time. He was listening to talk radio and driving.... anywhere and nowhere.
Wise had finished the phone conversation he had been waiting for and thrown away the cell phone that he had used to speak on. It was his last night on Earth, if everything went according to plan. As such, he could hardly sit in his bed and sleep. He too found himself walking aimlessly, not too aimlessly as though would draw attention and he didn't want any attention at that moment. Neither did Allah.
Billy was drunk. He says he doesn't remember much of the evening. There were lots of shots, lots of racist jokes and lots of stories of being in the Army. He does remember something very specifically.
Three black men walked into the bar he was in. Instantly, everyone looked toward the men and instantly the men, one of whom happened to be the son of Moses, looked back toward them. Dwayne was already in a bad mood and the site of racists (instantly identified as such by their shirts) didn't help his bad mood. He was also a fighter. So were his friends.
Nothing good happens at that hour. And nothing good was about to happen.
