Henry woke up early after a night of preparing for his appointment with the Social Security Administration in Harlem, a 2-minute walk from the Apollo Theater, where he saw Marvin Gaye and James Brown. The Godfather of Soul was the show stopper, the band playing grinding perfectly arranged soul, Brown doing inventive dance moves.
There weren't many whites in the audience, nobody cared.
Finally at the Social Security Administration he walks to the 4th floor goes into a large room with connected plastic chairs and takes a number, 403.
The room is full of people who are after something.
He takes SSI forms from 5 different wire filing baskets to fill out— personal references, proof of identity, whether you are a child molester, level of education, have done time, place of residence, and work history.
It's a lengthy process as he stands at a long wooden table
He does the best he can with the forms, then reading Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin, a semi-autobiographical focus on Baldwin growing up during his Harlem years, the negative effect the Pentecostal Church had on him, and the positive feeling of living racism-free in Paris in 1948.
Henry's number shows in red lights and he's directed to room 14. The social worker is a fat woman, wearing a wig and a polyester suit. She says,
I’m Miss Fulsum, I’d like to see your paperwork Mr. Lucowski.
He hands her the forms, and she examines them stone-faced, Henry hates the process, he feels taken in.
20 minutes later Miss Fulsum says,
Mr. Lucowski we will notify you by mail if you have qualified for SSI, he asks,
whataya think my chances are ma’am? The fat woman says,
a panel will review your paperwork, have a good day Mr. Lucowski.
He would rather sell dope than put up with the welfare bullshit, selling dope freed you, no bosses.
A variety of potheads visited Henry’s apartment to score, a priest, a Vice cop, dock workers, hookers, other dealers, you never know who gets high, people like bud.
He’d stay in his apartment a lot, ordering Thai and Mexican out, chatting with some customers while most wanted to score and get out.
At times he’d go out for a drink in the afternoon in East Harlem, to the Mess Hall, a cheap bar.
Sitting in a booth he orders a pitcher of Bud Light. Soul was on the jukebox, nonstop.
It was a mixed-race crowd, blacks, and whites. A thin black girl with model good looks, tall, in her 30s, wearing a short blond wig, and a printed dress with heels sits at Henry's booth, she orders Seagrams and soda. He can't believe his luck saying
I'm Henry,
they call me Flower,
she picks up her drink at the bar, and back at the booth she sees a book on the table saying,
James Baldwin, the white man's choice, my favorites are
Toni Morrison, Alex Walker, and Malcolm X. He asks,
Do you have kids?
Yes a girl, Tulip, she's 5.
How about her father?
He was shot dead in the street, a teacher who got caught in the crossfire.
Sorry Flower, the city is dangerous, the country is safer.
Let's do it, cool Flower,
I'd love to, Woodstock is safe, I know some people there, I don't know how many black people live there. Anyway, let's get outta here, take Tulip home go pack, here’s taxi money and my address, say your goodbyes and we'll take the Greyhound to Woodstock in the morning.
It was summer break so Tulip and Flower spent the night at Henry’s apartment, he would skip out on owed rent and forgo the deposit.
At his apartment, Tulip watches cartoons falling asleep on the sofa. Henry and Flower go to his room and have sex, they sweat and cum through the night.
In the morning Flower, Tulip and Henry take the subway to the Greyhound station and sit on a wooden bench eating candy and amusing themselves teasing Tulip about a boy she likes, Lester.
It’s an hour's drive, 4 hours by bus.
Tulip and Flower sit together and Henry sits across the aisle. As the bus speeds north on Interstate 83 a gay man sitting next in the same seat says,
I’m Sandra I’m going to Woodstock to visit my brother, I work as an impersonator at Diva’s Cabaret, and restaurant. Your Henry, I overheard your lady friend talking to you.
Yeah, Sandra, the city's nuts these days, we want to live in a small town. Sandra says,
there are a number of gay clubs in Woodstock. Henry chuckles saying,
yeah, gay people span the globe, born to be. Sandra asks,
you got any reefer, you look like the type.
a little, 175 dollars an ounce, she says,
we can do the deal in Woodstock.
Fine.
Do you have cocaine?
No, I don’t do it.
How bout poppers?
No thanks,
she says,
I was a regular at Studio 54, he answers,
it seemed like a place for big-shot show people. I never went, too young. She says,
I’m a well-known impersonator, I do Cher,
Cool, she's still hot.
As Flower corn rows little Tulip's hair the little girl gets motion sickness, her mom gives her 50 mg of Dramamine
After 3 hours of twisting and winding the Greyhound reaches Woodstock. The threesome grabs their luggage and goes to Ethel’s Diner for dinner. They order meatloaf, mashed sweet potatoes, malts, and pie for desert, Henry asks the waitress,
can you recommend a low-priced room for the three of us?
Yeah sure, try the Morris Guesthouse. It’s on an off-street, Oxford, a few blocks away, it's a big old house, 3 stories.
They walk some locating it, Henry rings the bell of the colonial house and Miss Morris invites them in. Flower says,
we're looking for a room, and the landlady says sweetly,
I have a dreamy attic for you all, let's take a look.
They walk up 4 flights of stairs to a renovated wood attic, it's huge, with a built-in cooking area, cabinets, a portable electric oven, a double hot plate, air conditioner, stainless steel sink, a double bed, TV, and sofa.
There's an immense sham oriental carpet on the floor that gives the attic a warm feeling.
Henry pays Miss Morris in cash.
Flower goes to the 7-11 buying a bottle of Seagrams Seven, Coca-cola, 7 Up, milk, cereal, boxes of cornbread mix, bread, lunch meat, cans of pinto beans, and rice.
It’s 8PM and they watch Cinderella on TV until Tulip falls asleep, Henry and flower switch the tube to The Untouchables with Kevin Costner,
Flower wonders,
Why aren't there black folks in this whitebread film? They switch channels and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner with Sydney Poitier is on, they both laugh and Flower says,
it's our story baby, thank God we don't have a mess of in-laws. He rolls his eyes,
Yeah, black-and-white relationships were awkward then, people don't care much now. Why don't you take Tulip to enroll in preschool tomorrow and I will look for a job.
In the morning Flower cooks cornbread, beans, and rice for breakfast.
Henry kisses the girls good by and hits the bricks, applying at Ace Hardware and a gas station, deciding he would rather sell weed than be someone's slave.
He contacts Slim in NYC and wires him money for a kilo. Slim wraps the key in 4 layers of aluminum foil and sprinkles powdered carbon throughout the box, sending it Fed X.
Flower sits in bed reading her Tarot cards to decipher how the couple's luck is, it looks good, the devil, death, 9 0f swords, and the hanged man, don't show.
Sandra had told Henry about a local Hippy bar, No Name, owned and managed by the bartender.
Amazingly the herb arrives at the doorstep of Miss Morris's and she signs for it, bringing it upstairs where Flower is reading asking her what it was, Flower says,
healing herbs, I study Chinese medicine ma'am,
OK, Doll.
Henry hits the bricks looking for a hippy bar called, No Name.
Finding it he walks in, sits at the bar, and orders a beer, making small talk with the hippy bartender who says,
I'm Marley,
My name is Henry,
do people smoke weed much in town?
You beat dude.
How about you and I go into business selling OZs at the bar I'll give you 25% just to turn a blind eye,
Sure man cool, when do we start?
Tomorrow.
Henry becomes a regular at No Name, spending evenings there.
On the first night he sells 6 OZs, the gig grows and the money flows.
They enroll Tulip in Woodstock Elementary in the fall and Henry and Flower get married at The Woodstock County Court House.
The couple and their step-daughter Tulip live normally, lay low, making some special friends, and years later Tulip enrolls in Mohawk Valley Community College to study nursing.
Life for Henry, Flower, and Tulip was right as rain.
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