moaning in anticipation of freedom.
“Why you call me?” Toni asked.
“To thank you,” he said, and then on a whim, “and to offer you a reward.”
“What kinda reward?”
“I know I can’t pay for something heroic—I mean, heroism comes naturally—but I wanted to give you five hundred dollars for coming to my aid. If you hadn’t screamed that man might have killed me.”
“Really? Five hundred?”
“Yes. Certainly. I’ll send you a check.”
“Um. I don’t have no account and them check-cashin’ places take up to half a’ what you give ’em.”
“I don’t like the idea of sending cash in the mail.”
“Especially not to my house,” she agreed. “You know even the rats around here got P.O. boxes.”
There was a spate of silence.
“Is your head all right?” Toni asked.
“It hurts a little. Were you wearing an ochre dress?”
“What’s that?”
“Like a dark yellow.”
“I thought you was blind?”
“I am. I mean, I think I am. But when that guy hit me the second time, for just a few seconds I could see. That’s why I know the color of your dress.”
“I knew you was lookin’ right at me. I thought so.”
“That’s why I’m calling so late,” Sovereign said. “I’m actually happy.”
“Happy about what?”
“I only went blind recently and I thought that I’d never see again. I’m almost thankful that that man hit me.”
“You shouldn’t be. That was terrible what he did. Hittin’ a blind man like that.”
“But I got to see your lovely face.”
“Oh,” she said. “Um … I could come by and pick up that money if you still wanna give it to me. Do you live in that neighborhood?”
“That would be great. Yes. I live in the building where I got attacked. The entrance is on the Washington Street side.”
“I could come at noon tomorrow.”
“That’s a problem. How about four?”
“Okay.”
“Just tell the doorman Sovereign James. My apartment is nine-F.”
“You have a doorman? Really?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“I never knew nobody with a doorman before.”
Sovereign didn’t sleep that night. He thought about the young woman’s voice and the color of the dress that he’d glimpsed through a blind man’s eyes. He pressed the bandage on the side of his head and grinned at the pain.
“Where were you yesterday, Mr. James?” Dr. Seth Offeran asked at the beginning of the next day’s session.
Up until that moment Sovereign had not realized that he’d missed a day.
“I was attacked.”
“That’s the reason for the bandage?”
“A mugger hit me and stole my wallet.”
“That’s terrible. Are you all right?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. I didn’t get much sleep last night, but, you know, being blind is like sleepin’ twenty-four hours a day while you’re wide-awake.”
“You feel that blindness is a form of unconsciousness.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“We’re closer to our unconscious mind in the sleep state.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Sovereign said. “Maybe so. But that’s not what I’m talking about. I was attacked by a man and saved by a woman, a young woman. He hit me in the head with a blackjack or something and she screamed bloody murder.”
“He ran away?”
“Like a rat with the cheese.”
“And how do you feel about that?”
A smile broadened across Sovereign’s face. He didn’t mean to show so much emotion, but the joy of his experience was overwhelming.
“The ambulance took me to the hospital. The doctors wanted me to stay the night, but I didn’t need that mess. I forgot about you, though, didn’t even remember till just this minute.”
“You’re smiling, Mr. James.”
“Am I?”
“Are you happy to have skipped a day?”
“You get paid anyway … right?”
“The question is about how you feel, not if I get paid or not.”
“I could see clearly for ten seconds and not so much so for another eleven.”
“When?”
“Right after that motherfucker hit me upside the head,
“Why you call me?” Toni asked.
“To thank you,” he said, and then on a whim, “and to offer you a reward.”
“What kinda reward?”
“I know I can’t pay for something heroic—I mean, heroism comes naturally—but I wanted to give you five hundred dollars for coming to my aid. If you hadn’t screamed that man might have killed me.”
“Really? Five hundred?”
“Yes. Certainly. I’ll send you a check.”
“Um. I don’t have no account and them check-cashin’ places take up to half a’ what you give ’em.”
“I don’t like the idea of sending cash in the mail.”
“Especially not to my house,” she agreed. “You know even the rats around here got P.O. boxes.”
There was a spate of silence.
“Is your head all right?” Toni asked.
“It hurts a little. Were you wearing an ochre dress?”
“What’s that?”
“Like a dark yellow.”
“I thought you was blind?”
“I am. I mean, I think I am. But when that guy hit me the second time, for just a few seconds I could see. That’s why I know the color of your dress.”
“I knew you was lookin’ right at me. I thought so.”
“That’s why I’m calling so late,” Sovereign said. “I’m actually happy.”
“Happy about what?”
“I only went blind recently and I thought that I’d never see again. I’m almost thankful that that man hit me.”
“You shouldn’t be. That was terrible what he did. Hittin’ a blind man like that.”
“But I got to see your lovely face.”
“Oh,” she said. “Um … I could come by and pick up that money if you still wanna give it to me. Do you live in that neighborhood?”
“That would be great. Yes. I live in the building where I got attacked. The entrance is on the Washington Street side.”
“I could come at noon tomorrow.”
“That’s a problem. How about four?”
“Okay.”
“Just tell the doorman Sovereign James. My apartment is nine-F.”
“You have a doorman? Really?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“I never knew nobody with a doorman before.”
Sovereign didn’t sleep that night. He thought about the young woman’s voice and the color of the dress that he’d glimpsed through a blind man’s eyes. He pressed the bandage on the side of his head and grinned at the pain.
“Where were you yesterday, Mr. James?” Dr. Seth Offeran asked at the beginning of the next day’s session.
Up until that moment Sovereign had not realized that he’d missed a day.
“I was attacked.”
“That’s the reason for the bandage?”
“A mugger hit me and stole my wallet.”
“That’s terrible. Are you all right?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. I didn’t get much sleep last night, but, you know, being blind is like sleepin’ twenty-four hours a day while you’re wide-awake.”
“You feel that blindness is a form of unconsciousness.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“We’re closer to our unconscious mind in the sleep state.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Sovereign said. “Maybe so. But that’s not what I’m talking about. I was attacked by a man and saved by a woman, a young woman. He hit me in the head with a blackjack or something and she screamed bloody murder.”
“He ran away?”
“Like a rat with the cheese.”
“And how do you feel about that?”
A smile broadened across Sovereign’s face. He didn’t mean to show so much emotion, but the joy of his experience was overwhelming.
“The ambulance took me to the hospital. The doctors wanted me to stay the night, but I didn’t need that mess. I forgot about you, though, didn’t even remember till just this minute.”
“You’re smiling, Mr. James.”
“Am I?”
“Are you happy to have skipped a day?”
“You get paid anyway … right?”
“The question is about how you feel, not if I get paid or not.”
“I could see clearly for ten seconds and not so much so for another eleven.”
“When?”
“Right after that motherfucker hit me upside the head,
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