Southside With You Page #3

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All that extra work I put in to

compensate for being a woman?

Being black erases that and

brings me back down to zero.

So, now I'm working double-time

just to be seen for who I am

and what I'm capable of.

Now, how's it gonna look

to a guy like Thompson

if I swoop in and start dating

the first cute black guy

who walks through the firm's doors?

The liberal-minded people

will think it's precious

and the closed-minded people

will think it's pathetic.

You think I'm cute?

I didn't say that.

- Some of the secretaries described you that way.

- Nice dodge.

Listen, listen, we're a few blocks away.

Why don't we go in

and check out the exhibit?

I'd still like us to go to

the meeting a little later.

It would mean a lot to me.

Okay, it's... it's not a date.

- Fine.

- Until you say it is.

That's Ernie Barnes.

You read that in the brochure?

No, no. I can spot a Barnes a mile away.

You know,

Barnes is a real interesting brother.

- Did you watch "Good Times"?

- Not a family staple.

Really?

There was a black family in Chicago

that didn't watch "Good Times"?

We were more of a "Brady Bunch,

"Dick Van Dyke" kind of family.

Those kids on Euclid Avenue, man,

I'm telling you they had it good.

"Dy-no-mite!"

Do you remember that?

- Yes, I remember the line.

The character's name was J.J.

Right.

He was kind of a screwup.

He would steal here and there,

couldn't read or write, talked jive.

You know,

just a bad TV stereotype, right?

Mm-hmm.

But, see, as the show progressed,

J.J. developed

this interest in painting.

As it turned out,

he actually had a lot of talent.

But he didn't take it seriously.

Not until his dad,

who was this tough, blue-collar guy,

encouraged him to keep painting.

He saw it as his son's only

way out of the projects.

What did he paint?

Black ghetto life.

They were crisp,

exaggerated, very colorful.

His style was a lot like these.

That's because Ernie Barnes did

all the paintings for the show.

Hmm.

Michelle:
My brother would love this.

- Barack:
Craig, right?

- Yeah.

How did you know?

I may have overheard you talking

about him at the office.

- Stalker.

Yeah, but who's the bigger Looney Tune?

The stalker or the victim who willingly

goes to a museum with a stalker?

Willingly?

I'm more inclined to describe

this as a hostage situation.

I'm that bad, huh?

Oh, hush.

Craig shoot hoops?

He's decent.

Pick-up games? Office league?

He's an assistant coach

at Illinois Tech.

No kidding?

I assume he played ball at school?

Yeah, at Princeton,

then for a couple of years in the BBL.

He actually got drafted by the Sixers,

but they never played him.

What?

I'd say "decent ballplayer"

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