(From p. 8-12.)
(A diner in Cooperstown, New York, on the eve of Jackie Robinson’s Hall of Fame induction. Huck: a scronny white out-of-towner with a Dodgers baseball cap. Junior: the diner’s smart, tough owner.)
HUCK
Kind of a buzz, ain’t there? People walkin’ around with a spring in their step. Next door, they’re about fifteen sheets to the wind. I’m surprised there ain’t more people in here.
JUNIOR
Been a little slow lately.
HUCK
That right?
JUNIOR
Hmm mmm.
HUCK
Why’s that?
JUNIOR
Don’t know.
HUCK
Seem to be doin’ alright next door.
JUNIOR
They don’t serve French toast and orange juice next door.
HUCK
Well, time’s tough a lot of places. Hardly, uh, afford to make it up here myself, but I wasn’t gonna miss it.
JUNIOR
That right?
HUCK
Hell no wasn’t gonna miss it. I ain’t exactly rollin in dollars either, but I had to get here. My Daddy was born in Brooklyn, rest his soul, bout as big a Dodger fan you ever seen. Had a job pushing steel on one of those big trains went coast to coast. Train broke down one night outside Cincinnati. Thing was just stuck right out in the middle of the tracks. Like a big turd in the middle a’ the countryside. Thing couldn’t move for days. Ended up at a potluck dinner the local ladies threw for the railmen. Met my Momma. Fell in love. Stayed in Ohio, bred kids, got fat. Never went back to Brooklyn. But bled Dodger Blue till the day he died.
JUNIOR
That’s nice.
HUCK
That’s just the way it is. Man grew up with the team. Day they signed Jackie Robinson, Pa said Huck, I was ‘bout ten at the time, said Huck: don’t give a damn if a ballplayer’s white, brown, yellow, tangerine or got spots like a zebra – if he can hit two ninety, steal twenty five bases and run like the wind, he’s gonna look real good in Dodger blue. I was only ‘bout ten, but I remember him sayin’ it, clearer n’ driven snow. (Pause.) There’s a saying where I’m from – two things you gotta love in life. Know what those are?
JUNIOR
Nope.
HUCK
Your Momma’s cookin’ and your daddy’s ballclub. And that’s the God’s word. What ballclub your daddy root for?
JUNIOR
No ballclub.
HUCK
Wasn’t really a baseball man?
(Junior shrugs.)
Alright, well…nobody’s perfect.
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