Two Trains Running

Risa sits at the counter and Holloway enters. He asks if she has seen Hambone, but she hasn’t. He also hasn’t been to see Lutz that morning. Risa suggests that perhaps he finally decided to move on, but Holloway points out that Hambone hasn’t missed a day of asking Lutz for his ham in nine-and-a-half years, and he doubts that Hambone would get tired of waiting. Wolf enters and exclaims that West is dealing with a huge mess trying to bury Prophet Samuel. Mourners have clogged up the road, and the police are involved. Holloway talks about an even bigger funeral for someone called Patchneck Red: People had come from different cities as well as 11 Cadillacs full of women from Las Vegas. Wolf has been helping Holloway look for Hambone, but no one has seen him. Wolf comments that if his number had hit, he would be in Atlanta right now. He has two women there, but he can’t go without money because one of the women thinks that he is rich. When Wolf last saw her, he’d had $700 on him and spent $200 on the woman. Holloway mentions Wolf’s fight with Memphis the previous day, but Wolf isn’t worried and says that he knows Memphis and that Memphis is fortunate that Wolf understands him.

Memphis enters and Holloway asks about Hambone, but Memphis hasn’t seen him either. There is visible tension between Memphis and Wolf. Holloway asks to place a 10¢ bet, but Wolf says pointedly that he needs to get Memphis’s permission. Memphis states that he just wanted Wolf to stop using the restaurant’s phone, and Wolf agrees, taking Holloway’s bet. Wolf is concerned because Sterling’s number has won, but apparently a lot of people in the city bet on the same number. Because of this, the Albert family, who runs the game, is only paying half the reward. Most people who play understand that this happens occasionally, but Wolf is afraid that Sterling won’t. He asks Holloway to help Sterling see that it isn’t his fault and considers getting his pistol out of the pawnshop. Holloway suggests that Wolf go ahead and get his pistol, because Sterling is going to decide that he is owed his full winnings and that Wolf must be getting a cut of the money Sterling is supposed to get. If there’s a confrontation, Holloway is sure that West will be burying either Sterling or Wolf and that if Sterling tries to confront the Alberts, it will be Sterling in a closed casket.

Holloway tells Wolf that at 65 years old, he himself doesn’t want to get involved and has no intention of telling Sterling anything. Wolf decides to get his pistol and leaves. Holloway comments about how the Alberts set up the numbers game to give themselves the advantage: When a lot of people win, they cut the winnings, but they never do any cutting when a lot of people lose. Memphis argues that cutting winnings is just an expected part of the game. He sees the flier for the Malcolm X rally and angrily takes it down. Memphis exclaims that Black people always want to start the fight for justice, but they give up when it doesn’t go their way. Memphis warns Risa that she ought to stay away from Sterling, who he expects to end up back in prison. Holloway agrees, noting that Sterling has now got a gun and that a Black person with a gun makes all of the white people anxious. He asserts that you can get arrested for even talking about guns and Black people together. Memphis replies, “As young and as crazy as that boy is, he needs to carry one” (78).

Sterling enters, looking for Wolf. Risa tells him that Wolf just left and said he would return. Sterling just came from the cemetery and Prophet Samuel’s burial. He asks if Risa went, but Risa is bothered that so many people want to see the prophet buried when they didn’t care about him in life. Sterling contends that all of life works that way: No one is interested in you until you die, and then it makes them feel special to say that they knew you. Sterling adds, “You always have more followers when you dead than when you living” (78). Risa thinks that those people are hypocrites, and she shows Sterling her membership card from Prophet Samuel’s church. She insists, “Prophet Samuel wasn’t no preacher. He was a prophet like they have in the Bible. God sent him to help the colored people get justice” (79).

Memphis argues that Prophet Samuel was thinking about money, not justice: The man had everyone in his congregation tithing to him, and that’s what he cared about. Risa insists that according to Prophet Samuel, God will send a sign. Sterling notes that the moon seems closer, and he wonders if that might be a sign of the end of the world. Sterling asks them to tell Wolf that he’s trying to find him and exits. Memphis gives Risa her pay after negotiating about what she borrowed that needs to be deducted. Memphis mentions that his lawyer had promised to handle the entire situation with the city, but Memphis only plans to let him handle it to a point. Memphis starts to leave but then comes back and asks Holloway for Aunt Ester’s address; Holloway promptly replies, “1839 Wylie. In the back. Knock on the red door” (81).

Later that day, Risa is sweeping the floor and Wolf is sitting at a table. Holloway tells them about Hambone, who was found dead by his landlady. He died peacefully, but he has no family and no one even knows his real name. Risa says, “That’s a shame. Lutz gonna rot in hell” (82). Risa sweeps over Wolf’s feet, and Wolf gets upset because he thinks it’s bad luck to get one’s feet swept like that. She tells him that he should keep his feet out of the way. They talk about other things that cause bad luck, such as breaking mirrors or opening an umbrella inside the house. West enters, having finished Prophet Samuel’s funeral only to have to go and pick up Hambone’s body. He notes that Hambone’s body is covered in scars. West is holding the viewing tomorrow, which he is doing for free, and burying Hambone on Saturday. Risa is bothered by the idea that Hambone will be buried in a welfare casket, but something better would cost at least twice as much as welfare will pay. West insists that he must cover his costs and that he can’t afford to give things away.

Sterling enters, looking for Wolf. He tells Risa that once he gets his $1200, they should go to Vegas. Sterling suggests that West ought to come with them so Sterling can teach him how to gamble. West tells them that he was once a gambler, and he also ran numbers and bootlegged liquor; however, he realized one day that people around him were dying quickly, and he might as well make some money off that. West says that he never expected to be so successful. Sterling is making big plans with his money, including marrying Risa. West tells him that his wants and dreams are too much, which is why Sterling is never happy with what he gets. But Sterling doesn’t get it, telling Risa excitedly about his plans. Risa isn’t in the mood and goes back to talking about Hambone. Sterling didn’t realize that Hambone was dead, and he’s affected for a moment before regaining composure.

Wolf enters and Sterling greets him enthusiastically, asking for his money and talking about how he will spend it to marry Risa. Wolf breaks the bad news about his winnings, and Sterling replies that he’s going to go and see the Alberts and do whatever he needs to do to get his winnings. He threatens Wolf and demands the entire amount, but Wolf insists that he’s just doing a job for the Alberts and has no power in the situation. Sterling complains that this means that the wedding will have to wait, and Risa interjects to say that she never agreed to marry him in the first place. Sterling asserts that the situation is causing Risa to change her mind about him, and now he’s even more determined to confront the Alberts. Sterling gets his $600 from Wolf and states that he plans to give it back to the Alberts himself. Wolf tells him not to go, warning, “Them people don’t play” (87). Sterling agrees that he has no interest in playing games. He leaves, and Risa calls after him.

Risa sweeps the floor in the restaurant. Sterling enters and asks Risa if she wants to go with him to the rally. Risa tells him that when he left, he was planning to confront the Alberts, and no one knew if he would ever return. Sterling is surprised that anyone cared. He says that he spoke to the patriarch of the Albert family and demanded that his initial $2 be returned because he wanted to cancel his bet. Mr. Albert gave him $2 and told him to return his $600 winnings. Sterling refused, asserting, “That way I have something that belong to him for a change” (88). Mr. Albert had just given him an odd look and sent him on his way. As he was walking, Sterling noticed that Aunt Ester’s light was on, so he stopped and knocked on the door. After telling her everything about his life, Aunt Ester gave Sterling cryptic advice about learning not to overreach and working on what he has rather than what he wants. She also told him to throw $20 in the river, which he did. Aunt Ester told him that she is 349 years old (not 322). Additionally, Aunt Ester confirmed that God sent Risa to Sterling because he couldn’t send a real angel.

When Sterling finishes telling this story, Risa calls him crazy, but Sterling, undeterred, suggests that they move in together. He promises to take care of her and sings to her, but Risa insists she can take care of herself. Sterling tells her she is “everything a man need” (89), although he doesn’t know why she scarred her legs. Risa tells him that he won’t understand, and Sterling replies that Aunt Ester said she herself could tell that he is good at understanding things. Risa tries to explain that she cut herself to make her legs unattractive so men would stop looking at her, and that Sterling only wants her the way every man wants her. Sterling says that any man will still look at her because she has a nice body, and she only has to say no to them if she isn’t interested. Risa points out that she has been saying no to Sterling, but Sterling says that he can’t get her out of his mind. Risa doesn’t want to get involved with someone who is unemployed and will probably go back to prison.

Sterling tells her about the man who raised him before he went to the orphanage, Mr. Johnson, who worked 16-hour days. The steel mill wouldn’t let him get his union card and stopped him by firing him for two weeks every five-and-a-half months to keep him from meeting the six-month requirement. Then, Johnson would clean the fish market and have to be escorted out so he couldn’t steal anything. Sterling doesn’t want to work such a thankless job. If Risa doesn’t want to get married, Sterling asks teasingly if they can be cousins—kissing cousins—instead. Risa pushes him away. She has feelings for him but doesn’t want to spend her life worrying about what he might do. Risa tells him to go to the rally without her. Then, she puts a quarter in the jukebox, and Sterling is surprised that it works. Sterling asks her to dance, and Risa agrees. They dance and then kiss. Sterling exclaims, “Goddamn, baby!” (92) and tells her that she can be his first cousin. She relents, “I wanna be your only cousin,” and he agrees, “That too” (92). They kiss again.

It’s Saturday, and according to the menu board, Hambone’s funeral is today. Risa cooks, and Sterling stares out the window. From a booth, Holloway muses about the nature of death and love. He says that death comes for everyone, but love is pickier; most people don’t experience real love. The only two examples he can identify from his life are Bubba Boy and West, who he believes had true love with their wives. Holloway thinks that most people “play at it” (93) because ultimately, they aren’t willing to pay the costs of love. Wolf enters, having just stopped by the funeral home to pay his respects to Hambone, and comments that Hambone looked peaceful as if he were asleep. Sterling disagrees and thinks that he looked dead. Only a few people had signed the guest book. Wolf asks Risa if she plans to go over, but she says that she doesn’t want to see Hambone like that. Wolf mentions seeing all of them at the rally last night, and he was amazed at the turnout—3,000 people when they had only set up 500 chairs. Still, everything was peaceful, and no one fought or rioted. It seemed to Wolf that every Black person in town was there, even those who “swear up and down on two stacks of Bibles that they ain’t Black” (94). The police had also been taking pictures of everyone, and Sterling says that he smiled for his.

Wolf talks about the drugstore that burned down the night before. It’s rumored that the fire was started by Black people as a show of Black power. Holloway points out that this is ridiculous gossip and that it’s obvious that the owner burned it down for insurance money—but, he adds, rest assured that someone will be arrested and sent to prison for it. A third-party arsonist, an accusation that will be backed by the fire inspector, will make it easier for the owner to get paid, so he’ll be living the high life on his payout while someone sits in jail for three years, because “that’s the way it works in America” (95). Wolf tells everyone about another man in the community who caught his wife cheating with his best friend and killed them both. Wolf proclaims that this is why he never settles for one woman at a time; he doesn’t want to have to put all of his trust in one woman. West enters, and they all greet him. West asks whether Memphis has come back from the courthouse yet, and Holloway hopes that Memphis didn’t do something unwise and end up in jail, noting that the courthouse is already closed. Sterling compliments West on the work he did on Hambone.

West tells them that Lutz stopped by to see Hambone, and Risa spits, “Lutz gonna rot in hell,” and Wolf replies, “Lutz gonna go to hell with a ham under each arm” (96). Sterling pays Wolf the $20 he owes and then gives Risa the rest of his money, asking her to hold it while he does something. After Sterling exits, Wolf asks Risa if there’s something between her and Sterling. Risa gets defensive, but Wolf tells her that he likes Sterling and thinks it would be a good thing. Memphis walks in, singing and obviously drunk. He tells everyone that there’s a woman who works at the bar by the courthouse who promised to wait for him when she gets off work. Memphis tells Holloway that he threw $20 in the river after talking to Aunt Ester. She had advised, “If you can’t fight fire with fire, don’t mess with it” (97). Memphis had been ready to fight anyway, but when he went to the courthouse, he was told that the city planned to act on the clause that allows them to pay whatever they want and give him $35,000 for his property. Memphis, astounded, told his lawyer to stay quiet before he could even speak.

Memphis says that he went to see his wife, who has moved back into his house while Memphis moved out, and told her that he needs to do something, and if he returns, they need to talk. Aunt Ester had told him, “If you drop the ball, you got to go back and pick it up” (98). Memphis has decided that it’s time to go back to Jackson and get his land back. Then he notices the sign and is surprised to learn that Hambone is dead, musing that he never got his ham. Memphis mimics Hambone’s constantly repeated lines about wanting ham, and he seems hurt and dispirited by the cruelty and unfairness of Hambone’s situation (and of the world in general). He gives Risa $50 to buy some flowers and tells her to sign the card from “everybody who ever dropped the ball and went back to pick it up” (99). Memphis sees West and gloats a little about his windfall, exclaiming that he will reopen his restaurant in a more crowded location with a better menu, better decor, a much bigger staff, and a jukebox. Then Sterling enters, his hands and face cut and bloody. He is holding a ham. Grinning, Sterling says, “Say Mr. West… that’s for Hambone’s casket” (99).