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“MY NAME IS HENRY”

Chapter 70

“MY NAME IS HENRY”

I could barely hear

“Can you hear me? I said my name’s Henry”

I could barely see

I could, however, tell that the person speaking to me was a woman An ancient, bent-over colored woman

“Henry My name is Henry,” she said “You in there, Mist’ Corbett?”

Most of her teeth werea kind of whistly lisp as she leaned closer and spoke to me

“Come on now, eat this,” she said She held out a spoonful of so I opened my mouth She stuck it in God, it was delicious: black-eyed peas cooked to death, mashed to a paste

While ue discovered the gaping hole on the left side where two teeth had been

“Where am I?” I croaked

“Abraham house,” Henry said She poised another spoonful in front of my mouth

I will never forget the taste of those peas They rele most wonderful food I have ever encountered

I heard a familiar voice: “Noould you look at Mr Corbett, settin’ up and eatin’ baby food all by himself” Moody came around from the head of the narrow cot where I lay, at the center of their parlor, in exactly the spot where Hiram’s coffin had been