Maybe You Never Cry Again
Chapter One
One night, I come in and find my mama in front of the TV,
cryin'. And you know how it is when you're a little kid: your
mama cryin', you gonna be cryin' in a minute.
"What's wrong, Mama?" I ask her.
"It's nothin', Bean. Sometimes I think sad thoughts."
"What thoughts?"
She didn't answer. She was lookin' at the TV. Black guy's
talkin' to Ed Sullivan. I look at him, but I don't hear but a
few words. And I can't make them out anyway, see, because
suddenly my mama's laughin' to bust a gut. Her whole lap's
shakin'. I got to hold on tight or get thrown clear across the
room.
I turn to look at her - this is the same woman that was
cryin' a second ago? - then turn back to the TV. "Who that
man, Mama?"
She's still laughin'. Takes her a while to catch her breath.
"Bill Cosby, son. He's a comedian."
A comedian?
"What's that?"
I look over at this Bill Cosby. I don't know what he's talkin'
about - but I know that, whatever it is, it's got power.
"That's what I want to be, Mama. A comedian. Make you laugh
like that, maybe you never cry again."
By the tender age of five, Bernie Ma ... read full excerpt from Maybe You Never Cry Again ebook
