Chapter One
blue lightening
At first he thought the trill and bleating note was part of a dream. A sweet note so
high it had to be the angel that Aunt Bellandra said the blue god sent, "to save the
black mens from fallin' out the world complete. He got a real high voice like a
trumpet an' he always come at the last second, after a fool done lost his job, his
money, his wife, his self-respect and just about everything else he got. Just about
dead," Bellandra proclaimed, clapping her hands together loudly, "an' that's when the
angel sing."
Back when he was a little boy, Socrates feared his tall and severe auntie. But he was
also enthralled by her stories about the black race in a white world under a blue god
who barely noticed man.
"When he almost gone that angel just might make his move," she'd say. "And when a
black man hear that honied voice all the terrible loss an' pain fall right away an'
the man look up an' see that he always knew the right road but he never made the
move."
Again the high note. This time strained a bit. This time a little warble in Socrates'
sleep.
"But not everybody could hear it. Some dope fiends too high an' some mens hatin' too
hard. Sometimes the angel is that much too ... read full excerpt from: Walkin' the Dog ebook
