He turned, left us standing on the platform at the head of the entrance stairway, walked the length of the dining-room, and disappeared through the doorway into the pantry.

'He must keep his lists in the icebox,' I said, and Alice squeezed my arm again.

I jerked a belligerent look at her, then suddenly felt good all over. She had regained her control and she looked so poised and assured and beautiful, standing there among the white folks, I filled right up to the throat. I noticed a number of the white men sliding furtive glances of admiration at her, and I thought, 'You just go right on and keep yours, brothers, and I'll keep mine-and won't miss a thing either.' Alice looked up and caught me looking at her and I winked.

'You're a cute chick,' I said. 'How 'bout a date?'

She smiled. 'It's nice to go out with you,' she whispered. 'I feel so well protected.'

I didn't get it so I just grinned. But when several other diners came up, walked past us down into the dining-room, and were seated by the captains, her smile faded. I began getting on my muscle again; I looked down over the sea of curious faces disdainfully. Breath started choking up in me and I thought, Tomorrow I'm going to kill one of you bastards, and it loosened up again. I lit a cigarette to steady my hands, thumbed the match toward the sandbox.

Finally the head waiter returned from the pantry and now he was affable. It was more insulting than hostility. He led us down to the last table by the pantry door and beckoned a crooked-faced, slightly stooped Greek waiter to take our order.

'We came here to get something to eat out of the kitchen, not to eat in it,' I said.

The head waiter lifted his brows. 'I don't understand.' He shrugged indifferently. 'This is the only table we have vacant, sir. You were fortunate, sir, to get reservations at all at such a late hour.'

'- at all, period,' I said.