Not knowing what to do, Joe and Nancy sat in their room without talking. Nancy dressed in silence. Her clothes were still in the closet and she donned a light blue sheath dress with a crew neckline of a darker blue. She eschewed her usual pumps with a small heel for a more casual flat shoe in blue, matching her dress. Then Nancy put out some clothes for her husband, his dark suit with fashionable narrow lapels, dark shoes, white shirt and narrow dark blue tie. It matched the trim on her dress. Joe had taken his favorite pair of black oxfords for which he had paid a pretty price. But he had said they were worth the price, for they were very comfortable and looked fashionable.
Nancy put on her small pillbox hat, again in blue, with a bit of netting in the front over her hair. She had to look in the mirror to arrange the hat correctly on her differently styled hair. She put on a pair of white gloves.
She came back in the room dressed in her outfit and really looked lovely. Joe ignored her. This was taking a ltoll on his emotions. Nancy really needed a hug at this point, but Joe looked in no mood for it. He didn't want to touch Nancy. She seemed someone else, although he could tell from what she said, that it was his wife.
Then the telephone rang and both of them jumped. They let it ring several times. "Are you going to answer that?" asked Nancy. Joe nodded silently and picked up the receiver. "Yes?"
"Joe, this is Bill. It's 9:00. We are waiting for you….do you still have the address? Or did you get lost? Or abducted?" Joe could hear laughing in the background.
"No, I'm feeling … not so well this morning."
"What? The great Joe Alston put down by a few sniffles? Or is it more than that? Break your leg?" Again there was snickering and laughing in the background.
"I told you, I'm sick!"
"Are you coming tomorrow? Hey, I have an idea. Send the wife to take notes!" Again laughter.
"Dammit, Bill, I said I'm sick!"
"All right, all right, keep your shirt on. See you tomorrow."
Joe put down the receiver and took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be easy. "Maybe we'll be back to normal," she proposed.
"What if we're not?"
"Joe, I'm hungry. I would like some breakfast."
"Are you planning to go down and eat in the all white diner? They won't serve us there. And I certainly don't want to eat in the black only café."
"Goodness, no." Nancy shivered at the thought. "What about room service?"
Joe pondered it. "Yeah, that might work. Call down and order something. If we slip him a fiver, maybe he won't squawk. "
Nancy nodded and ordered a breakfast on the phone. Shortly thereafter, there was a knock on the door. It was brought up by a young, white waiter. When the door was opened, he almost dropped the tray. Instead, he put it on a table out in the hall for a moment. "Who are you?" he asked. "Mr. and Mrs. Alston's servants?"
Joe started to say, "No, of course not!" when Nancy elbowed him. "Yes, sir, we are the maid and the butler. We'll be serving the Alstons." The young man looked puzzled but brought the tray in and placed it on a table. Joe handed him the five dollar bill. "Compliments of Mr. Joseph Alston."
"Tell him thank you," replied the waiter who left, still looking puzzled.
Joe started to laugh as soon as the waiter left. "I guess we pulled one over on him, didn't we?"
"It would seem so," Nancy said. They were both hungry and started in on the very delicious breakfast. But about ten minutes later, there was another knock on the door. Joe and Nancy stopped in mid-bite and looked at each other.
"Open this door or we will break it down!" came the command from outside the door.
"What do you want?" asked Joe.
"I said, open the door!" This time Joe complied. There were three policemen, the hotel manager and the young waiter outside the door.
"Where are Mr. and Mrs. Alston?" asked the hotel manager.
"Not here," said Joe. "They went for a…a walk."
"No, no," cried Nancy. "You don't understand! WE are the Alstons; he's Joe, I'm Nancy."
"It's a lie," said the manager to the officers. "Throw them out!" He glared at the couple. "You're lucky I'm a kind man or I would have you thrown in jail! Don't you know this is a white-only establishment? The only Negros who are in this hotel work here! And I know for a fact you two don't work here!" He turned to the policemen. "Get them the hell out of here!"