That night, it was a dark night. Gray clouds masked the heavenly glow of the full moon. Under the cover of night, the mysterious old man moved against the town. His horse carried him into the sleeping town and the blind man walked the streets without a care. Luckily for him, nearly all the town's building labels were written in braille on their doorposts. Realizing that he was in the center of town, the old man climbed off his horse. "Stay, ya bitch ass nuggah" he spat into the horse's face. He then proceeded to clamber about the wooden walkway outside the buildings, feeling with his wooden cane. Every time he came across a door, he felt around for the braille label. Finally, he found something that interested him: the bank. This old man was no ordinary elderly traveler. He had been kicked out of a group of traveling thieves known throughout the land as the Hateocracy.
Using his wooden cane, the old man busted his way into the bank. Sensing that nobody was inside, the old man blurted "Where's all the money, nigguh?!" Feeling his way around, the old man hobbled about until he found a safe. But not just an ordinary safe; it was the mayor's safe. Pryign the safe open, the old man declared, "Ah yeah! I'm getting me some good shit!" Feeling around inside the safe, he found loads of bank notes. "Hehahehaheha! Ain't nobody gonna stop Colonel H. Stinkmeaner!" Stinkmeaner stuffed as many bank notes as he could into his pockets before hobbling outside and back to his horse. He needed a place to crash.
The next morning, Huey Freeman awoke to a windy day. It must've been the windiest he'd ever seen the Tumbleweedcrest area so far because he could see tumbleweeds rolling wildly outside in the wind like loose marbles. Unlike Huey, Riley was extremely slow to wake up. Both boys were hurt physically and emotionally by the beat down they had endured the day before. Huey beat Riley to the pasture outside.
As he tended to Wuncler's animals as well as their own animals, something caught Huey's eye. There was a dead tree on the edge of the property and a scrap of paper was stuck between two branches. Huey left the animals alone briefly to go retrieve the paper. Little known fact, Huey was able to read while Riley wasn't. Huey turned the paper over and found writing on the other side. "Wanted; dead or alive: H. Stinkmeaner" Huey read. That particular sentence served as a caption for the crude photograph of an extremely old-looking black man. "Description: blind old negro man." Huey decided to pocket the piece of paper for safekeeping. Whoever this Stinkmeaner guy was, he definitely seemed like a bad guy. Noticing that he was finished with the animals, Huey went back inside and woke Riley up. The two of them ate breakfast and got ready for school. Half an hour later, Huey and Riley set out with Jazmine for yet another day of segregated school.
While his grandsons went to school, Robert Freeman commuted to his new secondary job as a railroad worker. Yesterday, he was told that he was free to take any spare, leftover wood that the workers had discarded. Robert took his wagon along with one of his oxen so that he could load wood onto the wagon. He figured he could get some free firewood out of the deal. As he rode through town, he past some old black man he had never seen before. The man was deathly old with scraggy, messed up hair and dark glasses covering his eyes. Robert could've sworn he heard the man mutter "bitch ass nigga" as the man rode by on a horse. Robert decided that it wasn't a big deal and pressed onward to the work site.
When he arrived at the work site, activities were just getting started. Robert unhitched his oxen from the wagon and tied him off to a nearby tree near some other men's horses.
Robert made his way over to his fellow workers. Aside from Shen Chung, Robert had met Mexican migrant workers Eduardo Alvarado, Miguel Esquivel, Martin Cervantes, Julio Chavez, and Enrique Castaneda along with the other Chinese workers named Donghai Wong, Hung Wu, and Xin Gao. All the men were hard workers. Robert checked in with Gareth and the site manager named William Stinson. Stinson informed Robert that the boss (aka Mayor Wuncler), might drop by and bring a guest: the head of the Union Pacific Railroad for the western region. Stinson wanted the Mexicans, the Chinese, and the lone black to be on their best behavior. Robert grabbed a hammer, some nails, and made his way over to the track to get to work. Shen Chung happened upon Robert as if he were waiting for the old man. Robert braced himself for a Chinese lesson.
While Robert was at work, Huey and Riley found themselves once gain outside the schoolhouse in their little "colored school": the grass and a single wooden crate that served as a communal desk. The only good thing was that their teacher had finally arrived. Their teacher was a young American-born Chinese man named Mr. Feng. Feng was 19 and he was fluent in English and he had basic math and writing skills down so the children were not deprived of learning very much. Huey would have liked Mr. Feng better if the latter wasn't such a sucker and a pushover for the whites around town. Huey would volunteer to start a discussion about racialism in the town and Feng would simply ignore Huey and shrug the topic off. The other kids liked Feng as they saw him as friendly and fair when he gave them a longer recess than the white children got. During recess, Riley tried to sell a cool-looking rock to one of the Mexicans for a dollar while Jazmine played with dandelions in the grass. She made herself a little crown of dandelions and she resolved to make a crown for Cindy McPhearson but she was unsure if she'll ever get to give Cindy that present.
Meanwhile, Huey attempted to converse with Mr. Feng. During their conversation, Huey learned that Feng was born in Salt Lake City to parents who had arrived in Utah Territory from Shanghai. Feng graduated high school in Salt Lake City and he was training to become a teacher by teaching in Tumbleweedcrest. What Huey really liked about Mr. Feng was that he had briefly mentioned having a passion for martial arts.
"You practice martial arts?" Huey asked.
"Yes I do, Huey. I enjoy learning about them and practicing them."
"I've only read about them."
"Yes? Which ones?"
"Kung Fu and Karate mainly" Huey replied.
"Well, I know quite a few moves in both of those" Feng said with a grin.
"Maybe you teach me?" Huey asked. "My family doesn't really have any extra money for lessons however."
"Oh no, do not worry about paying. They would be free of charge. We can start whenever you want to."
"Thank you sir" Huey said gratefully. Soon, class resumed.
Back at the railroad construction site, Robert Freeman had just endured almost 3 hours of nonstop Chinese chatter to his eardrums by Shen Chung and the other three Chinese workers. Robert was so busy trying to focus on hammering and block out the Chinese that he did not notice that the same weird old black man he saw earlier had arrived at the site.
"Where the fuck am I?!" Stinkmeaner demanded as he wandered on his horse into the railroad construction site. Stinson made his way over to Stinkmeaner with some uncertainty to his walking.
"You're…. at the construction site for the Utah territory branch of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks" said Stinson. "State your business."
"What's good, nyuggah?" Stinkmeaner sneered in Stinson's direction. Stinson gaped with disgust.
"I'm going to have to ask you to leave my construction site, negro" Stinson sternly replied. Stinkmeaner started bouncing up and down on his saddle.
"Fuck yo' site, nyuggah! Fuck yo' site!" Stinkmeaner paused. "Hold up!" He sniffed the air. "I smell paychecks."
"Yes…."
"Gimme a job, nyuggah!" Stinkmeaner thundered, swinging and waving his walking cane in the air.
"Okay! Okay! See that other negro working beside those Chinese guys over there?"
"Nyuggah, I'm blind!" Stinkmeaner spat.
"Okay. I'll guide you over." Stinson carefully led Stinkmeaner over to where Robert Freeman worked. "Robert, we got another new worker. Show him what to do." Robert looked up and found Stinson gesturing to the crusty old black man he saw earlier.
"Who the hell is this?" Robert questioned.
"My name's Stinkmeaner! My momma named me Stinkmeaner, nyuggah!" Stinkmeaner spat in Robert's face.
"This old coon wanted a job. Show him what to do" Stinson told Robert, Shen Chung, and the others. Stinson then walked away with a disgusted expression on his face.
"Okay, Stinkmeaner" Robert said. Robert grabbed Stinkmeaner a hammer to use. "So you just hammer these nails into the tracks."
"Nyuggah, I'm blind!" Stinkmeaner protested. "You's a stupid-ass, bitch-ass nyuggah!" Getting fed up, Robert wacked Stinkmeaner's cane out of his hands and gave him a mallet, a smaller hammer.
"Use this. Just kneel down and feel for the tracks" Robert ordered Stinkmeaner.
"Damn nyuggah" Stinkmeaner muttered before getting on his knees. After a few tries, Stinkmeaner had successfully hammered two nails. Feeling that the stupid old blind man didn't need help anymore, Robert got back to work. As Stinkmeaner worked, he was building up increasing feelings of animosity towards Robert Freeman. He had to get back at Robert somehow.
When it was time for a lunch break, Shen Chung was eating a sandwich of pork and Raman noodles. After he was finished, he tied his shoes. As he stood up, he accidently bumped into Stinkmeaner.
"Watch where you goin' bitch ass nyuggah!" Stinkmeaner boomed to Shen Chung's face. Shen Chung apologized to Stinkmeaner in Chinese.
"What did you say, nigga?!" Stinkmeaner responded. Whipping up his cane, Stinkmeaner caught Shen Chung off guard by hitting the Chinese man in the balls with the cane. Shen Chung cursed at Stinkmeaner in Chinese while the latter hobbled away laughing evilly.
Soon, the workday was nearly over. Just as he had anticipated, Robert had gotten the opportunity to collect some spare wood to serve as firewood for his home. He had loaded 2 whole bundles of loose spare wood onto his wagon along with a jug of well water. While Robert went off into the bushes to relieve himself, Stinkmeaner tended to his horse. Stinkmeaner silently cursed, bitching about how his new job sucked. Stinkmeaner absent-mindedly glanced in the direction of Robert's wagon. Also, he hit his horse with his cane, casing the animal to scream in pain and gallop into the Robert's wagon head on. The horse collided with Robert's wagon, infuriating the lone ox. Stinkmeaner wandered over to the wagon. "You bitch nyuggah horse! That's your fault!" Stinkmeaner spat towards his horse. As he pulled his horse back, Stinkmeaner smelled fresh wood. Realizing that this was Robert Freeman's wagon, Stinkmeaner gleefully clambered into the wagon and took a bundle of wood for himself and just simply to fuck with Robert. Stinkmeaner tied the bundle of wood to his horse's saddle.
"Hey! What in the hell are you doing Stinkmeaner?!" Stinkmeaner loosely turned in the direction of the sudden appearance of Robert Freeman.
"Your wagon's in the way of my horse, nyuggah!" Stinkmeaner shouted at Robert. Robert glared at Stinkmeaner, eyeing him and his horse.
"Hey! I see some of my wood on your horse's saddle!"
"It's my wood now, nigga!" Stinkmeaner cackled.
"Give that all back!"
"Hell no! Finders keepers, nyuggah's weepers, nyuggah! You got a problem with that, nyuggah?!"
Robert stood his ground, unsure what to do with this crazy, blind thief of a black man. Because the concept hadn't been invented during this time period, Robert Jedidiah Freeman was unaware that he had found himself in a nigga moment. Nigga moments are defined as occurrences when ignorance overwhelms the mind of a perfectly logical black man. It takes two or more black men and a minor incident to initiate a nigga moment. In Robert's case, a nigga moment was nearly inevitable. Most often, nigga moments ended in violent disasters.
Robert still stood, firmly glaring at Stinkmeaner. Despite being blind, Stinkmeaner seemed to make eye contact with Robert.
"Hehahaheha! I'm stealing yo' wood! Stinkmeaner declared while climbing into his horse. "What you gonna do, nyuggah? What you gonna do?!"
Robert took a deep breath. Men from the worksite began gathering where he and Stinkmeaner stood. Robert realized that he could try fighting this man (in his opinion, he would win due to his war veteran status) or just simply shrug it off and walk away to avoid embarrassing himself. Luckily, he chose the latter option. Robert scowled at Stinkmeaner before climbing onto his wagon and getting his ox to start pulling the wagon.
"Where you goin' Robert?!" Stinkmeaner yelled.
"Away from yo' ugly ass" Robert shot back as he made his way out of the worksite.
From behind him, Robert heard Stinkmeaner shout: "Pussy-ass, bitch-ass, faggot-ass nigga!"
It was nearly 3:30 and Robert realized he could probably go get Huey and Riley from school. Despite thinking they could just walk home, Robert decided to meet them halfway.
At 3:30 in the afternoon, the school day was over. Huey and Riley packed up their newly acquired school chalkboards. Riley successfully convinced Huey to leave Jazmine behind while the latter looked for Cindy to give her a dandelion crown. "Screw her gay shit, man" said Riley as he and Huey headed down the trail towards town and towards home.
Meanwhile, despite losing sight of Huey and Riley, Jazmine successfully found Cindy and gave her the dandelion crown. Flattered, Cindy took Jazmine's gift but told her she'd have to lie to her dad, Buck and say that a white girl made it for her instead. Jazmine was okay with this. The 2 girls then parted ways for the day.
Huey and Riley had just excited the proximity of the schoolhouse when they nearly bumped into 2 familiar foes: Sheriff Uncle Ruckus and Buck McPhearson.
"Afternoon, little coons" said Ruckus. He then brushed past them and kept walking. Buck remained, blocking the boys' path.
"What's good, niggers?" he asked.
"Nothing" muttered Huey.
"Nothing's good. Stay away from my kids and all the other white children in these parts."
"Man —" Riley objected before being stopped by a kick from Huey. Buck sneered at their behavior.
"I outta hang ya niggers from nooses till you're choked out senseless and dead" Buck scoffed to Huey and Riley.
Huey simply glared at Buck. Riley attempted to yell but he was stopped once again by Huey. Buck spat on the ground by Riley's foot. "Missed" he said. He then turned around and walked away. Eventually he met up with Cindy who told him that a white girl had made her the dandelion crown she was carrying.
Sighing, Huey and Riley trudged towards home. Soon enough, they found themselves within the center of town and all the activity occurring around them. Putting Chicago aside, when the two boys looked around, Tumbleweedcrest was their city now. Suddenly, the boys they could see their grandfather.
"Boys!" Robert greeted his grandsons.
"Granddad since when do you picking us up from school?" Riley asked.
"We got yelled at again" said Huey.
"Oh hell no! Well, you two can guide the ox while I take a nap" responded Robert. Huey and Riley climbed into the wagon. "Where's that little girl friend of yours? What's her name?" Robert asked, inquiring about Jazmine.
"Man she still at school" replied Riley. Robert shrugged and handed the reins over to Huey. Huey roused the ox and the wagon got moving. Riley sat next to Huey while Robert lounged in the back. Their wagon hadn't moved very far as Huey was stopped by a man in the road.
"Is Robert in that wagon?" a really old black man asked Huey.
"Yes. Robert Freeman is here with us…" Huey answered suspiciously.
"What you want nigga?" Riley yelled. The old man grinned with a nearly toothless grin.
"Robert, it's me. Come out and play!" Stinkmeaner cackled. Inside the wagon, Robert snapped out of his napping state.
"Awwww hell noooo!" Robert yelled, realizing it was Stinkmeaner.
"That's right! I hear you inside Robert! C'mon out ya bitch-ass, pussy-ass, stupid-ass nigga!" Outside, Huey and Riley glared at Stinkmeaner. Huey couldn't help but feel that Stinkmeaner looked familiar for some reason. Soon enough, Robert Freeman stuck his head out of the wagon.
"What do you want Stinkmeaner? I thought I told you to leave me alone!" demanded Robert.
"Robert, we ain't done yet. Not until yo' bitch ass face is splattered all over my cane!"
"Oh hell no! Dis nigga be threatening us!" yelled Riley. He jumped off the wagon. "Granddad, let's kick this nigga's ass right here, right now!" Sighing, Robert climbed off the wagon.
"You're right. This man needs an ass whopping" Robert replied as he took off his whip-like belt off his wrangler cargo pants. Huey stared in disbelief. His grandfather was picking a fight with an old, crazy blind negro.
"Nigger fight! Nigger fight!" shouted several townspeople. A crowd had gathered to witness the oncoming matchup between the old black men. Robert and Stinkmeaner slowly walked towards one another. Robert had his arms folded to his side like upside down L's as if he were in a pre-draw stance. Only instead of guns, he had his whip-like belt. Meanwhile Stinkmeaner merely had his wooden cane.
"It's just two niggas trying to kill each other" Sheriff Ruckus observed from afar.
"Hehaha looks like everyone in town wants to see you get yo' ass whooped, Robert!" Stinkmeaner boastfully stated. Robert Freeman clenched his teeth and twirled his belt high in the air.
"God damnnit! To Hell with you Stinkmeaner!" Robert yelled as he charged straight for the crazy, old blind man. Stinkmeaner must've sensed Robert coming at the right time as he stepped aside at the right moment and tripped Robert with his cane. Robert fell to the ground and landed in a bewildered state.
"Oh yeah! Who's the bitch-ass nigga!? You are!" Lying on the ground, Robert gargled and spat in Stinkmeaner's blind face. "Ahhh! Ugh!" Stinkmeaner yelled as Robert's saliva landed on his old pores. Rather than rant, Stinkmeaner instantly knew a good comeback. Reaching into his pocket, he took out a few of the bank notes he stole from earlier. He put them in Robert's hands.
"What the hell?! Bank notes?" Robert asked, still on the ground.
"Oh shit! I was defending myself from this crazy man!" Stinkmeaner seemed to yell in the direction of the townspeople. "Oh shit! Robert Freeman here has stolen bank notes from the mayor!" Several townspeople gasped.
"What?! The hell I did!" Robert objected.
"Let me have a look" the voice of Sheriff Uncle Ruckus broke the townspeople's gasps and chatter. Ruckus jumped off his horse, walked over to Stinkmeaner, and swiped the bank note out of his hand. "Oh my white god! These do belong to Mayor Wuncler! Robert Freeman, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to gladly take you to my office for questioning."
"What?! Ruckus I didn't do anything!"
"You won't be so free much longer for all we know" Ruckus coldly responded as he yanked Robert to his feet and handcuffed him.
"Granddad!" Huey shouted.
"Aye, who snitched?!" Riley demanded. Huey glanced over at Stinkmeaner.
"Sheriff, arrest that man too" Huey told Ruckus.
"Will do. I'd arrest you little negroes too but I don't see the point in doing so…. Yet" Ruckus replied as he handcuffed Stinkmeaner as well.
"I'm clean Sheriff, believe me" Stinkmeaner bragged to Ruckus.
"Oh no, nigga. No niggas are clean" Ruckus responded. He then proceeded to drag both Robert and Stinkmeaner away from the crowd and towards the Sheriff's Office building.
"Granddad!" Huey yelled once more.
"Huey, you're in charge!" Robert yelled back to Huey as Ruckus restrained him. Clenching his fists, Huey Freeman climbed back up onto their wagon along with Riley and they begrudgingly rode home.
4 hours later.
Huey and Riley made dinner for themselves that night. Their dinner consisted of cornmeal mush, carrots, and some grilled pork. The pork was Riley's idea.
"Man, fuck this Huey" Riley said to Huey as they ate.
"Yep" Huey dryly replied.
"How we gonna get Granddad outta the hoosegow? We ain't got jobs. We can't hold this place down without Granddad."
"We'll have to prove him innocent somehow. But he's black so no one will really listen to him and we're black children so people would definitely not listen to us."
"Aye Huey."
"What?"
"You still a bitch. Hehahea." Riley's joke was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door.
"Huey? Riley? Let me in" Tom DuBois's voice was heard from behind the front door. Huey got up and let Tom inside. "Hi boys…." Tom said. "I'm sorry about your grandfather."
"It not like he's dead" muttered Riley.
"No, but he could be" countered Tom. "A convicted negro out here is as good as lynched."
"You're an attorney. Why don't you defend our granddad?" asked Huey.
"I was just going to suggest that" said Tom. "I want your input. Maybe some evidence to prove him innocent?"
"Man he didn't do it! That's the evidence right there!" spat Riley.
"I know he went to work on the railroad when we went to school this morning" said Huey.
"Okay…. Did he say if he was going to make any stops?"
"No. But he did bring his wagon with him."
"Okay…" said Tom. "What do you know about that man who got arrested with Robert?"
"Well I know he an old bitch" said Riley.
"He just kind of came out of nowhere. It sounded like he knew Granddad because he referred to him by his first name. Granddad knew Stinkmeaner too. Stinkmeaner was armed and he looked dangerous. But he was blind."
"Okay" responded Tom.
"Granddad accused Stinkmeaner of stealing firewood from our wagon. Then, Stinkmeaner challenged Robert to a fight and they got arrested soon after that in regards to the bank notes scandal."
"Hmmm okay I'll make note of all this. In the meantime, you boys are free to stay at my house until Robert gets out of jail" said Tom. "In fact, I insist on it."
"Awww hell no!" protested Riley.
"Alright" Huey muttered.
Elsewhere, Robert Freeman was behind bars and he wasn't alone. It was midnight and as much as he'd rather be at home, in his cot sleeping, he was locked in a jail cell in the sheriff's office. To make matters worse, Uncle Ruckus was asking him pestering questions and Stinkmeaner was next to Robert in the cell to the left.
"Now Robert, I am able to use enhanced interrogation methods" Uncle Ruckus said, gesturing to his right boot. "Now, why did you have wood in your wagon?"
"I told you. Mr. Stinson allows workers to take home any leftover wood from the worksite. And I am one of his workers. I was taking home two bundles to use as firewood but this asshole just jacked one of my bundles."
"Finders keepers, Robert!" bragged Stinkmeaner.
"Okay, fine, fine. Stinkmeaner, you smelly old crusty negro, what's your story?"
"Well Ruckus, what do ya want to know, nyuggah? My whole life story?!"
"Where you from?" Ruckus asked more specifically.
"I came from Georgia, sweet ol' Georgia."
"Nigga Georgia" Ruckus scoffed.
"Don't get me wrong, nyuggah. I hate negroes as much as you do. I hate everyone but negroes especially."
"Really? I don't even consider them to be people really." Unbeknownst to Robert, Stinkmeaner was getting Ruckus on his side.
"South should have won the war so that they could keep all them bitch ass niggas down in chains" said Stinkmeaner.
"Hahaha agreed, meaner."
"So, this bitch-ass nyuggah named Robert Freeman comes up in this town and robs from the mayor! That's a criminal if I ever seen one!" Stinkmeaner justified.
"Well Robert, them notes were found in your hands. I see no other option of punishment than to lynch you tomorrow morning."
"FUCK! NOOOOOOOOOO!" cried Robert.
"Stinkmeaner, you are free to go" grumbled Ruckus as he opened Stinkmeaner's cell.
"See ya tomorrow at your lynching you biiiiitch ass nyuggaaah!" Stinkmeaner sang to Robert as he hobbled out of the sheriff's office.
"Ohhhhh helllll nooooo!" Robert continued to cry.
"Robert" Ruckus said. "Look on the bright side. At least you'll be reunited with your fellow niggas who perished in the Civil War." Robert scowled at Ruckus.
"Get outta here, Ruckus" Robert muttered.
"My office. My jail. I leave when I want to" argued Ruckus.
Soon, Ruckus left and Robert was all alone except for the feelings of loneliness and fear for his life.