chapter 7 (pp109-123) I TOOK A LOT OF ODD JOBS to keep my head above water and to help out Mayann and Mama Lucy. For instance, I worked on a junk wagon with a fellow named Lorenzo. He was a very funny fellow and he did not pay me much, but…

chapter 6 (pp89-108) ARTHUR BROWN was one of my playmates at school. He was a quiet good-looking youngster with nice manners and a way of treating the girls that made them go wild about him. I admired the way he played it cool. He was goin…

chapter 5 (pp63-88) I THINK THAT HENRY PONCE went into men's haberdashery or some other kind of legitimate business. At any rate he could not use me, and I never saw him again. We all missed Henry Ponce because he was a kind and generous m…

chapter 4 (pp52-62) I WAS FOURTEEN when I left the Home. My father was still working in the turpentine factory and he had his boss have a talk with Judge Wilson. I was released on the condition that I would live with my father and stepmoth…

.chapter 3 (pp33-51) NEW ORLEANS CELEBRATES the period from Christmas through the New Year jubilantly, with torch light processions and firing off Roman candles. In those days we used to shoot off guns and pistols or anything loud so as to…

.chapter 3 (pp33-51) NEW ORLEANS CELEBRATES the period from Christmas through the New Year jubilantly, with torch light processions and firing off Roman candles. In those days we used to shoot off guns and pistols or anything loud so as to…

chapter 2 (pp22-32) AFTER A WEEK OR TWO mother recovered and went to work for some rich white folks on Canal Street, back by the City Park cemeteries. I was happy to see her well again, and I began to notice what was going on around me, es…