Subject:Tablecloth
Entries
Entry 4771
Ef ah see dat somebody look like dey movin' me out, why den ah'd take mah tablecloth an' mah undahclothes an' put 'em on de wrong side. An' ah go down [to rent office or court], if ah done spected [suspected] dey ruled me out. Ah would change mah undahclothes an' put 'em on de wrongside an' go down, an' ah wouldn't be worried no more. An' ah kin talk wit 'im an' he sees how ah'm back.
Entry 1836
For luck in gambling, I used to buy hands.
(Yes?)
One hand I bought, it was full of charcoal - there wasn't nuthin to dat one. But the other hand, it was purtty good. Ah bought me a ring, see, and my birth- stone was in it. And I would use lodestone and I could soak dice in pepper and chamber lye - keep those dice soaked in 'em, you see. And just like I run a gam- bling house and you come dere, well, you see I'm always got two pair of dice. Well, the dice what you shoot, they're soaked in that stuff - in that lodestone and chamber lye. But now, when it come round for me to shoot the dice, I'm going to shoot that other pair. Well, you see, you losing all de time; you can't make a point on it, but I'm going make a point because I'm shooting a diff'rent pair. See.
(I see. The pair you see, you don't do anything to at all?)
No, sir. I don't do anything to hit at all. And I keep my table, just like I got this cloth on here. I take and get me some silver - 'bacco silver.
(What's that?)
Silver off of tobacco, you know, chewing tobacco.
(Silver paper off of tobacco [tin foil], I see.)
Yassuh, take that silver and I pad it under this here tablecloth, see. I keep a shooting on de cloth all the time. Well, I pad that under there and I get me some - some pound - you see, it's pound lodestone, pound lodestone.
(You mean like powder?)
Yes, it's made up like dust. Well, I get some of that and I put dat silver down and I sprinkle dat lodestone under dat silver and put dat silver over it.
(I see.)
I put dat cloth over dat. See. Well, you don't know what's under dat. But it's all in my favor, none in yours - it's coming in my favor all the time but it's none in yours.
(I see - in shooting the dice.)
In shooting de dice. And you shoot dem dice on dat table, you kill 'em; you'll get a point, but it's three to one that you make that point. See, I can give you - ah'd give you odd bets on it. Why? Because I know ah'm got cinches on you, you ain't got none on me; but ah'm got cinches on you because I just natch'ly know. Then, after I give you odds on it, I kin turn in and switch dem dere - ketch dem dice and throw dat - send another pair out - the same dice but not the same dice what you got the points with. See.
(I see.)
And you going miss. (That silver [tin foil] under the table[cloth] then makes the fellow you are playing against - makes him miss?) Yes, sir.
Entry 2355
Ef a man and his girl friend falls out, I even burn incense fer that. I let her burn it three times and he comes home. Den, in other words, I give de female sex a lesson what to do. De lesson is ids, is fo' yo' tuh - ef yo' are only making up yore bed one time a day at de time of yo' fallin' out an' yo' making up yo' bed one time a day [now], den yo' change. Yo'll make up twice a day. Change yo' linen on yo' tablecloth twice a day. Take a saucer and a cup wit a gold rim roun' it, yo' turn de cup down and set de saucer on top of de cup.
(Upside down or?)
Let de saucer set up - de cup should turn down. An' wit de cup turn down, den set de saucer up on it. See. An' go out and invite him in fer lunch with her. Then in that use sweet spice into yore bedroom. That gain de influence of de individual. Yo' won't have to do it no mo' den 'bout once or twice befo' he come in.