Page 145

By Jack Joseph Smith

boy. At the same time everyone decided to get into it, and baseball bats suddenly appeared on the scene. The swinging of them took me even further up the hill, but I felt myself somehow responsible, and so I began to yell out. I'll take the big boy on. Just him and me. The rest stay out of it. Put the bats down. Come on big boy. So he got up from the battered college boy, and waved his arms in the air bellowing for everyone to stop. His authority was evidently to the stronger side of mine. Soon a circle began to form around us. I didn't like this very much, as I wanted plenty of back room in case of emergency. The same process once again took form, but to my suprise, he, this time, seemed much faster. No sooner would I take advantage on the upper side of the hill, than he would scurry, fast as a little piggy, above me. We went round and round for awhile, until, a stout and well put together black faced women began to yell. I'm your women Thomas, and I want to see you stomp that white boy. So stomp him, I say. Stomp that white boy, Thomas. Stomp him. Stomp that white boy, Thomas. Stomp him. I began to smile a little, looking into his deep brown eyes. He looked over his shoulder saying: She's just crazy, that's all. Well, we're pretty redundant, I said. That don't sound like the word to me boy. The word I'd use, is ridiculous. We, pretty ridiculous boy. We're going around in circles. We, sure is. Let there be no mistake about that. And all these big dummies are standing there watching us, with serious faces on them.

Original Scan

Page 145

AI Interpretation

GPT

Baseball bats appear and a circle forms around the narrator and Thomas, but the showdown turns unexpectedly comic as Thomas's woman screams for him to stomp the white boy and both men begin to recognize how ridiculous the whole scene has become.

Violence pauses long enough for a brief mutual recognition to break the ritual of the crowd. The exchange with Thomas punctures the race-charged seriousness around them and lets absurdity do what threat alone cannot.

Claude

Bats appear and a crowd forms a ring he distrusts ('I wanted / plenty of back room'), and the narrator calls the brawl down to single combat - 'I'll take the big boy on.' This time Thomas moves faster, scurrying 'fast as a little piggy' to the high ground, while his 'women' chants 'Stomp that white boy, Thomas.' The fight dissolves into deadpan comedy as the two men, looking into each other's eyes, trade words over the chant: the narrator's 'we're pretty redundant' gets corrected - 'The word I'd use, is ridiculous' - and Thomas surveys the 'big dummies... standing there watching us, with serious faces,' absurdity doing what the threat could not.