Invisible man - Ralph Ellison [73]
I handed it over, noticing the gold links in the soft white cuffs as he extended his hand. Glancing at the envelope he looked back at me with a strange interest in his eyes and said, "Have a seat, please. I'll be with you in a moment."
I watched him leave noiselessly, moving with a long hip-swinging stride that caused me to frown. I went over and took a teakwood chair with cushions of emerald-green silk, sitting stiffly with my brief case across my knees. He must have been sitting there when I came in, for on a table that held a beautiful dwarf tree I saw smoke rising from a cigarette in a jade ash tray. An open book, something called Totem and Taboo, lay beside it. I looked across to a lighted case of Chinese design which held delicate-looking statues of horses and birds, small vases and bowls, each set upon a carved wooden base. The room was quiet as a tomb -- until suddenly there was a savage beating of wings and I looked toward the window to see an eruption of color, as though a gale had whipped up a bundle of brightly colored rags. It was an aviary of tropical birds set near one of the broad windows, through which, as the clapping of wings settled down, I could see two ships plying far out upon the greenish bay below. A large bird began a song, drawing my eyes to the throbbing of its bright blue, red and yellow throat. It was startling and I watched the surge and flutter of the birds as their colors flared for an instant like an unfurled oriental fan. I wanted to go and stand near the cage for a better view, but decided against it. It might seem unbusinesslike. I observed the room from the chair.
These folks are the Kings of the Earth! I thought, hearing the bird make an ugly noise. There was nothing like this at the college museum -- or anywhere else that I had ever been. I recalled only a few cracked relics from slavery times: an iron pot, an ancient bell, a set of ankle-irons and links of chain, a primitive loom, a spinning wheel, a gourd for drinking, an ugly ebony African god that seemed to sneer (presented to the school by some traveling millionaire), a leather whip with copper brads, a branding iron with the double letter MM. Though I had seen them very seldom, they were vivid in my mind. They had not been pleasant and whenever I had visited the room I avoided the glass case in which they rested, preferring instead to look at photographs of the early days after the Civil War, the times close to those blind Barbee had described. And I had not looked even at these too often.
I tried to relax; the chair was beautiful but hard. Where had the man gone? Had he shown any antagonism when he saw me? I was annoyed that I had failed to see him first. One had to watch such details. Suddenly there came a harsh cry from the cage, and once more I saw a mad flashing as though the birds had burst into spontaneous flame, fluttering and beating their wings maliciously against the bamboo bars, only to settle down just as suddenly when the door opened and the blond man stood beckoning, his hand upon the knob. I went over, tense inside me. Had I been accepted or rejected?
There was a question in his eyes. "Come in, please," he said.
"Thank you," I said, waiting to follow him.
"Please," he said with a slight smile.
I moved ahead of him, sounding the tone of his words for a sign.
"I want to ask you a few questions," he said, waving my letter at two chairs.
"Yes, sir?" I said.
"Tell me, what is it that you're trying to accomplish?" he said.
"I want a job, sir, so that I can earn enough money to return to college in the fall."
"To your old school?"
"Yes, sir."
"I see." For a moment he studied me silently. "When do you expect to graduate?"
"Next year, sir. I've completed my junior classes . . ."
"Oh, you have? That's very good. And how old are you?"
"Almost twenty, sir."
"A junior at nineteen? You are a good student."
"Thank you, sir," I said, beginning to enjoy the interview.
"Were you an athlete?" he asked.
"No, sir . . ."
"You have the build," he said, looking me up and down. "You'd probably